Kuala Lumpur world’s second friendliest city as Asian cities rate highly overall

Kuala Lumpur, capital city of Malaysia (Medical Tourism Malaysia)

By Nasir Yousoff
Contributor to AsiaN

Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysia’s capital led 11 other Asian cities in the list of The World’s 50 Friendliest Cities 2019.

Kuala Lumpur came second in a global survey of 1.5 million people conducted by International travel portal Big 7 Travel.

“The word ‘friendly’ might not instantly come to mind when you think of some of the busiest cities in the world, but with all those people comes a lot of good,” the influential website posted.

“We asked our social audience of 1.5 million people ‘where you would find the friendliest city in the world?’ From how easy the city is to navigate or strangers helping you find your way when that pesky roaming data does not work to making new best friends, these are the cities across the globe where you’ll be made to feel the most welcome.”

Announcing the results, the website said that “Malaysians are naturally friendly and nice to strangers, and Kuala Lumpur is the best example of this.”

“The easy-going temperament of locals and their friendliness towards visitors means that it’s easy to make friends here. KL is a top spot for both tourists and expats,” it said.

Taipei, Taiwan, the second friendliest city in Asia according to the survey, came in fourth globally, followed by Chiang Mai (11), Abu Dhabi (13), Muscat (18), Siem Reap (20), Singapore (24), Tokyo (28), Jaipur (35), Guangzhou (38), Colombo (44) and Ho Chi Minh City (46).

Globally, Vancouver topped the ranking ahead of Bruges (3), Hamburg (5), Dublin (6) Christchurch (7), Nashville (8), Sao Paolo (9) and Glasgow (10).