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Best Country to live in S.E.A
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Which is a better place to live: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, or the Philippines?
spacedragon
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25 years ago I would transit SEASIA on my way to Europe to perform twice a year as an entertainer and thought about retiring in SEASIA in the future. I was already doing my international banking in Singapore but felt the country stifled creativity. Malaysia was looking good until a certain ex-prime minister after retiring started writing books and turned the people against any western people. It was quite noticeable where in the past I would stay in little towns and villages even less touristy islands then I started getting cold looks from locals with hatred in their eyes. Suddenly once friendly people were now making me feel like an enemy entering their country. So that’s when I shifted transit hubs to Bangkok and Thailand became quite appealing. I also spent a lot of time in the Philippines especially the Visayas. But I never felt entirely safe as guns are actually made in the country and for as little as US$100 you can have someone rubbed out. That was scary news to me. I did consider Indonesia specifically the Batam Islands as its a special economic zone allowing foreigners to buy land and build houses for a very low price. Cambodia lacked good infrastructure so even though cheap it didn't appeal. Then the riots in Bangkok started and my train coming into BKK got held up by protesters so I jumped off the train and caught a cab to my accommodation and got onto the internet to get a flight out of the country pronto. Took a cheap flight to Phnom Penh which I had visited several times before. I then jumped on a bus and 6 hours later I ended up in Saigon. Wow this city is so much cleaner and look at all the trees and parks. I was quickly in love with the place. I kept staying with the same family. 5 months later they insisted on celebrating my 60th birthday with a party. Kim was invited to my party 60th birthday party and the rest is history. That quick visit was back in 2009. It's now 2020 and I have a Temporary Residents Card and Kim is my wife. We do charity work together delivering free meals to the homeless at night. If you had told me 25 years ago I was going to retire in Vietnam I would've laughed at you. But I couldn't be happier. And on a final note to show how much I love Vietnam and it's people, I never intend to leave, even upon my death, as I have pledged my body to the University of Medicine in HCMC. and got special permission from HANOI as I'm the only foreigner carrying this card below. For those who keep saying I shouldn't post my ID card, this is not my ID card, it's simply a donor card if I am found dead from a motor vehicle accident the police know to transfer my body the the medical university for training for the autopsy students. Edit 2nd Feb 2021 I'm very proud to announce my lovely wife was crowned Ms Vietnam Television 2020 last Thursday evening. She won the people's vote.
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Please pick some cities, not some countries. But okay, in terms of country, I’ll choose Malaysia. Cities in Malaysia have good infrastructure. Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs are served by rail-based rapid transit. Some major cities have bus system, such as Georgetown (Penang), Johor Bahru, and Ipoh. The streets are well paved. Public facilities are well treated. Malaysia has taste-appealing cuisine. Street food or hawker centers are everywhere. I fell in love with Teh Tarik, I may drink it 2–3 times a day! Malaysian are quite friendly, and shares similar language to mine, Indonesian.
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I will take the question to mean whether the Indians have a positive opinion of the Middle East given that the region takes in plenty of Indian immigrants. The answer I believe is mostly no. The immigration experience for many Indians is at best neutral and at worst very negative. There are plenty of movies and news items on the horror stories that the Indian immigrants face. Often times, the educated class goes there only until a better alternative emerges in Europe or North America. They try to save as much as possible and try to return as fast as possible as their experience in much of the Middle East is not quite positive. My uncle and aunt lived in Dammam in Saudi Arabia and they have their stories on how tough live was. During the gulf war my father would call them desperately whenever we get news of an Iraqi Scud landing up in their city. After that brutal experience they settled in Australia. The experience that the immigrants bring back is often negative. Especially the plight of uneducated immigrants who wind up with unscrupulous immigration mafia is sheer horror. In any case, (legal) immigration is like trade – both sides benefit. Do you feel grateful to the shopkeeper who provides you the service. Most often no. The same in the case of immigration.
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I can't speak for all Indians, but I'm not. Forget "extremely grateful", I'm not even minimally grateful. These Arab countries would have to be really stupid to open up their borders if they weren't benefiting from the migration. To them, they acquire a large number of skilled and semi-skilled labour without having to invest in developing their skills. From the little I know, apparently the immigrants are treated as lower-class residents and this is allowed by law. So, those Indians that move there get to make money in exchange for rights and freedom, and their Arab employers get cheap labour. Seems like a fair deal to me. No one's doing anyone any favours here, so nothing to be grateful about.