Excellence in moving and relocation

Malaysians are moving house about seven (7) times in their lives; when living with your parents, moving to your own first apartment, then moving to consecutive bigger houses or a different location closer to work, and some of us even go abroad for their study or work. Last month it was my turn. I just moved to a new condominium in Kuala Lumpur, just 6 kilometres away from my old place. 6 or 600 kilometres, it does not really matter I guess. You still have to go through the same pain of packing, labelling, loading into the truck, transportation, unloading, and unpacking. I thought after so many moves this time it should be much easier. I was wrong! On the first morning in my new condo I had my bowl for my breakfast oats, but could not find my oats as well as my spoon! It also took me 5 days to find my toothbrush charger, which resulted that I had to go back to the reliable manual toothbrush on day 3. Although the internet moves with the speed of light according to my internet provider, it took them two weeks to move my internet connection from one condo to another.

From a logistics point of view moving looks so simple: putting your belongings in boxes, putting the boxes in a truck or container, and at the other end, taking the boxes out of the truck or container and putting it in its new location. In Malaysia many people hire a general lorry to move household goods from one place to another. This is well advertised in the country with ‘lori sewa (lorry for rent) + telephone number’ signs nailed into trees. But this is not without risks. There are also specialised moving companies that have specialised trucks, packaging (boxes, foam, plastic), contents & room identification labels, and materials handling equipment to relocate your dearest belongings in a professional way.

The moving and relocation business in Malaysia has both local and foreign players to assist domestic moves and international relocations of personal belongings, company assets as well as specialized cargo like art. Mr. Jeannot Reijnders, Sales and Marketing Manager of Asian Tigers Mobility, has the following tips when you need to move locally or to another country:

• For international relocation the ideal time to start preparing is about 2 months prior to your move.
• Ask a representative of one the moving companies to visit your house for an inspection to determine the estimated volume of your shipment, requirements and detailed explanation on the moving procedure.
• Every country has its typical customs rules & regulations, so it is good to be aware of these rules in advance.
• Be as specific as possible to the representative on which items you plan to move once you show around your house. A seemingly innocent item might cause a lot of trouble at the destination country!
• There is an international quality mark for moving and relocation companies, called FIDI, which is an independent organisation that certifies moving companies. Once every three years individual FIDI moving companies are independently audited to make sure that companies ensure their high standards.

Moving and relocation is a true profession to protect our valuable belongings where we want them to follow us. Hence, it is important to trust our belongings to the right moving professional.