PENANG: Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur are among the preferred places of retirement for participants of the 'Malaysia My Second Home' programme. 

Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim said on Saturday that the retirees were attracted to the golf courses and good infrastructure of these places. 

“Penang has good infrastructure, beaches, food, international airport and is a tourist destination that is rich in history," he said after opening a briefing on the programme organised by the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce. 

Also present were the chamber's president Datuk Khor Teng Tong and honorary president Tan Sri Tan Kok Pin. 

Lim said Penang however, needed improvement in terms of cleanliness. 

While other countries in the region also had similar programmes, Malaysia's strong points were its stable government, multi-lingual citizens, low exchange rate, good food and infrastructure, he added. 

“However, we do have some security problems recently, especially in Johor. 

“I hope that the new IGP (Tan Sri Musa Hassan who is to take over on Tuesday) will take action particularly in improving the security in Johor Baru,” he said in reference to incidences of snatch thefts and violent crimes. 

He said the number of participants in the programme was 313 in 2001, increasing steadily to 818 (2002), 1,645 (2003), 1,917 (2004), 2,615 (2005) and 1,400 this year from January to July, making a total 8,708 in six years. 

Lim said the majority of the participants came from China, Bangladesh, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and European countries. 

He said the programme, launched in 1996 as the 'Silver Hair Programme' and renamed in 2001, was placed under the purview of the Tourism Ministry instead of the Immigration Department since April. 

Following this, Lim said the system of application through authorised agents was introduced to replace the previous system of sponsorship, adding that 50 agents had been appointed so far. 

To prevent overcharging, he said the ministry had set a maximum of RM10,000 which an agent could charge per application. 

“We are creating a friendlier environment to handle the applications and have also simplified the application process,” he said. 

He said the ministry would operate as a one-stop-centre to process applications once an immigration branch was set up in the ministry.

Source : The Star 09/09/2006