Introduction from Ipoh

Welcome to Expat.com Joyce!

Thanks for the introduction.

Harmonie

I live in Indonesia but I know Ipoh quite well.
Nice Pizza hut

I visited Padang gerus a few years ago. Bet not many English chaps can claim that one.

My wife is fancying a change of country for a year or two but I'm unsure where.
Do you think there would be a call for a small, private English school in the city?

Hi mas fred, how do you do?

Glad you like Pizza Hut. Never heard of Padang Gerus though!

Talking about Ipoh for English Schools - I think I am not a good point of reference. I can only let you know what I think. I think Ipoh has the potential to be developed as an Education Hub (International Level). Why I say that? Because I see so many Schools, Colleges and International Schools everywhere - Meru, Menglembu, Kampar, Town & everywhere. But, I am afraid most of it is concerned with getting good grades in exams & getting prepared to enter employment rather learning for the sake of knowledge & self enrichment.

English could be an important medium of learning (Internet, some reference books & course materials are mostly in English) but very few Malaysians are concerned with the  proper usage of grammar & vocabulary & that sort. I would encourage you to do a survey - to see if your potential market of students think learning English (or learn proper usage of English) is important & if they would enroll into a learning centre.

However, like any other business, I believe the success of your Private English School depends on the success of marketing you carry out. You know what they say, 'it's not what you sell, but how you sell'.

Allow me to share one of my encounter with my friend. He is a Malaysian of Chinese race who speaks English very badly (he claims his Malay is worse!), hardly can write one sentence without grammar and spelling error & he is not going to learn or improve his proficiency in English ever (I already asked - its a waste of money he said). And yet, he is using the latest Nexus IPad Mini - downloading apps & chats Internationally!

What I am trying to say is that, in here, you may not just want to set up a school & wait. Students do not just flock in. I am not sure what, but unless you can target & hook your potential students in, your business may not become profitable! (Perhaps you need to append yourself with some colleges & schools - I don't know if it can be done)

Please do not think I am discouraging you. It's what I think. And if you ask me (self employed), do I want to learn English (to brush up) - I love to but it is not in my priority list (actually it means NO)!

Hope the above info helps. Wish you all the best.

Regards

Hi Harmonie, thank you. I am glad to know you and its nice meeting you here. Well, keep in touch.

Take care.

Regards

Cheers, Joyce.
I noticed, during my long holidays in your wonderful country, the people in KL are pretty well educated as far as spoken English goes but the other cities, much less so.
Easy to find English speakers in KL but far less easy in Ipoh and other towns.
That's why I believe there's a better potential for business in such a place.
Lower income but far lower costs and a lot less competition.
If local schools get interested, there goes a very sweet, regular customer base.
Set up fees would depend on local rents for a shop house but shouldn't be too terrible.
However, if the minimum investment is 100,000 quid (as suggested in the other thread), too much as there would be insufficient return.
The village is a small Chinese "communist" village way north of Ipoh. Hardly a shock you've never heard of it but the old government rest house in the nearby town of Lengkong has top quality fried rice. Probably the best in Malaysia.

Wow mas fred, you know the place in my State = Perak so well. I am glad. I made a search just now, yes - I get to see and read a few things.

I guess you have seen and felt Malaysia enough to decide on whether to set up English School. My advance wishes for you & welcome to Malaysia, if you are going ahead.

If you happen to be in Ipoh or nearby Ipoh, I may be able to drop by at your School as well.

Regards.

I spent a few long holidays in Malaysia, including getting married there and spending the honeymoon in Taiping.
I've visited the Ipoh area a few times and loved it.

Hi Joyce,

saw your post and felt that you will give me some input about settling in malaysia ipoh.
i am graduate , married with 2 daughter and presently working in dubai for an O level primary teacher, my husband is working in a multinational handling procurement for marine and diesel division. we have been on a vacation to malaysia and ever since then we were thinking about settling there.
we had tried a lot of  online employment site in malaysia, but couldnt get any suitable offers,

Now how can we settle there? how is the job senario, how much does a teacher get paid and will my husband get an suitable offer.

How much is required to run a family of 2 adults and 2 kids.
lot of questions? if u can advise it will be helpful.

rdgs,
zainab mujahid

Hello zainab mujahid -> Why don't you start a new thread on the Ipoh forum with your questions? This will allow better interaction.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hello Zainab,

I am so sorry - I just saw your post and I just login today to Expat.com after so long!

I am afraid I am not a good point of reference for job offers and salary range for teachers or any other profession. I see expats once in a blue moon in Ipoh and mostly here for retirement. But, there are several International Schools around in here and lots of colleges and so many Government Schools and the list goes on and on. You may just want to identify the schools and apply for job directly. Marine and Diesel - it is too far out of my capacity to comment!

As for living expenses, it is not very different as compared to Kuala Lumpur (KL) except the rental can be slightly cheaper but there are people renting huge houses and comparatively get the rate of KL rentals. There are lots of discussion made in KL Forum, which I believe you can use it as a basis for Cost of Living in Ipoh though living expenses in Ipoh can be slightly cheaper than KL but may not be much. When you eat McDonalds in Ipoh, you still pay the same price as those folks in KL. Ron 95 Petrol is RM 1.90 per litre across Peninsular Malaysia. You pay the same tax whether you make the income from KL or Ipoh, assuming the amount is the same.

So, wish you good luck and I try to login more often in future.