Hello my friend, congratulations on your baby. In Sydney, if you don't have help to mind the young it is an extremely difficult life. I see all my Sydney friends busy helping their grandchildren over the past few years and it keeps them quite busy. They get a lot of pleasure minding their grandkids from what i can see. I don't have kids so i have a lot more free time than my friends.

It has been raining quite a lot and it has been quite cool for me. I keep myself busy by exercising a lot. I swim a lot and the water temperature here is just nice (in Sydney even during summer the water temperature is quite cold). I just to swim a lot at Clovelly and Coogee because it was was close to where i lived.

I am slowly beginning to adjust to life here - life here is quite different from Sydney because we have a fantastic welfare system that doesn't exist in Msia. I see quite a lot of old people struggling financially here in KL. I see so many old people here still need to work because of a lack of welfare for older citizens.

Keep well and hopefully your mum will be able to hang around for a long while in Sydney.

I have sent funds from CBA to Maybank several times in the past 14 months (amounts ranging from A$5k to A$50k using the online international transfer). Initially in Jan/Feb 2021, i was sending amounts around A$5k-7k (about 3 times) because i was afraid that my payments would be blocked as i didn't know what the maximum amount i could send per day. I slowly increased it to about A$11k without any problems. I did them all online and not over the counter.

As i was about to come back to KL to retire, i then rang the remittance officer in the Bangsar Baru branch (where my Maybank acct is) sometime mid-March 2021 and told them that i wanted to send close to a million ringgit as i was retiring in Msia and have worked close to 40 years in Sydney. Maybank (Bangsar Baru) wanted to see some evidence of my funds to show that it is legitimate funds and i forwarded a copy of my super balance - my super balance was quite significant and the remittance officer told me that i should have no problems sending bigger amounts. As i have only been sending the telegraphic transfers online, i have only been able to send amounts up to A$50k max each time with CBA. There was a day where i sent A$150k (in 3 lots of A$50k) and i got the money within 30 mins of sending. Very fast transfers and very efficient using Maybank/CBA - only negative thing is rate is not very good compared to money changers in KL.

Hope this helps.

Sydney University provided me with an unlimited plan with Optus and coverage was very good. About 5 years earlier, Sydney University was with Telstra (whole Uni changed over to Optus but we retained our old number) ever since i was given a phone (about 25 years ago). I find both Optus and Telstra provided excellent coverage.

I have had a private number as well since 1997 with Vodafone and the plan i have been on is the 365-day plan ($40 for 365 days but data is very expensive) - good if you are not a heavy data user. As i am now in Msia, i only need my mobile to receive sms (for OTP) like getting onto MyGov. Coverage for Vodafone is about on par with Optus and Telstra.

I personally don't use Transferwise but i believe it is very good (with very good rates). The only problem is your transfer may be blocked because the amount is too big (need to verify source of income). Nowadays banks are very careful where clients' source of funds is from (money lauderinging/drug money, terrorist support, ...).

I have no problems with my source of funds as i have worked all my life in Sydney Uni and have paid my fair share of taxes. If you are worried about your transfers being blocked, i would suggest sending lesser amounts (like A$2k-$3k each time). I don't know how much you need to transfer but if your amount is bigger (like a few hundred thousand Aussie), then you may need a longer time to transfer all your funds over.

Try to go on the weekend as it is heaps cheaper. When i go Chinatown for longer periods of time use the carpark at the corner of Goulburn and Elizabeth St (entrance using Goulburn). They have a flat whole day park for A$12 for both Saturdays and Sundays. They are also the cheaper preference on weekdays and average out at $10/hr. Street parking around Chinatown (on weekends) are A$4.70/hr so if you are going to be there longer than two and a half hours, use the carpark. I can't remember the carpark operator name but it is a big carpark with about 4-5 floors. I used to park there nearly every weekend when we go down to the city (makan lunch in Chinatown and then go Myer/David Jones for jalan jalan).

The only negative thing about this carpark is that it has a very small lift but other than that everything is okay.

When it is raining in Sydney, it is usually cold and miserable - worse when it cold. The thing about rain in Sydney is it usually tends to stay around for a few days at least. When it rains in winter, it is usually not so cold - clear cloudless nights are coldest in winter because there is no cloud cover to trap the heat in.

Winter is coming soon so rug up

My wife has been to Pricne of Wales emergency quite a few times in the last 15 years. My wife would get UTI (urinary tract infection) quite often and she would keep vomitting severely. Took my wife a few times there in the middle of the night and there would usually only be one doctor on duty - usually the triage nurse would assess how severe the condition is and then we would wait a few hours before the doctor on duty attends to her. Very stressful!! My wife likes to always get sick after midnight so i would be at the emergency until dawn. Not a very pleasant experience.
I have seen a lot of people fake their symptoms (like screaming in pain or pretending to be dying) so that they can be seen by the medical officer on duty faster.
Westmead is a big hospital and i am sure their emergency ward is flat out most of the time. I think you got to prepare yourself mentally to get used to this kind of service. I have been to the emergency ward quite a few times and it is extremely stressful. Hope you and your family gets well soon.

Went renew my passport at Jalan Duta yesterday with my wife - Immigration office nowadays is opened until 10pm. Not much of a queue as only a select group of people were allowed in - i belong to the senior citizen group (anyone born on or before 1 Jan 1962 is classified as a senior citizen). Most people are told to lodge online applications.

I was asked why i have been out of the country (Msia) for so long and if i had other citizenships - told them negative and was asked how i managed to live overseas for so long during Covid. Told them i have pr in Australia and was asked to show my resident return visa (rrv) which i did. No problems after this. I suspect the Immigration Office is trying to weed out those who have taken other citizenships and still renewing their Msian passports especially when some of them have gone back to live during Covid.

This is something that everyone living in Australia has to accept. When you check into Casualty, there is a triage nurse there who will do the initial diagnosis and their main aim is to make sure YOU DO NOT DIE. If you are in terrible pain, they will give you some painkillers. Don't forget there are a lot of drug addicts in there so the nurses have to be sure they are not in danger as well.

I have been fairly healthy so i have not needed to use the Casualty ward (also call the Emergency Ward) but for those who may need the govt health system (funded under Medicare), you may have to endure a little. However the wait is probably the only negative as the staff is extremely professional and most nurses there are good. I know the medical system there are there are a few doctors in my badminton group (a very closely-knit group).

I have never needed to go to a public hospital in Malaysia (i probably wouldn't need to go as my wife and i have the financial resources to go private) so i cannot make a comparison.

Most times you don't have to go to a public hospital for treatment - there are a lot of bulk-billed clinics you can go to get treatment (if you have a Medicare card, it is free as it is bulk-billed). You only go to a hospital when the bulk-billing clinics (surgeries) are closed or when you need a hospital bed.

Agree with you.

In Sydney, it is very difficult to get into the property market with a single income even trying to buy way out West.

Remember my friend Aziz who worked with me and had to borrow money from me every now and then? He had 5 properties all heavily geared - he recently sold a 3 bedroom house in Casula for A$875k (he would have only got A$650k 18 months ago). He now thinks he will not be able to get the old-aged pension because he and his wife has gone over the A900k limit threshold. Pays to speculate in properties in Sydney and Melbourne. All my boomer friends who have more than 1 property are all laughing to the bank.

I have come back to Msia for one year now. I find life here so different from Sydney - we can get CHEAP help and this gives us choice whether we want to do the work ourselves or get someone else to do it. I think if you have the financial resources, retirement is definitely better here. If not much money and need govt assistance then Aust is definitely better. Now that i have lived here for 12 months, my living expenses is only 40% of that in Sydney. Sydney with their high minimum wage is very expensive if you want a comfortable retirement. I am stating this from my personal lifestyle for a couple without kids.

I will probably find it very hard to get my resident return visa renewed due to the 2/5year stay requirement. We get pampered here so much and it will take a lot of effort for me to make the 2 year stay in Aust

My cousin brother has a soil analysis company with 6 engineers working for him doing soil analysis for high rise. He is 58, lives in Sydney and his company is in Blacktown. He started the company in the early nineties - he has done very well in his business and started from scratch. He has very rich parents so starting a company is very easy for him (he bought up the warehouse where his company is using and 3 adjacent units adjacent to his). Like i said all my boomer relatives and friends have done very well in Sydney had they invested in properties earlier.

Naturally being boss with 6 engineers is hard with his engineers always asking for pay rise but his company has been very profitable with so many high-rises built in the last 30-40 years. I am the poor cousin compared to him

I have no problems getting a 5 year rrv now (as i have spent the last 4 years out of 5 years in Sydney) but when the 5-year rrv expires then i may have to opt to give up my pr. Guess 5 years is a long time so wait until then and see what happens.

I like KL as a retirement destination and will find it very hard to go back to Sydney to live (esp when my wife doesn't want to go back).

Why do you need IC to apply for your rrv. It is the Aust Immigration jurisdication to give you the rrv so you don't need your IC. You just apply online and fill in the form - very simple as i have done it many times online (each time 5 year rrv).

Hope this helps

Aiyoh.

You will need your IC to renew your Msian passport. You may need to get a temporary one from either the Melbourne or Canberra High Comm. May have to go through a lot of problem.

A lot of my friends in the earlier days gave up their PR because they couldn't meet the 2 years stay after they graduated from Uni. It was very much easier to get our PR in the earlier days as well.

Nowadays the Aussie PR is a lot more desirable with the direction that Malaysia is heading (especially for the younger generations).

Definitely agree with you about not needing PR when you are much older. The PR 2 year restriction is very prohibitive and restrictive.

I have nieces and nephews who went over to do their high school and was able to adapt quite well to life after graduating Uni in Sydney - they all are doing well and in good jobs so going there a little earlier was beneficial for them. The only problem with younger people nowadays is that parents may need to help children with the initial deposit to get them started in the housing market. Properties are so expensive in Melbourne and Sydney!!

Be careful of the holding 2 passports - i think the govt is trying to clamp on this. I went to renew my passport last month in Jln Duta and was asked how i managed to live so long in Sydney - the Immigration wants to prove i have not taken up Aust citizenship. I reluctantly showed them my rrv and they were happy with that - if i had taken up Aust citizenship, i would have no way of proving i am still a Msian citizen.

Agree that Msia is still a good place to live provided you have sufficient funds without needing to resort to the 'tongkat' mentality.