Advice on Kuala Lumpur?

Good morning NSC,

I am thinking of applying for a job in KL. I have been to plenty of SE Asia but never to Malaysia. Just wondered if anyone here had lived, worked or traveled extensively out there?

Before anyone says it, yes I know I can do my own private googling and research but I have always found NSC to be a brilliant and honest insight in to different parts of the world.

It's a very conservative country. Take your cue from the locals, with regards to acceptable dress code.

If you are wearing a football shirt, for instance, it is necessary to wear a business shirt and tie underneath.

Good morning mate. I had pretty much the same situation this time last year. My company however offered me the chance to open up an office, I'll bullet point my expierience of going there and ultimately what I based my decision on.

- It's a very eastern city, totally different to Singapore
- not as crazy as Bangkok
- night scene is ok, one Main Street in the city for going out that gets lively
- Suburbs of Mont Kiara and Bangsar are nice and leafy and affordable for renting
- what put me off massively was the lack of westerners & my ability to make lots of mates
- very Muslim feel about it, women with head gear on etc
- tropical climate, I loved that part

Overall for me it didn't feel right, for me personally I didn't feel I could build a life there, it's a big decision and I went with instinct that said no. Some days I have my what if only days but overall I believe I made the right choice.

I actually met up with a top guy called James who's an Albion fan who showed me around and we went out for the night, if you do go over I'll put you in touch.

byf1 said:

Good morning mate. I had pretty much the same situation this time last year. My company however offered me the chance to open up an office, I'll bullet point my expierience of going there and ultimately what I based my decision on.

- It's a very eastern city, totally different to Singapore
- not as crazy as Bangkok
- night scene is ok, one Main Street in the city for going out that gets lively
- Suburbs of Mont Kiara and Bangsar are nice and leafy and affordable for renting
- what put me off massively was the lack of westerners & my ability to make lots of mates
- very Muslim feel about it, women with head gear on etc
- tropical climate, I loved that part

Overall for me it didn't feel right, for me personally I didn't feel I could build a life there, it's a big decision and I went with instinct that said no. Some days I have my what if only days but overall I believe I made the right choice.

I actually met up with a top guy called James who's an Albion fan who showed me around and we went out for the night, if you do go over I'll put you in touch.

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Hi,

Thank you for a brilliant, quick and informative reply. You have highlighted just the type of issues I am thinking about. I would be working in a school where there is a big ex-pat community, over 50% of staff are British so I suppose that would be a big plus. I am concerned about the conservative nature of the country what with me being a left wing, champagne socialist, gay accepting atheist from Brighton! However, I live in Nairobi at the moment and that has been a big culture shock too. I would be really keen to get in touch with James too

[MENTION=5000]seagull_in_malaysia[/MENTION] would be your man because, even though he's not in KL any longer, he was brought up there. I've been there a couple of times, as parts of holiday (including a stay with SIM's family before he came over to the UK) and I loved the place.

There is a thriving ex-pat community if that's what you want.

If I was younger, single-r and didn't have kids I would strongly consider a move there if the option were available. If the worst comes to the worst then you chuck it in and move on again.

hans kraay fan club said:

It's a very conservative country. Take your cue from the locals, with regards to acceptable dress code.

If you are wearing a football shirt, for instance, it is necessary to wear a business shirt and tie underneath.

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Hahaha. Took a while for that to click in my head.

Bozza said:

[MENTION=5000]seagull_in_malaysia[/MENTION] would be your man because, even though he's not in KL any longer, he was brought up there. I've been there a couple of times, as parts of holiday (including a stay with SIM's family before he came over to the UK) and I loved the place.

There is a thriving ex-pat community if that's what you want.

If I was younger, single-r and didn't have kids I would strongly consider a move there if the option were available. If the worst comes to the worst then you chuck it in and move on again.

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Exactly. I am single and would be taking on a 2 year contract. What did you most like about it if you do not mind me asking?

Wilko said:

I am concerned about the conservative nature of the country

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I'll just add I didn't notice any kind of conservative feel to the place on my nights out in KL...

Malaysia is dull, but good for growing palm oil

There's great and good value Chinese and Indian food all over western peninsular Malaysia, where KL is. Malaysians are in many parts outnumbered by ethnic Chinese and Indian. All these types tend to have more conservative views on things like religion, equal/human rights, dress, etc than most westerners and are not likely to want to hear about anything that might offend their values as they see them. It's safer to keep some views within our own communities rather than risk causing offence, which it's easy to unwittingly do.

The young Miss Bracknell is currently working in Kuala Lumpur (for about a week) - something she does quite regularly. I've not known her moan about the place previously, which suggests that it might be an OK city to work in, but I can ask her when she gets back home next week.

Lord Bracknell said:

The young Miss Bracknell is currently working in Kuala Lumpur (for about a week) - something she does quite regularly. I've not known her moan about the place previously, which suggests that it might be an OK city to work in, but I can ask her when she gets back home next week.

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Ahh, she is already a friend on Facebook so I will send her a message, thank you very much Lord.B

very limited experience, but I would agree with one of the comments made already...

...this is a VERY muslim country.


We arrived at the hotel, booked in the gf's name and the blatantly refused to deal with her and only with me. Similar things in shops, always ignoring her and talking to me instead. From talking to a few locals that we got friendly with, its only getting worse there, with a distinct two tier society with muslims getting preferential treatment and the other half of the population being pushed aside (or forced to convert to access basics like medical care/education).

father_and_son said:

very limited experience, but I would agree with one of the comments made already...

...this is a VERY muslim country.


We arrived at the hotel, booked in the gf's name and the blatantly refused to deal with her and only with me. Similar things in shops, always ignoring her and talking to me instead. From talking to a few locals that we got friendly with, its only getting worse there, with a distinct two tier society with muslims getting preferential treatment and the other half of the population being pushed aside (or forced to convert to access basics like medical care/education).

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Thanks for the advice. As part of my package I get accommodation and health care sorted, I will also be working at a British international school so I wonder if many of these issues are eradicated?

father_and_son said:

very limited experience, but I would agree with one of the comments made already...

...this is a VERY muslim country.


We arrived at the hotel, booked in the gf's name and the blatantly refused to deal with her and only with me. Similar things in shops, always ignoring her and talking to me instead. From talking to a few locals that we got friendly with, its only getting worse there, with a distinct two tier society with muslims getting preferential treatment and the other half of the population being pushed aside (or forced to convert to access basics like medical care/education).

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Yes it's a Malaysian country, but I'm not sure what "VERY muslim" means. It's not Saudi Arabia that's for sure. My wife is Chinese Malaysian, and she does all the talking when we're there because she speaks Cantonese and passable Malay. Agree with the two (well actually three) tier society. Malay's get preferential treatment, but the Chinese are treated much better than the Indians.

It's also important to note that while muslims can't drink over there (legally), everyone else can.

Wilko said:

Good morning NSC,

I am thinking of applying for a job in KL. I have been to plenty of SE Asia but never to Malaysia. Just wondered if anyone here had lived, worked or traveled extensively out there?

Before anyone says it, yes I know I can do my own private googling and research but I have always found NSC to be a brilliant and honest insight in to different parts of the world.

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Matt, what is going to happen to the football team you set up in Nairobi ?

Wilko said:

Thanks for the advice. As part of my package I get accommodation and health care sorted, I will also be working at a British international school so I wonder if many of these issues are eradicated?

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Which school is it? I went to an expat school in KL.

Hi [MENTION=1022]Wilko[/MENTION],

I'll give you my take on KL. As Bozza said I was there for 16 years so know it quite well.

First off, which school have you got a job at?

Interesting things have been said in this thread so far. I wouldn't have any concerns about the "conservative nature" of the country. KL is a pretty relaxed city with a lot of bars and restaurants and things to do (if you like shopping there's about 2 shopping malls per person). You will have no problem having a night out in the city, or going about your business. As long as you're not overtly offensive to people, nobody will bat an eyelid. The only conservative areas in the country would be the very North-East of the peninsular (a few hundred km away from KL, which has a much more homogenous ethnic population of conservative Muslims) and some of the small rural villages scattered away from the major cities. Of course, if you go visiting temples or mosques then you can be expected to act a bit more conservative in those places, but that is common sense.

I wouldn't say KL is a very eastern city. It is quite modern in places, but still has some of it's own character. Everybody you come in contact with will speak enough English to communicate with you, so language is not really a problem either (again, the more rural areas are different in this respect).

As mentioned Mont Kiara and Bangsar are nice suburbs which are full of Western ex-pats. For housing I would say speak to some of the teachers at your school before deciding on a place. They often tend to live nearby each other and within a short taxi ride of the reasonably priced bars! You can very easily get involved with the big expat community there if you want. Working at a school you'll end up meeting a lot of people involved in it.

As for the "Muslim feel" mentioned, you've got to remember KL is very multi-cultural. Yes there are some women who wear their headgear to work but at the same time there are a lot of people who don't. The vast majority of Muslims in KL (and all the major cities) are moderate and are not going to avoid non-Muslims so it's a non-issue really. Most people I know who visit KL come away saying how friendly the general population is, so go figure. The poster who said his wife was refused to be served at a hotel...well, I have never heard of that happening in KL, and I assure you most Malaysians would be furious if they knew. That is not normal for Malaysia, especially KL.

To add my own points on KL:

-It is cheap on the whole. Not as cheap as say Cambodia or Laos, but you can still get by on very little money comparitive to the UK or Singapore. Of course, you could also live like a king for not much more money either.
-Abundance of great food. Obviously due to the large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities you can get some great Asian food there. In KL you'll also be spoilt for choice when it comes to international food too. There are countless top restaurants in the city (but obviously more pricey).
-Working at a school probably means you'll need a car. A lot of work is going into building a comprehensive metro at the moment but some of the schools are a bit out of the city.
-Cheap to travel around the rest of the region or the country, if that's what you like.
-A lot of public holidays.

The only two things which are generally expensive in Malaysia are cars (purchase price) and alcohol. With cars, the up side is they are very cheap to run as insurance and petrol is cheap. A pint ranges from 6 or 7 pounds for something imported like a decent ale, down to 3 pounds for a locally brewed lager (carlsberg, anchor, tiger) at a cheap bar. You can pay more at an uber-expensive hotel bar with a fantastic view of the city but I'd say the average price of an average pint (say Heineken) at a decent enough bar will put you back about 5 pounds.

Anyway if there's anything else more specific you'd like to know just ask.

I've never been, Wilko, but I'd 100% say go for it

(Make sure you fly over there on BA or Emirates though )

Wilko said:

Ahh, she is already a friend on Facebook so I will send her a message, thank you very much Lord.B

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I've just found out that, after a few days in Kuala Lumpur, she's moved on already and is now in Kathmandu. It may well be that the best advice you can get from her will be confined to stuff like "Best coffee shop at the airport".

And - note to Edna - she did fly with Malaysian Airlines.