Senior Tourism in Malaysia - The Downstream Economy Catalyst

There is much more to senior tourism than healthcare, wellness and medical tourism. Senior tourists also travel to see and experience new cultures, enjoy different climates and savour new culinaries. They may have some different needs and wants, as well as having different characteristics from normal tourists. With more disposable time and affordability, they can opt to stay for longer periods of time at a place to take in more of what local life offers. The average inbound tourist length of stay in Malaysia in 2019 was 7.4 nights. A senior tourist may choose to stay for up to 3 months (depending on their respective visa-free allowance). This is one area Malaysia can look into along the lines of the digital nomad visa. Not every visitor is looking for emigration, so the MM2H may not be relevant in most cases. A 6-month or 12-month 'senior visa' could be seriously considered. This additionally, is useful too for medical tourism and senior living facilities so that they can offer extended recuperative stays and long-stay retreats. With longer stays, the needs will be more domesticated and regular. This in turn benefits the local businesses directly, more effective for the downstream economy than by a typical tourist who may only be able to patronise more touristy options.

2 Types Of Senior Tourist The Young At Heart & The Old At Heart. https://www.checkfront.com/blog/senior-tourism-trends/ Some needs and characteristics of the senior tourist are listed below. They will differ between cultures and backgrounds, so this is a general summary: Longer stay duration. To absorb more experiences. Access to good healthcare & medical facilities, linked to personal insurance provider. Safety and security assurances. Mid and long term residential housing if hotel is not preferred. Walkable access to daily amenities and services such as groceries, food, hair trim, post office, bank, etc. Concierge & butler services if required. Culturally specific cooking ingredients & groceries where relevant (Example: by ethnicity) Language translators or local tour guides. Access to reliable local transportation network. Wheelchair-Friendly access where required. Industry Spin Offs • Senior Hotel • Senior-Friendly Tours • Mid-Long Term Property Rental (Residential where legally allowed) • Retirement Village Short Term Rental • Senior Home Stays • Additional Medical/Other Insurance • Senior Concierge/Butler Services • Senior Companionship Support Groups (This article is actively edited with improvements and is purely of the writer's view and opinion. The scope is so much larger globally and will differ between areas.) Coming soon: How Senior Tourism can catalyse a part of Malaysia's property market. - end-

Marketing Of Senior Living In Malaysia

The marketing of senior category housing in Malaysia is still in a muddle. This means a whole new field of opportunity for the marketing and communications industries in the adjacent future. This article hopes to provide an efficient summary of this big yet largely under-tapped industry. 

Firstly, there are three basic categories of senior living housing; (a) Independent Living; (b) Assisted Living and (c) Fully-Assisted Living. 

(b) Assisted Living and (c) Fully-Assisted Living. 

Categories (b) and (c) are well taken care of in Malaysia presently in terms of availability, affordability and functionality. Operators such as Care Concierge has come a long way to become one of the more prominently branded forerunners in the industry with a range of quality products. There are also many other assisted living operators but not all do a good job of branding their services.

Then, there is now a highly developed healthcare-to-home services industry. Click2Health  is one example that provides very professional online and home care services, both medical and healthcare. They have also started assisted living facilities with a higher spec of medical standards.

(a) Independent Living

Until this present moment, there are only two purposed-built retirement living projects in Malaysia; The GreenAcres Retirement Village in Ipoh; and Eden-On-The-Park in Kuching.

A few more notable projects were promoted and some tested over the last 15 years for Independent Living and Retirement Village projects. There is a lot to learn as to why these died off or were shelved indefinitely. 

We shall do a F&Q here to answer the most regular enquiries. If you do have more questions pertaining to this matter, you can reach me directly at alwaysken(a)gmail. I'm always glad to share about this passionate industry. 

Q1. Are Malaysians ready for Retirement Villages RV (Independent Living Housing)?

The need has always been there since decades ago. Individual Malaysians have always wanted to share a property with friends when they retire and live together happily ever after. This never really materialised as professional home healthcare services were not available decades ago. They are ready now. 

So for Malaysians in general, they may not need to buy into an RV per se as they can fully realise their co-living idea with a shared bungalow. But of course a retired lifestyle in a premium RV is certainly a great way to live.

Single independent Malaysians do worry about getting medical attention when they are alone at home. Vertigo and fall injuries are some of the worries. Herein comes the safety feature of a good retirement living project.

Q2. Then who else do we target for the RVs?

The bigger market for retirement villages in Malaysia however, is the international market. Being a commercial titled project, international seniors can enjoy spacious landed property living. Life leased or term leased. This is especially attractive for the East Asian market. The rental market is also very attractive for the Winter-Over segment from both hemispheres. Every six months see a different group of people seeking warmth in the hot Malaysian climate.

We can start to pick up a lot of learned experiences and knowledge from the Australian senior living industry marketing. This especially for the independent living segment. Yes, of course to be adapted to the Malaysian context.

Malaysia is a great place to retire. The problem now is there are virtually not enough top quality retirement living products built.

Q3. If it is so positive, why weren't more of such projects built?

The stumbling block faced by most if not all suitors is the purchase model. A themed project such as this must never be sold outright. It becomes a nightmare when you lose control over the tenant mix. This is alike the the cases of the prominent shopping mall in KL and one in USJ where they sold outright the premium ground floor lots and could not maintain a right mix of stores.

The lease model would mean having to build the entire project before you can lease out. So cost outlay could be a factor without clear sales projection.

Q4. So how did The GreenAcres do it?

The developers were fully dedicated to the project and concept entirely. They built the clubhouse regardless of sales. Then they built about 20 units of homes at a time. These were landed so they can do it phase by phase. Kudos to them for their dedication.

Q5. Why did earlier projects fail?

SELLING LIKE A PROPERTY ASSET

CASTING A NET TOO WIDE

Retirement living is chiefly a lifestyle product. However, many of the aborted projects were created with the retail property mindset: ie- Size, Rooms, Car park, Value, Yield, etc. One of the earlier projects near the coast promised resort lifestyle living. Large units, sea facing with healthcare below etc.

All of these factors are important somehow or other, but retirement living clearly is not resort living. ~ I need to get my hair cut. Walk to get the newspaper. Go to the local market. Watch a movie. Meet friends. Go fishing. Catch a meal in town. Work in my community green patch. Et cetera.

Purchase of a Retirement Village home is also not with real estate investment top of mind.

Developers were casting a net too wide and selling like a typical property project. Here is where more delicate branding and marketing communications design require relevant insights, passion and empathy. It is a learning curve but we all have to start now. 

Q5. What's a good way to start with?

The Marslow's Hierachy Of Needs Chart is a basic but simple way to segmentise the emotional and physical needs of the market. The bottom segment is taken care of by social services, friends, family and society. The top 3 segments are good product differentiators for product development. 

Design with the lifestyle needs. Design the facilities, services and amenities with the concept in mind. Only then, design the built environment around these factors. 

Lately, we have seen a huge wellness living project advertised more for the medical facilities and property prices. The wellness essence is missing from the mix. 

We will learn from everything. The Malaysian journey has just started.

E.&O.E.

 Test

Who should design your Retirement Village or Care Home? Architect?

If you are planning to set up a senior living facility, you should speak with your architect about his or her hands-on knowledge on such facilities. Only when one who has dealt with a senior or care-need person, one would otherwise not become empathetic with the real needs.

Understanding the needs of the residents and users through the many years, some maybe up to 20 years of living in the same facility will provide the knowledge needed to build a first class facility.

So the question is not whether the architect should be the first designer of the project. The first person can be anyone with the necessary experience. It can be the care-givers, the operator, the resident, the architect or the owner. But never one who plans to design Form over Function.

Real knowledge is key.

A toilet ten steps too far away, a grab bar one cm too thick, isolated car parking spaces, the list goes on.

(writing in progress)

RETIRED BIRDS OF A FEATHER

I envision that Retirement Villages in Malaysia, will be radically different than elsewhere in the world when the industry comes to blossom. One main reason for this is the extensive diversity existing here. Some RVs will be the most cosmopolitan while others may become culturally biased.

Furthermore the expected influx of permanent foreign retirees will add new dimensions to the already colourful scene.

When you decide to live in a retirement facility, all your personal yearnings, traits and inklings becomes prime concerns. Language, greenery, prayer, food, people and elsewise. Culture and religion become day-to-day matters. They can increase, not diminish. For others, the choice for diversity, multi-cultural aspects and globalism is uppermost.

The religious may want to live in a place that provide them easy access to their respective places of worship or to attend religious events. The green fingers will want to live in a community that appreciates nature so much more while writers and avid readers may want more quietness and soul at their RVs.

THE RETIRED GENERAL
Therein lies a group that stands apart from all. The retired military brass. A retirement village for the retired armed forces officers ensures their professional dignity lingers on. It is can be never easy to transit from being a 5-star general to someone in the street. A military retirement village or partially, ensures the chats and after dinner stories are relevant to those around.

This strikes a very personal chord for me. Ten years ago, I visited a customer at his home and saw his bed-ridden father in the living room attended by a male nurse. The father was a retired army general. If it was a military RV, he would have been in a much more dignified position, accorded some 'salutations' to say the least. I am sure these men of service would have live many, many more active years healthily.

RVs FOR DIFFERING SOULS
While every RV can have the same high standards of design, thought and build quality, each should pursue to be a different soul-space.
- Green & Eco
- Artistic
- Spiritual
- Mono religion  Muslim / Christian
- Western
- Chinese / Japanese
- Classic
- Contemporary
- etc

Happy Newness!

Some people spend their lives building walls against floods. Eventually the flood comes and they say, "See, I told you so." Whereas, the enlightened ones have moved on to higher grounds years ago. Happy Newness everyone! I wish you all heightened awareness and not to be limited by our own beliefs. Do more. Live more. Love more. ~ Kenneth Tan

Part 3 - Who Are The RV Customers in Malaysia.

There is still confusion among many Malaysians about living in a retirement village, most responses being neutral or towards hesitation. Those that have felt the need and have been exposed to the concept abroad clearly welcome the news of such facilities being created in Malaysia. Those that hesitated, some have confused this with nursing homes and aged care facilities, worst being the Malaysian old folks homes. These are all separate subjects but nevertheless linked chronologically.

While I have been understudying and growing with the industry throughout the last 8 years, I take clear cognizance that there is no singular answer to the many facets of this industry. Each and every retirement facility will cater to a different mindset of people.

The retirement facility is a lifestyle choice, whereas later on in life the aged-care facility may feature due to physiological or medical needs.

The people who will choose the RV lifestyle are (in no particular order) :

A. EMPTY NESTERS
It is common among the upper and upper-middle class in Malaysia, to educate their children abroad. And many choose not to return to Malaysia after graduation for better career opportunities. This with the support of their parents.
> A retirement facility provides community and communal facilities for the parents.

B. THE SINGLE PERSON
The ones concerned fear they may be alone in their apartment should they require medical assistance or emergency help. Some have mentioned their fears of dying alone in their homes without anyone noticing. These are the ones who have few relatives or none. Most are retired professionals with very healthy retirement funds.
It is quite common talk among friends about jointly purchasing a piece of land and building a home to retire together. The problem starts when one by one, they fade in life. And subsequent ownership issues.
> A good landed retirement village may answer their needs clearly and immediately. The location matters then, as of now there is only one in Ipoh and the other in Kuching - Eden On The Park available. (I do know many developers are finally tuning in to this industry. But they must get their priorities right. This is a long term game. Not for immediate returns.)
> It will also be easier to liquidate one's ownership when one passes on.
> 24-hour emergency button and friendly neighbours are all important.

C. DOWN-SIZING
Big homes become just big houses to be maintained when the party's died down. Alarms, maids, driver, pet animals, 4 doors, 20 windows, garden, swimming pool, et cetera. A large house becomes a hassle without relevant use of the space.
> A high-end retirement facility may help improve the quality of life. In a gated & guarded environment, with just one key, the person/s can just lock up and fly off to vacation without worry.

D. LIQUIDATING FOR RETIREMENT

An example profile is the typical Petaling Jaya bungalow owner from the 1970s. Purchased at below RM50,000, the land itself is now worth thirty times more (although leasehold). Some pensioners may not have sufficient funds set aside for renovations and upkeep, or to upgrade their lifestyles. They may have kept for their children or for medical needs later.

> Liquidating wisely and choosing a retirement facility at below 40% of their newly available funds may put them not just in better financial position, but also in a new refreshed environment. 

> In very near future, the knowledge and skills of RV residents will be tapped on and in return work opportunities become a new focus in life.

E. THE FOREIGN BUYER

Retirement Villages that adopts the leased model are commercial business arrangements. Thus, the minimum price quota for foreign home purchase or RM1 million does not apply. However, the buyer need to apply for a resident visa or look into the MM2H program, of which there are many experts around. I am not one.

> This is good news for developers and land owners.
> Malaysia is consistently ranked The World's Top Five Retirement Destinations. Penang and Ipoh being favourites.
> Here are the reasons why: Favourable forex rate, Lower cost of living (high quality), English is widely used, Multi-language, Relative safety, Food-food-food, Universality, Cosmopolitan, Cultural, Asian, Friendliness, Transportation, Centrality, World class medical facilities and infrastructure.

Here are just 5 common profiles of the potential retirement living residents in Malaysia.

Kenneth Tan: I am an advocate of quality retirement lifestyles living in Malaysia. While all these seems to be focussed on the wealthy, it must be understood that the writings are geared towards understanding retirement living industry as a business. I choose to share the knowledge I have in the hope of fast-tracking those whose lives have just been opened up to the industry.