Excellent infrastructure, minimal administrative hurdles, good medical facilities and proficiency in English skills from most locals make Malaysia a favourite among senior citizens wishing to retire in Southeast Asia.
KUALA LUMPUR – Number three in the list of the favourite places to retire, far ahead of Thailand (in ninth position) and the Philippines (in fifteenth position). Malaysia is turning into a heaven for senior citizens from all around the world who are looking for a place where living standards are good but also the cost to it remains affordable. The result came from a report from International Living annual magazine. Malaysia started to look at luring over 50-year old visitors under a scheme named “Silver Hair Programme”. In 2002, the programme was revamped to become the very successful ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ or ‘MM2H’. Since the scheme started officially in 2002, over 23,000 retires have been seduced by Malaysia. But not only retirees. They are also a large number of immigrated younger groups of expats from who now look at settling in Malaysia as the city is becoming increasingly sophisticated and easy to live in.
According to data from MM2H, the most popular destinations are Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi, Ipoh, Malacca, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru. The speed-up development of the Iskandar Region in Johor Bahru, just a few kilometers away from Singapore, is rather stimulating retirees demand.
Surprisingly, only four countries of the Asia Pacific region figure in the top 22 countries cited by International Living Magazine. This might be due also to the instability in some countries as well as a relative growth in natural catastrophes.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
