We often hear Malaysians complain about Malaysia, and how this is a terrible country to live in compared to say Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, UK etc.
However, here are the 5 reasons why I think we are really lucky to live in Malaysia. And yes, I would even rate Malaysia as the best country to live in!
Before you call me crazyyy, let’s dive into each point:
1: Local Food
Let’s start with the most obvious one, Fooooood.
Malaysia is best known for delicious food with wide variety of choices thanks to us having different races living here.
You will never be bored of Malaysian food as we are spoilt for choices. We have Nasi Lemak, Chicken Rice, Roti Canai, Nasi Goreng, Hor Fun, Char Kuey Teow, Asam Laksa, Sarawak Laksa, Rendang, Nasi Kerabu, Hokkien Mee, Bak Kut Teh, Cendol, Apam Balik, Nasi Kandar and lots more!
In fact, if you are away for 1-2 weeks, chances are you will rush to eat Malaysian food once you are back.
On the other hand, if you are living in Australia, the typical food is just Burger, Meat, Repeat. Personally after 3 days in Australia and eating similar style of their local food, I already find myself missing Malaysian food.
While Singapore also has a variety of food, they still couldn’t replicate the taste of the food as it’s often bland compared to Malaysia.
2: Low Taxes
As of September 2024, our tax rate is still considerably lower compared to most countries.
For example, if your yearly income is RM70,001 to RM100,000, the tax rate is 19%, while yearly income of RM100,001 to RM400,000 is 25%.
Here’s the full tax rate for each income bracket for reference.
If the tax rate looks high, let’s look at countries many Malaysians look up to and even wish to migrate there given a chance.
Australia.
If your yearly income is $45,001 to $135,000, the tax rate is 30%, while $135,001 to $190,000 is 37%.
And if you earn $190,001 and above, your tax rate is a whopping 45%!
Imagine earning AUD 200,000 a year, but you will need pay government AUD 90,000. Almost half of your income goes to tax!
Here’s the reference for Australian income tax.
This type of crazy tax rates is actually common among “ang mo” countries.
Let’s look at UK tax rate next.
If your yearly income is £50,271 to £125,140, the tax rate is already 40%, while earning above £125,140 is 45%.
With half of your income going to the government, your other half would be allocated for food, home loans, and car loans, which are also super expensive over there, leaving you with not much left for savings.
3: Affordable Property & Car Ownership
This is a hot topic as property and car ownership is a long term commitment and affordability is the key differentiating factor for Malaysians.
Let’s start with Property.
The median price of property in KL is RM559,000, with the data collected from August 2023 to July 2024.
This translate to roughly RM2,000 to RM2,500 installment a month, which is a reasonable price for Malaysians to own a property in KL. If you are not buying in KL, other states like Melaka, Terengganu, Perak etc property prices are even lower.
While KL is still affordable, if you are staying in other top tier cities like London, New York, Sydney, Tokyo etc, expect to pay a large premium to own a property there. Which is why most people there prefer to rent.
On a side note, let’s look at Singapore. While it may be easier to get a HDB in Singapore, condo prices are insanely high due to the scarcity of land. The same goes for Hong Kong.
Next we move on to Car ownership.
Malaysians can easily own a car (our main cause for traffic jam) as brands like Proton and Perodua are affordable. We can also own the car for as long as we like.
If you are living in Singapore, you will first need to pay for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) which gives you the right to own and use a vehicle in Singapore.
At the end of the 10-year COE period, you can choose to deregister your vehicle or renew the COE, which again comes with a hefty fee.
To own a car, expect to pay around $96,490 just for COE Cat A Premium, which is EXCLUDED from the price of the car.
4: Friendly People
We have so far covered the basic necessity to live a happy life in a country, Food, Property and Car, and Taxes.
Next point is a unique trait that Malaysians are often known for: Friendly and easy going.
Whenever tourist come to Malaysia, besides praising us for our food, they will often comment/make videos on how our people are friendly.
Malaysia is also named as the second friendliest country in Asia.
If you compare to most countries, generally most Malaysians are friendly, warm and easier to start a conversation. While people in countries like France, Italy, Korea, Hong Kong etc are known to be rude.
For example, imagine you are in France and couldn’t speak French, you will often face some sort of discrimination. Let’s not talk about Hong Kong…
With Malaysians being bilingual, tourists can speak English here and we have no issues with communicating and show our hospitality.
5: Safe Country
The last point is a privilege we often take for granted.
Malaysia is free from gun violence, stabbing, war, typhoon, and earthquake.
There are 2 types of safety:
1 – Human made
2 – Nature
If we look at “human made”, the United States is the country with questionable safety due to their lenient gun laws.
Due to this, we often read news of shooting in the US, sometimes in the school, car parks, convenience stores etc. And each time there will be no solution at the end as they refuse to ban gun ownership.
In fact, once you are 18 years old, you can purchase shotguns or rifles and ammunition
Even Donald Trump was almost shot dead while campaigning for president in 2024.
Besides gun violence, other Human made disaster include wars. Besides Russia vs Ukraine, Israel vs Palestine, there are also middle east countries with war. Imagine living in those countries where you won’t know what will happen tomorrow.
Then there’s the second type of safety, Nature.
Countries like Japan and Taiwan will face earthquakes as and when it happens, without any prior warning! Depending on the severity, an earthquake can be potentially fatal.
While other countries like China, Vietnam, Philippines are susceptible to typhoons, which again can be unpredictable.
Conclusion
After researching other countries and comparing them with Malaysia, I realise we are truly blessed to be living in Malaysia, something which I hope many more Malaysians will appreciate and live a happier life here!
