KUCHING, Oct 5: Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing urges the government to establish an inclusive committee of representatives from both the government and the private sector in order to devise a more ‘friendly’ plan that actually improves on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) progamme.
He noted that among the 10 criteria that will be introduced to MM2H is the requirement to live in Malaysia for at least 90 days within a year, and have an income of roughly RM40,000 monthly, compared to RM10,000 per month previously.
While urging the government to look at MM2H in detail, he said applicants may be classified into several sectors that can be considered.
“Firstly, applicants looking for a retirement destination who are above 50 years of age and applying for PR (permanent resident) status for retirement purposes. For those in this category, they will need to own a home here, and if they wish to sell it, they must be able to acquire another property or have their PR status revoked.
“It is unreasonable for the government to require a condition for applicants to hold a minimum of RM1 million, where 50 per cent of it must be used for property-buying, healthcare, and their children’s education,” he said in a statement after the 12th Malaysia Plan debate in Parliament in Kuala Lumpur today.
A second classification, he said, may be for investment purposes for applicants looking to hold a 5-year visa and work permit.
“It is recommended that this category comes with a minimum paid up capital for a renewable 5-year visa. It is not reasonable for the government to require minimum liquid assets of RM1.5 million,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tiong suggested that for the third category, applicants for education visas who are parents be allowed to purchase residential property for their child studying in Malaysia and allowed to sell the property, continue to live or invest in the country upon the child’s graduation.
Tiong added that for the fourth category involving medical tourists applying for medical visas, it is unreasonable for the government to state that programme participants should not exceed 1 per cent of Malaysia’s population.
“Are we concerned that a higher number of foreigners will take more of our money? We should be proud that more people are willing to come and live here and contribute to our economic growth.
“I urge the government to relook at this programme by calling all stakeholders to the table before executing the programme. Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) and other tourism agencies are the ones that will be marketing the MM2H, not the Home Affairs Ministry (KDN). KDN’s job is not to promote MM2H but make it easier to manage and do business,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
