Some wanderers travel across the globe in search of a place they can truly call “home”.
Sarawak, with its captivating allure, diverse culture and warm-hearted people, often casts an enchanting spell on these travellers.
Whether by serendipity or a deliberate quest, many have found themselves irresistibly drawn to the mesmerising beauty of Sarawak.
Some have realised that Sarawak has become more than just a destination; it has become their chosen dwelling, a sanctuary where they find solace, belonging and tranquility.
Whether they are drawn to the wonders of the Mulu Caves, the mysteries of Bako National Park, and the serene waters of the South China Sea, they begin to embark on a lifelong love affair with Sarawak’s untamed natural beauty.
For in Sarawak, they have found not just a home, but a way of life, a place that has given them a sense of purpose, belonging and wonder.
As they immerse themselves deeper into the rhythms of this enchanting land, they find their hearts entwined with the heartbeat of the Land of Hornbills.
Embracing Sarawak’s diverse cultures, languages and heritages
Ever since Takahiro Shimanuki and his wife, Hiroko, started dating, they would travel to Southeast Asia countries at least twice a year.
The couple from Japan are no strangers to Malaysia as the climate, food, culture, and warmth of the people have resulted in their repeated visits.
Takahiro admitted that they knew nothing about Sarawak until they came to Kuching in October last year.
In search for a visa that would allow his family to have a long stay abroad, they came to know about the Sarawak-Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H) programme.
“When we initially decided to do a long stay in Malaysia, we chose the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme and thought about moving to Peninsular Malaysia.
“However, due to the suspension of the new MM2H programme application and changes in the requirement, our financial situation no longer fits the new requirements.
“As such, we chose the S-MM2H programme because our financial situation could fit the application requirements.
“Upon arriving in Kuching for the first time, we were so attracted by the atmosphere and people of the city that we decided to live here,” he said.
Takahiro and Hiroko have two children, Rintarou and Ritsu, who are six and four years old, respectively.
The 51-year-old, who used to work for major Japanese telecommunications company, said they wanted to spend a lot of time with their children and watch them grow.
As such, they decided they wanted to change their living environment as their working life in Japan at the time did not allow them to do so.
“My wife and I want our children to be able to find what they want to do and develop the ability to live their lives not only within Japan.
“We want them to have understanding respect for the fact that there are many people with different values in the world.
“To this end, we want them to experience and realise those things while acquiring the basic language skills needed to live in the world.
“Since being in Kuching, we decided to learn the Malay and Mandarin languages little by little as it will broaden our communications and activities with Sarawakians.
“In fact, my wife and I encourage our family to communicate in these new languages little by little at home,” he said.
Takahiro disclosed that his family’s S-MM2H application was made in April last year through collaboration between agents in Japan and Kuching.
At the time of their application, some of the processes were relaxed as travelling to Malaysia was still under restriction due to the pandemic.
As such, they were able to provide medical reports from a Japanese medical institution which is part of the application requirements, and this reduced the number of trips to Sarawak prior to obtaining the S-MM2H visa.
“Our applications were accepted in June 2022 and approved in February this year.
“At the time of application, we were informed by our agents that it would generally take about four months from receipt to approval.
“However, in reality it took about eight months due to the increase in number of S-MM2H applications.
“Despite knowing that our applications were accepted, we were anxious because the authorities did not inform us of any progress, so we had to just wait,” he said.
In view of this, Takahiro suggested that it would be great if the relevant authorities would consider establishing a system that allows agents to submit new and renewal applications online.
“The system should feature the issuance of application number for each application as it would be beneficial to the applicant and agents likewise to search and clarify the application progress.
“This will also facilitate applicants’ travel arrangements once receiving their approval,” he explained.
Falling in love with Sarawak’s rich rainforest and wildlife
Gabor Kardosi and his family, who are also S-MM2H pass holders, described living in Sarawak as a gift.
The 46-year-old Hungarian said the lifestyle that his family love and wanted to have revolved around being close to nature while enjoying a developed daily life, calm surrounding, beautiful city, and lovely local people.
“It was no question that all of these can be found in Sarawak.
“Before the pandemic, we were spending our holidays in Southeast Asia visiting different places and we fell in love with Malaysia which prompted us to start thinking about how it would be great to have the chance to live there.
“We particularly loved Kuching, it seemed very calm and relaxed while providing easy access to bountiful nature and mesmerising culture,” he said.
When they first read about the MM2H programme, Gabor said they thought it was worth giving it a try as it presented an opportunity to live abroad in the country of their dreams.
The couple, who has been working for over 20 years in Europe, decided to increase their quality of life, including for their seven-year-old child.
“For us, increasing our quality of life is not about getting bigger houses or more cars, but we wanted a change from the stressful squirrel wheel life that we were having in Europe.
“In Sarawak, we can enjoy a higher quality of level compared to back home because for the same amount of money, we can pay our child’s school, have a lovely apartment, explore a great variety of local cuisine, and spend our free time discovering cultural heritage of Borneo.
“Before this, we spent our savings to travel to this part of the world but now we are spending our money to live in Sarawak and enjoy living in the middle of a cultural and nature treasure,” he explained.
Gabor expressed his appreciation to Aramaz Borneo (MM2H) Sdn Bhd for assisting his family’s application, stating that the company truly facilitated the process.
“There were many things that needed to be completed, but with the great help from Aramaz Borneo, we were prepared.
“However, I would like to suggest for the relevant authorities to expedite the approval process as the waiting period is quite long,” he said.
Noting how some people may find living in Sarawak too calm or quiet, Gabor said most friends and families their age preferred this silent beauty.
“We appreciate how the local people here are very friendly and how they always have a big smile on their faces,” he added.
Living the rest of their lives in Sarawak’s peace and serenity
As for retirees Gary and Sharon Tiner, the island of Borneo caught their attention when they were researching a place for their retirement.
They found Kuching to be quite intriguing thus after lots of reading and combing through internet stories and YouTube videos, they decided that it is the place they wanted to live for their retirement years and the rest of their lives.
“Sharon and I have been married for 46 years, we are enjoying the retirement phase of life after 40 years in procurement and consulting, traveling to more than 17 countries during that time.
“Prior to my retirement, I was wrapping up a consulting position with an American manufacturer located in China, so we lived there for several years and loved the Asian culture, food, and graciousness of the people.
“We still feel young and adventurous and wanted to retire to a place that would allow us to still explore new cultures and new sites,” Gary said.
With their retirement income sufficient to qualify for S-MM2H, Gary said they were attracted to how the programme provides 10 years of visa duration with the option of renewal for extension.
He said having an international airport in Kuching, due to its centrality, makes it very convenient and cost effective to fly to many other destinations on this side of the world.
“One of the important things in our decision making was that Kuching is multicultural, English is predominantly spoken and there is a large Chinese population.
“We felt that we could continue to use the Mandarin we had learned and perhaps even continue to improve upon it.
“The population of Kuching is not so large that you feel smothered by a crush of people, the cost of living is extremely reasonable, and the crime rate is not so bad as compared to places,” he said.
Gary said the couple applied for the S-MM2H from America where they shipped their application at the beginning of 2022 when the pandemic was coming to an end and Malaysia was beginning to discuss reopening the country.
He said they worked with Teresa Chai from Aramaz Borneo who was very helpful and knowledgeable of the application process.
“We were anxious to embark on a new journey, so we worked with Teresa, and she made the application process a pleasurable experience.
“We booked our flight to Borneo on the day the country announced they were opening from the shut-down and we arrived in Kuching on April 11 last year then got our approval letter in June with final approval in August,” he said.
Noting how the overall speed to reach final approval for their application was too lengthy, Gary expressed hope for the relevant authorities to strive for continuous improvement ease the application process to attract more participants.
“Some of the delays in processing our application seemed to be because of computer glitches.
“It was also perhaps due to the lack of a centralised computer system they could properly link information or only having one person who had to manually work around a bug in the computer system as all spouses were not appearing alongside the primary S-MM2H applicant,” he said.
Gary said the couple highly recommends Sarawak to their friends and family who are thinking of finding a holiday or second home as it is indeed a great place to live.
The couple is enjoying a friendly and relaxing pace of life, they have made numerous friends from all over Sarawak and the world since being in the state.
“If you are at retirement age and want a great place to live, go for Sarawak.
“The process is more economical and living here will stretch your pension and allow you to enjoy more of life,” he added.
