FORMER consultant Martin Long loves Penang. His house in Tanjung Bunga is bigger than the one he had in Australia.

He is paying less for private education and healthcare in Penang but feels that the services he’s getting are almost on a par with Australia.

Ever since moving to Malaysia, he’s taken more holidays in Southeast Asia and the family eat out more often than they used to back home.

The 51-year-old is one the thousands of expats a recent survey said are happier after they moved to Malaysia. The top most reasons for this are the ease in looking for accommodation and of setting up schooling and healthcare.

Yet while 44% of expats said they are happier in Malaysia, working and middle-class Malaysians said they are being squeezed by the higher living costs.

Seven out eight families met by The Malaysian Insight said that they can’t afford better homes and are constantly worried about skyrocketing food prices.

Only one family said they could afford to take short holidays overseas. Three others said they only travelled within the country while the rest said they can’t afford to travel for leisure.

“I balik kampung once a year only to Penang to visit relatives. It’s a two-in-one trip,” said a 53-year-old sales manager, who only gave his name as Fong, when met in Klang.

“Because it’s a balik kampung plus a holiday for my kids,” he said as he and his wife shopped for Chinese New Year clothes for them and their three children.

“This year, I am spending RM50 for shirts for five people at RM10 per shirt. I waited until they are on sale,” he said, showing the red RM10 T-shirts he spotted at a sale.  

“So, everyone gets the same shirt. What to do? I can’t afford to spend too much this year,” he said as his two teenage sons sheepishly looked on.

The survey, published on Human Resources Online, found that 44% of expats in Malaysia are happier after they moved here.

The expat explorer survey by HSBC showed that Malaysia moved up to 25th place from 28, in its ranking of “best place in the world to live and work”.

More than half of the expats in Malaysia said they live in a better home (55%) and it is easy to find new accommodation (61%).

Most also find it easy to look for healthcare (54%) and set up their children for school or childcare (52%).  

About 46% of parents in the survey said it is cheaper to raise their children in Malaysia than their host countries.

After moving to Malaysia, many expats in the survey said they are able to afford more holidays, while 45% became more physically active.

The expats also saw their incomes rise by 25% when they live overseas. Expats in Malaysia earn an average income of US$98,072 (RM382,000) a year while the global average is US$99,903 annually.

The survey interviewed 27,500 expats all over the world.

Yet the findings come as Malaysians struggle through a period of stagnant wages that have not been kept up with inflation.

A Bank Negara study also found that houses in Malaysia are “seriously unaffordable” for the average income-earner and that there is a shortage of affordable homes.

Pricey homes and public hospitals    

Low and middle-income families interviewed by The Malaysian Insight said they have to put up with longer wait times at government hospitals and a housing market that is out of reach.

Suhardi Yaakob said he and his wife always opted for government hospitals where the price of healthcare is RM1 per visit.

“The wait is long but you just have to be patient. Because it’s cheap. You just have to go early,” said the father of two who makes between RM2,200 and RM2,300 a month as a welder.  

Both of the low-income families said government hospitals and polyclinics are their first option whenever someone is sick.

“But if there’s an emergency at night, we have to go to private clinics,” said lorry driver Ahmadi Sasong, 38, who has three children and lives in Petaling Jaya.

Of the eight families, two are from the B40 category of Malaysian who earn less than RM3,860 per month. Four are in the M40 range of between RM3,860 and RM8,319 per month.

Two families earn about RM8,319, placing them in the T20 category.

After moving down from Kedah, Mohd Shazani Shuib and his wife had wanted to buy a house in Bukit Tinggi, Klang, but could not find one that was below RM500,000.

“We came here to work and thought of buying a house since it would be better than renting,” said the 36-year old marketing manager whose combined household income is about RM7,000 per month.

Penang resident Azhar Nizam Jamaluddin also wants to buy a better house for his wife and him but the couple cannot afford to on their salaries.

“Our salaries are not enough for homes worth a few hundred thousand,” said the 39-year-old spare-parts salesman.

Although P.S. Selvaraja and his wife both earn more than RM10,000 per month, the engineer still keeps a close watch on the family’s purse strings.

“You can see the prices of food and household items go up every two weeks,” said the 50-year-old father of one school-going daughter and a five-year-old son.

“Everything is very expensive in urban areas,” said the engineer, who also takes care of an ailing father.  

Chong, an accounting lecturer, is the only person who felt he lived comfortably with the income he and his wife earns.

The primary reason for this is because they have no children and both he and his wife earn more than RM15,000 a month.

“I sometimes give out loans to my relatives who are between jobs and who need help with their expenses,” said the 60-year-old who lives in Subang.

Chong’s family are the only one able to holiday overseas.

“But only for short trips, from three to four days.” – February 19, 2018.