Retire

I received an e-mail from a friend (Dennis, M'sian) who have been staying in Hong Kong for yeeearrs now. He had posted some questions for me and I thought maybe I should just post it here for him and the rest to read. Maybe in years to come, I may look back and change my answers again. Well, then again, I have to state it clear that these are my opinions and I am considering ALL these in MY perspectives and not trying to see things in YOUR side ok?? :)

~If you consider a place for retirement, will you retire in Malaysia ? If yes, which part of Malaysia will you choose (East Malaysia or West Malaysia) ?
I have not been to Sabah (the only state in M'sia which I have not stepped my feet on!) though I have heard lots of good things about her. I will not consider staying or retiring at a place which I have not been to or just have a short trip for leisure. Living and travelling are 2 VERY different things. So, for now, my answer is NO. I will still choose to stay here, West M'sia.

~Well, which province will you choose (Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, KL, PJ, Penang) ?
Here, Klang Valley but not Puchong, not Cheras, not Kepong! As for now, I still love the easy access to the latest informations around me by staying here. I would love to watch more theatres and play, listen to live orchestra performances, do shopping at the hottest shopping complex (during off-peak hour, please). Hopefully by then, I would be staying in my dream home, outskirt of KL.

I would like to listen to your views over Malaysia in following aspects:

~Expenses for Basic Needs: Housing, Cars, Fuel, Public Transport, Food, Electricity, Phone Services, Fresh Water, etc.
On average, Malaysian still have to work VERY hard to save. There are too MUCH expenses and they are ever increasing. The recent huge increment for government servant is a good thing but the question is : Is it enough? Does the government take into account of all the increment of basic living expenditure from MERDEKA till now? Do we even have enough in years to come to sustain these increment when the oil well runs dry by 2010? Do we have any buck up our exports? Our country is still owing money, FIY, lots of it. Bottom line for you maybe, is: Earn as much money as you can there, spend it here. :)

Availability and Expenses of Medical Services and Medicine Supply. How about availability of other social welfare, provided by Malaysian Government ?
Availability : Ok if you are in Klang Valley and big towns.
Social welfare ....well, I think I would still prefer to rely on myself than relying on government or the little saving in EPF.

Government Indirect Taxes, such as sales taxes for goods and services
hm..no comment.

Hazards to Environment, any factors causing deterioration of air, water and food quality
I guess this is a global problem, not restricting only to M'sia. But the point is, I do not sense any sincere effort (govt) to eliminate or slow down the effect. P/S Let's just hope that the 'smoky monsoon' from our neighbour will not be around this year. Main factor? political issue again..

Cultural differences between Malaysians and Hong Kong Chinese
Anybody can live here ok, Malaysians are talented lot for languages. With a bit of Bahasa which is rather easy to learn, anyone can live with the differences. Cultural differences? No culture shock. Lately, the government has promote 'Malaysia-Your 2nd Home' programme which of course is yet to be drafted in detail. There are too many grey areas for these investors and the parties (bank, developers etc ) involved do not have the expertise in this area and do not know what to react and how to react. Let's just hope that this is not hangat-hangat tahi ayam, again.

Freedom of Money Movement in and out of Malaysia. Any restrictions imposed ?
Yes.

Protection of Reasonable Interests of Investors in Malaysia ( such as Freedom of Money Movement in and out of Malaysia. Any restrictions imposed ?)
I am not so certain on this but they do have measures to attract investors.

I tried my best. I hope I had answered your questions well. :P