Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H)
Malaysia My Second Home is one program drawn up my the Ministry of Tourism to let qualified foreigners stay for a long time in Malaysia on a 10-years renewable multi-entry social visit pass. This is opened to citizens of all countries recognised or approved by Malaysia, regardless of race, religion, gender and age. Participant can bring in their spouse, parents above 60 and unmarried children.

To qualify for this, certain criterias have to be met when applying and other criterias have to be met or followed when application is approved. I will give some criterias that have to be met when applying and when approved below. I am not an agent and therefore information given might not be correct. Kindly check for the latest criterias or requirements from the Ministry and /or approved licenced agents.

Requirements to be met when applying :

1. All applicants and dependents are required to submit medical report from any private hospital or registered clinic in Malaysia.
2. Applicants who apply directly on their own are required to fulfill the Personal Security Bond condition. Kindly refer to Personal Bond for rate per person usually ranging from RM200 - RM2,000.
   
   As for participant applying through licenced agent, the personal bond will have to be provided by agent when clients have been approved.
3. Certain financial requirements have to met for different category of applicants.
   
   Applicant below 50 years old is required to show proof of minimum liquid assets of RM500,000 and offshore income of RM10,000 per month.
   
   Applicant 50 years old and above is required to show proof of minimum liquid assets of RM350,000 and offshore income of RM10,000 per month or pension from government approved funds of RM10,000 per month.

Requirements to be met upon approval :

A. Participants and their dependents must have valid medical insurance coverage applicable in Malaysia.

B. Applicant below 50 years old is required to :

1. open a fixed deposit account of with a minimum amount of RM300,000
2. After 1 year of approval, participant can withdraw up to RM150,000 for expenses relating to house purchase, children's education in Malaysia and medical purposes.
3. maintain a minimum balance of RM150,000 in fixed deposit from 2nd year onwards throughout stay in Malaysia under this program.
4. Note : For those who have already purchased properties worth at least RM1 million are qualify to place a fixed deposit amount of RM150,000 on condition that properties have been fully paid and ownership documents have already been issued.

C. Applicant 50 years old and above is required to :

1. open a fixed deposit account of with a minimum amount of RM150,000 OR show proof of government approved pension funds of RM10,000 per month.
2. After 1 year of approval, participant can withdraw up to RM50,000 for expenses relating to house purchase, children's education in Malaysia and medical purposes.
3. maintain a minimum balance of RM100,000 in fixed deposit from 2nd year onwards throughout stay in Malaysia under this program.
4. Note : For those who have already purchased properties worth at least RM1 million are qualify to place a fixed deposit amount of RM150,000 on condition that properties have been fully paid and ownership documents have already been issued.

The government gives some incentives with conditions to approved participants. For example, house purchase, car purchase, children's education, maid, exemption of pension coming into Malaysia and setting up of companies.

You may ask why Malaysia? Malaysia is a safe place to live, has nice and healthy environment, has many health care centres with good professionals and staffs, has all kinds of food including food prepared using islamic ways, people that can understand English and government that tolerate all kinds of religion.

Lastly and most importantly, for those interested in this program, it is advisable to get advice from the Ministry and approved licenced MM2H agency. This MM2H website may be useful as the government may change their policy and my site may be out of date.

Health Tourism
Malaysia is very interested in health tourism. In this tourism, it is not just about tourist coming for medical treatment in hospitals but also just for relaxation. For example, Malaysia has many hotels near the beaches and hills which provide good services and care for their guests. These hotels have spas, jacuzzi, swimming pools, massage centres and even sporting activities for their guests.

Apart from services provided by hotels, there are getting more and more massage and spas outlets in Malaysia especially cities and big towns. Fish spas are getting more common nowadays in cities. These can also compliment those tourists who came for medical treatment, get pampered while recovering before going back home.

I am sure these things can be found in many other countries. So why Malaysia? I think that Malaysia is a very nice place to relax because Malaysia is not crowded. As a tourist, you will get to have more space for yourself which in a way will make you more relax, secure and free. Apart from this, Malaysia is known to have slower pace or living style than most cities in other countries. So, this should take off your hectic living feeling in fast-paced cities.

I will not talk about the weather nor the people and their culture here. However, I will like to say that more Malaysians are opening up their orchards to tourists. I think fruits are very good for health even for those recovering from illness. Penang has a tropical fruit farm where you can get to eat fresh fruits and juices.

You can find orchard that serves only vegetarian diet as they believe that vegetarian diet is good for health especially fresh vegetables. Anyway, vegetarian coffee shops can be easily found in Malaysia, especially Penang.

Now, I would like to talk about medical treatment. I know Malaysia is not considered advance in medical treatment. However, if your illness is not one that someone rarely heard off, then hospitals in Malaysia should have no problem with that. Medical cost in Malaysia is reasonable, the waiting queue is shorter than many countries and the medical people are good.

Interested in chinese medical treatment? Penang has a hospital that provides chinese medical treatment. In fact, I have personally tried a chinese medicine before and it worked like a miracle. The 'sinseh' was from a martial art group.

However, not all illness chinese medical treatment can cure but there's no harm in asking, as I've always say. I did not believe but I asked and I got cured. I am very grateful for that.

Education Tourism
I think it is the truth that the main objective of any tourism programs in any country is to get money for the country. There may be other minor objective such as to maintain a good relation with other countries.

Therefore, Malaysia promotes itself as a good education destination. Good transport and technology infrastructure, good and healthy environment, nice people that are easy to communicate with, easily available food of various types and good teaching staffs and materials.

Malaysia has many higher education institution with about 20 public universities and about 30 private higher education centre. Many higher learning institution have twining program with foreign universities or affiliated to them. This makes Malaysia's higher education affordable and interesting to people.

As for the entry requirements into universities, it would require a certificate equivalent to Higher School Certificate.

For further questions, ask the appropriate institution that you wish to join.

Other Important Programs
One very important program is the Homestay program. It is important because it introduces traditional Malay lifestyle to tourist. Therefore, it is a very important aspect in cultural tourism.

Most if not all of these houses have basic facilities like electricity, modern bathroom and toilets even though they are traditional houses. Therefore, tourists can still stay there quite comfortably while getting to see what they do for a living and during their free time, how they cook and eat and a little about their customs. Tho host may also be able to set-up mock cultural events.