If 5 years ago you told me that in 5 years time I’d be living in Malaysia, I would have questioned your sanity.
Was born in Australia, lived in and around Sydney for 66 years. Previously married, 1 son and 1 stepdaughter, fully grown. Worked as a dentist in private practice for 43 years.
Aside from 1 week in ’07 exploring the tourist traps of Bali surrounded by swarms of other marauding Aussies, I had never been to Asia…until January ’20, took a 2 week trip to Penang staying with an old high school mate who relocated and married there. Two days before returning to Sydney, over dinner, I was introduced to his wife’s work colleague, a lovely Chinese Malaysian lady by the name of May. We shared about 3 congenial hours then exchanged contact details. Once returned, initially sent cautious emails, then progressed to daily Whatsapp videochat. With our connection deepening, we arranged to meet in Singapore in April, only to then cancel flights and hotel when the Covid pandemic rapidly slammed down on us. For the next 26 months, we patiently helped each other navigate our busy and eventful lives online till we were finally able to see each other again face to face when May flew to Sydney in April ’22, her first visit ever to a Western country.
The next 15 months was hectic, May living with me in Sydney for 7 of those months – moving house, health maintenance and repairs including a double hernia, heart surgery and a root canal to boot; our wedding on April 15 ’23; treated my last patient June 30; gave the car to my son.. May and I boarded the plane together on July 5th, one way ticket, bound for Penang. Needless to say, major adjustment was needed after suddenly stopping work, leaving what was till then home all my life followed by, what felt like, landing on Mars- as a resident this time not a visitor. A few things hit me in the face, such as – “culture shock” in terms of language, people and surroundings, “interesting” politics, footpath, drain and manhole unpredictability pretty well everywhere, traffic and driving-to a new rulebook, i.e., no rules, with so many motorbikes darting around like mosquitos, very wild and woolly to the uninitiated! Anyway, the dust has slowly settled, and after 7 happy months on Penang Island, we were lured to the big city and relocated to KL in March’24, another amazing eye-opener! Looking back on it all, am delighted to say that I don’t have a tinge of regret moving to this country. Am enjoying so many things:
- Cultural diversity - quite the melting pot with Malay, Chinese and Indian influences plus foreigners from (almost) anywhere you can think of spread around the place.
- Fantastic street food and tropical fruit (still summoning the courage to try the dreaded durian) - so cheap compared to from where I came. Prawn Mee at Taman Muda market hawker stall KL, same recipe for 40 years, Masterchef level perfection. Overall, prices of cars, booze and all things imported aside, cost of living is significantly lower.
- No more winter!.. prefer to sweat than shiver any day.- Buzz of the morning and night markets everywhere, megamalls and commercial streetscapes both CBD and suburban.
- Easy and safe at all hours to get around KL – excellent intra/intercity train, CBD monorail and bus networks, rideshare (notably Grab) very inexpensive compared to my Uber experiences in the West.
- Brilliant travel destinations within Malaysia.. inland, seaside and offshore. Roadtrip highly recommended, reveals many gems.
- The good fortune of having located the one pinball machine in the whole of Malaysia (that’s official, according to Pinball Map world app
- Stern Star Wars, Sunway Velocity Mall Maluri KL.)
Special mention must be made of the expat connections we’ve been lucky enough to build, especially via Joshua and Rachel’s KL Expat forum.. have met great people through social and sporting events, picked up much valuable info covering all manner of issues from collective knowledge and experience of the whole community. Has enriched our lives here, as we continue to discover more attractions in this vibrant city. Finally.. has been fascinating to hear the stories of how others, with such diverse backgrounds and circumstances, came to land on these shores and their progress of their lives since.. widens our perspective, extremely worthwhile.
To all contemplating this move – know that you are not alone and help along the way is available. Go well!
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