HSBC: Expats ride on Asia growth with Malaysia a place to settle

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Lim says in Malaysia, looking for accommodation, organising healthcare and schooling are all easy to do in Malaysia and make up plus points for expats to move here.

KUCHING: Asia continues to provide promising economic prospects and improved quality of life that appeal to professionals and entrepreneurs both from within the region and across the globe, according to HSBC’s new Expat Explorer survey.

While Singapore has again been rated by expats as the best country in the world to live and work, Malaysia offers simplicity and smooth transition for expats in finding accommodation (61 per cent), organising healthcare (54 per cent) and arranging childcare and schooling (52 per cent).

“Malaysia continues to draw expats with Europeans (44 per cent) and Eastern Asia (18 per cent) forming the bulk of expats here, according to this year’s findings. One of the reasons why they love settling down here are the friendly nature of our people.

“Looking for accommodation, organising healthcare and schooling are all easy to do in Malaysia, hence the plus points for expats to move here,” HSBC Bank Malaysia’s Country head for Retail Banking and Wealth Management Lim Eng Seong said.

Once expats settle down, life continues to be positive for most of them where more than half (55 per cent) live in a better property than they would have had in their home country. This group also have the means to take more holidays and 28 per cent of them have more domestic help while 18 per cent even say they donate more to charity.

Now in its tenth year, the HSBC Expat Explorer survey is the world’s largest and longest running study of expat life, asking more than 27,500 expats about their experience abroad.

As well as unveiling the best places in the world to live as an expat, the survey also found that life abroad typically increases expats’ income by 25 per cent, with expats earning just under US$100,000 a year on average.

Far from compromising their wellbeing, expats seem to find the right balance. Four in ten (41 per cent) expats adopt a more positive outlook on life after moving abroad, with 44 per cent becoming more physically active.

The expat experience in Malaysia is also a sociable one with 61 per cent say they found it easy to make friends. This is in comparison to the global figure of 53 per cent and regional figure of 55 per cent.

In terms of active social life, 44 per cent say they have better social lives now than they did at home compared to 31 per cent of all expats around the world and 40 per cent regionally.

For children, Malaysia ranks eight for making new friends and 43 per cent say their children have formed new friendships easily here and overall, 44 per cent of all expats living in Malaysia say they are happier since the move.