GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) participants hope the government will consider exempting them from having to meet stricter new conditions in the programme.

       “I’m happy to hear that the government is willing to look at the new conditions again. This is good news,” said Hong Kong citizen Ginny So (pic), who spent 10 years in Penang before returning to Hong Kong last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

       So, in her 40s, said she was reluctant to return under the programme with the new terms and requirements, saying they were not all achievable.

       She claimed 90% of them would leave Malaysia if the new terms and requirements were not amended and made affordable to them.

       “I chose Malaysia as my second home not just to help in my business within the region, but also due to its tropical weather, a large population that speaks Cantonese and a wide selection of food available.

       “Sometimes I live here alone and sometimes I stay with my family, travelling often between both countries,” said So, who runs her business in China.

       Another Hong Kong citizen, Maurice Choy, 59, who stays in Tanjong Tokong, said the new terms and requirements were not reasonable.

       “Based on my calculation, it is impossible for a retired person to continue earning so much unless they’ve invested a lot.

       “Had we been earning so much, we might not have chosen Malaysia as our second home,” said Choy, who still has five years of the MM2H visa validity remaining.

       Zeon Properties business development director Ronaldo Lim, who is involved in the MM2H programme, said it would be a waste if MM2H participants decide to leave due to terms and requirements they cannot meet.

       “We have spent a lot of effort to bring these foreigners to live and spend here,” he said.

       Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin announced that MM2H participants might be exempted from having to comply with some parts of the new conditions.

       On Aug 11, the government said the MM2H would be reactivated with nine new conditions after the programme was suspended in August last year in view of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

       Between 2002 and 2019, the MM2H programme generated a cumulative income of RM11.89bil through fees and visa charges, purchase of properties and vehicles, fixed deposits and monthly household expenditures.