Moving to KL - cost of living in 2014

I dont think you will get that kind of salary for the type of work you do in Malaysia. Having said that, software testing is a big new area in which Malaysia wants to excel and eventually become an outsourcer.  So much depends on where your role will be. There is a big push to develop knowledge workers and software testing is one of them, so a role mentoring and developing those knowledge workers could attract a higher salary.

You can check out a guide to salaries in Malaysia here:

Kelly's Salary Guide for Malaysia

Depending on where the job is located, what sort of price you would be paying for good standard of accommodation. The range is anything from RM5,000 to RM25,000 per month (KL City Centre luxury apartment).

Hi to keep the same standard of living take your NET uk salary then add 20% and convert to RM. That is my general rule of thumb.

12 years ago 25k a month was a low expat salary in IT but since then salaries have "plummeted" as lots of Indians are willing to work for low salaries. But these are in "lower" positions in some cases. For real expertise (not just donkey work) a real expat salary is expected. But Malaysian employers seem to think cheaper is better even if they get low quality and some of the total rubbish you get (like maybank that went live with untested rubbish that had to be withdrawn - you pay peanuts you get monkies) testifies to paying a proper price for quality (and before anyone assumes I mean Indians are bad at IT good indian IT workers are very expensive also and cheap western IT staff are rubbish too) So I hope you get a good salary as kl is expensive! Clothes and electronic goods are cheaper in uk. And cars are massively cheaper. Beer and wine is cheaper in uk by a large margin.it all adds up!

I actually think nowadays KL City area is almost if not more  expensive that suburban UK. The big savings are on energy costs for heating, but cooling is even more expensive than heating in some cases. If a household wants to have the Air Con on 24 hours a day it can easily cost RM1,500 per month. Depending where you shop for food, the prices can be higher than the UK, because the concept of bulk buying or BOGOF is not used (except to try and tempt someone to buy 2 beers for eqivalent of £8) - just a few cens discount on an item for a few days. I use two supermarkets mainly - Mercato at Pavilion and Giant at BB Plaza. Mercato prices are frequently higher than the UK. Giant has reasonably priced goods, but it is not a luxury shopping experience by any measure. Anywhere a company can see they can exploit Westerners or others who want goods from back home, the prices are silly money. Quality of fixtures and fittings is often quite a bit lower in Malaysia and the finishes in buildings are often a bit rough and ready, even in so-called luxury dwellings. Dont expect taps to face the right way for long and expect the climate and pollution to ruin structures and surfaces.

Hi Friends,
Do let me know based on your research what a person with 12 yr of experience in the BA field would be expected to draw with one of the larger Investment banks in KL? I am faced with the same situation.

Any suggestions on how do you a salary conversion from Singapore salaries to KL salaries or some good links.
The Kelly report shows it to be in between 15-20 K a month which is a big difference. Any advice on this front will be appreciated.

It is hard to compare as a ceo might officially earn 25k a month but actually makes 10 million RM with all the "commissions". VPs on 15k a month had a dozen houses, 20,mercs and lots of foreign holidays. You do the math! I worked in Malaysian investment banking and never saw such blatant hands in the till approach. An expat cant do that (not recommended) so what is a fair salary? 100k a month? But they wont pay. Singapore is far better career wise. I would stay there if I were you.

Hello  what are the chances of a south Africa to find a job in Malaysian
out there.i am an in accounts/finance/librarian.

Husana - the jobs you mention are not very well paid in Malaysia and the criteria for an employment pass is a minimum salary of RM5,000 per month. Achieving that may prove difficult. Take a look at Robert Walters and Michael Page, as some of their jobs are open to foreigners. However, unless you have senior level experience or management skills, it is unlikely you would find office-type jobs as they would require local languages and the accounts may not be kept in English.

hi,
your expectation are far away from reality. MYR 35,000/month is too high salary. you can't get this net salary even in UK, USA, Canada.. so what r u thinking?! maybe you heard that malaysia is rich country and they overvalue white people just because they r white!!.. maybe that was right years ago, but now things has changed since lots of jobless low quality westerns came to malaysia to escape from the miserable life in their countries in Europe. however, you may get that salary or more in case you are really damn good at your job .. and I don't think you are that good otherwise start your own business or go to silicon valley, calaifornia.
If you are lucky you may get between 5 to 10K/month. that's good for living in KL but no savings.