Citizens

Choose Miri to live in under the Malaysia Second Home program

Make your second home in Miri, a would-be star city in Malaysia that offers you and your family a new horizon of a different living environment.

The Program

In case you have not known, the Malaysian Government has set up a program called “Malaysia My Second Home�? to allow foreign citizens from other countries (with a few exceptions) to live in Malaysia for as long as they want to stay. Anybody means you. You can be above or below 50 years old. It also means you, a male or female. It also means you, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian, of a person belonging to any other recognized religious faith. You can apply to build your second home, as an individual, or as a couple with your spouse, or a family with your spouse and dependents. Dependent means age 18 and below, or any age shown to be financially dependent upon you. You may also apply to bring in one maid. You don’t have to undergo medical examination as a condition of approval.

The program allows you to enter and leave Malaysia any time as you wish. For this purpose, you receive these documents: Social Visit Pass and Multiple Entry Visa valid for 10 years, extendable and an opportunity to apply for a permanent residence.

What are required from you?

1. Medical Insurance

• That is valid in Malaysia

• That covers your and your family medical expenses during your time in Malaysia.

2. Financial requirement

• Fixed deposit of at least RM100,000 for yourself only (or RM150,000 for you plus your dependents) with a Malaysian bank in Malaysia or, with a foreign bank having local branches in Malaysia. Fixed deposit must be intact for the period under the program;

Plus,

• Monthly income of at least RM7,000 for yourself (or, RM10,000 for you plus your dependents). The income must be derived outside of Malaysia from documentable sources. Income from salary, deposit interest, rental and pension/retirement funds can be applied as long they can be proven from tax statements, company certified letters or other certified sources.

• Show proof that you have strong financial background in order to get your application approved.

The above gives you the basic essential information about the requirement for application to Malaysia My Second Home campaign. If you need further details, you may goto the Immigration of Malaysia

Or, you may contact MiriResortCity.com

Just-transformed-from-an-oil-town Miri City could be a second home for you to pursue your ideals in life

Living

You are allowed to buy two landed properties. Stay in one and rent out the other. Or, just buy one for you and your family to stay. Price of residential house ranges from RM200,000 to RM400,000 as a standard. For further luxurious living, it is up to your budget. Water and cooking gas are piped into your house. Electricity supply is almost never interrupted. Your income from the tax-free interest earned from the fixed deposit plus your monthly income would make your living more than comfortable. You can bring your own car or buy one in Miri. You get exemption from the 300% tax imposed on the car you bring in or buy. If you bring in your car, make sure it is a left-hand driving vehicle. Miri is left-side-of-the-road (right-hand drive) driving city. You need a car in Miri to be mobile. Public Transportation is not as readily available as you would want it to be. Bring your international driving license. It is recognized in Malaysia.

Your freedom of worship and religion
Your second home in Miri offers you places for worship. Mosques, Churches and Temples, they are almost everywhere. Don’t be surprised if you find a mosque having a church as its next-door neighbour. This is the kind of harmony you would expect in Miri. Whether you are a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddist, a Hindu, you celebrate Aidil Fitri, Christmas and Thaipusam, because they are public holidays. Places of worships are the best places to make friends, and through them you and your family can easily be absorbed into the local life and culture.

Celebrate the many festive seasons and make friends

So Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Christmas, Chinese New Years, Gawai (Harvest Festives for the natives of Sarawak) are the festive holidays well celebrated. And, Miri-ans pay house visits on Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Christmas, Chinese New Year and Gawai. You can invite your local friends to visit you and you return visit on their respective festive seasons. By doing so, you are making friends for yourself and for your family members. Although their number is small is Miri, respect for them is high. The Sikhs have their own temple. Although it is not a public holiday, Deepavali is celebrated just like the other festive celebrations except it is in a smaller scale.

Make a mark in your second home; contribute your specialty, your knowledge, your qualification, your skill or your talent to the Miri City

With all the money you have enough for your stay in Miri, you do not need to work for money. But why waste your time and your qualification, your knowledge, and your skill or your talent? Get an employment visa or permit from the immigration department. Lecture in one of the higher learning institutions. The most notable one of course is the Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus. Develop the students and impart your knowledge to them.

Do you have the oil and gas industry qualification, experience and skill? Petro-physicist? Geologist? Geophysicist? Petroleum engineer? Your qualification, skill and experience may be required by Oil and Gas International Contractors, and they may possibly employ you to handle some of the specialist jobs.

Or, set up your own business. Open your shop. Build a factory. Create employments. What business? Any that is related to your expertise, your qualification, your experience and your skill. There are already many opening café, pubs and bistro. Be different. Leave a mark in your second home city.

Or, offer your service to a voluntary organization. Red Crescent (Red Cross); Rotary Club; Lion Club; or if you are under 30, the Jaycees are there waiting for your voluntarism. A lot more in the Miri rural areas are needing your services; such are the water supply; health check including vision help; education and many others.

Or, be an unofficial ambassador. Promote Miri. Introduce Miri your second home to your friends, your countrymen, your relatives, your colleagues, your buddies and make your second home city Miri the real resort city.

Socializing makes your life in your second home Miri more colorful, more meaningful and more useful

• Join a recreation club.

o Play golf with some celebrities and “big shots�? in Miri. Get close to them. They can be your friends indeed when you are in needs. You have some money to spare. Have some friendly competitions or “bets�? with them. You can develop friendship faster this way. There are 2 golf clubs. Kelab Golf Miri, a private club that has a historical tie with the Multi-National Oil company, Sarawak Shell Berhad. The other one privately owned is East Valley Golf club opened in 2005.

o If golf is not your sport, then join the badminton teams, tennis teams or rugby, or else, swim along with your families and other families in the large swimming pool of Kelab Shell Lutong or of Gymkhana Club Miri, These two clubs provide recreational and sports facilities and they are related to and financially supported by Sarawak Shell. The Gymkhana club has a long history dated as far back to the early 90’. Another smaller club the Miri Port Club, is supported by the Port Authority.

o You like boating? Sailing? Join the boat club, the Piasau Boat Club, supported by Shell. Give Miri another few years; you can have your own yacht anchored at the Marina Park, a project on the move to completion soon.

• Join a service club

o Both Rotary International and Lion International clubs offers socializing, friendship development opportunities besides community service.

o Toast Master club is also available in Miri for your self-development in public speaking.

o Hash House Harrier is also available for your physic development.

These clubs may be so called clubs, but they do not have club premises. The members hold their meetings and gathering in Hotels. You may obtain information about their meeting days from large hotels.

• Go to the pubs/lounges

o You can find a number of pubs in Miri. The English pubs that offer beer / alcohol and small bites. Most give you the Sports Channel when the hot sports are on so you can have the best of both worlds. A mug of booze-ter in your hand and your buddies whom you can argue with over the game. But if you were to stay home for the game you miss all that. Some offer you the opportunity to sing karaoke when the alcohol pushes you to do so. A number of these pubs is operated by foreigners.

Just to give you a reminder, don’t drive after your drink. Prohibition by the law is one thing, but the most important thing is that you have a high risk of a car accident. You may also create a greater threat to the public. You do not want to lead your remaining life in guilt and regrets. Just for your information, road accident leading to the death of a road user WILL land the guilty driver to jail. Jail is the mandatory sentence.

These pubs and lounges commence business round about 4 to 5 pm and close at about midnight. They are catering for the needs of the working professional. The local authorities prohibit these businesses to operate later than midnight.

• Have a cup of coffee

o At the franchised coffee outlets, air-conditioned, glass-paneled so that you can oversee the traffic of cars and people. Comfortable environment with the aroma of the different types of coffee. Hungry? You can have biscuits, snacks and tit-bits. The price is compatible to the quality of coffee, service and the comfort you get.

o At the local coffee shops, along the five-foot way corridor. You have all the opportunities to watch girls or men walking by, meandering and negotiating through the coffee tables and chairs. You can also enjoy the cars zooming by leaving the smoke and the petrol smell. You can have all kind of local dishes (some with Western food). Noodle cooked in the boiling water, cleansed and served with slices of roasted pork, oil and gravy is the most common and can be served in a few minutes. The local call it by many names: “gan mian�?; “mee gua�?; “gon mien�?; “mee klin�? (in the local Malay shop). If you do feel like having booze, you can get your beer in a can or in a bottle. You can’t get your beer in the franchised coffee outlets.

You don’t have problem making an appointment to meet in a franchised coffee outlet. The name and the signboard of the outlet is large, readable, recognizable, easily found so long as you know the location.

But, for the local coffee outlets, unless both you and your friends have been there before, it is not that easy to find. The name is enough to make you confused. It is best for you to meet your friend at a commonly known location and both jump into one car for the shop.

...........more will come

Their gentleness and simplicity in life endears them to everyone they meet! Known for their hospitality and warm smiles, they are mostly found in the southern part of Sarawak.

Lun Bawang

LunBawang Online Community

The Lun Bawang Community who were formerly identified as Murut (which means ‘dregs’ or ‘rotten’– a derogatory terms championed by the Rajah Brooke, whose government wanted this community to be wiped off from the face of Borneo Island : "Let them die …. Furthermore they are like an old shoe that has no value any more ….the country would be better off if the Muruts were allowed to die out". (Jungle Fire, Drunk Before Dawn, A New Dawn Over Sarawak)) made up of one of the ethnic natives that occupied the Borneo Island for centuries. According to Tom Harrison (1959) and S. Runciman (1960), the Lun Bawang Community is one of the earlier settlers in the mountainous regions of central Borneo.

Today, a majority of the community still lives in Kalimantan Indonesia; 25,000 in Kalimantan, 2,000 in Sabah (prefers to be called as Lundayeh), more than 300 in Brunei (Crain 1978) and about 15,000 in the State of Sarawak (Sarawak Statistic Dept. 1980).In the State of Sarawak, they mostly live in the Limbang Division, especially in the District of Lawas.

The Brooke Regime (Government) considered the Lun Bawang Community as the worst and dangerous ethnic; the worst drunken people of Borneo, the dirtiest long house (Sarawak Gazette 1936), though the customs and traditional practices are not very much different compared to other ethnic groups in Sarawak, and that it is well accepted that the first Sultan of Brunei is a Lun Bawang from the family tree of Upai Semaring. It was because of the indifference attitude of Brooke Government ( Diseases were let to spread out) and coupled with lifestyle that was purely influenced by animism and taboos, that the population had greatly diminished from around 20,000 to 5,000 in the year 1907 and to 3,000 people in the year of 1937 (Reports of District Officers during that periods – Sarawak Gazette; Drunk Be fore Dawn). The status of the Lun Bawang became worsen that the then District Officer reported that the Lun Bawang Community "is facing extinction".

At the time when the condition had become critical, God in His sovereign mercy performed a miracle, in that Christian Missionaries were allowed (previously forbidden by the Government in 1920s) to fully enter the Trusan valley sometimes in the 1930s to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The community as a whole repented from their ancestral beliefs and became Christians. It was the missionaries from the Borneo Evangelical Mission from Australia that was responsible in bringing about the great changes to the Lun Bawang Community which ultimately catapult the formation of the Sidang Injil Borneo (Evangelical Church of Borneo) after the Second World War.

The changes brought about by the Christian teachings had greatly surprised the Raja Charles Vyner Brooke during his visit to Lawas in the year 1940 and commended the two missionaries that paid a courtesy call to him, saying :

"I am amazed at the change in the Murut tribe (Lun Bawang). I believe you have done more good in a few years (3 years) than the Government has done in forty"

As a result of the changes, the living condition of the Lun Bawang gradually improved and lifestyle became more systematic. All their ancestral beliefs, the grip to animism and taboos which they had practiced for centuries were removed completely so much so that some customs and cultures that could still be practiced were also wiped off. The changes also include various aspects like health, education and socio-economy. These changes have indirectly helped towards the increase of its populations.

There are few findings on the exact origin of the Kenyah tribe. Their heartland however, is Long San, along the Baram River. Their culture is very similar to that of the Kayan tribe with whom they live in close association.

The typical Kenyah village consists of only one longhouse and the people are mainly farmers, planting rice.

The Penan are the only true nomadic people in Sarawak and amongst the last of the world's hunter-gatherers. The Penan make their home under the rainforest canopy, deep within the vast expanse of Sarawak's virgin jungle. Even today, the Penan continue to roam the rainforest hunting wild boar and deer with blowpipes.

The Penan are skilled weavers and make high-quality rattan baskets and mats. The traditional Penan religion worships a supreme god called Bungan. However, the increasing number who have abandoned the nomadic lifestyle for settlement in longhouses have converted to Christians.