MM2H participants to form association

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) participants are coming together to form an association tentatively named MM2H (Homers) Association.

“The objective of the association is to protect the homers and give them a collective voice. Sometimes, it is difficult to get an answer or resolution to a problem from the authorities when you write in as an individual. This will be an association they can lean on and they will be working closely with the MM2H Agents Association,” said an adviser to the group. The MM2H Agents Association was formed in 2006, and currently has 80 members.

Thus far, participants from countries such as Japan, South Korea, China, India and the UK have expressed their interest to join as members, with a few from Canada and Australia as well.

“We expect strong membership once the association is approved by the Registrar of Societies (RoS),” said the adviser.

A meeting will be held at the end of May to finalise details of its application to be submitted to the RoS for approval.

The MM2H programme was introduced in 2002 to replace the Silver Hair Programme, which was first implemented in 1996. To date, MM2H has attracted over 13,000 participants from around the world.

Based on statistic provided by the Tourism Ministry, the highest number of MM2H participants in 2009 came from Iran with 212, followed by Japan with 169 participants and the UK with 162 participants.

Accumulatively, from 2002 to 2008, participants from China formed the largest group with 2,298 participants, while Bangladesh is second with 1,732 participants and the UK third with 1,495 participants.