Kuala Lumpur

[LostAgain]

I stayed in Kuala Lumpur for about a month whilst the Petronas Towers were being built in 1995. I loved the place, it was vibrant and funny. The difference in culture hit me on a number of occasions, particularly when dealing with women as a married man. Even amongst the Indian and Chinese communities it was a little cagey.

[synthia]

I'm currently in Penang, and found there is a large retired ex-pat community here. Did you find a significant ex-pat community in KL, and were they mostly people working in Malaysia, or was there a retirement community, too?

[LostAgain]

I saw very few ex-pats whilst I was there. There were a few people from Britain working there, either on short-term like I was, or longer term for a year or two. There were also a couple of New Zealanders and a spotting of Americans but it was mostly Chinese and Indian in the business community.

Petaling Jaya seemed to be a bit more likely to have an expat community. I went out with friends there on a couple of occasions, it was good fun.

I've no idea about retirement, I suspect that it is not really a retirement area.

[viziers]

yeah, alot of foreign workers stay in Petaling jaya and some in Ampang, Bangsar area.
Penang is one of the best place that you can living, not too crowded, cheap and alot of beaches.

[Ninja]

actually, there is a sizeable expat community in KL. Try sniffing around the bangsar, Mt Kiara areas. And if you are so inclined, spend a few hours on a weekend at the new Hilton nightclub... that place seems to attract a fair few Western expats from all over KL.

But I have found Penang to be a better place to live in recent years. KL has become a cesspit of traffic snarls, lousy local council services and just having to share space with a lot of aggro/rude people.