Japanese like to retire in Malaysia
Malaysia a big hit with Japanese retirees
11/11/2014 - 17:00*
KUALA LUMPUR: For Japanese who plan to spend their “golden years” or retirement overseas, Malaysia has emerged as their most popular country for long-haul stay for the last eight years.
According to the Japan Long-Stay Foundation Survey 2014, Malaysia has overtaken Thailand, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singa*pore, the US, Canada and Indonesia in descending order last year.
Tropical Lifestyle (MM2H) Sdn Bhd managing director Shatoro Ishihara tells FocusM that Australia and Hawaii used to be top favourites in the earlier years.
Malaysia remains the best country for long stay and investment as its cost of living is considered to be still quite cheap for the Japanese who wish to relocate here.
As one of the top 10 agents for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme, he says his company does not just focus on the Japanese market but also handles the Chinese, European and Middle Eastern markets as well.
A number of them have retirees who have diversified their assets into Malaysia and made the country their investment destination while others have sought to look for a new lifestyle here.
Foreigners, especially from cold countries, find Malaysia’s warm weather throughout the year, which is often taken for granted by its citizens, appealing. They tend to make the country their second home during the winter months, Ishihara quips.
“The medical standard here is good,” adding that the country has some good hospitals with English and Japanese-speaking staff.
Security-wise, he says Malaysia is better when compared to the Philippines and Indonesia. The foreigners like it here as English is widely spoken besides being able to experience multi-cultures and a variety of tasty Malaysian cuisines.
“Unlike Japan, we are the extreme opposite. We are a homogeneous society versus the multi-racial society found in Malaysia.”
He says there is a strong presence of the Japanese community here. Besides the existence of a Japan Club, there is a proliferation of Daiso and Aeon outlets as well as Japanese restaurants nationwide.
Japan has been one of the top five participating countries in the MM2H programme since 2006. Cumulative figures from 2002 to August from the MM2H Centre shows China leading with 5,929 cases followed by others numbering 5,783 (see table).
Next comes Japan with 3,434 MM2H cases, Bangladesh (2,933) while the UK, including Northern Ireland, have 2,143 cases due to their strong historical links with Malaysia.
Ishihara says each “case” normally involves a couple and in some instances, include children as well. This means that there are more than 10,000 participants from China alone.
The figures as of August are reflective of the same descending order for the top four positions with China taking the lead with 1,004 cases.
