3 ms·
Malaysia, close to Kuala Lumpur. Pros: Good food, strong English proficiency. Good diversity. Easy to get into the top 1% of tech. Very easy to set up a non-VC
by muzani 3y ago
Malaysia, close to Kuala Lumpur.
Pros: Good food, strong English proficiency. Good diversity. Easy to get into the top 1% of tech. Very easy to set up a non-VC backed company, and you'll make sweet margins.
Lots of talent, roughly equivalent to Singapore. They have NUS and ivy league grads, but we have the population funnel. You can have all the smart conversations you have on HN all day and all night with someone out here. Plenty of tech events in KL, probably comparable to European capitals.
Cons: Middle income trap - retiring with a job is extremely difficult; most either end up doing a business, working in gov, or staying as a corporate slave long enough to get a VP position. High sin tax (alcohol, tobacco). Work discrimination is fully legal. Affirmative action is also a heated topic. Uptick in racism as we go through some political shifts, but it's still decent IMO. Very little VC funding here. VCs prefer Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, but VC-backed companies often set up engineering/R&D offices in Malaysia.
Mixed: There's good tolerance of LGBT+ here. Violence is uncommon. However, it's tolerance, not full acceptance. Don't force your views on others and you'll be fine. Everyone has very different religious and political views from their neighbors.
Stats say crime rate is comparable to Canada, but I think it's mostly the poorer areas. KL is mostly gentrified now; most of the people who would be delivering drugs are now delivering McDonald's.
- NiekvdMaas 3y agoAs a foreigner who lived 4 years in KL, I totally agree. In my opinion Malaysia has one of the best cost-of-living vs quality-of-live balances in the world. Startups are growing in number and supported through MDEC etc. The major cons are bureaucracy (banking, government) and a seemingly growing radicalism of Muslims.
- Phoenix12052023 3y agoHey, I'm in Singapore. I visited KL some years back and I quite enjoyed the city and what it had to offer. Malaysia is so much more relaxed. The moment you cross the border into Johor Bahru, you can almost feel the release valve.
- dustedcodes 3y ago> However, it's tolerance, not full acceptance. Don't force your views on others I mean that sounds perfect. What more would anyone want. Trying to force personal views on others is wrong and unnecessary aggressive passive-violent behaviour. Also tolerance only exists in the state of disagreement, so if you force everyone to agree with your view then there is nothing to tolerate, because you are in agreement. The pinnacle of harmonious living is accepting people for believing and having different views and letting them express those whilst everyone is still tolerant of each other. Anything less is discriminatory and anything more is dictatorial.
- kredd 3y agoTolerance in these terms are like "I would never let my kid to be gay, but others, fine whatever". And that still comes in a range from "get thrown stones at for holding hands with another dude" to "allowed to give a goodbye kiss to your partner in public". Everyone's limits are obviously different, and one can perceive either of those as "trying to force personal views on others". Reading those norms isn't easy until you get accustomed to the locals and have bar chats with them.
- dustedcodes 3y agoYou described intolerance, I was talking about tolerance.