Alternative countries to Thailand for retirement?

[vinapu]

 

I've friends who did homosexual sex acts inside their car in public park at night but the authorities quietly crept up to them and arrested them.

 

 

I doubt having sex in a car in public park qualifies as ' behind the closed doors and privately' in any country, not only Malaysia 

[vinapu]

That is after midnight (1 am to 3 am) when most people are sleeping and the public park is very dark.

 

What are the police doing at this ghostly hours but to nab homosexuals.

again I 'd say that car driving to darkened public park at that hour would attract attention of police everywhere not just in Malaysia and not necessarily to nab just people having sex in that car  

[TotallyOz]

again I 'd say that car driving to darkened public park at that hour would attract attention of police everywhere not just in Malaysia and not necessarily to nab just people having sex in that car  

 

Sorry Vinapu, but it sounds like you may know this from first hand experience.  Can you share the story with us? 

[TotallyOz]

For me, I was lucky.  There is a park in Sao Paulo, Brazil that is known for gays and I use to go there often.  I met a wild and crazy guy and we got inside his car to mess around.  No cops. But, his BF walked up and needless to say, I either left a bit afraid or it ended up in a fabulous 3 way.  Hint: I didn't go back to the place for many years.

[Guest abang1961]

Come on... Singapore is NOT a good place for retirement.

Yes I am hitting 55 in 1.5 months' time and after the recent medical issue. I would want to run away.

The bill is astonishing high, even for a born and bred local citizen.

Foreigners can visit/work here but please don't fall sick.

 

With favourable currency and after exchanging the Singapore dollars to that of my-neighbouring countries,

I could get better housing, cleaning services, cheap food ....the list goes on...

 

The gay issue is in a very gray/grey zone... there are commercial establishments like sauna that cater to the gays' needs and the authority shut an eye of their operations.

 

One final comment ... the Muslims here practise moderate tolerance towards others.

They don't go out and condemn others unlike the Roman Catholics/Protestants - they (almost) tell us NOT to go to the Madonna concert.. which was a condensed/censored version. It was quite a "rebellious" act for Madonna when she cut off too many songs and sexy moves... Honestly, I disliked her overt/overly-used of the words "F..K" and "Mother-f....".

[vinapu]

Sorry Vinapu, but it sounds like you may know this from first hand experience.  Can you share the story with us? 

Sorry to disappoint you, nothing sensational but you guessed correctly, Story involves driver / me , sober / and his passenger heavily drunk with urge to puke  so I turned to dark park alley. Seconds later cop appeared form nowhere  but my friend was already relieved,  fortunately outside  of car.

[steveboy]

Come on... Singapore is NOT a good place for retirement.

Yes I am hitting 55 in 1.5 months' time and after the recent medical issue. I would want to run away.

The bill is astonishing high, even for a born and bred local citizen.

Foreigners can visit/work here but please don't fall sick.

----

One final comment ... the Muslims here practise moderate tolerance towards others.

They don't go out and condemn others unlike the Roman Catholics/Protestants - they (almost) tell us NOT to go to the Madonna concert.. which was a condensed/censored version. It was quite a "rebellious" act for Madonna when she cut off too many songs and sexy moves... Honestly, I disliked her overt/overly-used of the words "F..K" and "Mother-f....".

 

I share your opinion, there are other countries to retire not far from Singapore that offer much better value.

Could you live most of the time in Malaysia or Thailand and still receive income from Singapore?

 

I also find that SG has been able to keep its Muslim population tolerant and away from extreme fanaticism.  And the same cannot be said for Christians.  All flavor of Christians have done some horrible proselytizing in SG, And with the population being so eager to do "the right thing" and earn the best of the precious heaven by being "more Catholic than the Pope", the proselytizers have had an easy time.  Specially non-denominational sects like City Harvest Church have done such a religious exploitation, invariably helped by strong homophobia.  We all hope that justice prevails in your country and these crooks will go to jail for a long time.

 

I remember another incident that exposed how voraciously poisonous the Christian fanatics are in SG.  It was the infiltration and invasion of this good organization AWARE with the sickening religious homophobia of a group of fanatic Evangelicals from the Church of our Savior, lead by a master inquisitor Thio Su Mien.  Fortunately, the invaders were kicked out.  Hopefully the good people of Singapore realize how they are being duped by this religious opportunists with their theistic doctrines, and return to a healthy secularism or the worship of a non-religious philosophy like Buddhism.

[Guest]

Come on... Singapore is NOT a good place for retirement.

Yes I am hitting 55 in 1.5 months' time and after the recent medical issue. I would want to run away.

The bill is astonishing high, even for a born and bred local citizen.

Foreigners can visit/work here but please don't fall sick.

Thanks for the warning.  

 

Singapore has the kind of low tax rates I like, so it  looks like a good place for people making money and for the wealthy to retire to. 

I'll probably need to retire somewhere cheaper.  Cambodia comes to mind.

[Guest abang1961]

I visited 2 historical UNSECO Heritage locations, namely Melaka and Penang within the past 6 months and found that if I take the “gay involvement/interest” out of the equation, both are very liveable places.

 

The pull factors:

Relatively-lower cost than Singapore. Yes for 4 days there, I ate enough food to stuff myself for less than 50% what I need to pay in Singapore.

Satay index: ten sticks of chicken satay cost almost $10 (RM 29.70) but only RM 12 in Melaka’s famous Chicken Rice restaurant.

 

Slower pace of life – yes, I am getting older and I walk a little slower. So, both rustic towns get my vote for the pace of life. Walking through the streets bring nostalgia….of my neighbourhood back in the 60s and 70s.

 

Modernisation – there are plenty of spanning new shopping malls in the central area…so for the shopaholic in me, that is sufficient for therapy once a week.

 

Accommodation – of course, stay inexpensive in quaint old shop houses for that “old-time” feel.

 

Getting in and out – airports are nearby and barely an hour from Singapore. Kuala Lumpur is less than 2 hours (by bus) from Melaka and 3 hours (by car) from

Penang.

 

Getting around – there are public buses but the roads are good enough for some leg-exercise. Cycling around is fun.

 

Language – English is widely-used..much, much more than Sawadee-land.

 

Muslim-factor – ignore it…as long as you don’t dress like Madonna in the 80s… the Chinese are the Major ethnic group and they are more tolerant to others.

 

Political situation – who cares?

[steveboy]

May I correct you that Buddhism is NOT a philosophy and it IS a religion.

 

A lot of Christian Singaporeans spread false rumors and never even touched a Buddhist sutra. 

 

There are many levels of gods in Buddhism but the main concepts are reincarnation, karma and liberation. 

 

Homosexuality is accepted in Buddhism because souls do change sex from one reincarnation to the next.

 

You may correct me, but, sorry to tell you, you are wrong.

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion that has purely philosophical basis.

There are no almighty creator gods in Buddhism. 

 

Like with most religions, the teachings of Gautama Buddha, the "awakened one", were expanded by his followers (thinking that they were "enhancing" them) and have resulted in countless rules of this-and-that, in countless "sutras".

 

I have never touched a Buddhist sutra in my life. I am an agnostic, educated in the Catholic religion. But I understand quite well the Buddhist philosophy and I like it.   It makes much more sense to me than the Christian fairy tales.

[steveboy]

The pull factors:

Relatively-lower cost than Singapore. Yes for 4 days there, I ate enough food to stuff myself for less than 50% what I need to pay in Singapore.

Satay index: ten sticks of chicken satay cost almost $10 (RM 29.70) but only RM 12 in Melaka’s famous Chicken Rice restaurant.

---

 

I would also choose Malaysia to retire, specifically Kuala Lumpur.

Cost of living is low, facilities are good, a friendly language (English) is common.

The gay scene is adequate.  Should I get tired of it, Singapore is only 5 hours away by bus, with its Asian gays that are my favorite.  And Bangkok is only a short flight away, with its tons of also enjoyable Asian gays. And when I become a customer of commercial gay sex, I will find there the best deals

[Guest abang1961]

I read with utter shock that the victims of the oral gratification were pre-teens.

The teacher deserved every bit of humiliation and punishment.

 

By all means, this is SUPER-STUPID!

[Alexx]

muscfair, I'm sure that those who have said that Malaysia usually doesn't throw the book at gays who have sex in private had consensual sex between adults in mind.

 

That a teacher who molests an 11 y.o. child should face punishment almost goes without saying, and it doesn't even have anything to do with "gay", since molesting a girl of the same age would be just as criminal.

[steveboy]

muscfair, I'm sure that those who have said that Malaysia usually doesn't throw the book at gays who have sex in private had consensual sex between adults in mind.

 

That a teacher who molests an 11 y.o. child should face punishment almost goes without saying, and it doesn't even have anything to do with "gay", since molesting a girl of the same age would be just as criminal.

 

Right.  Even in permissible USA a case like that would be criminally prosecuted.  Not even the good Catholic priests who do this with their altar boys are saved from the law now.

[steveboy]

I am sorry you are wrong. Your thinking revolves around your beliefs in such religion such as Christianity which is quite restricted.

 

Buddhism doesn't talk about any 'creator god' but it talks about levels of deities ( with various supernatural powers) and also the many spiritual worlds of heaven and hell to which souls go to when we die.

 

To make it more closer to your thinking, it's similar (in some concepts) to the Pagan religions of Old Europe. I certainly don't think that Paganism is considered a 'philosophy'.

 

Philosophy only talks about mundane earthly things such as respect your elders etc.

 

Not-believing in creator god doesn't mean it is a philosophy. It's just like believing that the Sun is not the only star in the universe versus believing that there are trillions of Stars in the universe. So does believing in one Sun means it's astronomy and believing in many Stars means it's NOT astronomy?

 

 

 

Gautama Buddha is certainly not just a ordinary 'human' anymore than Jesus is a ordinary human. Gautama Buddha descended from the heavens as a Bodhisatva before his last life on Earth. He lived million of times before on both heavens and earth before and could remember his past lives upon opening his third eye.

 

I suggest you enrol yourself in a Buddhist university in Thailand if you don't believe me.

 

muscfair...  I'm sorry you are wrong... no, you are wrong...  no, you are wrong...   how comical.

 

If you are a Buddhist, I won't try to convince you.  

I only write what is commonly held about Buddhism.  I don't have "inside information".

 

Nothing is known that could have been written by the Buddha. His philosophy passed down by word of mouth for generations, and he was made more and more supernatural to fit the flavor people have for miracles.

 

In reality, the same happened with Jesus Christ.  There are even doubts if he really existed.  If you can believe in them, these religions can give you a nice peace of mind.  But if you don't believe,  there are other ways to gain peace of mind.

 

Peace!

[ct2005]

It's indeed comical ... and so much rebuttal being thrown around... Do we still want to hijack this thread by further discussing the legality of homosexuality or what Buddhism is?

[captainmick]

I have read many genuine Buddhist sutras in Thailand's Buddhist libraries.

 

Many of the 'introduction to Buddhism' written by amateur europeans/americans are purely their own opinion and doesn't even tell the basic concepts. They dwell into the life of gautama buddha and not the core of his real teachings.

 

Anyway, you have the right to your own opinion and I won't argue with you anymore.

Thank Buddha / Thank God for that.

[steveboy]

It's indeed comical ... and so much rebuttal being thrown around... Do we still want to hijack this thread by further discussing the legality of homosexuality or what Buddhism is?

 

A hijacked thread?  This is indeed comical.

If you came to this thread looking for alternative places to retire,

don't you have all the time in the world to read alternative posts in a thread about alternative places?

[Guest abang1961]

A picture paints a thousand words... that is me in Melaka and Penang..

bear with my self-indulgence and vanity ...(selfie)..still not an eyesore at 55?

 

 

The 1st photo was taken in front of the ruins in Melaka and the second, street art in Penang. I will probably explore an old mining town, mid-way between Penang and Kuala lumpur. Ipoh is probably worth an overnight visit before I head for the cooler and more scenic Cameron Highlands... anyone interested for a short and no-frills break in mid-April trip... The tea plantations are worth it ...comparable to those in Sri Lanka ...

[vinapu]

The 1st photo was taken in front of the ruins in Melaka

great idea, my aunt, God let her rest in peace ,  used to say ' take picture with me , one always looks good with ruins in the background"

[steveboy]

great idea, my aunt, God let her rest in peace ,  used to say ' take picture with me , one always looks good with ruins in the background"

 

Hmmm.... "one always looks good with ruins in the background"...  what does this mean?

One is less of a "ruin"  having real ruins in the background?

 

Hahaha... just kidding  

[vinapu]

Hmmm.... "one always looks good with ruins in the background"...  what does this mean?

 

it was self-depreciating joke of great lady

[Guest abang1961]

I read with amazement that Thailand's current military government was the Cinderella at the summit at Sunnyland, California. President Obama invited heads of government from all Asean nations but poor O Cha, the Prime Minister could not feel the warmth.

 

This is the article about the changing phases of fortune entitled "Authoritarian rule and the dimming of Thailand's star"

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/authoritarian-rule-and-the-dimming-of-thailands-star?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&link_time=1457441798#xtor=CS1-10

[vinapu]

I read that article and if I were Thai it would makde for very depressing reading indeed

[Guest FossilGay]

I read with amazement that Thailand's current military government was the Cinderella at the summit at Sunnyland, California. President Obama invited heads of government from all Asean nations but poor O Cha, the Prime Minister could not feel the warmth.

 

 

Perhaps O cha was sidelined because he forgot to tip everyone properly?  Did he think he was going to get love and warmth for free? He should know better!  This tipping business works two ways you know!!