What to bring when moving to KL

KL is a massive, modern city, stocked with all sorts of food - including bread.

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Yolanda

Hi. Welcome to KL soon

speaking as a local, it all depends on where you are staying.
in KL, you can find most (i think ) of the food in most aisles of the super markets here especially if shopping in the expat areas such as KLCC, Bangsar, Ampang U Thant, Mont'Kiara and most expat occupied areas.

perhaps you cannot find certain brands of food stuff as found at your home at times.

here are perhaps some sites that you can surf (if it relates to food and household items, besides shopping for family and self perhaps
- www.harveynorman.com.my/
- http://www.mercato.com.my/
- www.coldstorage.com.my/
- http://www.jayagrocer.com/about_contact.php
- www.pavilion-kl.com/
just a quick preview of the few items i can think of at this time

may not fully answer your question but i hope this helps so what

Hi, Welcome you to come to Malaysia, this Truly Asia land. Hope you enjoy and like our Malaysia.

Actually, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur shopping mall can find the stuff you want, so just in case what if forget to bring or missing there, No worries, go to hypermarket or shopping mall there to find your ideal stuff. For kids , you may go the department stores like Aeon or Aeon Big, Parkson, hence you will find those staff.

Enjoy ! !

Gas masks! For the pollution.

Australia is so much cleaner you will notice the difference.especially for a one year old.

A student of mine did note that some American students he was chatting too were surprised Malaysians had internet. They also thought Malaysians live in huts in the jungle. Go figure that out!

I am interested in working as a teacher there. Sounds like living there is great - am I naive?


I have two children - 10 and 6 years. Are the schools good? Are they very expensive?


Thank you

Malaysia is a great country, I love the place.
The locals are wonderful and extremely friendly to strangers.
Terrific place.

Thank you!

With kids though..

STOP think. But as a teacher you should get two free places at a school.

For anyone else min salary is 30k RM a month if school fees/medical not paid for. For a teacher trying to support two kids and a partner min is 16k rm to live.

I have lived in Malaysia on and off for 12 years. In that time I have gone from "hey great place" for families to not as

- pollution and traffic. So bad now
- crime. Far too much crime now. You must have two cars for a family as walking is dangerous
- cost of schooling is way too high

For single people I say give it a go. With kids I say STOP think hard.

Tracy2014 - compared to South Africa, the crime and safety is better in Malaysia. I believe in safety in numbers, which means it is advisable to live in an expat area and not try and integrate in the suburbs.

If you want to read about the cost of schooling here - this article may be of interest:

Cost of Schooling

Durban is beautiful. There is nothing like that in Malaysia. The closest would possibly be Lanagkawi but there are no international schools on the island so its not an option.  Penang is next best and there are some good schools and the atmosphere is more international and colonial. Remember, Malaysia is a Muslim country and therefore you can always expect that the final point of view will be based on that religion.  Although "moderate" the future is always a bit more uncertain in the current global circumstances.

Thanks Nemodot and Gravitas for your info and that article!

Yes - Durban is lovely We are all used to being careful about crime in South Africa. Pollution, not so much. Is it bad all over, or just certain cities?

It seems schooling is very pricey. I am trying to see if I can get a reduction as part of my job benefits (being a teacher) but will have to weigh up costs and salaries carefully to see if my budget would work out.

The job includes accommodation but I don't know if I choose or if they place us.
What is a livable salary? There would be two earners for the family and we wouldn't be paying rent - Would a total salary of 8000 be enough?

Internationally qualified and experienced teachers at "proper" international schools are earning about RM30 k per month. So please go figure. We are talking about Garden School, International School of KL, British International School. Dont come for less than Rm20k.  There will probably be no work for your partner and no sure what kind of accommodation you are being offered.  Let me guess - its good old Fairview........................ who are trying to hire you.................... usual cheapskate attitude.

Ha ha! Well, let's see what they offer. Don't know much yet.

Would you recommend bringing bedding, towels, kitchen stuff etc, or buying?
I'd rather buy there, but is it incredibly expensive?

Yolanda, have you thought about things like regular medication - such as contraceptives?

I find everything household-oriented far more expensive, even in the sale (which sometimes have items up to 70 discounted). The trouble with bringing bed linen is that you may not be able to use it, depending on what size the beds in the rental accomodation may be. The sizes are mainly based on English sizes and not American i.e. Queen size is 5ft and King size is 6 ft. Very thick towels should be avoided as they just dont dry and smell musty after 24 hours of remaining wet. Bring bath mats though as you can never have too many. The filth in the air is such that you will probably be washing your feet if you go barefoot several times a day and a quick stamp on a mat is the easiest say to dry off the soles.

I just found out that the range of medicines prescribed in Malaysia bear no resemblance to those in Europe and I cant really comment on Australia. They seem to have a very different approach and supply chain. However, I think they are rather expensive here, even paracetamol can break the bank. Vitamin price are sky-high as well. So bringing children's vitamins would be a good idea. I also find the product have low contents and with the price being so high it really seems like a rip off.

Bring small kitchen items such as garlic presses (they are particularly hard to come by) and anything you need for your favourite recipes. But you will eat different things in Malaysia and it takes a bit of getting used to when selecting chicken cuts as they include things like chicken keels, feet, parson's noses and very bony bits which I personally hate but is very popular locally to suck on.  One tip is to buy good quality electrics e.g. coffee makers in sales and NOT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE BUY PENSONIC BRAND as they break really quickly. The climate is hard on electrical things as the metal corrodes and all sorts of strange things happen.

I personally think it is essential to have at least one air filter in a home to try and get rid of some of the grime. But it needs to be placed away from where you sleep, otherwise it just sucks everything to it, including dirt and hairs.  A hoover is not much use in Malaysia, as it is really necessary to wash floors as a hoover just wont pick up the greasy grime. Washing surfaces is also recommended as they get dusty and dirty within a couple of days. I always use washing up liquid, clothes washing powders and liquids, shower gels, hand wash, and floor washing products that have antibacterial ingredients. That way it is possible to avoid some of the germs and viruses that spring up at certain seasons of the year. I also use water-based mozzie spray which works well with just a small amount (i.e. it works on the respiratory system of the buggers not on actually coating them in the spray like other preparations.

Bring your sat navs with you and go to Low Yat and buy the local or regional maps. They mainly work for good quality machines such as Garmin. But roads change and appear frequently so a bit of imagination is needed, especially if there are 2 or 3 roads on top of one another.

If I think of anything else I will get back to you.

Thanks so much! So helpful!

Climate sounds like Durban.... So muggy (humid), and being a city, things get grimy quickly. A half hour drive away and already your house stays cleaner than when you stay in the city! I think it's also the salty sea air. Makes things sticky.

PS: What's wrong with Fairview?

Hi Tracey!

I'm stocking up on our regular medications before I leave Aus.

I'm feeling anxious about the move given I have a one year old baby. The pollution, crime and safety are of concern, but I think it will be a great experience for us!

I, too, am questioning whether to bring kitchen items, bed linen and towels. The bulk of our furniture will stay in Aus.

I think it'll be an amazing experience!
Well done for being brave and going for it!!
Crime always seems scarier from afar... at the end of the day, the place will be full of people just like you - mums and children and husbands who love them, people trying to live their lives, on the whole people will be living just fine there - not hiding in fear!

I think everything you can but in KL. I do suggest you buy a lot of vicks inhaler especially if your taking LRT or public transpo.

Gravitas, what is it like in Johor Bahru?

JB cowboy town

Hahahaha!! What does THAT mean?

Nemodot wrote:

Gas masks! For the pollution.

Australia is so much cleaner you will notice the difference.especially for a one year old.

A student of mine did note that some American students he was chatting too were surprised Malaysians had internet. They also thought Malaysians live in huts in the jungle. Go figure that out!

  i guess those American students just came out from the jungle bcoz no internet to Google about Malaysia lmao  .. nice one nemodot

Tracey - if you are interested in JB, then look at opportunities in Singapore instead. There will be less culture shock.

Thank you 

In fact Tracey, look at Australia..................

At the moment we are wanting to see more of the world and to learn of other cultures. . .

Seems to me, Australia may be very similar to SA. I hear it is too wonderful! But we'd like to travel to various countries, and I am on a shortlist for a job in Malaysia... Guess I just want to see if it is LIVABLE for a year or two

I think you will probably find Malaysia is more like SA than Australia (although I have lived in both and the fauna and flora are very similar). Good luck with the position and selection. Just make sure you dont join one of the goddamnawful schools here. Its great to be a foreigner, but not when you are working for a locally run (mentality) school. They just want the colour of your skin and CV to sell their education. There are quite a few schools that have bad reputations and talking to teachers from the UK who have come here, they dont last very long as the standards are low and the workload ridiculously high. Integration can also be a problem. Malaysia is not ready for high powered educationalists.

Because of the expat tax situation in Malaysia, you may find you cant travel without ending up with a huge tax bill at 25% of earnings. A lot of teachers run into this problem regarding 182 days residency to pay normal tax rates. Having said that you should be looking at a salary of RM25-30 per month and that would attract the same tax slab these days. Malaysia is not a cheap place to live by any means. That is unless you adjust your lifestyle downwards to student days.

Ok... thanks for the heads up

Sounds sad

Hi Gravitas,

On the topic. What salary would you think is needed as a minimum for a couple with a toddler to live comfortably? Looks like we'll either be in Mont Kiara or Bangsar based on my husbands work location, so will be living in an expat condo.

Thanks