The Grand Tour Puts Malaysia in the Spotlight in a New Southeast Asian Road Trip

The latest season of The Grand Tour takes viewers from Singapore through Peninsular Malaysia, showcasing the country’s roads, car culture, Kuala Lumpur, and Cameron Highlands along the way.

The newly relaunched Grand Tour has arrived in Southeast Asia, and Malaysia features prominently in its second episode, looking particularly appealing as a country to explore, drive through, and perhaps even call home.

A new season of The Grand Tour has begun, with three new presenters taking over from the famous trio (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May). In the second episode, they start in Singapore before travelling through Peninsular Malaysia in three ageing sports cars purchased in the UK for around £5,000 each.

The premise is essentially a test of whether relatively inexpensive old performance cars can survive and still be enjoyable on a journey of several hundred kilometres. But along the way, the programme ends up providing some surprisingly positive publicity for Malaysia. It has done so very quietly. There was very little media coverage while the team was filming in Malaysia, and even now, the precise filming dates do not appear to have been made public. What is clear is that filming took place in the past year.

The journey begins in Singapore, which is presented as modern, meticulously organised, and spectacularly developed. The exceptionally high cost of motoring there quickly becomes part of the story, with the presenters commenting on how much more expensive cars are than in the UK. Singapore’s strict rules and regulations also feature in their observations.

Once they cross the Causeway into Malaysia, however, the mood changes noticeably. The presenters make repeated positive references to the roads and increasingly seem to enjoy the journey itself rather than simply trying to reach the next destination. For expatriates who live here, it is no surprise. One of Malaysia’s great attractions is its remarkable variety. Major cities, beaches, rainforests, historic towns, and cool highlands can all be reached relatively easily by road.

AN UNEXPECTED SHOWCASE FOR MALAYSIAN CAR CULTURE

The programme also highlights something that is not often featured in conventional tourism campaigns: Malaysia’s enthusiastic car culture. The presenters encounter modified Protons and other vehicles before heading towards Kuala Lumpur after hearing about the local drifting scene, which they visit at a car park. It is a side of Malaysia that international visitors may know little about, but perhaps deserves more attention. Malaysia has one of Southeast Asia’s more developed road networks, a substantial motorsport community, and a car culture that ranges from beautifully maintained classics to heavily modified Malaysian and imported models.

Kuala Lumpur also receives some excellent coverage. The city is sometimes underappreciated internationally, yet it combines excellent restaurants and shopping with numerous international schools, high-quality private healthcare, an impressive skyline, and residential areas that can be remarkably spacious and green. It also makes an excellent base for exploring the rest of Peninsular Malaysia. From KL, much of the peninsula can be reached comfortably on generally good roads and an extensive highway network.

NOT EVERYTHING GETS THE TOURISM TREATMENT

The programme is certainly not an advertisement for Malaysia, which arguably makes its positive impressions more valuable. The presenters stop at Forest City in Johor, where the enormous scale of the development is contrasted with its relatively low occupancy. Its unusually quiet surroundings are then used as the setting for one of the programme’s driving challenges.

But as the journey continues north, the programme becomes increasingly enthusiastic about Malaysia. The trio encounters local car enthusiasts, KL provides an urban interlude, and the final stages of the journey take them into one of the country’s most distinctive landscapes.

MALAYSIA SAVES ONE OF ITS BEST VIEWS UNTIL LAST

The final destination is the Cameron Highlands. As the trio climbs into the highlands, the landscape changes dramatically. They encounter the area’s famous old Land Rovers, many of which have spent decades working on local farms, before continuing higher into the surrounding hills and greenery.

The Cameron Highlands receive particularly positive coverage, with the presenters suggesting that Malaysia has saved the best part of the journey until last. The variety of scenery shown during the episode is perhaps one of the best advertisements for Malaysia. Within a single road trip, viewers see Johor, major highways, local car culture, Kuala Lumpur, and finally the cool green hills of Cameron Highlands.

It provides a glimpse not only of Malaysia as a tourism destination, but also of what makes the country attractive as a place to live. For many expatriates, Malaysia offers a relatively high standard of living, widespread use of English, established international schools, good private healthcare, excellent regional connectivity, a remarkable choice of cuisines, and considerably more space than many of Asia’s major cities.

For foreigners who meet the qualifying conditions, the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme also provides several routes to renewable long-term residence, including the Silver, Gold, and Platinum categories, as well as the separate SEZ/SFZ option. Singapore is undoubtedly one of Asia’s great commercial and international hubs, but Malaysia offers something different alongside it: more space, enormous geographical variety, a distinctive lifestyle, and, for those who qualify, the opportunity to make the country a second home rather than simply another destination. The latest Grand Tour episode may have been created primarily as entertainment, but in the process, it has given an international audience a highly enjoyable introduction to Malaysia.

For more information about living in Malaysia, visit the ExpatGo Guides. To learn more about the current Malaysia My Second Home programme and its requirements, visit www.MM2H.com.