Life in Malaysia after one year

I have been in Johor, Malaysia for almost a year. People been asking me “How is Life in Malaysia?”
Well. Here is my opinions;

People: Most people are great, friendly and very polite. They live in Harmony among their different Cultures.

Foods: Many Food varieties are available. Local Products, Meats (Lamb, Beef, Fish and Chicken) are not expensive. But imported Products, Vegetables, Meat and Spices are very expense and only available at limited Supermarkets. Chicken is what the locals love to eat. Western Style and brand restaurants are limited in Johor and they  depend on tourists. Many MCD and KFC fast foods in town and price is reasonable.

Shopping: Buying online is a headache and all their advertising are designed on idea of “bait and Switch”. Nothing is real and all have misleading information, they use disclaimer “T&C Apply” without telling you what are the T&C.  Car Buying is 30-60 days Amazing Adventure and will they wear out and make you Crazy.

Bank Account: To open a bank account for Foreigners in Malaysia is not easy and it take 2-3 weeks even if you have all required documents and your MM2H approval Letter. Online Banking just sucks, but I can only speak about HSBC Bank issues, you cannot change your phone number, address or password without some many Cumbersome and Complicated Procedure and security steps. Many times you will be locked out your account at some point in the process. If you lucky and you did not get locked out, at the end the website cannot handle your request and you will be asked to call their Customers service center who will tell you must go to their Bank branch to finish the changes…… Amazing and stressful. If you have a large amount of money (over RM 50,000) in your account, Bank Staffs will call you and ask you where the money come from? even when the money was transferred to them from another bank outside Malaysia. Also they ask some crazy questions… like “how you made this money?” or “what is reason you transferred to Malaysia?” If you have asked your friends or relatives, son or daughter to do bank transfer from their account to your Malaysia account 90% Chance the Malaysia Bank will reject the transfer without informing you and 10% HSBC Bank Staff will call you to explain, why they sent you money? Where the money came from? Banks here are Very High Maintenance and they will drive you up the wall. To make a long story short, Banks here think everyone who has money is criminal or doing money laundering. I was told this by Bank staff, they are trained to do that, and they apologize for their bank Rules. The funny thing few months ago HSBC Bank got Penalized Millions of Dollars by US Regulators for Money Laundering and their Stock Value dropped like a fly.

Medical: Public Hospital is very cheap, but long waiting line to see a Doctor. Local Private Doctor Office costs is good and not expensive. Private Hospital Doctors, Testing and Lab works prices are reasonable, but they beef up your Bill with many add on (Admin Fees) and additional specialist charges to review X-Ray, Blood Tests and MRI in addition to your attending Doctor charge. Waiting time 30-60 minutes and you get your test results in couple of hours.

Weather: Steady all year around, golf shirt and shorts. A lot of sunshine, but it rain every day. Temperature 78-86 F.

Other situations:

•    Customer Service does not exist in Malaysia, but Lip service does. They hear, agree with you and apologize with smile. But they will not take any action to service you or resolve issue for months and you will never hear back from them, no empowerment of staffs. If you make a follow up call, you will be told the person is no long work there or got transferred to another department.

•    RED TAP is everywhere and will Exhaust you up and drive you mad. Nothing get done in one or two trips.

All in all it is not my Cup of Tea… too stressful. Sorry to say.