As long as you are comfortable in the heat, the lifestyle of expatriate retirees in Malaysia is an enviable one.

With temperatures ranging from 32°C during the day to 22°C at night, Malaysia is a tropical paradise of friendly people, wonderful food, beautiful beaches, cool hill stations, historic towns, a dynamic capital and the world's oldest rainforests. The ticket to this lush retirement paradise is Malaysia’s ‘MM2H’ scheme that allows retirees with sufficient, but modest, funds to take up residence.

Thousands of British expats live and work in Malaysia. Several thousand more have settled in this tropical paradise under the ‘Malaysia: My Second Home’ scheme (MM2H).

Most are completely retired while a few have received special dispensation to work part-time in specialised IT fields. There are also a few "Social Visit Pass" holders under the MM2H who maintain some form of part-time employment overseas.

There are also tax benefits in moving to Malaysia. For a foreigner, no tax is charged on any income derived outside of the country, there is no inheritance tax and no capital gains tax on assets other than property. There is also no VAT, but there is a Government Sales Tax (GST) of five per cent on hotel and restaurant bills and on professional bills such as lawyers’ fees. Property prices are well below those in the UK, with, for example, a three-bedroom apartment in a condominium in Penang available from just £36,000.

Malaysia’s low cost of living allows retirees to enjoy what the country offers on pensions that go much further than in the UK, an advantage that permits – at around £100 a month – the employment of either a full time or part time maid, giving these playboy pensioners far more time to enjoy the multiple benefits of living in this tropical paradise.

A typical example is 57-year-old Bob Holland, originally from Scotland who served for 20 years as a police officer in Hong Kong and retired to Penang with his Hong Kong Chinese wife Elena in 1997. Sandhurst graduate Bob had fallen in love with Malaysia when working there for several years as a district manager for the NAAFI in the early 1970s.

Bob said: "I always wanted to return to Penang and my plan was to work for one three-year contract in Hong Kong and then come back to Penang to look for a job. However, during my first tour in Hong Kong I met my wife, who was also in the police force, and so I decided to stay there. When early retirement was offered when the Chinese took over in 1997, I just proceeded with my initial plan, albeit after a 17 year delay!"

"Our home is about 30 miles from the airport on a lush, 75-acre compound called Fisherman Way with its coconut palms and exotic plants and flowers. The 30 cottages in Fisherman Way are owned or rented mostly by expats of various nationalities. We are fortunate to rent one of the few beachfront properties in the compound and the rent we pay is slightly less than we get for our flat in Brighton. We have a million-dollar view for a thousand bucks a month."

Anyone wanting expert advice and information about living, working, investing and setting up a business abroad should consider visiting the Fresh Start Show held from 13^th to 15^th May 2005 at the ExCel Centre in Docklands, London. Tickets cost £7.50 and are available in advance by logging on to www.freshstartshow.co.uk.

Fresh Start magazine to be launched in May will contain regular features and continuously up-dated information on emigration, buying property, letting property in the UK, finding employment, buying or investing in a business, retiring abroad, healthcare, relocation, and much more.