Those entering Malaysia from Thailand will find their daily budget remaining pretty much unchanged; approching from Indonesia, on the other hand, costs will take a step up. Once in the region, daily necessities like food, drink and travel are slightly cheaper in Malaysia than in Singapore.
Travelling as a couple will help keep costs down, with accommodation and meals working out more economical when shared. Travelwise, an ISIC student card may occasionally offer some benefits, but in general the majority of discounts tend to be reserved for local Malaysian students and senior citizens. Although, bargaining is often thought to be endemic to Asia, this custom is slowly dying in the more cosmopolitan parts of Asia like KL. Bargaining is not used when dealing with meals at restaurants or when shopping in large departmental stores, but may be tried when trying to find accommodation for the night and should be tried in night-markets. Judge the situation, you wouldn’t dream of bargaining at a designer store in London – why start in KL. Believe me - I've seen several tourists making a*ses of themselves in those situations.
The safest and most convenient way of taking money into Malaysia is to take traveller’s cheques. Currencies most accepted in Malaysia are UK sterling and US dollar cheques whilst Australian dollar cheques are accepted in KL but may be harder to change outside the city. Available at a small commision from most banks and at American Express and Thomas Cook offices, these travellers cheques can easily be exchanged at licensed money-changers, banks and some hotels, on presentation of your passport. Some shops may even accept travellers cheques as payment for goods. Major credit cards (American Express, JCB, MasterCard, Visa) are widely accepted at major hotels, shops and restaurants. Be sure to check your bill and transaction slip when paying by card, for any extra charges which should not be added for the use of your card. If there are any discrepencies, contact your credit card company either locally or at home and let them know about it. Banks will often advance cash against major credit cards and many automatic teller machines (ATMs) in Kuala Lumpur now accept foreign cards for cash withdrawals. Check with your credit card company which banks in Kuala Lumpur have compatible machines before leaving home. Debit cards are also becoming more common as a means to obtain cash whilst abroad and cards with the Visa or Cirrus logo may now be used in ATM machines at certain banks in Kuala Lumpur – again, check with your local bank for details.
If you run out of money whilst abroad, you can arrange for cash to be transferred from home. Wiring money usually incurs handling fees both in KL and at home and may take between two to seven days to reach you. You’ll need to supply your home bank with details of a local bank branch for them to send the money to and upon presentation of your passport or any identification document, collect the funds. Western Union is a major company that handles money-wiring and can be contacted locally.
Basic food, accommodation and public transport costs in Kuala Lumpur are extremely reasonable and if you’re prepared to live frugally – staying in the most spartan lodging houses, roughing it on local transport, and eating and drinking at local ‘coffee-shops’ – it’s quite feasible to survive on £5 a day. You may not last long like this, though, and once you start treating yourself to a few luxuries, the figures soon add up : an air-conditioned room, a good meal, and an ice-cold beer to end the day could easily push your daily budget up to a more realistic £15 a day. In Kuala Lumpur, the sky really is the limit to your spending, with some of the plushest hotels in the world, trendy modern restaurants and swish nightclubs, to tempt you to empty that wallet.
Malaysia’s unit of currency is the Malaysian Ringgit (RM), divided into 100 sen. The ringgit can often be heard called the ‘dollar’ or increasingly irritatingly ‘buck’. Be careful when conducting transactions if the vendor refers to the currency as ‘dollar’ – the recent economic slump in Asia has given birth to an unscrupulous few who will try and trick you – implying the ‘(US) dollar’ and not the Malaysian ringgit. Subtly clarify with the vendor by repeating his price and saying ‘ringgit’ instead. Notes come in RM1, RM2, RM5, RM10, RM20, RM50, RM100, RM500 and RM1000 denominations; coins are minted in 1sen, 5sen, 10sen, 20sen, 50sen and RM1 denominations.
At the time of writing, the exchange rate was around RM5.80 to £1, RM3.80 to US$1 with the US Dollar fixed by the Malaysian Government. It had been a relatively stable currency until the recent economic crisis that hit Asia towards the end of last year, but since then, there has been much speculation about the money markets in Malaysia and indeed the entire region. Banks and money-changers publish up-to-date rates and can also be found in the Business pages of the New Straits Times and The Star newspapers. There is no black market in Malaysia.
Banking hours in Kuala Lumpur are generally Monday to Friday 1000-1500 and Saturday 0930-1130. Note that certain states in Malaysia take Friday as the weekend holiday and therefore government offices and banks may be closed should you find yourself in these states (Perlis, Kelantan, Kedah, Terengganu). Recently, certain Saturdays have also been declared as weekends with banks closed but shops at their busiest.
Major banks operating in Kuala Lumpur include MayBank, Bank Bumiputera, Hong Kong Bank, Hong Leong Bank, RHB-Bank and Standard Chartered. These banks also have the greatest numer of ATMs dotted around the city, which accept Credit card and Debit Card transactions. Licensed money-changer kiosks can be found near major tourist spots and tend to open later until about 1800 and sometimes on weekends too. Banks tend to offer some of the better exchange-rates if compared to the money-changers, but after queuing and filling out an endless number of forms at the banks, together with the bank commissions, it is often easier to change money at the money-changer. Some hotels will exchange money at all hours although their rates tend to be the poorest. Currencies most widely accepted for exchange in KL include UK Sterling, US Dollar, Australian Dollar, DeutschMark, Japanese Yen and of course the Singapore Dollar.
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