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Penang now home to Aussie
couple
31/01/2006 The Star By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG
THROUGHOUT the day, Pat and Alan Jones found strangers knocking at the door
of their home in Muntri Street in the heart of George Town, Penang, where
they have been living for seven months.
These strangers were English-speaking foreigners keen to learn more from the
couple about Penang, the Malaysia My Second Home programme, and even buying
and renovating an old building.
After a particularly late visit at 11pm, the Australian couple decided that
they would keep their doors open from 9.30am to 5pm for anyone who might
want to drop by.
“Most of these visitors had heard about us from our friends among the taxi
drivers and trishaw riders and from the nearby hotels, where we used to
stay,” said Alan, 60.
The couple first came to Penang in August 2000, where they stayed by the
beach for about 10 to 12 days but found themselves drawn to George Town
nearly every day.
“Before we left, we decided we would come back, and we were back within
three months,” said Alan.
“We have been coming back every three to four months since then, until we
moved here. Every time we came, it got harder to go back to Australia,”
added Pat, 59.
What made their time in Penang more special was that there would be a
different festival each time they made the trip over.
“There were things we would miss because we couldn’t be here all the time. I
believe we have finally caught up on that – we’ve by now experienced almost
every festival,” said Alan, adding that the Hungry Ghost festival was under
way the first time they were in Penang.
For the first few years, the couple toyed with the idea of moving to Penang
for good.
Finally, in 2004, they put the two beach motels that they owned back home on
the market, and the business sold off while they were on yet another trip to
Penang. They seriously started looking for a place and learnt about the
double-storey terrace shop house just a few days before they were due to go
back in December.
They bought the place, and left it to their lawyers to finalise the details
while they returned to Australia for a month to settle matters there.
“We had to sell off our car and ship other belongings here and say goodbye
to our family. We have three sons and a daughter aged between 34 to 42
spread out all across Australia and many grandchildren. We visited each
family before we left,” said Alan.
“Then we came back to start on renovations to the new place, which was not
in good shape. We bought it at a reasonable price and spent about RM140,000
on renovations, keeping everything as original as possible.
“That lasted over four months, and we moved in sometime in the middle of
last year.”
Slightly over a month ago, the couple set up tables and chairs in their
downstairs hall and opened up the place to visitors seeking free advice on
the “Malaysia My Second Home'' programme and what to see in Penang.
“For those who are thinking of living in Penang, it is easier for them to
ask us questions in this casual environment than to make enquiries at a
government office,” said Pat.
”Some of the things they want to know about include the documentation
process, medical insurance, living expenses – these are all things we
ourselves had to find out.
“We just help to provide them with information, to give them a chance to
decide whether they want to live here, and give them our contact numbers and
email address in case they have more questions later.
“We refer those who decide to join the ''Malaysia My Second Home''
programmeto the relevant people in the Government to finalise the details.”
Among those that the couple helped recently are an English couple living in
France who bought a unit three doors away from them, and another Englishman
who is in the process of finalising his “Malaysia My Second Home'' programme
application.
The couple said they liked the warm climate, friendly people, good and
affordable food, the cost of living here, and added that Penang was pretty
safe compared to big cities.
The couple can be contacted at The Green House at 102, Muntri Street from
9.30am to 5pm, or email patalan@streamyx.com. |
