# Make or Break in Malaysia



## Amongow (Mar 11, 2014)

Hey all,

I've been lurking but it's time to make my first post and jump in. As my name suggests I am no stranger to Malaysia, I've moved there on three separate occasions I've otherwise been in Canada and I want to move back because I love Malaysia, I miss it and feel as though I belong there. 

I'm heading over this fall/September, I enjoy the luxury of being able to work remotely but this doesn't pay all of the bills and I have to meet my clients face to face from time to time which is outrageously expensive to fly back for. My standard of living requirements are minimal, a cellphone, desk & internet. There's a lot to figure out if I'm to make this happen.

I hope to meet as many of you as I can, all ages and experiences so please feel free to touch base and share stories. I hope to become friends, meet for drinks when I get there and selfishly I hope to also make connections for employment visa sponsorship or for more creative endeavours such as selling Poutine in the hawker stalls (Canadian). 

Thanks for reading this far and I look forward to making friends and being an active member of this community!

Amongow


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## anonserg (May 13, 2014)

Hi Amongow

Welcome to the forum!
Not to dampen your spirit but the reality is, it's kinda hard to get employment visa sponsorship in this country. The minimum salary has to be more than RM5000 (+/- CAD1500) and the right industry (usually IT and oil& gas has better chance) so it is not really up to the employer rather it's the authority (govt) but you may never know luck could be on your side.

To open a business in Malaysia for foreigner you need to have a local as a partner. There are many things to consider especially entering the F&B industry in KL, you can find a lot more of that all over the internet.

Good luck on your endeavour!

PS: I saw you are from Toronto but assuming u speak french, maybe u can start by finding a job in KL branch of Alliance Francaise?


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## Amongow (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks Anonserg,

I actually have friends in the F&B industry, small shops like hawker stalls. As a foreigner would I be able to partner with them to open up another? Non Bumi but Chinese and a Malay. I wonder if that is too small an investment and if that would change my visa or in/out privileges. 

Thanks,





anonserg said:


> Hi Amongow
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## anonserg (May 13, 2014)

Hi again,

A Malay is automatically a bumiputera (native) in Malaysia 

However the nature of your business sounds too small to get an approval.
For F&B industry, the govt is very strict as to protect the local businesses. Unless it's a super exclusive outlet and you are one of the big shareholders, it is rather hard to go through.

Have you tried talking to your Malaysian friends? Perhaps they know more to help?


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## Amongow (Mar 11, 2014)

My Malaysian friends don't bother to know anything about expat ownership, they're too busy paying for their own stalls legitimately or not.

I've found a restaurateur from Australia struggling to expand into SE Asia with an exact business model to what I am hoping to achieve and running into the same stumbling blocks. His food service is Canadian and that's how I know him, how can we expand his established Australian franchise into Malaysia?


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