Samantha Jones, 38, remembers vividly that moment in 2002. “We were sitting on the lanai in Pelangi Resort and all of a sudden I just felt it...wow, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relaxed in my whole life,” recalls Jones. 

Samantha and her spouse, John, 50, were holidaying in Langkawi for 10 days.  

“On the way to the airport, I cried all the way. I just didn’t want to go home.” 

The Joneses of Somerset County have always talked about emigrating overseas when John, a fireman, retires after 32 years of service. At first, they thought of moving to Spain. But on their second vacation to Langkawi, they made up their minds to move here. Back in the the UK, they did some research and found out about the MM2H programme via the Internet.  

The Joneses are proud of their kampung house. — Starpix by G.C. TAN.

“The programme was straightforward, we filled in our applications, sent them off and we knew in six weeks that we had been accepted,” says Samantha who worked as an insurance clerk in UK. “It’s that simple.”  

In Langkawi, the Joneses also found their dream house – a Malay wooden house on a hill amid a tranquil kampung. Though they are only renting now, the Joneses are excited about sprucing up the house with stuff they love and also shopping for furniture.  

“I’m probably one of the youngest retirees around,” smiles Samantha who quit her job to come here. “John’s pension is good but we both would still have to work if we stayed in the UK.”  

“Medical insurance for us would have cost £4,000 pounds (RM27,000) a year in UK,” adds John. “Here, we managed to get insurance coverage for £800 (RM5,400) for both of us.” 

Costs aside, the Joneses gush about how great Malaysia is.  

“In Langkawi, we can walk down a busy street and no one’s hassling you, selling you something or dragging you into a restaurant,” says Samantha. “And the people – we love them. It’s hard to find anyone as generous or kind as a Malaysian.”  

“We walk down the street, people smile at you and they want to talk to you,” adds John. “Sometimes it takes 10 minutes to drive past a place because the kids are waving at us.”  

The only thing Samantha finds lacking is a place to shop on the island. 

“I’m ready now to go to Kuala Lumpur to shop for girly stuff. I can’t find certain things here like nice leather sandals,” says Samantha.  

“And people here speak such good English, it makes us lazy to learn Malay,” confesses John who understands simple Bahasa Malaysia. 

The Joneses have adapted well to their new life although they have only been here less than three months (at the time of the interview).  

When one of their cats, Tigger, went missing for two weeks, Samantha consulted a local bomoh (witchdoctor) from the village.  

“I was desperate and would try anything just to know if he was still alive. If the bomoh had said my cat had been eaten by a snake, I’d have come home crying but at least I knew,” recalls Samantha.  

The bomoh told Samantha: “Your cat’s alive, but its been taken and kept in a cage near the airport.” Two days later, Tigger came home bruised and wounded, but very much alive.  

How do the Joneses plan to spend their retirement years?  

“The word, ‘nothing’ comes up,” smiles John. The couple look forward to travelling more around the Asia Pacific.  

“Well, John just wants to play golf and fish. I just want to sunbathe,” Samantha chips in. 

“What I would really love to do eventually is volunteer at the pet clinic (Langkawi Animal Shelter).”