Malaysia is a bustling melting pot of races and religions, with a population of Malays, Chinese, Indians and many others. This diversity has made the country a gastronomic paradise and home to hundreds of colourful festivals. Islam is the official religion, with the largest number of followers, but all faiths are protected by law and Malaysia is fairly liberal.
The country is split by the South China Sea into West Malaysia, a peninsular, and East Malaysia, the island of Borneo. Its borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines (and there is a connection to Singapore via a causeway and bridge). The country is a former British colony, and English is an active second language within educated Malaysian society. A constitutional monarchy and newly industrialised, the country has the third-largest economy in South East Asia.
In the cities you’ll find space-age skyscrapers towering over colonial architecture and wooden houses built on stilts. The food has as much variety as the architecture, with Chinese-Malay ‘Nonya’ dishes, Indian curries, Chinese buffets, Malay street food and Dayak specialties, as well as Western food. There’s diversity away from the cities too, with warm, sandy beaches, hot and sweaty mangrove swamps and mild and misty tea plantations in the very civilised Cameron Highlands. But many of the mountains are much more rugged, and in the rainforests you can find orang-utans and remote tribes who survive almost cut off from the modern world. The traditional ‘longhouse’ villages of Sarawak are a must-see, as are the 99 idyllic islands of Langkawi.
English is used to teach maths and the sciences in all Malaysian government schools, and the language is extremely important for anyone who wants to advance their studies or career. So Malaysia has a very large and lucrative ESL market, and English teachers can expect to find jobs at any time of the year. EFL job interviews are typically carried out in advance by phone or e-mail, and teachers are normally responsible for their own airfare and housing costs. Most find flats or rooms which were previously occupied by other TEFL teachers, and many share accommodation with co-workers. Salaries are good, providing ESL teachers in Malaysia with a comfortable lifestyle, as well as allowing them to save between £200 and £400 a month. Schools usually provide about 20–25 hours of work per week. Most EFL jobs are concentrated in Kuala Lumpur and other major cities.
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