Malaysia’s lower living costs, MM2H visa, anti-Israel stance are luring expats – but can they stay long term?

Now Muhammad William, his wife Sana, and their three children, live in Kuala Lumpur and run a YouTube channel with 1.28 million subscribers.

Their recent videos on the “Saleh Family” YouTube channel extol the allure of relocating to the Southeast Asian nation. But the push factors were just as important in making up their minds.

“We see the Palestinian flag everywhere; they boycotted companies that supported Israel,” Sana said. “It is the simple fact that Malaysia is not afraid to stand up and say: ‘Hey, we support Palestine and the Palestinian cause’.”

The Salehs, like many other Muslim expatriates, say they found inspiration for their move from the Hijrah – a crucial episode in the Prophet Muhammad’s life 1,445 years ago, when he left persecution in Makkah for the safety of Medina, an event that meant the survival of a then-fledgling religion to become a faith which now has 1.8 billion devotees.

Other Muslim content creators, such as British national Saira Hayati and Canadian couple Mahdi and Sagal, who are active on Instagram and TikTok, have also chosen Malaysia as their new home.

Another British national, Muhammad Deen, told the “Optimized Muslim” YouTube channel that the striking mosques of Kuala Lumpur, and not having to check whether food and groceries were halal, were “liberating” for a Muslim.

Malaysia’s large Muslim population – more than 60 per cent of the country’s 33.7 million people – and the fact that Islam is enshrined as a state religion are strong pulls for many Muslim travellers and long-stayers who also require halal food and can pray in its abundance of mosques.

The Salehs’ video published on March 20 announcing their move has garnered more than 136,000 views, with the comments section peppered with