Travel Tips

Entry requirement

Basically, everyone who wants to enter Malaysia must posses a Passport or Travel Document or Document in lieu of Passport with a minimum validity of six months beyond the intended visiting period. Passport is needed for travel between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), as well as between Sabah and Sarawak.

Based on different Visa requirement by countries, some foreigners may need to obtain a Visa in advance at Malaysian Representative Office before entering the country.

Besides, one must not be a prohibited person, and have valid return ticket to any other country and sufficient fund to proof your financial ability to finance your stay in Malaysia.

Upon arrival at the gazette entry point of Malaysia, visitors are required to complete the Arrival/Departure Card and present it together with your passport to the immigration officer. Don't forget to ensure that the passport or travel document is endorsed with the appropriate pass before leaving the immigration counter.

For more information about visiting Malaysia, you may want to refer to one of the Overseas Tourism Malaysia Offices.

Time zone

Malaysia is about 8 hours ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+08:00). It is in the same time zone with China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philipines and Western Australia.

Standard measurement unit

The standard measurement unit in use is the metric system. Below is the chart of some conversion between the metric system and traditional system.

Length
1 inche = 25.4 milimeters	or	1 mm = 0.039 in.
1 feet = 0.3048 meters	or	1 m = 3.28 ft.
1 yard = 0.9144 meters	or	1 m = 1.093 yd.
1 chain (66ft.) = 20.1168 meters	or	1 m = 0.0497 chain
1 furlong = 0.201168 kilometers	or	1 km = 4.97 furlong
1 mile = 1.609344 kilometers	or	1 km = 0.621 mile
Area
1 sq. inch = 645.16 mm2	or	1 mm2 = 0.00155 in.2
1 sq. feet = 0.0929 m2	or	1 m2 = 10.7639 ft.2
1 sq. yard = 0.8361 m2	or	1 m2 = 1.19599 yd.2
1 sq. mile = 2.59 km2	or	1 km2 = 0.3861 sq. mile2
1 acre = 0.4047 ha	or	1 ha = 2.471 acre
Volume and Capacity
1 cu. inch = 16387.064 mm3	or	1 mm3 = 0.00006102 in.3
1 cu. feet = 0.0283 m3	or	1 m3 = 35.3147 ft.3
1 cu. yard = 0.7646 m3	or	1 m3 = 1.30795 yd.3
1 pint = 0.5683 liter	or	1 L = 1.75976 pints
1 quart = 1.3652 liters	or	1 L = 0.87988 qt.
1 gallon = 4.5461 liters	or	1 L = 0.21997 gal
1 fluid ounce = 29.57 mililiters	or	1 mL = 0.034 fl. oz.
Mass or Weight
1 ounce = 28.3495 g	or	1 g = 0.03527 oz.
1 pound = 0.4536 kg	or	1 kg = 2.2046 lb.
1 stone = 6.3503 kg	or	1 kg = 0.1575 stone
1 ton = 1016.0469 kg	or	1 kg = 0.000984 ton
Temperature
Degree Celcius (oC) = {Degree Fahrenheit (oF) - 32}/1.8

Electricity

The single-phase voltage in Malaysia is 240 volts with a frequency at 50Hz. And the main power plug and socket used in Malaysia is the British Standard BS 1363. It is a 3-rectangular-pins plug with two horizontal pins for live and neutral connections, and a larger vertical pin above these pins for an earth connection.

Useful contact number

Emergency/Police/Ambulance/Fire & Rescue = 999 (News: Satu Negara Satu Nombor)
Directory service = 103
Time announcement = 1051
Weather forecast = 1052
PLUSLINE (24 hours) (for emergency at highway/expressway) = 1800-88-0000

Ipoh Imigration Department = 05 - 501 7100
Ipoh Railway Station = 05 - 254 7987
Ipoh Airport = 05 - 312 0848
Ipoh Ambulance (24 hours) = 05 - 546 1999
Ipoh General Hospital = 05 - 253 3333
Ipoh Headquarter Police Station = 05 - 242 4222
Ipoh Fire Department = 05 - 547 4444

LOCAL TOURISM OFFICE (Ipoh Branch)
Address: Ground Floor, Lot 7 & 9, Jalan Medan Istana 3, Medan Istana, Bandar Ipoh Raya, 30000 Ipoh, Perak.
Phone: +605 - 255 2772/9962/5055 Fax: +605 - 253 2194
Email: mtpbperak@tourism.gov.my

Bank & ATM machines

Most banks are practising 5 days working from 9.30am to 4.00pm.

ATM machines are operating from early morning to 12midnight. It used to be 24 hours operating but this changed, due to security consideration.

Always be caution when you use your credit card as credit card fraud problem is serious in Malaysia. Never take your eyes off your credit card when the cashier/salesperson processing the transaction.

Currency

All transactions in Malaysia is in Ringgit Malaysia (RM). Since the government restricts the buy/sell of RM outside of the country, you should exchange all the money needed to your origin country's currency before you take off from Malaysia.

More about Malaysia currency.

Currency converter and live rates.

Tipping etiquette

Tipping is not necessary and seldom happened in Malaysia. It is because most of the bills charged are inclusive of 5% government tax and 10% service charge. However, it's always a nice way to express your appreciation for a good service with tipping. (^_^)

Mailing

When you are travelling or having vacation, the best way to send simple messages to your friends and relatives abroad is by postcards. It's easy to do and cheap in price. The cost involved for mailing an international postcard is only a RM0.50 stamp.

Mobile Service

There are few mobile service providers you can choose from, which are Maxis (012, 017), Digi (016) and Celcom (019).

Note: Number in the brackets is the prefix of the mobile phone number of a particular service provider.

Instead of having international roaming for phone calls back to your original country, you can choose to buy a second hand mobile phone and a low cost mobile service start up pack. For example, with Maxis's prepaid Hotlink package, you can enjoy calls to fixed lines of 20 countries as affordable as local calls, which is RM0.20/min.

You may want to know more about IDD 132 from MAXIS.

 

More travel tips in Malaysia will be added from time to time. OR, do you have any suggestion on things you wanna know about? Please, suggest an idea of travel tips. Your help is highly appreciated by me and everyone else.