A woman from China currently living in Penang is now questioning why tourist attractions in Malaysia have separate ticketing prices and fees for locals and foreigners, with the latter often being more expensive.
Taking to her XiaoHongShu account, Yin XiaoBai shared her belief that the different ticketing prices are discriminatory against foreigners.
She wrote, “I have been in Malaysia for more than half a year. First of all, I like Penang, where I live now. It is very comfortable. But, there is a question that puzzles me often. Why does Malaysia discriminate against foreigners in terms of ticketing for various tourist attractions and even privately-owned amusement parks?”
“I have visited Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Kuching, Cameron Highlands and Ipoh in Malaysia. It is rare to encounter attractions where foreigners and locals have the same ticket price. Most attractions will charge foreigners double the original ticket price. The most exaggerated one is a museum in Kuching, locals were charged RM10 but foreigners were charged RM50!”
She went on to explain that the separate, more expensive ticket price for foreigners will cause them to feel dissatisfied, while listing out more examples of how foreigners are being charged more including having to pay more taxes in terms of hotel charges and in the process of buying and selling homes under the Malaysia My Second Home program.
This image is for illustration purposes only.
“Sometimes, when I arrive at the entrance of a scenic spot, I see the huge difference in ticket prices between locals and foreigners, and I feel deeply hurt and end up driving away in anger,”
“Malaysia has many good places, but can these unreasonable places improve themselves? Or, make a ticket-purchasing software for locals so that foreigners don’t see (the difference in prices) and there won’t be such a strong psychological gap,” she added.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
