International Living magazine has put together a list of top retirement destinations around the world based on several factors such as cost of living, real estate prices and healthcare systems. According tot he list, Malaysia is the most popular retirement destination in Southeast Asia and ranks third globally behind Ecuador and Panama. Within ASEAN, Thailand ranks second and the Philippines third.
"Malaysia is turning into a heaven for senior citizens from all around the world who are looking for a place where living standards are good but also the cost to it remains affordable," the magazine concluded.
Malaysia started to look at luring over 50-year old visitors under a scheme named “Silver Hair Programme”. In 2002, the programme was revamped to become the very successful ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ or ‘MM2H’. Since the scheme started officially in 2002, over 23,000 retires have been seduced by Malaysia. But not only retirees. They are also a large number of immigrated younger groups of expats from who now look at settling in Malaysia as the country is becoming increasingly sophisticated and easy to live in.
According to data from MM2H, the most popular destinations are Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi, Ipoh, Malacca, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru. The speed-up development of the Iskandar Region in Johor Bahru, just a few kilometers away from Singapore, is also stimulating retirees demand.
by Arno Maierbrugger