I urge the Ministry of Home Affairs to expedite the improvements to the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.
This matter has been highlighted on several occasions by the Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and state housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor, and has even gotten the attention of HM The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.
It is, unfortunately, still under review.
I was informed that, according to the MM2H Consultation Association, with the strict requirements introduced since August 2021, about 90% of applications have been turned down.
Among the new criteria are a monthly income of RM40,000 compared to RM10,000 previously; liquid assets of at least RM1.5mil (RM500,000 previously), as well as RM5,000 processing fee for principal and RM2,500 for each dependent.
I hope that these requirements can be loosened accordingly without compromising national security as the participants are only given visas for residency and not a citizenship status.
I agree with the newly introduced requirement of 90 days in Malaysia per year and also have a few suggestions for improvement that the respective departments can consider, as follows:
Participant’s monthly income of only RM25,000; savings of RM500,000; RM1mil in liquid assets, and the processing fee of RM5,000 is to be imposed only to the principal applicant, and none to the dependents.
In my opinion, a creative tourism sector not only attracts retirees and businesses but also more high-quality visitors, tourists, investors to the state thus, stimulating foreign investment.
MM2H is a great initiative for economic development and a win-win situation for many sectors in Malaysia.
This programme has been attracting lots of foreign tourists to invest and work in Malaysia and also to bring along their family members.
This will bring a domino effect in many sectors such as housing and real estate, hospitality, food and beverages, transportation, education, health, and entertainment.
This group also has the potential to fill up the residential areas, especially those in Forest City and town area where we will have less abandoned buildings in Johor to worry about in the future.
In this matter, a delicate balance must be struck to foster economic growth, yet not compromise national security and interests.
According to the data provided by Tourism Development, Arts, Culture and Heritage Department, about 43,000 applications from 131 countries were been approved between 2002 and 2018.
But, between September 2021 and June 2023, a total of 1,461 MM2H applicants withdrew from the programme with various issues due to not meeting current MM2H requirements.
Cumulatively, this programme has successfully stimulated the national economic with an income amounting to RM11.89bill between 2002 and 2019 where China being the most applicants for it.