Malaysia among Top 10 Friendliest Countries in the World

If you are a foreigner assessing on the merits of Malaysia being a place to live or stay for a while as an expatriate, you may be interested to know that Forbes Online has rated Malaysia as among the 10 friendliest countries in the world, based on HSBC's recent Expat Explorer Survey.

To determine which were the friendliest, Forbes isolated the results in four categories: ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture. All these four factors play into the ability of expats to create a new support structure, which Dallas-based expat coach Doris Fuellgrabe says is among the most important steps one can take to ease the trepidation and loneliness that often come with relocating.

Better quality of life, a satisfying social life, easy local travel and better housing than in their home country helped put Malaysia in fifth place overall—though many reported difficulty integrating into the local community (often because of a language barrier).

Topping the list is Cayman Islands followed by Australia and Britain according to the survey. HSBC surveyed 5,339 expatriates in nearly 100 countries between May and July 2012.

These are the three nations where it’s easiest to befriend locals, learn the local language, integrate into the community and fit into the new culture, according to the results of HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, released earlier this month.

On Cayman Islands, a happy Scottish expat noted, “There’s no income or payroll tax, summer all-year-round, hardly any crime, and no pollution. Grand Cayman has all the amenities of a city with the close-knit community of a town. That’s why most people who come here for a short assignment end up staying long term.”

In fourth place ahead of Malaysia's fifth in Forbes Online's World's Friendliest Countries 2012, is Canada, followed by New Zealand, Spain, United States, Bermuda, and South Africa.

In Pictures: The World’s Friendliest Countries 2012


Source: Forbes.. The World's Friendliest Countries

KL ranked No. 2 in shopping

Amazing! I read yesterday that KL is ranked No. 2 as the best shopping city in Asia Pacific behind Hong Kong. This is according to the latest Globe Shopper Index, cementing KL's position as a shopping paradise. The city is especially crowded during the summer months.

The Star reported that:

Twenty-five cities in the region were assessed under five categories shops; culture and climate; hotels and transport; affordability; and convenience.

Kuala Lumpur achieved the second highest overall score of 65 out of 100.

Only Hong Kong scored higher 68.5 edging other cities for its safety, dependable city transport and variety of shops and brands. Shanghai was third with a 63.1 score with Beijing placed fourth at 60.7.

Singapore (60.2) and Bangkok (57.1) were ranked fifth and seventh respectively. The other big cities ranked included Sydney (58.4), Tokyo (56.4) and Seoul (54.8).

“Kuala Lumpur's specific strength is its ability to combine low prices with a good range of products in a large number of stores, including three of the world's 10 biggest shopping malls,” the index report stated.

The report predicted that Kuala Lumpur had the potential to perform better in future indexes due to the Government's efforts to promote retail tourism.

It also took note of the Government's mammoth investments in developing KLCC and Bukit Bintang as a “premier shopping precinct in Malaysia”.

Bukit Bintang-KLCC Tourism Association chairman Joyce Yap welcomed the report, saying the Government's decision to make shopping a focus in the Economic Transformation Plan was a key factor.

The Globe Shopper Index was created by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is part of the Economist Group and founded as an in-house research unit for The Economist newspaper and commissioned by Switzerland-based shopping tourism company Global Blue.

Malaysia ranked 19th Safest Country

The Star reported that Malaysia has been ranked the most peaceful country in South East Asia, the fourth safest in the Asia Pacific behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia, and the 19th safest and peaceful out of 153 countries in the world.

This ranking by the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2011 is the first time that Malaysia has been placed that high since 2007, being one of the six non-European nations making the top 20 list. The other five were Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, Qatar and Australia.

In 2007, Malaysia was ranked 37th and fell to 38th place in 2008 and improved for the next three years from 26 in 2009 to 22nd in 2010 and moving up to 19th in 2011.
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