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ON- SITE
ARTICLES
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MM2H
continues to gain international & local prominence
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iproperty.com Malaysia
May 2009, Issue 51, page 75
Article
contributed by John Ching,
Director of CK-TEN
(MM2H) Sdn. Bhd,
committee member of MM2H Agent’s Association and an associate member
of the Australian Marketing Institute. |
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Retiring away from one’s
country of origin has indeed become a phenomenon among the rich and middle
class of the world. This activity of migration does not have any singular
pattern but crisscrosses across boundaries and demography.
Malaysia
is particularly strategic as it is a comparatively middle income country
which makes it accessible to people from both the rich countries and the
rich from poorer countries.
With an average rate of
1676 approved cases from 2002 to 2008, it has come a long way from its
predecessor the Silver Hair Programme
where the average rate was 828 approved cases from 1996 to 2000.
This improvement could
be credited to the efficiency of the authorities involved, notably the
Ministry of Tourism and the Immigration Department that has taken proactive
steps to implement numerous incentives, set up a One-stop Centre, increased
publicity and cultivated a pool of licensed agents who act as on-the-ground
salesmen of the
programme.
Indeed the target market
has grown big enough that it can now be segmented into broadly 3 profiles.
The middle income from the rich countries hoping to stretch their retirement
funds further, attracted by the lower living cost but the reasonable living
standards in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the
rich from the poorer countries
are
attracted by the
comparatively higher living standards and credible amenities here, such as
education and health care.
Expatriates
who have worked around and gotten used to the region decide to stay on in
Malaysia upon
retirement. The
authorities have recently encouraged the growth of a
fourth
sub segment which is to make it possible for expatriates working in Malaysia
to continue seamlessly onto the MM2H Programme
once they have finished
their tenure.
Foreigners consider many
factors when choosing a country to live in.
Amongst
them are the prices and ease of ownership of properties, cost of living,
health care, benefits and security.
Malaysia competes with
an assortment of other countries each providing their own retirement
schemes. So far
the MM2H scheme
has been making good ratings and care should be taken to maintain those
ratings.
One of the biggest
lures
of living
in Malaysia
is the low cost of living,
especially for foreigners.
They can stretch their Dollar, Pound, Yen, Rial, Dirham here further without
much sacrifice to the standards of living. The Swiss Bank
UBS
in 2008 surveyed 71 comparable cities in the world from
London to Jakarta, and
Kuala Lumpur was rated the cheapest place to buy an identical basket of 122
goods.
On another note, the
Economist’s yearly light-hearted Big Mac Index which among others things
measures how expensive a Big Mac is in US$
in 45 countries,
rated Malaysia as
the second
cheapest place to purchase a Big Mac in 2008.
The authorities have in
Feb 2009, come out with several new incentives to cater the MM2H Programme
to a wider market. The incentives in a nutshell are:
MM2H participants
can now engage in active business, work up to 20 hours a week and their
children can be dependents
up till
21 years of age.
Foreign spouses of Malaysians, expatriates in
Malaysia
and parents of the main applicant are eligible for the Programme.
MM2H ID Cards
have been made
available too.
These incentives coupled
with the fact that
Malaysia allows
foreigners to own properties, has no inheritance tax, places no tax on
income repatriated from overseas and no real property gain tax.
It should prove
to be an
attractive option
to foreigners looking for a second home.
MM2H applications can be
made directly
to the MM2H One Stop centre by the applicant himself or through any of the
licensed MM2H agents. Indeed any applicant who could spare the time and
effort could do it himself, but like
in any DIY
project say plumbing, he may end up having to run a few times to the
hardware store to get pipes of the correct diameter, to buy a wrench or two
that he doesn’t have and perhaps still contend with leaky joints afterwards.
Like a good hardware
store the authority would have all the materials he needs for applications
but he will still need to know what fits.
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