This AUSSIE is LEAVING Australia for MALAYSIA 🇲🇾 Here's WHY.

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, I don't get the Western fascination trying to protect
a system that is not working. It's very different the
prices of skyrocket, so they get the same house that
we grew up with. Why do you want to go
to Australia, Oh, don't go there, don't go there. I'm
serious because they see our high salaries, but they're not
considering the taxes and officer in the cost of living.
You're going to live a better quality of life most
of the time here at malays When I was working

(00:21):
in my mid twenties in Sydney, I wasn't really getting anywhere.
I mean just to live a decent life. I mean
to have my own apartment. Wasn't saving much and then
soon as I moved to Malaysia twenty twenty two, my
net worth has exploded.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
On this week's episode of the cast is Living a
broad podcast, I sat down with Jack Calderton, a young
Asie who left Sydney for Kuala Lumpur. He revealed to
me some of his biggest fears before he moved to
Malaysia from Australia. Why he thinks the healthcare system is
crumbling back home in taxes and impletion are killing the

(00:52):
quality of life in Australia and stick around to the
end because he reveals to us how and why his
at worth absolutely exploded after he made them move to
Southeast Asia. But before we get into it, I just
want to think this week's sponsor, Safety Wing Nomad in Churance.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
That was something I worried about when I was moving here.
I was worried about safety. I thought, am I going
to be a target? Am I going to stand out?
People are drunk, are violin I was assaulted in Australia
in Sydney in the middle of the day, which is crazy.
It's like I had all these paranoia. So I'm in
that position now where if you're earning you know, a thousand,
two thousand dollars online, I can get by just fine.
So it doesn't justify working hard, slaving away. What are

(01:34):
you doing it for. People are a little bit skeptical
about they think actually get turned away by it being
too cheap. I don't want just cheap stuff. No, no, no,
you can get all the nice, fancy restaurants here. You
want luxury, you can get luxury, so you can get
the best of both worlds. And I like to call
Malaysia affordable luxury. I think quite a long Bore is
one of the best rental markets in the world in

(01:55):
terms of what you get for the price you get.
If you're a Westerner and you can speak English accent,
you might be in demand in these Asian countries. They
want you for that. Any remote job and it will
cover you here in Southeast Asia absolutely.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
So that's another way to do is to move your
work and income online first, then move yourself over here.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
A good picture and maybe some people get this idea
that it's paradise all the time and it's not. I'm
sure you've had some your biggest struggle, So the biggest
struggle in qual Day, I haven't.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I'm having nice to meet you, so glad to have
you on the castle in a broad past.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Thank you for having me so.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Obviously I found your YouTube channel, But why do you
tell the people listening a little bit about who you
are what you do.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Sure, my name's Jack Alderton. I moved from Sydney to
qual Longpur, Malaysia a bit over three years ago. I'm
working here so I work a corporate job and I've
also started a YouTube channel which I'm looking to take
full time as well, because I love helping you guys.
I love talking to other YouTubers. I love talking about
life in Southeast Asia, and you know, getting energy from
people who are looking to do the same things as
we've done.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
I think so many people listening, people like back home,
whether that's like America, Canada, Australia, and they see the
kind of lives that we have, they see the coast, Yeah,
they think like how can they do it?

Speaker 1 (03:07):
But that's the main thing. It's the cost of living
is the main reason why people want to leave these
legacy brand western countries. You're right, a lot of the
western countries, Canada, US, UK, Australia, they all have a
lot of the similar issues and you see a lot
of the same mindsets coming up with the people there.
They just don't know how to do it.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Spoiler. But anyone who's watched my videos, nos, like I
was probably spending five thousand dollars a month Vietnam, I
spend anywhere from eight hundred to twelve hundred bucks a month.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
YEA, sounds about right.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah, without even trying, my cost of living is twenty
twenty five percent of what it was at shum into
some of that basics. Let's talk about breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
what the daily budget for that is, and then the monthly.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
I'll give you a little background on that. So, yeah, I
used to be I. I studied finance and accounting in Australia.
I was in corporate. I was doing the spreadsheets and
I love tracking everything, so I had There was an
app back in Australia called Pocketbook. I tracked every expense.
I didn't have that in Malaysia. So when I moved,
I started recording every single transaction I've made. So I
have three and a half years of data lined by line,
so thousands of items. I have a spreadsheet, I have

(04:05):
it by month, I have it by topic, so I
mean I can pull out I can pull out the facts,
I can pull out the receipts. I've got everything on
every topic you want in terms of food and breakfast,
lunch and dinner. So I actually get a GRAB allowance
from my workplace, which is an awesome benefit, and I'll
be transparent about that. So that's a good benefit of
working here if you work for a good international company.
So we use GRAB all the time. So one interesting

(04:25):
thing about food and groceries here in Malaysia is I
haven't been to a supermarket in over a year because
I get it delivered to my doorstep every single day.
So I come home from work, I've already ordered it.
It shows up at my door, so super convenient. And
the allowance is fifty ring git a day, so that's
about fifteen US dollars a bit less than that.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, I think the ring it's about like four and
a half four and a quarter four and a half.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, so they'll be twelve thirteen US dollars and that
pretty much covers everything.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Great, So you're eating off twelve or thirteen US dollars
a day basically.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
So my groceries I mostly carnivore diet. I buy meat.
I buy chicken and beef are by the Aussie beef
and it's cheaper here than it is in Australia.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
That's the same in Vina, which is quite.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
Unbelievable how that works. But yeah, that's pretty much what
I do. And then I'll go out, you know, I
like to enjoy myself. I go out. Obviously that costs
a bit more. So if you go to a nice restaurant,
it's going to cost probably similar fifty to sixty ringgit
per person. So you go somewhere nice meal for two
is probably one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty ringgits.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Like that's like, but that's like a date nake, that's
a date nights.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
That's a nice to you know, if you go somewhere cheap,
somewhere local much cheaper, So you're getting a meal for
twenty ringgit max. You know, five US.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
Dollars came in last night with my family, there's five
of us, three adults, two kids. We spent one hundred
ring it for like a big dinner, like we're on holiday,
right we were. Now, we went to some restaurant in
Chinatown and order fantastic I don't know, eight or ten dishes,
love it and it was Yeah, total cost is about
twenty under twenty five dollars.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
You as amazing. Yeah, there's a massive range here. So
that's another thing that people are a little bit skeptical about.
They think actually get turned away by it being too cheap.
I don't want just cheap stuff. No, no, no, you
can get all the nice fancy restaurants here. You want luxury,
you can get luxury, but you can also get the
locals don't eat that. You can get all the local,
authentic food, so you can get the best of both worlds.
And I like to call Malaysia affordable luxury.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yeah, it is, it is, of course, that's what it is.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
It's the developmental step up between Vietnam and Malaysia is
really clear.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
I think so in quite a lumpur. So here specifically,
I'm talking about quite a lumpour. Right now, we're in
Pavilion Book at Bintang, the center of the city, and
this is a touristy area as well, so prices will
be a bit higher. But if you go a bit out,
if you go into the other areas, especially out of
quite a longporur, it's going to be even cheaper, up
to half the price.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
What's the total monthly thirty day food spend.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Food cough my head, about a thousand ringot. So obviously
I'm eating out sometimes I'm ordering the groceries and I
get the grab allowance, so I would allow up to
fifteen hundred ring it a month to cover all your
food and groceries. But I eat well, like I buy
organic stuff. I buy the premium stuff. If you want
to eat the rice, the chicken rice, and the cheap
stuff you could probably eat for five or six hundred

(07:02):
ring good a month.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, so like low end one hundred and fifty dollars,
high end two hundred and fifty to three fifties.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
That sounds about right. Yeah, So it's up to you
to choose your lifestyle.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
It is like and I really don't know Malaysia. Well,
I've been to kal for I think seventy two hours
of my life before yesterday. It's striking to me how developed,
beautiful and quite clean the city is. There's similarities to
somewhere like Bangkok. I'm not not Singapore, but to Bangkok,
but clearly a lot less dense. Bangkok has that real

(07:34):
like big energy people everywhere.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
Different, it's a different vibe. It's a different vibe. Yeah,
you will find a lot of quiet areas in quite
on the poor there's a lot of green and a
lot of beautiful park. After this you get time, should
go for a walk to TRX. So that's the new
latest development by an Australian company. Actually, so I work
in that office building that is like Singapore. That is
a brand new moll. It's fantastic, has the green spaces
Singapore vibes. But I like Malaysia compared to Singapore because again,

(07:59):
you get the best of both world so you can
get all the authentic, cheap stuff and you can also
get the premium high end.

Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, it feels also more laid back than Singapore.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
It is definitely more laid back. So if we want
to compare to other Southeast Asn countries, I love Singapore.
I absolutely love Singapore, but it's very expensive and you're
paying Western prices. So I'd love to go there for
a holiday. But if you want to live longer term,
you're going to get more out of life in Malaysia.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Okay, let's jump into next category. So I think of
this as sort of monthly subscriptions.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Got a subscription category as well for digital subscriptions. Yeah,
I just restarted my Netflix. I've been hustling, so I
haven't been watching Netflix, but I just restarted it. That's
thirty ring good a month, so I mean ten Aussie
dollars in my head, so less than that in US dollars.
Netflix is roughly the same price around the world, I think, but.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, it goes. I think it's like seven to ten.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
It's slightly cheaper here. I also pay you like the
Google Drive, the Goo Google one subscription, so it comes
to one hundred ring good a month for all my
subscriptions total total for digital subscriptions. The gym is covered
by my workplace, so that's another benefit. But I have
looked into the prices, you know, if I was to
pay for it myself, it's actually not that cheat. Gyms
are a bit more expensive here. You're going to pay

(09:10):
a few hundred ring good a month, but you do
get good gyms. You get do get good facilities. And
if you go to a local gym, you're like the
hardcore local and you just want to pay for a
one off entry. You can do that from five to
ten ring it. So if you go to a local,
authentic place, super cheap. But if you want a big
chain like Anytime Fitness of one of those, it's a
few hundred ring good a month. Look for me, it's
for me, it's zero. Another recurring thing. Maybe we'll get

(09:30):
into it with the rent and utilities, but paying electricity
the bills like that, there's a few hundred ring good
a month as well. Depends what building you're in. Some
are more expensive than others. If it's corporate rate, or
residential rate because buildings are categorized as one or the other.
But if you're in a residential place, you're going to
be paying about half the price is corporate. Yeah, it
works out about maybe fifty US dollars a month maximum,

(09:51):
and that's including Yeah, that's internet and electricity. So internet's
another really important one. Internet. I'm paying one hundred and
twenty six ring it a month for high speed internet
three hundred megabits per second. So the Internet is fantastic
in quite a long poor as well. So in Australia
you'll be paying about seventy dollars, which is about two
hundred and fifty ring it for shith house internet. And
then in quite a long poor you're getting much higher

(10:13):
speeds for about half the.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Price, probably a third of that. In Vietnam it's about
ten dollars a month. It's incredibly cheap. The thing about
Vietnam is there's if you're in the right place, yep,
the internet's fantastic. But if you're in the wrong place,
it doesn't matter which provider you have, like service right like,
it's like we'll call it sparty. We'll say the coverage
is party compared to back Home. It's not a monopoly

(10:36):
because it's three companies, but their price fecting now it's
one hundred dollars minimum, one hundred dollars. Next one on
the list is Nightlight.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
I'm not a big night life guy, to be honest.
I'm not a party guy. I'm into fitness. I'm into
early mornings. But the nightlife here is good. So I
will go out for a dinner, I will go out
for a date. I will go out at night. There's
a lot happening. If you come into the city, you
know there's got the clubs. People think as Malaysia is
more conservative, especially compared to Bangkok or Thailand. That's something
if we want to talk about the differences between the
two countries, it's mostly going to be the culture. I

(11:05):
think Malaysia is more family oriented and more conservative, which
is a good and a bad things. Obviously, it's good
for families and good for more mature people, to be honest,
But if you're you and you're a young person, you
want to go partying, then you go You're gonna go
to the Bali, You're gonna go to the Thailand, maybe
even Vietnam. But yeah, Malaysia does have it. It's just
going to be more Chinese oriented because you know Muslims,

(11:26):
they don't drink and everybody, so you're gonna find different places.
I mean, one of the cultures here is the Mummucks,
the Indian Muslim Nasi Kanda, So that's a good place
where people hang out at night for cheap food. So
that's a good hangout spot, Lapac I think they call
it in Malay. There's all bars and clubs everything. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
I walked down some pub street last night and kind
of a mini version of what you get in Thailand
or Vietnam. A lot of expat guys, a lot of
freelancer women.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Actually I tend to avoid those places. So but yeah,
chun Kat is the main street where western foreigners go.
That's the pub street, and then Julana Law is like
the tourist food street, which obviously went to. So you
have to hit those two places. But I wouldn't say
they're the local experience, like locals don't go there. It's
it's a foreign thing.

Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, and that's yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
When we were walking, so we we enjoyed the food
street for is what it is. What it is a
night market and great prices, great.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Food and then yeah, we kind of that.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
I was strolling with my wife, the kids were back
with the you know, the the sitter, and we were
kind of like, oh, okay, so there's this here. Yeah,
you know, this isn't for us, but it's definitely is
that whatever sex path, single guy businessman on vacation vibe.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, that's that does exist too. People think that doesn't
exist exactly, it does. It does exist. You just have
to know where to go and want to find it. And
I'll also point out people put this in my comments.
They're foreigners working there as well. They're not local women.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
Visually noticeable. Yeah, visually noticeable. Everyone in the district seemed
to be a foreigner or or an expair figures. They
did not look like local.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
That's I met up with another loggo from the UK,
So I've met some other guys here. We got some beer.
So alcohol is more expensive in Malaysia, which again good
and bad, you know, so there's less of that sort
of massive drinking culture here, which I much prefer compared
to like Australian nightlife, which is people getting drunk and
violent on the street in the middle of the NFE,
which makes it unsafe for us here it's super wholesomely

(13:22):
and I've gone out at midnight rarely, but when I
go out at midnight, I feel completely safe. I'm not
worried about a thing. So a beer. A beer is
probably up to thirty ring it for a pint, far
more expensive than Thailand or Vietnam, but you can get
it a bit cheaper. I mean, if you go to
the seven eleven's and I like that they have alcohol
in the in the convenience stores, that's the thing you

(13:42):
can drink in the street. I mean that it's pretty
free here. That's another thing about People think it's very
conservative and it's not. You can push it a little bit.
I've never got in trouble once. I'm pretty easy going,
so the nightlife has been pretty chill for me. Kuala
Lumpur is the liberal city. I can't speak for the
rest of Malaysia. If you go into the East coast,
more conservative places do not do that, be respectful, but realistically,

(14:05):
in qual A Lumpur, it's a modern it's a modern city.
You've got a mix of people. You're not going to
have an issue.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Nice okay.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
So let's say we're next in this something a little
bit different, which is maybe it's provided by your workplace.
But medical, dental, health and.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
True favorite topic, it's really important.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Are you a video about this.

Speaker 1 (14:24):
I've done videos about it. I've done a full health
check up in Malaysia. I did a video. One that
popped off for me was healthcare in Malaysia versus Australia.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
Let's link it right here.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Let's link it. And I just ship on Australia because
I'm sick of these Western countries going on about we
have free healthcare. It's bullshit, guys. I'm really passionate about this,
and Canada is probably the same. So universal healthcare, guys,
you're paying for it. Australians are paying high taxes for
this shitty healthcare. You've got a two percent levy for
Medicare and you have to wait to see a doctor,

(14:53):
I mean the public system. Okay, it's fine. You can
go to a GP. You can see a doctor right
then they'll send you to the pharmacies. You've got to
go to the chemist. You wait in line with your script.
Then you have to pay extra for that. It takes
a long time. There's always lines just to see a GP.
Get basic description. You come here boom. You don't have
to wait. You see a GP straight away. I have
health insurance provided by my work, which I'm grateful for,

(15:14):
but even without that will only be a few hundred
ring it a month. And the amazing thing about it, it
covers everything. I haven't had to pay a cent out
of pocket. In Australia, you can pay for private health
insurance hundreds of dollars a month and every time you
go to use it, you'll be paying hundreds of dollars.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Bounce that.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
So you're paying the premiums and you're paying unless the
doctor bolk bills that's what they call in Australia. You're
paying above the charge and if you want to see
a specialist doctor through your private health insurance, it's going
to take your months to get an appointment. It's unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, So that Vietnam, I think the healthcare isn't at
the level of like Thailand or Mexico, where people, I mean,
especially like my audience, a lot of older sometimes retired people,
digital nomad types. Yeah, you should check on Malisia. I mean,
that's why we're talking about it. They have that experience
where for a more affordable cost, they can pay out

(16:04):
of pocket for a better experience or a better.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, so you can either. If you're live in here
long term, you can get the insurance which covers everything.
So I blew my mind. So when I hurt my
shoulder and my knee, I went to the specialist, didn't
an appointment, just rocked up, saw the specialist. He sent
me for an MRI. I went downstairs, got the MRI,
and then I came back and I saw the specialist
again in a few hours. In Australia, that process would
take weeks at the very best, and it would cost
hundreds so if not a thousand dollars, whereas here it

(16:30):
was was free like it was covered by the insurance,
and I saw it in a few mind blowing to me.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
I had knee surgery at a French operated hospital in Vietnam,
a holdover from Colonia. There's those Franco viet hospitals they
called them, and then there's also Vinmac, which is owned
by the richest man in Vietnam, the Vin fast car guy. Right,
they both have incredible top tier service English speaking. Any

(16:54):
international healthcare coverage, like, for example, if you use what
I used to use as a traveler, Safety with I
use Safety Wing's Essential Plan every time I travel around
Southeast Asia to film this show, and not just for
medical stuff.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
You also get up to five.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Hundred dollars per luggage item lost, three thousand dollars if
your checked luggage disappears, five thousand dollars for tripped interruptions.
I mean this stuff can come in super handy if
my camera equipment or recording gear goes missing, or if
I get stuck and have to reschedule an episode. If
it sounds good to you, use this QR code over

(17:30):
my shoulder to sign up now, or check the link
pinned in the comments and at the top of the
descriptions for this episode. Now, let's get back to Jack
and find out how his net worth exploded in Southeast Asia.
But any of that stuff is going to cover you,
and you're gonna get like top hole stuff right And
like you say, I mean, I've had experience. I twice

(17:50):
blew out my knee rock climbing. Second time at depth
surgery appointment on Monday. You got your MRI right like today,
you go ahead, you know, follow up appointment later that
afternoon the next day with the knee specialist. Was you know,
considered the best knee specialist. Yeah, he looks at it
as like, here's the options. You know you want surgery,

(18:11):
I'm having my surgery with I think for me it
was within a week or eight days and like under
the knife eight days later, you know, incredible service the
whole thing. At the time, I was still covered by work.
My insurance paid six hundred dollars us I paid six
hundred dollars you ask, And that was actually one of
the reasons why I dropped my health insurance. So I
was like, oh, if it's not just gonna pay for
the twelve hundred dollars, I'm not paying my premium anymore.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
That's right. I mean, this was gonna say that if
you don't have the insurance, I mean, it's affordable to
just touch for it, whereas in a Western country it
wouldn't be.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yes, mine was like one hundred dollars a month premium
that I'd had my work had covered it for X
amount of time, but you could also just opt out.
And I was like, oh, forget that, like because realistically
it was a fantastic arthroscopic knee surgery. As a forty
year old, what am I gonna have that's gonna cost
more than that, like nothing, that's that's the I.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
Guess that's right.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, there's a young guy I would I'm probably gonna
drop it if if I leave work, I don't leave it.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
Let's wait for it.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Sorry, what were you saying about the health health insurance?

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, so even if you're just without insurance, just paying
for it, you can do it. And I mean my
dad's sixty, so he's retired sixty and he saw me
get a full health check up here in Malaysia, and
I mean just paying for that was seven hundred ringer
to get all the tests everything done. I do that
once a year. It was covered by work. But I
mean that's the price, seven hundred ring it. Yeah, so
if you're in Australia, to get something like that would

(19:30):
cost seven hundred dollars minimum, probably double that. And for
many of you, it will actually be cheaper for you
to fly to Southeast Asia, get all your medical tests
done here, have a holiday and fly home for less
than the price of getting the medical done at home.
So why not.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (19:45):
I had a full, complete medical class, a bunch of
additional blood work. Yeah, I have, I have like a
irate condition like genetic hud it or whatever twenty years.
So I think it was like an additional three or
four tests that I got done just to check all
my blood levels. It was two hundred dollars and like
top whole service English speaking doctor, foreign educated. It's was

(20:07):
like one hundred for the original annual checkup, an additional
one hundred for the blood test. And the doctor was like,
you're paying out a pocket. Oh, we'll sort this out.
So you're bill smaller man. And I'm being like, well,
that's lovely, it's very fine, but.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Like it too.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
And I have a I have a member's only video
where I walk like blog style, I walk into a
pharmacy in Vietnam. In Vietnam, the pharmacist can write scripts
and it comes from basically like certain rural areas are
underserved by doctors, so the pharmacist is educated and is
allowed to just like you don't need a doctor. You
just walk in, tell them your problem, tell them what
you're looking for, and they can provide you as long

(20:46):
as it's not like a narcotics As long as it's
not a narcotic, non condoting drugies looking for a fix,
so like, as long as it's not an narcotic. They
can provide whatever you need. And I've walked in and
we've like just standing there with the pharmacist go through
the entire list that like the twenty most common prescription
drugs in the world, whether it's like arthritis, thyroid, liver stuff,

(21:07):
kidney stuff like viagra, and we literally just go like
drug by drug throughout the costs and it's like a
literal fraction. They're like five to ten or twenty percent
of the cost that.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
Would be much cheaper. Yeah, that's another point, and you
just walk it, and you just walk. I've never really
been to a pharmacy here because when you go to
a GP, they also they also give you the medicare.
There's a dispensering at the GP, so you just go
to the doctor. They'say, I'll write you up the thing,
and then you just go to the counter and get
your medication and go home. So it saves you a
lot of time. In Australia you have to go to
a separate pharmacy and all these different things. So that's

(21:39):
super convenient. And then people would say maybe they over
prescribe and maybe they give you more than you need,
but you know, use your.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
Brain just you know, well on America is famous for
our prescribing.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
Courts, right, then that's it. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, I mean I really think that, and that is
the thing that people come at you in the comments, right,
don't attack Canada's healthcare. Don't do that. Our healthcare is
our prime possession. But it's like, honestly, you're not getting
good service.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
I don't Yeah, I don't get the Western fascination trying
to protect a system that is not working.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
It's at least it's certainly no longer the best of
the best.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
It's not.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
It might work okay, but it's not.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
For some people some of the time. But I mean
you're you're you're forced to pay for it and you're
not getting the benefits, especially if you're a young person.
You're paying for the older people to rat the system.
And I mean in Australia we have the ndis the
Disability Scheme, which is a big controversial issue the Australian
elections today. I'm Canada's had election as well. So what
are you guys doing? Why are you voting for the
same problems that that cause what you have? So in Australia,

(22:40):
you have the nd S, which is a disability scheme
which obviously has a very important purpose, but it's set
up wrong. It's just being roarted by these providers that
are claiming all this money. It's bankrupting the country. People
are putting them. There's medical care for people who don't
really need it. It's all a scam that. I mean,
you've got an aging population, You've got young people now
who are working to support these older people who are

(23:03):
the ones with all the wealth. They're sitting on the housing.
The boomers have all the houses. I think it's the
same Toronto Vancouver are very expensive. Who owns those houses?
Rich older people? And it's crazy. In Australia, they're still
getting the pension. These rich people in fifty million dollar
houses can still claim the pension because the house doesn't
count as an asset. And the young people who are
struggling to get a job, struggling to pay their rent,

(23:25):
having to pay the taxes to support these people.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
It's a wealth transfer.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
These young people are leaving the country. The incentive is
not to say so that's going to collapse. And then
who are they replacing the young people with foreigners they're
bringing in Its immigration on a massive level, which is
just driving up the house prices and putting more pressure
on the system even.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
And it's like the economic aspect of it, it's cyclical,
so it's going to get worse, not better.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
Right.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
The only way as it fixed is if there's a
literal crash, like it's inevitable, we're going to finish with
rent and talking about housing and condos and qualumy obviously
that's the hot topic. Yeah, the most interesting aspect. First
we siught they had transportation, shopping and then any kind
of Southeast Asia travel, which I know you do on
your channel. So let's talk about transportation. How do you

(24:08):
get around the city?

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Transportation in Kuala Lompur is amazing. So we've got the MRT,
so the underground metro system, the train, the driverless train, fantastic,
some of the best in the world if you're on
that line. So there's the LRT which is the above
ground train and the MRT which is below. So I
would recommend if you come to Kuala Lumpur, if you
come to Malaysia, stay on the green or the yellow

(24:29):
MRT line going through all the main places KOCC. You know,
it goes all the way down to Poutra Jaya, which
is the government city. But if you're on that line,
it is a world class and it's super cheap. So
I go to and from work on the MRT. It
costs one ring at fifty each way, so I mean,
I don't even notice it. And then anywhere, so I'm

(24:49):
doing that every day, and then if I need to
go somewhere else, you can get a grab so grab.
I mean, it gets more expensive in peak times, but
if you're just going normal, if you time your trip,
it's not much at all. I mean, and get max.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
My grab over here was sixteen or seventeen ring and it
was like least than for.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
It a uber in Australia. Not feasible for the average
person to be you ubering everywhere in my opinion, But
you come to somewhere like here and it's it's it's easy,
easy going.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
There is still some later some air pollution, some huge
issues here, but it is noticeably less than Vietnam. And
I think the topic, that's the obvious answer. The obvious
why is because there's great public trans.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah, the public transport. Yeah. People ask about the pollution
and the topic. I love the weather here, It is
a little overcast. That's the only thing I would say.
I loved having the sun, so when you do get
a rare sunny day, it's beautiful, but over I love
the weather in quite a longpour. It's warm, it's tropical,
and it's the same year round, and you get a
predictable rain. It rains in the afternoon. I'm sure Vietnam
is very similar. You know when it's going to rain.

(25:47):
It's not a problem for me. I'm usually at the office.
Pollution is noticeably less pollution here than Thailand and Vietnam
if you actually look at the data and the statistics.
Quite longpour is actually pretty good compared to the other
Southeast And.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
You know what they're like sort of and we're kind
we're kind of a popic, but there is I think
like Bangkok and Annoy are some of the highest hotium
in city where we laugh for Denie.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
So we now live in a coastal beach.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Now people talk about Denine's.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Beautiful, it's and it's it never goes over, sort of
like forty AQI. There was some sort of fire recently
and that's a huge part of your budget, right, a
huge part of your travel.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, yeah, so I mean to look at the overall figure.
So my I've spoken about in this my video is
but I roughly spent about nine thousand ring at a month,
including about two and a half thousand for travel. So
I travel a fair bit whenever I can. I get
a lot of leaf from work, and that includes going
back to Australia and all those expenses for about a
month every year as well. And those are the most
expensive flights. If we're looking at travel around Southeast Asia,

(26:43):
it's cheap. You've got air Asia, I mean, I think
is based here. Air Asia is quite a long, poor based.
It's an Malaysian company. A flight is like two hundred
ring max. It's a bargain. So you're spending only a
few hundred dollars maximum on flights flying here is amazing.
You've also got scooped via Singapore obviously, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines.

(27:04):
I just got an absolute bargain on Malaysia Airline flights to
and from China. I've got to China, so yeah, so
that'll be an interesting before I've never been I've been
to Hong Kong and Taiwan, but I've never been to
mainlandlands oh man, I'm flying there maybe when this video
is up, so I'm excited.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
That's beautiful.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
The visa costs, so yeah, most places to travel are
visa free. I've never really.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
Had What kind of visa you're on, Malisa, good question.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
So I'm on the work visa, the EP, which is
provided by work, so if you do get something like that,
if you're working here, it won't be out of your pocket.
Your your workplace should cover that. So that hasn't cost
me anything otherwise. The other visas you're looking at is
the tourist visa here, which is for Westerners, is free
and no documents. It's just on arrival. So that's one
of the benefits of Malaysia. You get three months off

(27:49):
the ghost no worries it all. There is a digital nomad,
the Duranteo Visa, which people go through and apply, and
I think that does cost a little bit, but the
general recommendation is don't bother with that unless you're going
to stay, unless unless you really need the documentation for
some reason. The other big one is the MM two
h feesia, which is like the retirement house visa, right, yeah,
so the buy house visa. So this is they've upped

(28:10):
the requirements. It's going to cost a lot. It's not
cheap at all. So you have to invest in a home,
You have to buy a property worth at least a
million ring it and you're gonna have to have a
deposit of one hundred and fifty thousand US dollars as well.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
So on top of that, on top of that, unbeknownst
to most people, and I man, do I get flag
for it in the comments? Because Vietnam has no actual
retirement visa. People think you can retire there. There's one
hundred thousand expats living in Vietnam full time, and the
investor visa options are actually a lot.

Speaker 3 (28:40):
Cheaper than that.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, And the crazy thing about the Vietnam one, which
is sort of you shouldn't even you should have to
call me to get this information.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
Seriously, you can spend it.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Right, So you bring in one hundred hundred and twenty
thousand over your business, that's money that literally goes into
the rent and the operation business, understand, which is like
nothing that's right like compared to it. You try to
open a restaurant, fucking sorry in Sydney. Yeah, you're gonna
have to spend one hundred thousand dollars to renovate the
bathroom way, right, which is the same thing that happens

(29:09):
in Toronto.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
You're gonna spend fifty.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
Thousand dollars on fees, regulations, and paperwork before you pay
your first month rent. The like expensiveness of this investors.
In Vietnam, it's not expensive because you're allowed to use
the money.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
Yeah, I would say in Vietnam if you're looking to
do that, I mean, Vietnam is it's I guess it's
behind the Malaysia in a lot of ways, but that's
much more favorable. Is super one friendly, business friendly. If
you can do that, you're getting in early. I think
they'll probably change that in the future, but it's designed
that way to attract one.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
Hundred people there.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
That's a good thing.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
It's open for business, right, take advantage.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
So, and what it has happened is has gone up,
like I think it was forty thousand and then eighty thousand,
and now it's one hundred and twenty thousand.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
But like a huge The actual.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
Biggest XPIP group in Vietnam is Koreans, and it's all
that it's like young to middle aged Korean guys to
come over with whatever that amount of money, which it's
three billion Vietnamese dollar, they open a business, you know,
usually learn a bit of a local language, meet a
local wife, and like that's it.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
They're good to go, right, and they're not going anywhere.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
They're The point of these visas is like, and that's
the point of the system. They don't want someone to
come and leave. You're coming with that amount of money,
and then you're in. You're good to go, right, and
the money's staying. It's used to the economy, right.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
But in terms of the like the Vietnam, like there's
no retirement visa, but people live there.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
Just just go in and well, people do visa runs.
But that's I mean, look, use the consulting link. The
visa run thing is a joke. The only reason you
would do that is if a sorry, you can come
out in the comments you're broke. If you're broke, fine,
but if you're broke, you shouldn't be retiring Southeast Asia
or if you're wintering. Okay, because it's it's ninety day

(30:47):
visa runs yep. So if you do six months a
year in Vietnam, you only have to do one visa
run okay, And if that's your situation, then it's perfect.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
Right.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
You show up your first ninety days twenty literally twenty five,
which is what is that one hundred bring it? Yeah,
that's right, twenty five dollars for your first ninety views. Yea,
ninety days in, you take a weekend in Bangkok, ballport wherever, coast,
one hundred bucks. You get a little vacation, do some chopping,
you go back another twenty five dollars visa.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
Right.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
So if you're in a temporary three to six months position,
absolutely you need nothing.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
It's easy as pie to retire.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
Because that's what a lot of my guys are looking at.
I mean, if you're just wanting to travel around, you
can base yourself in Vietnam. You can base yourself in
quite a lumpur and then travel to these other places
as well, which is probably what I'm going to look
at doing. But if you want to settle permanently or
for a long time in one place, then you will
need to look at maybe these other.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
Ways and then yeah, and if you're permanent, you should
have the money to invest in a business, invest in
a house in Vietnam. You're never going to own anything
other than a unit, right, And there's a quota on
the building so that only thirty percent of units can
be owned by foreigners, which means those seventy percent allocated
to viet Theamese are cheaper. Yeah, sure, because it's double

(32:00):
the supply, right, so the thirty percent more there is
a sort of a foreigner tax or levvy, right Whereas
like maybe the foreigner type unit in the building is
going to sell for two hundred thousand, still incredibly affordable,
but the locals are going to be able to buy
a similar unit for one hundred and thirty.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
That makes sense. So here there is no limit on
you can buy anywhere. But since there's a one million
ring at minimum price for foreign purchasing, quale longpoor, it's
probably going to they're going to push it up to
that price, so it meets the minimum.

Speaker 3 (32:27):
A little bit more costly to enter this market.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Guys, It depends what you want. I mean, a lot
of people are going to be more favorable in Malaysia.
It's a Commonwealth country. Most people who speak English, so
a lot of people you got to find that more
favorable for business. I know a lot of people will
find it overwhelming to go to Vietnam. It seems like
a completely different culture in place, So it's not for everyone.
You know more about that than me. But if you're
looking for, as they call it, Southeast Age, are on
easy mode. That's what Malayser is. You can come here

(32:51):
settling in no worries, speak English.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
A lot of my audience too, a lot of them
the Americans think about the Philippines as that. Yeah, for
a certain kind of guy or a woman, a retire
order person, Malaysia is probably a better option than the Philippines.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
I think it's definitely a better Philippins is hacktic. I've
been to Manila, which doesn't represent the whole country, but dude,
I'm not going back. It's it's more mental. I mean,
just the transport just you can't get a grab like
if it's too difficult, there's no public transport. If you
compare quale a longpor to Manila, Like, no, I don't
think anyone would be picking Manila in my honest Yeah,
Philippines is a beautiful place. Otherwise, I mean I'd go

(33:29):
for the beaches and the islands and the people are lovely, Yes, absolutely,
people are absolutely lovely, but Yeah, Manila Philippinos are lovely,
but you're probably not going to pick there.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
Okay, So let's tap off the budget monthly expensive breakdown
with basically what we've just been talking about. What everybody
really wants to know. What kind of place do you get?
How about your cast? What's the rent in.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
So I just looked for a new apartner's move into
a new condo, so that means a new condo too
is coming. Those are the ones that off on my channel.
You guys love it. I think quite a Lopur is
one of the best rental markets in the world in
terms of what you get for the price you get
and the location that you're in. Yeah, I think quite
a Longpur is one of the best property markets in

(34:13):
the world. Certainly one of the best rental markets in
terms of what you get for the condo and the
location and the infrastructure around it. So my lease I
just signed twelve months lease is three thousand ringgit a month,
which might seem expensive, but I've got a two bedroom,
two bathroom, brand new building right in the center of
the city, one state, right next to the train station
which is on that MRT line, one stop away from

(34:35):
TRX where I work. It's the premium location right opposite
a shopping center. I've got everything at my doorstep. You
can't beat it. I'm telling you. I've looked at all
different places. So you're looking at between two and four
thousand ring at a month for a banger place.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
Which is under like what four fifty USD under five.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
Road from under five hundred USD up to seven hundred USD.
So I've always rented within that price range, about three
thousand ring get a month. The first place I rented
was Aria Luxury Residences, which is right on the Embassy
Street where or the opposite the US Embassy actually, so
that was three thousand, two hundred ring get a month.
I believe about seven hundred US dollars a month.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
Thirty two hundred seven fifty one, yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Seven fifty one. I mean the exchange rate has changed
a little bit since then. And then I moved into
a two bedroom, two bath near Campungbaru called Setia Sky
with the beautiful infinity pool. Everything also right on the
MRT line. That's what you're paying for. If you go
further out, it can be up to half the price,
but I recommend you stay on the MRT line just
for ease of use. So those are approximately the price

(35:39):
around three thousand ring it for a two bedroom, two baths.
You can get a studio if you just want a
studio by yourself, I mean way cheaper from two fifty
three hundred US dollars.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yeah, no problem for that. Three hundred to maybe seven hundreds.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
A massive range. There's an oversupply of apartments here. You
have so much choice. I mean, I've only looked at
I have my criteria. I need a pool that needs
to have a gym need this time. It needs to
have two bedroom too bath. It needs to be on
the MRT station. But if you can sacrifice those things,
if you want a bigger place, you want a three
four bedroom duplex further.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
Out like an older and an older an older place.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
Well, just just further out, not via the MRT line.
If you want to drive. One of my favorite places
in quite a long poor is Desert Park City. It's
like a dog park area. A lot of expats live there.
It's about twenty minutes away from the city, but you're
getting fantastic greenery that suburban up there. The only reason
I'm around the city center is because I work here.
If I wasn't stuck here for work, I would probably
move somewhere like that.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
You know, my wife and I are always thinking about
will we move somewhere else when the kids are a
bit older, because education, for quality education in the ARM
is extremely unaffordable. I mean, that's my industry. I was
a teacher for seventeen years. I ran a department at
an international school of Viennam. I know this, okay, because
the private education there is it's not for the one percent,
it's for like the point zero zero zero one percent.

(36:55):
There's great education public, there's good bilingual education, but for
like top tier you know, you're like international backfloriate type
curriculum talk twenty to thirty thousand USD a year pre chiles.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
Exactly what you're paying Singapore, right, yeah, right.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
And Singapore and Hong Kong are very different economies than exactly.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
Wow, that's that's more than I thought.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
We look at places like later Yeah, exact.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
There's a lot of international schools here. And I spoke
to a family who are living in Panang, so they're
paying about two thousand ring in a month for a
beachside beautiful condo. So that's that's a different perspective as well.
Panang is a bit cheaper than quite a long poor.
They're homeschooling their kids, which I thought was very interesting.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
People do that in the Nang.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
Yeah right, and they're loving it. They think it's got it.
They've got a good online curriculum and they're loving it.
But there are a lot of options. There's an Australian
International school here which I want to do a video
with them as well to remote that because I'm sure
you're getting better quality education here at one of these
international schools than you know, a public school back in Australia.
I don't think that's cracked up. And they're private schools

(37:55):
back in Australia are insane. I went to one. I'm
lucky for that. But now the prices are unbelievable. It's
not even it's not feasible at all.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
So okay, amazing, Well let's do it. What's the total number?
How much does it cost for Jack? And I mean
you're living good, man, I'm living good. This is definitely
a luxury life, that's right.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
So as I say, guys, I mean, Malaysia can be
as cheap and expensive as you want it to be.
So I share my real data. I share my experience
as a young man who.

Speaker 4 (38:23):
Moved here to live a good life. I didn't come
here to cheap out and save a lot of what.
I'm saving a lot of money, and I'm living a
good balance lifestyle. Right If I want to go so
some months, I spend double. Sometimes I go hard. If
I'm traveling a lot, you know, I spend up. But
if I'm just if I'm in Malaysia for a month,
I'm not doing any travel, maybe I'm spending five six

(38:43):
thousand ring I would say that's the number.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
So twee maximum maximum is based in kale and that's
still eating good groceries maximum. Someone messaged me on Instagram.
They go, hey, I'm Jack, I'm ousy. I'm coming to Malaysia.
I have a five thousand dollars a month budget. What
can I get? I'm like, don't even you don't need
to ask, you don't even.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
Worry about it.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Like you're a baller, you will I'm just yeah, I
mean you're a bowler, and half your money can go
back into investments and collect dividends.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
Right exactly.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
But whereas in Australia, five thousand dollars a month. I mean,
certainly you're just getting by.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
I'm retired because I did what you did. I moved
to Vietnam geo arbitrage by making basically the same salary
I was at home in Vietnam, but I had health
insurance everything, same thing package everything, I.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
Will cover you. Yeah, I mean, so I'm seriously thinking
about retiring early as well.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
Remote right, Yeah, So.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
I'm in that position now where if you're earning you know,
a thousand, two thousand dollars on line, I can get
by just fine. So it doesn't justify working hard, slaving away.
What are you doing it for? So so when I
was working in yeah, my mid twenties in Sydney, I
wasn't really getting anywhere, I mean just to live a
decent life. I mean, I had my own apartment, I
wasn't saving much. And then as soon as I moved
to Malaysia twenty twenty two, my net worth has exploded.

(39:58):
So I'm going to do a video on that. You
should absolutely no brainer. If you can get that opportunity
and be in that position, do it because you can
always go back. That's a crazy you know. I've realized
my back my backup plan and I can go back
to home to Australia. I can get a good job.
I have now international experience overseas. That's only going to
get me a better job. It's not a bad backup option.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
I have a couple friends, you know, and I'm in
my forties and a bit older, like I have a
couple of friends, like you know, married friends with kids
like me, who have sort of done well, succeeded all
the home that's worth two million dollars two point five
million dollars and they have a thing where them It's like, yeah,
we've made it, We're rich. But the weirdest thing about it,
with my sort of outside of jack perspective, is that

(40:40):
it's like you have the exact same quality of life. Yeah,
all of us used to have. That's right, that's true,
but now you think of yourself as being rich or
like a smaller percentage of population. But they literally live
in the exact same houses in the exact same neighborhood
that I grew up in.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
Exact same scenario in Australia.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
People who live on literally the street I grew up
on when I was a kid, where my parents had
a house that was like three hundred thousand dollars. Their
house is now two and a half or three million dollars,
and they're like, I'm rich. I made it. I am
a high powered lawyer. My wife and I both work
in finance. Whatever we've done, really we started a really
successful business.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
We're millionaires.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
And I'm like, bro, you have the exact same quality
of life that my lower middle class parents had.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
That's a good way to put a sub that I
grew up with. It's gotten worse, I mean because now
they've put up all these apartments Castle Hill, if you know,
East Northwest Sydney Hills district. So it used to be
a nice family area. Yeah, now it's just got pumped
with immigration. So it's an Indian area now, which is
not bad. I'm not going to that, but it's different.
It's very different. The prices of skyrocketed so to get

(41:44):
the same house there. We grew up with exact same scenario,
but now it's also more congested. It's gotten worse.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
To services it out. So I don't know much. I
haven't been back in quite a while now about immigration
and housing Canada, but I do know that the immigrants
who came to Canada before in the seventies, eighties, nineties.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
It's a different demographic.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
They came to a place that was probably one of
the best places in the world to live legitimately then
and had real incredible opportunities. Yeah, and I think most
of the immigration coming to Canada now it is most
from India. I think their opportunities are shiit Like I
think they're getting a bad deal.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
I agree, that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Like they're getting to Canada and it's not a good
deal for them.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
And that's what I tell you people. So people find
this shocking. I tell Malaysians, why do you want to
go to Australia, No, don't go there. Don't go there,
Like I'm serious, because they see a high salary, but
they're not considering the Texas. They're not considering the living.
You're going to live a better quality of life most
of the time here in Malaysia.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
A lot of people talk about Vietnam as being one
of the most safest places in the world for solo
travers Felo taylers, with the exception of traffic. I think
that's one hundred percent true. The traffic is chaos, but
there's almost the level of crime and violence is solo.
It's like I think it's one in one hundred thousand.
Is the murder right, which is.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
Like a very teeny tiny.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
What's it like in Malaysia? Do you feel safety or
do you think the level of safety and qualuing war
is good?

Speaker 3 (43:03):
Medium?

Speaker 1 (43:03):
I think I think it's extremely safe. I mean again,
I can only speak from my personal experience, and when
I interview people, I like speaking to women to get
their perspective because I do think women have a different experience.
But that was something I worried about when I was
moving here. I was worried about safety. I thought, am
I going to be a target? Am I going to
stand out? If I'm going to have the designer bag
or my style? Thought? Am I going to get jumped?
Like I had all these paranoia.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
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(43:45):
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(44:07):
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Speaker 1 (44:17):
Of course, the opposite was true. I mean maybe people
are intimidated by me. I don't know, but I've had
zero problem with safety. I've gone out late at night,
absolutely no problem. I mean people said the police here
were dodgy and we're try to you know nothing. I
haven't been spoken to about police officer once. So in
three and a half years, absolutely safe. Nothing has happened
to me. I mean alcohol, yeah, no, it's less of

(44:37):
a problem. I think that's a big thing in the West.
If you go out, you go into the night life
place where people are drunk are violin. I was assaulted
in Australia in Sydney in the middle of the day,
which is crazy, whereas nothing like that has happened here.
There's far less drugs as well, so in my experience.
I can't speak on behalf of everyone. I would say
one good thing now here they have on the trains

(44:58):
they have a women's only section, which the women love
it because they feel like they have their own sections
around other women, they feel safer, So I think that's great.
But it's a safe place. I don't know what else
to say.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
A lot of the stereotypes of things that people in
the West have about coming to Southeast Asia, there's a
lot of it's true not true.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
The traffic is another one. I would say, the driving here,
it's definitely less safe. It is, that's just my nature
of it being more free and the way people speed.
And another one is the drunk driving is covered up.
That's one thing that's a bit of a conspiracy, but
a lot of people do it. So here you can't
have any alcohol zero, but so many people drive, I

(45:38):
mean after having a dress, so when they have an
accident or something happens, they pay off the police and
therefore it's not reported in the statistics. So that that's
the only thing I would comment that is a little
bit under the cover. But having said that, I've had
no problem with that. I don't do that.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
Not an everyday issue. What about language barrier? So my
experience coming in from the first on the Great Express
train from the airport and then hop it into a
grab car at Kale Central to the hotel, we're saying
I had been ten the driver.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
I was sitting in the front seat with the driver.
The family was in the back.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
We were chatting, and he was cracking joke in English
and being funny the whole time. And like, I absolutely
love Vietnam. My biggest struggle in Vietnam has been and
continues to be learning the language.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
So I'm terrible at languages. I've tried learning a few,
a little bit hopeless. I can't do it.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Man. So I was a language teacher, and people, especially
when you're Donna actually watched the video crap on me,
being like you should have learned vaut after six years.

Speaker 3 (46:37):
You're terrible. Man.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
I'm fluent in like English, Spanish, French, I know a
bit of German, I picked up some Mandarin. I was
literally a language teacher a whole life. Terrible, Yet I'm
still like, just like basic functionality, you.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
Tried more than me. I'm terrible at all languages. So
that's a really important topic for me. Because if I
went to a country where I couldn't speak the language
I had to learn, I would be struggling. But I'm
telling you, as someone who cannot speak another language, that
Malaysia I have zero problem or next to zero problem.
I mean in the city, in most in ninety nine
percent of places you go, people speak English at least
enough to understand. So that's why they say Malaysia is

(47:13):
Southeast Asia are on easy mode. You can come here,
you can speak to everyone and there's no language barrier,
not a problem.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
And look, yeah, the pros, the things that are so
great about Vietnam and the quality of life and class
living there far away anything else. But you know, one
of the reasons when I am consulting with people are
helping people relocate to Vietnam.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
That's what you need help with.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
It's hard doing all the paperwork in a different language,
finding a place to live with a landlord in a
different language yep, or hiring staff for employees and people
in a different language, socializing. That's real. That's a real barrier.
And I don't you know, sugar quote that are lia about.
That's it's a real barrier. And that's what you do
need help.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
With Yeah, and people say that about Thailand as well.
I mean a lot of guys go to Bali too,
and the language went there a few months ago. The language,
the Bahasa, is much more dominant than English in Malaysia,
So in Malaysia everything can be in English if you
want it to be. So, honestly, no struggle.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
How do you meet people here? How do you socialize?
How do you find friends, dating, etc.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Yeah, interesting topic and something I've covered more on my channel.
I've had my low moments here. I have felt lonely,
which is you're going to get in any country when
you move and you don't have a family with you,
so that's different. I'm a single young man, so when
I came to Malaysia, my outlet to meet people was dating.
You get excited by the women in Southeast Asia, and
I had some crazy experiences probably those first six months
of moving here. I was, you know, the hot target,

(48:33):
and it was at some good times. But then after
that I wanted to settle down and I got into
a serious long term relationship which has just ended. So
now I've had to sort of get back out there
and reassess my life and the people I meet. So
working here was a big benefit because I have I
worked for an international company, so I've met people from
like a hundred different countries under the same roof, which

(48:55):
is phenomenal. I'm actually the only person probably in the
entire company that can only speak one wage, so I'm
the loser. But they use me for videos and presenting
because they want the native English accent. So that's something.
If you're a Westerner and you can speak native English accent,
you might be in demand in these Asian countries. They
want you for that. But has opened my eyes to
a lot of different cultures. A lot of them are

(49:16):
from Africa, from other Asian countries, from Europe, a lot
of Russians and Ukrainians as well. The head office for
our companies in Cyprus, so I've gone some trips there. Yeah,
so I've got.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
To you if you want to talk about what you
do for work.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
Yes, I'm a content producer for a forex broker. So
it's been an excellent job. It's got me into making
the videos, presenting on camera, writing scripts. But what they
really valued is that, Yeah, I'm a native Australian speaker,
so that got me the inn there and now I've
become quite well known within that company and online as
well because they use me for the videos. So that's
been great. I think that'll come to an end soon

(49:50):
and I'll have to go on my next journey where
I you know, have to socialize again by myself. So
I've met some other creators here. So my best friend
at the moment with Daryl Solas. He's in my videos
or he might link his description below. He's a British
guy living in Malaysia. He just left. He left Scotland
wanted to find a better life. He tried going to Australia,
had the same struggles and then decided to come back

(50:11):
to kl He's visited Thailand and he's visited Viennam, but
he loves Malaysia the best, so he settled here. So
you know, we live, we live a good life here
and it's been great to meet like minded people. So
I think first step is fine people in the same
situation as you. Doesn't don't be from the same country
as you, but you know, I think we could relate
a lot as well just by being creators and having
that life style. So that's one thing you want to

(50:31):
do if you want to connect with other expats. I mean,
go to the expat areas, go Changkat, go to the
bar street. You'll find other white people.

Speaker 2 (50:38):
You just start talking from begin English speaking English about dating.
Did use the online dating apps because like, yeah, married,
but the only way to find I think you can
talk to people. But the majority of Vietnamese women aren't
really interested in dating foreigners, and okay, good for them.

Speaker 3 (50:53):
They don't have to be.

Speaker 2 (50:54):
So the way to meet a local woman is to
go on in English dating class, right, like Vietnam Cupid
or Bumble or whatever or something like that, because that's
where there's the women who are interested in peigners are
going to be actively on sites like that.

Speaker 1 (51:08):
Right exactly, that's true. So yeah, you know, I was
an expert in the dating apps back in the day.
I'm trying to get it going again. But yeah, Tinder
and Bumble are the way to go. They're the most
popular ones. Is also Coffee Meats, Bagel and a few
other more serious sites like that. You will find, Yeah,
a lot of women on there. Probably Bumble is the
best one. I'd recommend Bumble, and not necessarily for relationship

(51:30):
and not for short term either, I mean just to
meet friends. Go on there meet with the local women.
So a big thing here. I mean I try and
avoid religion and politics, but it's an important factor. But
it's important factor. So in Malaysia majority Muslim, So if
you're looking as a foreigner not Muslim, if you're looking
for a serious relationship, you're not going to be dating
the Muslim women. So sixty percent of the pool is

(51:52):
out of there, right and a good way to look
at it. If they're wearing a huge jab, respect that
you're not. You're just not going to just don't mess
with that. But the other pool, the other forty percent
are going to be quite open to daily foreigners and
you're going to be open. But if you could meet
any of them, I've had some great conversations with Muslim women, fantastic,
you learn their culture as long as you're respectful. It's
been great to open my eyes and they learn a

(52:13):
lot from you as well. So I've had a lot
of wholesome experiences and made a lot of friends through
doing that.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
Yeah, well, and I've noticed that so my first act
by experiences in Mexico. This tattoos maximum, but it's also Catholic.
I have a Catholic background, I've know a lot of
churches too, like little like there's right outside where I'm saying,
there's a big, beautiful cathedral.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
So it I think it's yes, it's an Islamic nation,
but it's also a misnomer I think to think that
it's just Islamic. I mean relative to other countries in
Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, it's really multicultural.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
It's very multiculture.

Speaker 3 (52:46):
That's super like.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
That's the best thing about Kuala Nonpore specifically is that everyone,
not everyone, but mostly people get on very well. You know,
we celebrate all the different holidays. I love celebrating the
Indian Dipper Valley. You know, they get me to dress
up in the Indian stuff at work. I love that.
Whereas that I wouldn't be able to do that in Australia,
that would that would cause a problem here where the
Chinese outfit Chinese New Year obviously at Harry Ryer the

(53:09):
Muslim holiday as well. Everyone gets into it. Everyone celebrates
these other culture I think that's the best thing about
it here.

Speaker 3 (53:15):
And that's patiful.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
What do you want that?

Speaker 2 (53:17):
Yeah, yeah, that's what like working in Vietnam. Everyone Vietnamese holidays,
especially if you're in the workplace. Everyone puts on the
al and the hat and stuff. It's part of the culture.
It's not it's not a joke, it's not whatever. It's
like respect that's being culturally immerged. Right for the person
who's out there, they're at home, they're thinking, I'm sick
of it. I'm done with what I'm doing right now.
I need to make the change. I want to get

(53:38):
over there in Southeast Asia. I want a better quality
of life. What's the one big piece of advice the
first step to get them from where they are now
to where you or I are.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Don't overthink it, so I think if you you some
people think they need to have a full plan, they
need to sort everything out. Don't start like that because
you're just going to get overwhelmed. I mean even I'm
overwhelmed that looking at all the different options, I would say,
just start. Go on a holiday, book the flight, go there. Seriously,
just go there. It's not going to be a problem.
Go there for a month as long as you can.
I mean, don't quit your job, don't make all these

(54:08):
drastic things first, go there, settle in see what life
can be like. And then when you get back then
you need to make a decision. Just just do it.
You don't have to you know, some people say sell everything,
leave everything behind. You don't have to do that. Why
do you have to do that. You can rent out
your house. I mean, if you're renting, you can just
cancel your leaf, go put your stuff in storage, and
then just see it as a long holiday. Go travel

(54:29):
for a while, try different countries. You don't have to
pick one spot. I'm not saying. I'm certainly not saying.
Don't come to Malaysia and think you're going to stay
here for the rest of your life. Come here, go
to Vietnam, go to Thailand, go to Bali, go to Philippines.
Why not just try it and see what you like.
So that would be the first Just do it, book
the flight, commit yourself to actually going there, and you
can watch as many videos, you can do as much

(54:50):
research as you want, but nothing beats actually having the experience.

Speaker 3 (54:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
So one of the things I'm working on is it's
not ready yet. I don't even have a wait to listen.
I want to run a big scouting big like in
the sense of like seeing a lot of places, small
in the sense of like I only want to go
with maybe like eight or ten other guys. Yeah, but
I think that that no one really knows, right, Like
Malaysia might be the perfect place for you, and Vietnam
might be the perfect place for me. But for you

(55:14):
watching home, maybe Bangkok is your spot, or maybe Bali
is your spot. Right, You've got to get your boots
something around. You've got to get over here. And if
you're not ready to commit whatever, sixty to ninety days
and some money, because yes you're you'll have a more
affordable cost of living. You get here.

Speaker 3 (55:31):
Doesn't mean free, It doesn't mean to be proud.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
Right, So if you're not willing to get whatever twenty
five nudred box, five thousand dollars to come over here
for a month or two and experience South East Asia,
then you're not ready to come anyways. I agree, Yeah,
I completely agree you're not ready to come anyways.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
You get Yeah, some people go, how can I if
I have a few thousand dollars, can I move to
these countries? I mean, well, you're not gonna last long.
I mean you need you need some income stream, yes,
to keep yourself going or you need a decent miss
Egg so that you don't have to worry about that,
because otherwise you'll be under pressure. I mean, you're not
gonna actually enjoy the lifestyle here. So if you if
you are broke, If you're broke, I mean I wouldn't
recommend it. So have something said.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
Up or come over and teach English for you're a
minute to do that, right, do that where you get
like the guy I've talked about before in Ninja teacher
runs a great program and hochs youre in city where
you do everything, and you can do this at any age.
You get total certified, you get a job. He hooks
you up with a job. It's it's all to pay him, obviously,
but he's very cheap. It's like you know, you're playing
ticket in a few thousand bucks or whatever. Yep, and

(56:28):
all of a sudden, there it is your life's literally maybe.

Speaker 1 (56:31):
I'll look at something like that. I'm lucky. I got
I jagged a good job here and you might too.
Just get yourself on LinkedIn, put yourself open to recruiters.
If you get a good job lined up, well there's
it's a no brainer. Then one hundred percent move here.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
Or if you get online first, if you go remote
at home, you're twenty dollars an hour remote job in
Canada or the u ass mantastic, terrible. Put that twenty
dollars an hour online over here, fantastic.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
That's a good point. There's a lot more remote work here.
Like work work. You don't even have to set something
up yourself. Just get any remote job and it will
cover you here in Southeast Stasia for sure.

Speaker 3 (57:02):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
So that's another way to do, is to move your
work and income online first, then move yourself over here,
and then you can slow travel your way around again. Right, So,
I think that's the way to go. Thank you so
much for coming on the broad Pard, It's been absolutely amazing.
I like to finish by asking is there something I
didn't ask you that I should have asked you or
I should ask the next guest?

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Sure? No, I think you covered a lot of it.
I would like to maybe you could ask what are
the challenges and the things you don't like about countries.
That's something I want to talk about more on my
channel as well, because it's easy to paint a good
picture and maybe some people get this idea that it's
paradise all the time and it's not. I'm sure you've
had some man your biggest struggle, So the biggest struggle

(57:43):
in qual Paul, Yeah, probably is loneliness or periods where
you just don't connect with people. So if you don't
have a family, if you're solo, just don't think that.
I mean, I did have good periods with the dating
and you're going to go out every night, but you're
gonna have dry spells, You're gonna have nothing going on.
You might not relate to the local, you know, the
Muslim Malay culture, and a lot of times it might
be harder to make friends if they have a different

(58:03):
lifestyle and they don't see your vision. So that's probably
one of the challenges. You know, if you do get
into a relationship or you do get married and it
doesn't work out, that's something you have to consider. If
you build your life around that and then you lose that,
you're going to question should you stay here, should you
go home? And another thing is you're never going to
be a local. I mean, this is a bit always
a guest, so this is a bit more political. But

(58:25):
so if foreigners, if immigrants come to Australia, there's a
pathway to citizenship. I believe Canada is the same. After
a few years, you become a citizen and you're integrated
and people will consider you as Australian. Whereas in Malaysia,
in any of these South and Stasian countries, you're never
going to be a citizen and it's very difficult to
get pr unless you're looking at, you know, these long
term visas, and even then you're not a permanent resident.

(58:45):
So even though I've worked here for years, I've paid
more taxes and most locals are paid in their life,
I still get all these comments questioning what do I
contribute to the country? When are you going home? And
if you can't handle that, then somebody You have to
keep in mind.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
The interview that it'll be up by the time you're
watching this. I did with Hal who he lives in Annoi.
He's I've never been anyone like him. He first landed
in Vietnam in nineteen ninety one. He hasn't been there
permanently for thirty four years, but he's been back and forth,
and you know, I've married wife, kids, family there. He
really inspired me to work a little bit harder on
language okay because he told me. And obviously it doesn't

(59:21):
happen overnight. Maybe it takes five years, ten years. But
if you really want to be a part of a culture,
that's the end ticket and angle, and I'm working on it.
I'm not perfect either, but like that, that's forgetting paperwork
or citizens of or SSA. If you want Vietnamese people
to really treat you like a Vietnamese person, start talking
to them the vienna, right, like communicate, communicate to them
in their own language. And I know that my one

(59:43):
year in China and mainland China, which can having more
off camera, I felt that, like it's like people say,
it's so hard to you know, fit in and be
a part of mainland China. Well, you know, speak Mandrain.
That's that's the answer, right, that makes sense. It does
make sense. I mean that's a flip side. So he
you don't need to learn the language because everyone speaks English.
But maybe you're not doing yourself with good service by

(01:00:04):
doing that. You should put learn some Malay at least
learn some secret secret orle can do it. That's all
I know, and speak some Chinese as well. You know,
if you can get around with a little bit it
is going to make a difference yet, or I mean
if you eventually, right, if you do marry and start
a family here, that's been for me having Vietnamese kids.

Speaker 3 (01:00:23):
I want to.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
Speak thank you so much, Thanks so much for watching
this week's episode of the Cost of Living, a broad
pod brought to you by Safe Doing Nomad Insurance. You
can find more episodes of the pod over my Shoulder,
or check out the Cost of Living Abroad dot com
right here.

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