When Malaysians leave the country, be it for a holiday or for work/studies, we pride ourselves in one thing (after food, of course), and that is, our friendliness. We are not afraid to tell people to visit Malaysia because, after all, we are a friendly bunch! Everyone gets along well, and we always hear heartwarming stories of Malaysians helping each other out in times of need regardless of ethnicity and background (with the exception of a bad few).
So have we been preaching the truth? Recently, a study conducted by InterNatoins’ Expat Insider ranked countries in terms of top expat destinations of choice—and guess where Malaysia ranked? A shocking 38th place out of the 67 countries surveyed! (Singapore ranked 13th place leh!)
The study factored in quality of life, leisure options, personal happiness, travel and transport, health and well-being, as well as safety and security, but Malaysia did not even rank in the top 20 in any of these categories. (We are just as appalled you are!)
The study ranked Taiwan being the friendliest country in the world while Malta and Ecuador take the subsequent spots.
The study also found that Vietnam had the biggest improvement, as this year, more expats living there are happy with the locals’ friendliness and feel like they have a good work-life balance there. Respondents also find it easier to make friends with Vietnamese locals! Good job, Vietnam!
Unfortunately, Malaysia is placed as one of the biggest losers as we fell over 17 spots, form the previous rank of 21 in 2015.
Besides ‘friendliness’, the study also reveals that Malaysia is ranked as one of the worst countries to work abroad, charting in at 49 among the 67 countries surveyed. The rank was factored by job & career opportunities, work-life balance and job security to which our country scored all poorly.
One thing we as Malaysians, should be proud of, however, is that we ranked 17th in terms of cost of living, and beat out Indonesia, Japan, and of course, Singapore.
So why is there such a big disparity between us and Singapore even though Malaysia clearly has a lower cost of living?
World of Buzz reached out to a few expats living in Malaysia and many of them cited inefficiency of services and safety as some of the few things they don’t like about Malaysia. What they really like though, is the sense of community that they get when they go out to places like the mamak, especially during sporting events.
While we have a lot to be proud of, there is also a lot of room for improvement in Malaysia. Maybe we should all try a little harder in being more efficient and eliminate Malaysian timing in the workplace? What do you think? Sound your thoughts off in the comments section! We’d love to hear from you.
