Part 2: Low Costs Draw Expatriates to Langkawi

 CONTINUED FROM LAST POST

Marsha and I were talking about the cost of living while we were eating lunch at the food court at Langkawi Fair shopping center.

“You can eat out for 5 ringgit” (less than $2) Marsha said while I was savoring a dish of Thai origin, tom yam soup with shrimp, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, and chili peppers. Marsha P. Waren, a US native and teacher in Thailand, was visiting in Langkawi, Malaysia.

The food court had cafeteria style tables, air conditioning, and several counters displaying dishes made with fresh ingredients, including fish, chicken, eggplant, string beans, ochre.

The food court at Langkawi Fair offers $2 feasts

A Malaysian man was listening to our conversation. He said, “Excuse me. Do you know how much you paid for that soup?” He grinned and said, “5000 ringgit” (about $1,666). He paused long enough for us to look at him with surprised expressions. “That is how much it cost you to come from your country,” he said. We laughed.

After the cost of a plane ticket, however, many expatriates enjoy a pleasant lifestyle at relatively low cost. Tevi, for one, chose Asia mainly for that reason. (See “Why Asia ? Simple Economics,” on Tevi’s blog, teviotshome.blogspot.com.)

Tevi (top photo) has been teaching English in Asia for more than five years since a friend called to ask if she would like to teach in his school. It took her just seconds to say “yes“ to the job offer in Inner Mongolia, China. Since then, Teviot Fairservis also taught in Thailand and Laos.

In Asia, Tevi became TV. She introduces herself like this: “I’m Tevi, like television. My Chinese students used to call me TV.”

When Tevi and I were 20 something, we were friends in Sharon, CT., USA. I was then working at my first newspaper job as a reporter-photographer for The Lakeville Journal. Tevi was absorbed with activities related to The Sharon Playhouse, where her father was a partner. Soon after she studied Asian theatre at the University of Hawaii; later, she became a producer and director for East-West Fusion Theatre.

A dense green view from penthouse terrace

Now Tevi lives in Langkawi, and for about $800 a month, she and I rented a two-story penthouse with terraces facing rainforest mountain views. She occupied one floor while I lived on the other. The apartment was completely furnished down to sheets, towels, washing machine, and flat screen TV.
 A neighbor/spa worker gave us one-hour body massages for $10. Or, for $11.50 at ACC Beauty & Massage, we could buy a foot massage and a session in a “fish spa,” where 300 tiny fish nibbled at the dead skin on our feet.

Amenities in the building included a large swimming pool. However, there were “third world” touches; a woman with a broom swept the pool area, hallways on 11 floors, and the parking lot of the building. 

Third World touch: Daily a woman sweeps the building

At the pool or in the elevator, we would meet foreigners living in the building, Seri Lagenda Tower. There was Robin from U.K., who has lived in the building for 15 years. At first, he organized golf tours; now he focuses more on apartment rentals. There was Peter, the Australian marine engineer, and Inni from Russia, an interpreter at Tanjung Rhu beach resort.
Also among the neighbors were New Zealanders Pam, who managed some rentals in the building, and her husband, John of Asia Pacific Super Yachts, who provided services for “yachties.“ Other foreign neighbors were not from western cultures, like Rayna, the writer from India, and Farouq, the karate champion from Iran.

Nikolai of Uzbekistan was among those from Muslim countries. Asked if he prays five times a day, like some devout Langkawi Muslims, he slapped the top of  his head and said, “When gray, pray. No now, no old.”

Malaysian neighbors included Liza the reporter, who might tell you she was dashing off to do a story on a new kind of fish at the aquarium, Underwater World. Another neighbor, Yuh Yee, a Chinese-Malaysian, was a coast guard; Azam and his wife of Japanese origin recently opened Sunday Surf shop.

Together we lived in an east-west fusion building.

Story & photos by Earthy Reporter, Carola C. Reuben, Copyright 2011

Part 1: Paradise Draws Expatriates to Langkawi




On a tropical island in a Muslim country in Asia, Christmas carolers sing in English near a rainforest, and partygoers drink German beer at an Oktoberfest by a balmy beach.
Expatriates bring events reminiscent of their native lands to Langkawi, Malaysia, and they can find out about them from a calendar of activities on a facebook page in English.
Perhaps following the beat of her own drum, Vanessa Workman created the page, Island Drum of Langkawi. She refers to her 7-month-old Island Drum as an experiment to find out what would happen if given a mouthpiece. The mouthpiece might feature upcoming parties, a lecture for a "greener island," an inquiry about pottery classes as well as a reward for a missing dog.

Oktoberfest waitress, Beach Garden Resort, Cenang Beach

Vanessa and her mate became Langkawi “expats” four years ago. After considering Costa Rica, they chose Langkawi because it is beautiful and the local people seemed sincere and friendly; also, it was much closer to “many cool places” to visit. Vanessa was a respiratory therapist for 30 years; she calls herself “a somewhat” artist/painter. Her mate has a production design company for events in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Both are US natives, a minority among the “expats” of Langkawi. “So many Americans I know are afraid to come here,” Vanessa said by e-mail. “It is a culture so unfamilar to them.” Far more of the “expats” from the western part of Earth are Brits, Scandinavians, Germans, and other Europeans. Australians and New Zealanders are also well represented.

Some of the “expats” say they like the easy communication with the local population. English is widely spoken. Malaysia was a British colony for more than 150 years, and the Malay language contains many English cognates. For instance, English speakers might recognize words like epel (apple), teksi (taxi), miziam (museum), polis (police).

Expat hangout: The Pier Restaurant by a mangrove river

Karick from Norway is not fluent in English, but local people address her in English because she is a foreigner. When we met at Langkawi Computers, Karick, 65, said she retired in Langkawi with her German husband. He had lived in many countries as an engineer for cement factories, but Langkawi was his choice for retirement. When Karick became a widow in Langkawi, her Malaysian friends consoled her.

“Yachties” are among other retirees living on the island. From their boats they first saw Langkawi emerging in the Andaman Sea among other hilly islands covered with greenery. Gudrun from Norway and her British husband got off their boat in Langkawi and stayed for six years. They had lived in China, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Nigeria when her husband worked for an Iraqi oil company.

I met Gudrun when she was selling calendars door to door for the Langkawi Ladies Charity Club. With an armload of calendars featuring photos of Langkawi’s birds, she knocked on Gitti’s door.

On the other side of that door, Gitti from Germany was telling me she feels “stateless.” She married a Malaysian 29 years ago; much of her family lives in Australia, and she worked in Singapore for 17 years as a pre-school teacher in a Geman school.


 She and her husband, “Bond,” both in their 50s, moved three years ago to Langkawi from Johor Bahru, Malaysia. “We are not going anywhere else,” she said emphatically. In Langkawi, Gitti wrote a book to be published in German about her grandmother, a free spirit who let gypsies camp in her yard.

 Dragon fruit on a porch: local produce is abundant.

Among Langkawi’s attractions, Gitti and other “expats” cite the low crime rate and the cost of living. (See next story on Earthy Reporter.)

Reliable figures for the “expat” population in Langkawi were not available. However, whatever the numbers may be, there are enough foreigners to support several “expat” hangouts, such as Yellow Café on Cenang Beach and the The Pier Restaurant located by a mangrove river.

The expat population is also large enough to warrant importing products, including processed foods, such as spaghetti sauce, and health foods. Several shelves at Bellis Spa are lined with organic products, such as tahine from Australia, miso from Japan, and black rice from Sabah, Malaysia.

In spite of their diversity, at the end of the day Langkawi’s “expats,” share a ritual. Many of them photograph the sunsets or simply admire them. After all, in Langkawi the sun sets on their days with intense colors, crisp blue and turquoise mixed with shocking pink and crimson.
Story & photos by Carola C. Reuben, Earthy Reporter,               Copyright, 2010
TO BE CONTINUED...Part 2 to be posted in 2 weeks



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