Hi
Some information for the first timer into UK:

1- Find a big city to go to, especially one with a big university. There will be a lot of Malaysian students to help you. Try to find out about the Malaysian Students Societies, one of the biggest MSS is Manchester and Warwick (London has more students but they tend not to stick with each other).

2- Learn a bit about the geography of the place, like where are the big cities. For example I know a guy who went to Warwick to go to Malaysian Nights while the Warwick University is in Coventry, like 15 miles away.

3- Try to find work at places that have high staff turnover, for example fast food chain and cinemas. Also try to find jobs during peak time, ie Christmas and Summer holidays. In places like Manchester where it is a student city, summer will be so quiet you will have more chance in looking for a job or a place to stay.

4- Pay - the minimum wage is 5.15 i think, so no matter where you go, apart from working in fields, you will be paid this amount, at least. Offer to work late nights and on weekends because English people tend to hate that shifts.

5- Tax - Your pay will be deducted of tax as soon as you got it. The rate is about 22% above the threshold. If you get paid below the threshold, you wont get taxed and sometime they add to your pay (tax credit) to increase it. Another big thing is council tax, this is where you pay a certain amount of money to your council depending on where you live. What people usually do is claim that they are a student and the tax will be waived.

6- National Insurance - National insurance or N.I. number is compulsory for everyone who wants to work in the UK. It is like IC and you will pay compulsory contribution to this and it will be deducted from your pay. Applying for one is a lengthy process and theres a catch 22. You need NI to work and you need to work to apply for NI. So the best way is IF the employer ask for NI number, tell them that you have a temporary number which is TN******M (TN stands for temporary number, ****** is where you put your birthday eg 120388, and at the end put M for male and F for female).