KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Expatriates prefer living and working in Vietnam and India to Malaysia, a recent survey by HSBC has found.
The Expat Explorer Survey 2014 said expatriates gave Malaysia an overall rank of 19 out of the 34 countries surveyed, behind its Asian neighbours, with India taking ninth place and Vietnam at 16th place.
The expatriates, whose answers were collated based on a combination of factors such as the destination’s overall economics, living experience and family life, also ranked Malaysia below neighbouring Singapore, which took second place, and other Asian nations like China, which made it to third place, Thailand at seventh place, Taiwan (8), Hong Kong (10), and Japan (18).
Switzerland topped the list, according to the survey, which was conducted among 9,000 expatriates from the global banking institution.
Trailing behind as the least-preferred destinations among expatriates are the United States at 30th place and the United Kingdom at 33, while Egypt took the last spot.
In the category on expenses, which rates the expatriate’s ability to afford a range of goods and services, Malaysia made it to 11th place, the survey revealed.
The total score for the expenses category was split in two — 65 per cent on the general affordability of daily goods and services, and the remaining 35 per cent on disposable income.
In the economics category, which summarises the expatriates’ views on the local economy, Malaysia ranked 16.
“The Expat Economics score is the average of the household income, personal disposable income and satisfaction with the host economy scores, covering three key criteria from the survey,” a report on the survey said.
In the overall expat experience category, which scores the nations surveyed based on the expatriates’ quality of life, ease of settling in and integration, Malaysia was ranked at 18th place.
Expatriates also rated Malaysia poorly as a destination to raise their children. In the category, which surveyed expatriates based on factors like childcare, education, health and children’s experience, Malaysia took 24th place.
The survey noted that expatriates who moved to Malaysia generally said that they were doing so to “look for a new challenge”, with 49 per cent of respondents saying so, above the global average of 31 per cent.
“The need to ‘look for a new challenge’ was the most popular reason for expats to move to Malaysia, followed by better job prospects (a driver for 46 per cent).
“Interesting place for them and their families (compared to a global average of 47 per cent),” the report wrote.
Many also found Malaysia to be a cost-effective and “exciting destination”, it added.
Respondents report that accommodation in Malaysia is also easy to find, and that they are generally of “higher quality” and are “relatively inexpensive”.
“Finding accommodation is described as easy by 63 per cent (compared to a global average of 54 per cent), over half (54 per cent) say it is of a higher standard than they enjoyed in their home country (compared to a global average of 40 per cent) and 34 per cent are now spending less on housing than before (compared to a global average of 23 per cent.
“Utilities are another area in which expats are saving — 37 per cent now spend less on these bills compared to a global average of 26 per cent,” the report wrote.
In August, a survey by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) of 475 senior executives working for US companies operating in ASEAN countries found that Malaysia’s graft and unattractive tax structure have pulled down the country’s popularity among foreign professionals, who rated it Southeast Asia’s second best country behind tiny Brunei.
Malaysia scored 94 per cent satisfaction marks in the AMCHAM survey while Brunei was the only country in the region to score the full 100 marks for expat satisfaction.
Brunei was not included in the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey 2014 report.
