Name: George Pauli
Home country: Germany
Designation/Industry/Company: Transportation
Other countries you have lived in: Indonesia

What brought you to Malaysia?
Business.

What were your impressions of Malaysia before you came? How have they changed, if indeed they have?
Very positive country with 3 different cultures, great development and good leadership to move the country forward.

If you had to pick a sound, a smell, a taste or a touch to describe Malaysia, what would it be?
Durian, after 20 years I love it!

What are the three things you like most about living in Malaysia?
Great infrastructure, spicy food and it is great for shopping!

What are the three things you like most about living in Malaysia?
No direct flights to Luthansa, Germany, the tax on certain items like alcohol is very high and people on the road who need more discipline compared to 20 years ago.

Name three places you would take an overseas visitor.
Cameron Highlands, East coast in summer and Sabah.

Name three typical weekend activities you enjoy.
Enjoying good food at restaurants, roaming in shopping complexes for latest IT gadgets and enjoying high speed Internet connections for browsing.

What’s your favourite restaurant and bar in Malaysia?
House Frankfurt, Bangsar.

Do you own property here? If so, where? If not, why not?
I am in the process of buying.

Are most of your friends Malaysians or expats?
Mixed.

What do you miss most about your home country?
Hiking on weekends in the woods.

What is your favourite football team?
Bayern Munich

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Name: Michael De Kretser
Home country: Australia
Company: Chief Executive Officer of Go Communications
Marital status: Single and Available
Other countries you have lived in: England, Singapore, Thailand

What brought you to Malaysia?
Fate. And the knowledge if you can’t make it here, you can’t make it anywhere.

What were your impressions of Malaysia before you came? How have they changed, if indeed they have?
Great opportunities, wonderful food and beautiful people. And it keeps getting better.

If you had to pick a sound, a smell, a taste or a touch to describe Malaysia, what would it be?
The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in full throttle playing on the beach in the Perhentian Islands.

What are the three things you like most about living in Malaysia?
Everybody helps you to succeed. Your success is their happiness.

What are three things you dislike about living in Malaysia?
The haze clouds and blue skies. The blame lies elsewhere.

Name three places you would take an overseas visitor.
To share a family Malay breakfast, Indian lunch and a Chinese dinner. A perfect way to understand Malaysian culture all in one. A feast for the stomach and eyes.

Name three typical weekend activities you enjoy.
Golf with my son Peter so I can win again. A roti and the tarik at the local hawker. Topped by watching soccer with 13million other Malaysians.

What’s your favourite restaurant and bar in Malaysia?
Frangipani. 5 star all the way.

Do you own property here? If so, where? If not, why not?
No. I could jump off the twin towers for not doing so.

Are most of your friends Malaysians or expats?
A melting pot mix – exotic and enriching.

What do you miss most about your home country?
Four seasons. Something magical about a log fire in Winter, daffodils in Spring, bikinis in Summer and falling leaves in Autumn.

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Name: Pedro S.W. Lee
Home country: South Korea
Company: Pedro Espresso Café
Marital status/Number of children: Married with 1 daughter

What brought you to Malaysia?
I ran a café in Korea but the winter is the slow season for café business so I left it to my manager and decided to spend winter in Malaysia or Thailand. As my daughter is getting older, I hope she can learn not only English but also Mandarin. So I decided to move to Malaysia.

What were your impressions of Malaysia before your came?? How have they changed, if indeed they have?
My first travel to Malaysia was 1997, when the tallest building in KL was KL tower instead of the Petronas Towers and the whole city of KL was a construction site. Afterward whenever I visited Malaysia, I found Malaysia developed step by step and I was surprised.

If you had to pick a sound, a smell, a taste to describe Malaysia, what would it be?
The sound of ending sentences with “lah”! The smell and taste of durian.

What are the 3 things you like most about living in Malaysia?
Relatively cheap cost of living, warm weather and good location for travel thanks to low cost flights like AirAsia.

What are 3 things you dislike about living in Malaysia?
Inconvenient road system and bad road conditions, very slow work procedure and construction noise.

Name 3 places you would take a overseas visitor.
The Petronas Towers at night, Genting Highlands, the islands of the East coast such as Ledang or Tioman.

Name 3 typical weekend activities you enjoy.
Visit one of the Buddhist temples, bring my daughter to parks like the Lake Gardens and the National Science Center or hiking in FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia).

Do you own property here?? If so, where?
I purchased a condo in Mont Kiara.

Are most of your friends Malaysians or expats?
Mostly Malaysian. While I work here, I am getting closer with them.

What do you miss most about your home country?
Fresh and crisp breeze.

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Name: Giorgio Acosta
Home country: Thailand
Marital status: Married with three daughters
Designation: Director/Designer of Modern Primitive
Other countries you have lived in: United States and Thailand

What brought you to Malaysia and how long have you been here?
Met my wife in the States and decided to come back here to start a life. We’ve been here for seven years.

What do you like and dislike most about living in Malaysia?
I like Malaysia’s landscape and the abundance of greenery. I’ve also met a lot of good people here. I’m not too crazy about the food, I miss Thai food and lately the traffic is getting worse.

Name three typical weekend activities that you enjoy.
Taking my girls out to dinner, a night out in town and sitting at home watching TV.

What is your favourite holiday destination in Malaysia or in the region. Why?
Bali as it has everything, a mix of East and West. Would love to visit East Malaysia.

Describe a memorable eating experience you have had here.
Jashima’s at TTDI, a hole in the wall place which was where I first tried proper tandoor.

Do you own property here? If so, where? If not, why?
Townhouse at Sunway Damansara, we moved in five years ago.

What do you miss most about your home country?
I miss speaking Thai, as well as Thai food and desserts.

How long do you plan to stay in Malaysia? Where would you like to go next, and why?
No timeline, but I can see myself staying here for a long time as we are close to Thailand and Bali. If we decide to go, we would leave for Thailand.

Is Malaysia a good country to raise children? Why?
Yes, compared to America. Kids grow up too fast over there and I think extended families help keep the young kids grounded, which is how it works in Asian countries.

Is Malaysia a good place in which to work and do business? Why?
Yes, I think it is easy to do business here and my only challenge is to try to understand the taste of the locals. The future is Asia and the quality of life here is much better.

Source: The Expat December 2011 Issue

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This article has been edited for ExpatGoMalaysia.com