GKL/KV is a world-class city to work, live and play. Strategically located in Asia, GKL/KV offers advanced infrastructure with excellent road, rail, sea and air connectivity as well as excellent facilities from healthcare, international schools, shopping malls to a thriving night life with varied pubs, bars and discos.
Malaysia is strategically located in the heart of Asia and is easily accessible from most parts of the world by air, surface and sea links.
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Air Connectivity
Malaysia is home to four carriers, Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, AirAsia and AirAsiaX whose combined global network spans six continents. Some 60 international airlines fly into Malaysia.
The two main gateways are the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Sepang in the state of Selangor. In addition, there are 4 other international airports located in Penang, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching respectively. The rest of the country is well served by 16 domestic airports and many other airstrips. A new airport, KLIA2 which will replace the LCCT is currently under construction. When completed in October 2012, it will be able to accommodate 30 million passengers with provision to expand to 45 million passengers a year.
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Sea Connectivity
Malaysian ports connect to more than 300 ports across 6 continents. Ports are classified as federal ports or state ports. All federal ports are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport. At present, there are seven major federal ports, namely, Port Klang, Penang Port, Johor Port, Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Kuantan Port, Kemaman Port, and Bintulu Port. All these federal ports are equipped with modern facilities. Bintulu Port is the only port which handles liquefied natural gas.
In tandem with the expansion of the economy and trade, ports in the country have registered impressive growth in recent years. Two of the ports; Port Klang and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, are ranked among the top 20 container ports in the world.
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Land Connectivity
Malaysia has a comprehensive network of roads, expressways and rail connections, linking major cities, towns and villages.
The North-South Expressway is dubbed the “backbone for the west coast of the peninsula”. With a total length of 772 kilometres, the NSE connects Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah near the Malaysian-Thai border to Johor Bahru at the southern portion of the country.
Rail transport comprises heavy rail, light rail transit (LRT), monorail and a funicular railway line. Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) or Malayan Railway provides intercity, interstate rail services and an international express from Butterworth to Haadyai in Thailand, and regular services from Padang Besar to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur.
The LRT and monorail are used for public transport primarily in the Klang Valley, with Kuala Lumpur's KL Sentral as the main terminal. The high speed train, KLIA Ekspres connects the terminal to the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) in just 28 minutes. There is also a KLIA Transit which connects three townships, Bandar Tasik Selatan, Putrajaya & Cyberjaya and Salak Tinggi to KLIA.
The services offered by medical facilities in Malaysia are on par with those in developed nations. Malaysian doctors, specialists and pharmacists are highly qualified, having received their training in countries such as the UK, U.S, Australia, New Zealand and many others as well as in local universities.
All private medical facilities in Malaysia are required to be licensed under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and are compliant to a regulatory body working closely with the Ministry of Health who monitors, regulates and coordinates these hospitals.
Many of Malaysia’s public and private hospitals have international accreditation, including the internationally recognised Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation, as well as Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) accreditation.
Both the JCI and MSQH accreditations are recognised members of the International Accreditation Federation Council (IAFC), a body under the umbrella of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQuA).
Malaysia is home to many international schools, offering different curriculums ranging from British to American, French, German, Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean. There are over 80,000 students currently enrolled at either primary or secondary level in international schools (of 5.3 million schoolchildren in the country) compared to over 50,000 at the beginning of 2008.
Consumer goods and services from all round the world can be easily found in KL. The wide variety of offerings is growing in tandem with its increasing global residents, ensuring that goods from U.S, UK, Japan, Korea and many other countries are available.
For shopping convenience, items are price-tagged in all shopping malls and shops where prices are fixed. Major shopping malls contain banks, foreign currency exchange counters, restaurants, supermarkets and shops offering a tremendous variety of goods.
There are also roadside stalls, bazaars, day and night markets in towns throughout the country. A major attraction is the colourful, bustling night market or 'pasar malam' where haggling and bargaining is allowed - found in most neighbourhoods on certain days of the week - which stocks a wide variety of goods and local produce.
According to Mercer's 2011 Cost of Living report which covers 214 cities across five continents, KL is one of the least expensive cities to live in, coming in at the104th position.
Malaysia boasts an exciting annual calendar of sporting activities. In recognition of Malaysia's accomplishment in organising world-class sporting events, the country won the “Asia's Leading Sports Tourism Destination” award by World Travel Awards 2011.
The annual sporting calendar includes motor racing, sailing, golf, badminton, football, tennis, equestrian and many more. Malaysia is the first Asian country after Japan to host the prestigious motor sports event with the inception of the F1 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix in 1999. It is the only country in South East Asia to host the most elite motorcycle racing in the world, the MotoGP.
Malaysia also hosts the annual Monsoon cup dubbed “Formula 1 of sailing”, the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon and bird races such as the Fraser’s Hill International Bird Race and the Sarawak Bird Race.
In addition, nature based sports and adventures are available the whole year round. These include trekking in rainforests, rock climbing, caving, scuba diving, white water rafting, mountain biking, kitesurfing and many more.
There is a variety of property choices especially in the urban areas. Condominiums, apartments and houses (link, semi-detached and bungalows) are of good quality.
As such, Malaysia has been ranked as one of the top 10 real estate investment destinations worldwide and has since received investors from the UK, U.S, Hong Kong, China, India, Singapore, Indonesia and many more.
Since the inception of its Malaysia, My Second Home Programme (MM2H) in 2002, over 16,000 foreigners have since made their homes in Malaysia, attracted by the country’s low cost of living, developed infrastructure, friendly Malaysians, attractive tourist destinations and quality of life.
Telecommunication services ranging from fixed line, mobile to wifi and broadband are easily found in Malaysia. There are various service providers, offering domestic and global roaming services. As at Q1 2011, the mobile penetration is Malaysia 121% while the broadband penetration is 57% with a 75% target by end 2015.
Malaysian cuisine reflects the multicultural aspects of Malaysia. While the various ethnic groups in Malaysia have their own food, many dishes in Malaysia are derived from multiple ethnic influences.
While rice is the staple food, there is a wide variety of dishes available, ranging from Malay spicy styled curries, Indian breads and curries, and Cantonese style cooking which emphasizes stir frying.
The national dish of Malaysia is the nasi lemak which can be consumed anytime of the day. The rice is cooked with coconut milk, and sometimes, screwpine leaves are thrown in for the added fragrance. Traditionally, the nasi lemak comes in triangle shaped, wrapped in banana leaves, with cucumber slices, small fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, hard boiled egg, and hot spicy sauce.
For those who want a more substantial meal, nasi lemak can also come with a variety of other dishes such as fried chicken, cuttlefish, cockles, pickled vegetables (acar), beef rendang (beef stewed in coconut milk and spices) or paru (beef lungs). Most of these accompaniments are spicy in nature.
CNN Go in 2011 listed the Penang asam laksa as no 7 is its list of World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods. In its website, CNN Go described the dish as, "Poached, flaked mackerel, tamarind, chili, mint, lemongrass, onion, pineapple … one of Malaysia’s most popular dishes is an addictive spicy-sour fish broth with noodles (especially great when fused with ginger), that’ll have your nose running before the spoon even hits your lips."