- 2 days ago
Malaysia’s passport is now officially the 3rd strongest in the world, meaning you can enter over 180 countries visa-free or with visa-on-arrival.
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00:00I've never done investing. He knows a bit about...
00:02Aisha, I've been telling you since episode 1.
00:04Then there's like a list of like, oh, these countries are not accepted and stuff.
00:07I don't know what those countries did to them lah, but...
00:10Malaysia's never on that list of like, sorry, you're not allowed to use our platform.
00:15Because first of all, I'm scared because our currency goes up, goes down, goes up, goes down.
00:25What's up guys? Welcome back to another episode of The Money Goal.
00:28My name is Ymir and today I have Aisha with me again.
00:30Hello Aisha.
00:32I think today we're talking about something related to travel, right?
00:34Yes.
00:35I just got that from Hong Kong.
00:38Okay.
00:39Okay, so I went to Hong Kong last week.
00:42And good news, everybody.
00:44When I went there, we were announced that we had Malaysia.
00:48Malaysia's passport is the third strongest in the world right now.
00:52Oh yeah, I read that. I saw that on social media.
00:53Yes, and we can go to over 180 countries.
00:56And Hong Kong was one of them.
00:58So, my travel was wah smooth.
01:01Wait, you said, oh, we can go to over...
01:02Okay, okay.
01:03Yeah, over 180 countries visa free.
01:05Yeah.
01:06And of course, we could not have had that chance, you know, opportunity.
01:11The passport wouldn't be strong without the effort of everybody at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
01:17And of course, our Minister, YB Saifuddin Nasution.
01:21So, my God.
01:22Great job.
01:23I love travelling.
01:24Me and Imei, we talk about travelling a lot, a lot.
01:27So, this news, right?
01:28Every episode.
01:29Behind the scenes.
01:29Behind the scenes, yeah.
01:30Like, where are you going next?
01:32Where are you going later?
01:32So, I just got back from Hong Kong and he's travelling.
01:36Yeah, I'm going to Japan.
01:37So, you're talking about visa-free countries, right?
01:39Actually, every time I travel, I just assume I don't need a visa.
01:42I have never assumed that I needed a visa to travel.
01:44That is how easy Malaysian has it.
01:45Yeah.
01:46Maybe one day it's going to harm me.
01:48Actually, you don't have to check.
01:50Like, Australia, China.
01:52We still need visa.
01:53China's visa for now, though.
01:54Right now, yes.
01:55They have this, like, trial period for you to come.
01:58So, I always assume I've never been checking.
02:00Maybe I should check in the future.
02:01Yeah.
02:02Malaysians, we don't do that, yeah?
02:03I've been fine everywhere, right?
02:04So far.
02:05So, a lot of countries that I've been to and I usually go to is, of course, Singapore,
02:13Thailand, all our neighbours, Indonesia.
02:16Vietnam, Philippines.
02:17Yeah, I've never had that trouble because, you know, Malaysians go there all the time.
02:23So, when I was going to Hong Kong, I did research, of course, like, oh, how much is our exchange rate?
02:30Is it going to be expensive?
02:32They stay there.
02:34Of course, visa.
02:35I've never been to that part of Asia yet.
02:40Okay.
02:40How was your first time?
02:41Yeah.
02:41I've never been to China.
02:43I've never been to Korea.
02:44I've never been to Japan.
02:45So, Hong Kong is that part of Asia that I went to for the first time.
02:51So, I did a little bit of research.
02:53So, we did not, we do not need visa.
02:57So, that's money saved there on my part.
03:00I see the cost of visa at like...
03:02Some countries, it's so expensive.
03:04It's so expensive.
03:04It's so expensive.
03:05Yeah.
03:06But it's easier now for Malaysians because the last time when you want to enter Hong Kong,
03:11you know those little slip thing, like in Thailand, that you have to register three days before,
03:18before you must suit the country so that they have you like pre-registered at the immigration.
03:23Hong Kong used to have that for Malaysians.
03:26And it's like, oh, you just need your passport, a valid passport, and just go to the immigration.
03:31And I tell you, the immigration process was very, very smooth.
03:35Like, I had around me people from other countries.
03:38Some of them were in front of me.
03:40They took so long for the immigration to let them pass.
03:43But for me, it was like, they give me a slip saying that I can stay there until February.
03:50So, like, it's three months.
03:51And I'm like, okay, fine.
03:53I'm like, huh?
03:55Just your passport, and you can go in Hong Kong.
03:57Hello?
03:58I think it's not just about travel.
03:59So, I was just speaking to one of my colleagues, and he said his wife used to work in China.
04:04Oh.
04:05And she was an internal auditor.
04:07So, I was thinking, like, why would you hire a Malaysian to be an internal auditor for a normal company in China, right?
04:12And apparently, they took her, because this is an MNC, is that they had this office in China.
04:17Yep.
04:18And they wanted their internal auditor to travel to a few different countries to do internal audits.
04:22And they chose a Malaysian because it's easy for them to just go to many, many different countries without visa.
04:27Wah, today I learned.
04:28I actually just heard this story from my colleagues.
04:31So, basically, I can also work and, like, travel at a train time.
04:34Yeah, no, no, not that.
04:35But I meant, like, even beyond travel, right, having this strong passport gives, like, that benefit as well.
04:40Actually, I didn't even think about it.
04:41Not only work.
04:42I feel like for studying, also, Malaysians can just basically study anywhere.
04:47Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:48Like, you studied in China.
04:49I studied in China.
04:50Okay, we needed a visa till, of course, because we're saying, probably, we're...
04:53So, we still need a student visa, but it was still super cheap.
04:56But it was super cheap, and also, it's easy, kan?
04:59Yeah.
04:59Like, Malaysians want to get China, but your visa.
05:02Yeah.
05:02How much do you say, travelling in China?
05:04Travel?
05:05Kalau travel visa, how much was China?
05:06I don't know.
05:07It's less than 100, you said.
05:08I mean, it's free now.
05:09Oh, no, my student visa was less than 100.
05:11Your student visa.
05:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:12See, how easy is it to just work outside, study abroad, and, you know, travel.
05:21Yeah.
05:22But currency now.
05:24Also, because our passport is...
05:27Our passport is strong.
05:29But let's talk about our currency that is also doing very, very well.
05:33Yeah.
05:34Perfect timing for me.
05:35Perfect timing for you to travel, especially in Japan.
05:38Who's going to Japan?
05:40I'm going to Japan in a stupid way after we record this video.
05:43So, visa I don't need, and then the yen is just...
05:45Okay, the yen is weak, but the ringgit is also super strong against a lot of currencies.
05:50I think the last one month.
05:52Yeah, so I think two months ago, I converted 100 yen, and I paid...
05:55Okay, I converted money, and 100 yen was, I think, 28.50.
05:59Today, ringgit 50 cents for 100 yen.
06:01Right.
06:01So, I thought it was cheap.
06:03Today, 100 yen is, I think, 26 ringgit 50 cents.
06:05So, I kind of lost money there.
06:07I converted too early, but...
06:08Yeah, super strong currency now.
06:10Right.
06:10It's actually making things a lot cheaper for us to travel.
06:13I felt that when I was in Hong Kong.
06:15Recently, right?
06:16Just a few weeks.
06:17Okay, I went to a very, quite expensive place.
06:20I went to Disneyland.
06:21Okay.
06:21So, going there, you're going to expect that you're going to spend a lot.
06:25So, I did put a budget for merchandise, because if you're already in Disneyland, you want
06:29to buy merchandise that are there.
06:31But, I recently realized that one Hong Kong dollar equals to just 53 cents.
06:42Yeah.
06:43So, everything that you buy there, it's just divided by half.
06:47Yeah.
06:47So, if you spend like...
06:48Yeah.
06:48If you spend 600 Hong Kong dollars, for example, you baru spend 300 ringgit.
06:52Yeah.
06:53So, I feel like, wow.
06:55Actually, we can buy a lot of things that are for cheap.
06:58And, Hong Kong is not that expensive.
07:00Oh, is it?
07:00Yeah.
07:01Okay.
07:01Japan is quite expensive.
07:02So, the Sony currency...
07:03Expensive.
07:04Okay.
07:04The Sony currency is like, perfect for me.
07:06I need it.
07:06I need it.
07:06Our banks also, if you use Wise or GX Bank or May, if you put our money there, we can
07:14just basically use it everywhere.
07:17Yeah.
07:17Yeah.
07:17Yeah.
07:18I actually have so many cards I'm ready to use.
07:20She does.
07:21I'm going to do the Wise card, GX Bank, Touch and Go.
07:24And then, their fees are actually quite low.
07:26Yeah.
07:26So, if you guys want to travel, make sure you guys check, you know, which cards are the
07:30best exchange rates and then charge you the lowest fees.
07:33A lot of competition these days.
07:34So, you guys can actually find pretty good deals.
07:37Mm-hmm.
07:38About...
07:38How...
07:39Have you ever heard about investing abroad, though?
07:41I've never done investing.
07:42He knows a bit about...
07:44Yeah.
07:44Actually, I've been telling you since episode one and you haven't done anything yet.
07:47Yeah.
07:48How is that?
07:48With our exchange rate now?
07:50Okay.
07:50How is that?
07:51The good thing is...
07:52Okay.
07:52A lot of people invest in U.S.
07:54So, we usually invest in U.S. dollar terms, right?
07:57Mm-hmm.
07:59Now that the ringgit is stronger, if you want to invest 1,000 ringgit, you're going to get
08:03more, let's say, Apple shares or whatever shares you expect to buy, right?
08:07Yeah.
08:07Because the ringgit is stronger.
08:08Mm-hmm.
08:08So, there is one benefit of a stronger ringgit as well.
08:11Wow.
08:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:12So, it is...
08:13You know, stock prices can be low, but now that the U.S. dollar is also lower against ringgit,
08:17it's good for us.
08:19Yeah.
08:19So, you can just...
08:20Basically, you live in Malaysia and you can invest anywhere in the world?
08:23Yeah.
08:24So, that's another good thing, right?
08:25I invest in a lot of foreign platforms.
08:28So, of course, we use our local banks, products and stuff, but there are also a lot of international
08:31ones that we use, and sometimes they will have on their website, they'll say, okay,
08:36we are available for customers from all over the world except the following countries.
08:41And then there's like a list of like, oh, these countries are not accepted and stuff.
08:44I don't know what those countries did to them, but so far, I mean, as Malaysians, I've never
08:49had any issues.
08:50Really?
08:50Okay, Malaysia is never on that list of like, sorry, you're not allowed to use our platform.
08:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:56I won't mention the other countries, but some countries are always on the list, you know?
09:01So, investing access for us is actually very good.
09:06I don't know exactly why.
09:08We can use pretty much any platform from many, many countries.
09:11Wow.
09:11And like you said, the exchange rate makes things even better for us now.
09:15I feel like I should start.
09:16You said this three months ago, by the way, Aisha.
09:1930 episodes ago, I said that I want to start investing, like email.
09:23You're really disappointed, Aisha, by the way.
09:25Because first of all, I'm scared because our currency goes up, goes down, goes up, goes down.
09:29So, it's scaring me.
09:31But email so far, for the past, I don't know, year, has been saying that, no lah, Malaysia
09:36punya ringgit okay je.
09:38Yeah.
09:38Like, even if it falls, tak banyak pun.
09:40I've always believed in the Malaysian ringgit, by the way.
09:42Every time, like the last time I went to like 4.5, 4.6, people are like, I want to convert
09:46to USD lah, I want to convert to Sink dollar lah.
09:48I was like, no, no, no, I'll hold the ringgit actually.
09:50But now, okay, now it's pretty strong lah.
09:52Now it's pretty strong.
09:53He's so happy because he travels, he invests, he's so happy about this.
09:57Exactly.
09:58Even for our currency, I always tell people, there are things that are within our control
10:01and there are things that are outside of our control.
10:03Outside of our control, yeah.
10:04You just cannot do anything, right?
10:05If, for example, the US is running some monetary policy, which I won't explain.
10:10Maybe a bit confusing to you guys, but they can be doing something that strengthens the
10:14US dollar.
10:15So, there's nothing we can do about that.
10:16Yes.
10:16There are things that are just outside of our control.
10:18So, I guess things that we can do as Malaysians is, for example, our strong passport, right?
10:24Yep.
10:24So, I guess when you travel, and even online these days, it's so easy to interact with
10:29people from other countries, right?
10:31Yeah.
10:32Yeah.
10:33Just know that whenever you speak to or meet people from other countries, you are sort
10:37of a representation of Malaysia.
10:38Of course.
10:38You always are.
10:39Even when I go to study in China, people are like, oh, this is the first time meeting
10:42a Malaysian.
10:43Yeah.
10:44And they're always like, oh, Malaysians can speak English?
10:45Like, yeah, we can.
10:46So, we have a few stories from our listeners.
10:50Okay.
10:50So, this person, she is a freelance designer based in Ipoh.
10:56Okay.
10:56Okay.
10:56I started doing small branding jobs for local businesses, but during the pandemic, I tried
11:01pitching to clients overseas.
11:03Somehow, I got replies from companies in Australia and the UK.
11:07What surprised me was how easy it was for me to say yes when they invited me to meet them
11:12in person for workshops.
11:13I didn't need to wait months for visa approval.
11:17I could just go.
11:18Probably the visa approval is for Australia.
11:21Because UK, you don't need visa, kan?
11:23Yeah.
11:23You can go for six months, I think.
11:24That's quite long.
11:25It's quite long.
11:27So, that confidence helped me negotiate better rates.
11:30Now, I get paid in Australian dollar, but I still live and spend in ringgit.
11:35So, even though the jobs aren't always consistent, the currency difference lets me save faster
11:39when I was working only with local clients.
11:42It made me realize that being Malaysian and global, at the same time, it's possible.
11:46I didn't have to migrate.
11:47I just had to think bigger.
11:50The question is, do you think earning globally while living locally is the new financial advantage
11:54for Malaysians and that Malaysians should aim for?
11:58I think, of course.
11:59I mean, if you can earn a stronger currency, which then essentially means that you live
12:04in Malaysia still, so you have a lot of money.
12:07Basically, your income in ringgit is a lot higher than other people.
12:09So, she's basically earning in Australian dollar, but her spending is Malaysian ringgit.
12:16Correct.
12:16In Ipoh.
12:18Nah, I'm sure she's going to save a lot.
12:18In Ipoh.
12:19The bad thing for her now, though, is that the ringgit is stronger against Australian dollar.
12:24I think it used to be like 3 plus.
12:25Now, I think it's like 2.7, 2.6.
12:27Alamak.
12:28So, now, the Australian dollar is less ringgit.
12:30Like this.
12:32Better for all of us.
12:33Because we don't spend in Australian ringgit, so it's like that.
12:37Yeah.
12:37But, even though you're earning in whatever currency, you still need to remember to pay
12:45your taxes.
12:46In Malaysia.
12:47In Malaysia, yeah.
12:49So, make sure that you guys check that, yeah?
12:51Yeah.
12:52Yeah.
12:52Please.
12:54Okay.
12:54The student.
12:55This is a student.
12:56She's studying in South Korea right now.
12:58Wow.
12:59Best.
13:00Okay.
13:01At first, I was very overwhelmed by how expensive everything felt.
13:05But, I learned to track my currency rates and only transfer money when the ringgit was strong.
13:10I also started using a multi-currency digital wallet.
13:13Emir.
13:14To avoid those high foreign exchange fees.
13:17Because I was watching my money more closely, I started noticing that even small differences
13:21in exchange rate can really affect how much I actually have to spend.
13:25Yeah.
13:25So, with that awareness, I started investing a little bit in the ETFs.
13:32Back in Malaysia.
13:33If you listen to our episodes, 30 episodes ago, me and Yasmin, you asked about an ETF.
13:38It's like ETF sounds familiar.
13:40Okay.
13:41It's okay.
13:41Let's move on.
13:42Even though I'm abroad, my money back home is working for me.
13:45So, being overseas did make me spend more.
13:47It made me learn how money move.
13:49The question is, can budgeting, saving and investing wisely be seen as a form of national pride?
13:54Because it feels like the same discipline that makes our passport respected also in how we handle our own finances.
14:02Hmm.
14:02No.
14:03That's a tricky question.
14:04But yeah, I mean, of course.
14:05Yeah.
14:05I think saving, budgeting, all these things, it is in a way, in a way, national pride, right?
14:11Because you are strengthening your own personal finance background.
14:14That's right.
14:15Because he's investing.
14:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:17Investing in our country, that's one thing.
14:19Of course, you're helping with our capital markets and stuff like that.
14:22But if you're more financially responsible, it means that you potentially then use less resources from, let's say, government, right?
14:29Government has a budget and they have to allocate it.
14:32So, the more there are people who are doing well, let's say, for example, less people will need to rely on government aid to survive, on subsidies to survive.
14:39So, those are all examples of how saving, budgeting, investing, all can be a form of national pride.
14:43That's what I think.
14:44Wow, I've never thought of that.
14:46That's a good way to...
14:47See?
14:47You're not feeling a lot of pride.
14:49You haven't been investing a lot.
14:50You know, I should be better.
14:51You should be better.
14:52ETF.
14:53Okay, let's do this.
14:55What's one financial habit every Malaysian should adopt to make the most of our Malaysian power?
14:59Malaysian passport power.
15:01Malaysian passport power.
15:03Investing.
15:04Investing?
15:05Yeah.
15:05Investing for sure.
15:06Since, like I said, you have access to so many different platforms, investment options out there.
15:10That's one habit that you can have.
15:12Look for opportunities to earn money outside of Malaysia.
15:15I think that's a really good option.
15:16This is your time.
15:17Our passport is good enough.
15:19Yeah.
15:19Okay.
15:20Last question.
15:21How do we show our appreciation to the Ministry of Home Affairs?
15:25For giving us a strong passport.
15:26Yes.
15:27NYB Saifu Dina Sutian.
15:29Not just with words, but also the way we are being responsible.
15:34How do we do it?
15:35When we travel out, I feel like, when we travel out, you just jaga nama Malaysia, basically.
15:40Yeah.
15:40Yeah.
15:40Like I said, we are sort of a representation of Malaysia.
15:43Whenever we go anywhere in the world with our red number three passport, you have to...
15:50It is really as a flag.
15:52I have to say it so many times.
15:54We have passport number three.
15:55How many countries is in this world in New York?
15:58And we're number three.
15:59I'm going to assume 180.
16:00Next to Spain.
16:02Yeah.
16:02That's crazy.
16:04Yeah.
16:04I think that's a non-financial view.
16:07But for sure.
16:07I think Malaysia is actually quite good with this.
16:09Like being respectful when we travel to other countries.
16:12Of cultures.
16:13Of food.
16:14Online, maybe not so good.
16:15Online, yeah.
16:16Sometimes you need to...
16:17Maybe not so polite online.
16:19Yeah.
16:20So that's one thing.
16:21Financially, like you said, I think when you guys travel, just make sure you guys have
16:25enough money, no travel people.
16:27I think sometimes, as well in Malaysia, we can see foreigners coming in and then like
16:30begging, please support my traveling journey.
16:33I think those aren't very nice things to do.
16:35I just think Malaysians...
16:36Hopefully Malaysians, you don't do that.
16:38That's kind of malu.
16:39Yeah.
16:40So that's the ways that we can...
16:41And thank, you know, the relevant ministries into...
16:46For giving us a strong passport to make sure that we still have that strong passport.
16:49We need, yeah.
16:50We need visa-free, let's need to China, to Australia.
16:54Wow.
16:55Can you imagine that, guys?
16:57Malaysians?
16:57We need to work together on this.
16:59We need to help them.
17:00About Singapore.
17:04Singapore?
17:04Singapore is...
17:05I'm so sorry.
17:06I think we're fine.
17:08I think we're fine.
17:08I think we're all Malaysians.
17:09I think we're all Malaysians.
17:10Okay.
17:11So I feel like that's it.
17:13Yeah.
17:13Okay.
17:14Cool.
17:14Nice talking to you, Aisha.
17:15I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
17:17Start planning your holidays.
17:19Currency is really good right now.
17:20Yep.
17:21Hope you guys enjoyed this one.
17:22See you guys in the next one.
17:24Bye.
17:25Take care when traveling.
17:26Be nice to people.
17:27Bye.
17:27Bye.
17:27Bye.
17:28Bye.
17:28Bye.
17:28Bye.
17:28Bye.
17:29Bye.
17:29Bye.
17:29Bye.
17:29Bye.
17:30Bye.
17:30Bye.
17:31Bye.
17:31Bye.
17:32Bye.
17:32Bye.
17:33Bye.
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