I miss Taiwan

Bank account in Korea = 20 minutes (15 of them filling out US government forms).

Bank account in US = 5 minutes.

DL in US = 5 minutes (if you make an appointment online. Otherwise you will have to wait your turn).

Racism? There isn’t a spot on earth where it doesn’t exist. Malaysia is very multicultural and the law doesn’t discourage racism. But I find it no different than the US. The biggest problem is that muslims are not allowed to marry non-muslims in Malaysia. So you have to convert to marry. And the Chinese rarely marry out of their race. The Indians in general are more open - but no one to marry. So you have three isolated groups.

Mono cultures like Korea appear to not have racism because they only have one “people.” But it still exists. The Seoul people think the southerners are shit. No one likes people from Chulanam-do. The list is long. And if you have any Chinese blood in your line you need to cover it up - even if a hundred years ago.

As for standard of living, some things in Malaysia are done better. Housing is the big one. And urban planning (remember, it is a former British colony). Yes, like anywhere, there are rural people living in shacks. Often it is by choice. They can move into a low cost flat for free but either don’t want to lose their community or don’t want to actually pay for electric and water (they tap in for free). I have near zero rural experience in Taiwan so I can’t compare.

One thing that shocked me is the lack of urban planning in Taiwan. I look out my window and I see nothing but buildings jammed together with shacks on the roofs. I can’t see a single green spot. Or a park. Or a sidewalk.

In fact. my kids commented on never actually seeing a kid outside playing since they arrived (Kaohsiung). Then it dawned on me - I hadn’t either. I see kids walking to school. I see kids at school. And that is it. Since there are no sidewalks they can’t even play there. And I have not seen a single neighborhood park in Kaohsiung. Yes, there is the river park system and a few others - but few people live next to them. Very few kids can just go outside and play in a park - or anywhere - even in the newly built areas.

Every building is zero footprint. The only trees or greens space to be seen are on the dividers of the main roads.

I have some similar complaints about Malaysia. The sidewalk system is pretty inconsistent. So many places aren’t that walkable.

Taiwan schools have progressed much better than most of Asia - and definitely outdo Malaysia. A few years back Malaysia changed the law and to allow Malaysians to attend private international schools. So that has been a big benefit for the ones that can afford it. But the local schools are still not that well organized or funded. My kids have experienced both and know the Taiwan school is quite a bit better.

Medical is more organized in Taiwan for sure. NHI is well organized and accessible to most people. Malaysia has some great local government clinics and some government hospitals but they can be crowded and less than stellar. People get taken care of for the most part but having private health insurance is better if you can afford it.

Freedom? Both countries are fairly free. I don’t know Taiwan that well but I Taiwan has done a remarkable job with democratic reforms. I always say that Taiwan is far more democratic than the US - which is falling fast. And only this year Malaysia proved its democracy worked with the first change in ruling parties since its inception in 1957.

For an Expat I with a decent job or income, I am sure the overall standard of living in Malaysia is much higher than Taiwan. I haven’t really worked in either country so I don’t know what the wage versus buying power is like.

But I can share my experience first moving to Malaysia in 2006. I was at the top of the business ladder and doing very well in Seoul. But I still felt poor. I bought a small flat which was fine for a single guy. I am not going to tell you how much it was but let’s just say is was stupid even by Taipei standards.

If I wanted a real, livable place I was looking at US$2,000,000. And you had to have 50% down payment.

Anyway, I was burned out and wanted to take a break. I had moved from 80 hours a week to ‘selective’ consulting which I intended to do once I left Korea. I looked around Asia and make a detailed list of the ins and outs of each country. Australia was high on the list but the flights just wouldn’t have worked at the time. I actually had never been to Malaysia but my colleague (also parachuting out of Korea) did some research and said we should give it a look. So off we went. It took just a few days to realize it was the place.

So in 2006 I sold my highly overpriced rabbit cage and moved to Malaysia. I rented an oceanside condo. This is a very nice condo with several pool areas, tennis courts, parking for everyone, playgrounds, etc. Rent was US$500 a month (fully furnished). But after 3 or 4 months I felt comfortable enough to buy a condo in the same complex ($80,000). I also bought a new Ford Ranger (US$20,000). So for 100,000 I was set. Utilities were nothing.

After we settled in the wife and I found it hard to spend over $1000 a month. We went out the whatever fancy restaurant we wanted. I think wine was my biggest expense. Of course, I has no mortgage or car payment.

Life was grand. We had two kids in Malaysia. We thought of going to the US for the birth but we had a lot of confidence in the gyno and the staff. And my health insurance didn’t cover births or the US. And in the US the budget birth is $10,000 and if anything goes wrong you are screwed. We paid $1000 for the royal birth package - private room and nurse. They even gave us a candle lit steak dinner after the birth. For both births we were extremely happy.

We left Malaysia in 2012 as the kids were getting older and they didn’t really know the US much - nor Grandma and Grandpa. We spent 5 years in the US and got restless and moved back to Malaysia to take a break.

This time we decided to just rent as prices had spiked and on the way down. We pay $500 for a great condo with pool, party room, gym and playground. It is not seaside as are other one but you can see the sea if you squint. I chose it as it is fairly walkable - which is important as my wife doesn’t drive in Asia. We spend a lot more than we used to in Malaysia - more like $2500 a month. We have music lessons and this and that for the kids. I played golf twice a week which cost $15 to $20 a round. It is a shorts and sandals culture so clothing costs are minimal. Maid was $17 for 4 hours. Keep in mind we lived very well.

And then we decided to move to Taiwan. I have been doing business here a bit and my kids really wanted to try Taiwan schools - so off we went. Been here about 5 weeks.

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Oh, when I first moved to Malaysia I was very frustrated as it was much slower than Seoul. It took a long time to adjust to the speed difference. I don’t find Kaohsiung particularly slow but it seems slow because of the lack of efficiency in some areas.

Legal discrimination / racism against Malaysian citizens is very severe. All are not equal under the law.

For instance non ethnic Malays cannot go to the biggest university there, University of Malaysia !
Almost all director level govt jobs are ethnic Malay (though not all…but seems to be almost all when I visit their institutions ). You could see some directors were political plants, very strange people. This is not good when they are supposed to be running the health service. Many jobs are reserved for ethnic Malays.
Also if you want to bid for govt contracts all bids must have a majority ethnic Malay owned company as the bidder.
They even have sports clubs that non ethnic Malay are not allowed join!

This is without talking about religious edicts and culture which you have touched upon.

All this I have gathered from my short trips to Malaysia for work and tourism.

But overall I still like Malaysia quite a lot …Mainly because of the lifestyle aspects you mentioned . Malaysia is very fortunate it doesn’t have a big bad brother like China breathing down it’s neck, the place would be ripped apart by the internal tensions. Taiwan is just unfortunate that way.

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Did you make profit?

Why? Better schools for the kids?

:eek::eek::eek:

me no hab lock on door

This really happened.

The lock was completely busted, looked like a possible break-in even, and the landlord was trying to say what do you need the main door lock for, the metal grate lock is good enough (that you can reach your hand in and open ).

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That is exactly my door. But there’s nothing in my house worth stealing since I digitized my extensive porn collection. :hole:

Oh and my good cameras are locked away.

definitely not all calm and fine there…

Just in case you’re not familiar with the blatant open racism particularly towards non Malays in Malaysia.

How is that “blatant open racism”?

How is it not? Not allowing non locals to do a job that anyone can do is pretty discriminatory and racist. They think it’s ruining local tastes lol

Other ridiculous examples.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/03/21/report-muslims-only-chinese-only-show-malaysias-growing-racism/

It’s not racist per se, but it’s still pretty ridiculous.

Good news is since we informed the landlord about withholding payment of rent until things get fixed. They’ve been actually coming right away and making improvements.

Bad news is we found a bed bug after being bitten for a while and not knowing why. I don’t know how that can be. It’s a new mattress in plastic covers

Probably from the hotel you stayed at.

What do you mean?

That sucks (good that landlord is finally getting off his duff tho).

The bedbug probably didn’t come from your mattress, but from outside somewhere. Maybe a hotel bed, maybe a train/bus/plane seat, who knows. If you found one in/on your mattress, though, then it might be time to chuck it and get a brand new one. Is your furniture brand new, too? Hopefully it didn’t come from your couch or something.

If it weren’t for bad luck in Malaysia, you guys wouldn’t have any luck at all, sounds like.

Man, that DVD has your name on it.

Xenophobic then.

I might be mistaken but I thought you said you stayed a night or two at a hotel when your new place had some problem. That is what I was referring to.