Malaysia welcomes participants from China's Hong Kong for its long-term visa program but will make sure the applicants are "not running away from anything," a government official said recently.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry Secretary-General Isham Ishak said this week that interested participants for "Malaysia My Second Home program (MM2H)" are more than welcome, but they must be genuine.
"To date, I won't say there is a sudden influx, I haven't seen the records yet but we do welcome new participants from (China's) Hong Kong interested to come to Malaysia," Isham was quoted as saying by the Star, a local English newspaper.
"However, they must not be running away from anything. Of course we will do background checks to ensure they are not terrorists taking this opportunity to come to Malaysia for their reasons," he said.
"If there are people who are unruly or unwelcome, and those who shouldn't be participating in this program, I am sure the Home Ministry will have that information," he said.
Isham was responding to reports that the MM2H program had drawn 251 applications from Hong Kong residents this year, compared with 193 last year, allegedly due to the ongoing demonstrations.
The MM2H program is promoted by the Malaysian government to allow foreigners who fulfill certain criteria, to stay in Malaysia for as long as possible on a multiple-entry social visit pass. The social visit pass is initially for a period of 10 years and is renewable.
