Kuala Lumpur or Penang. Please help!

[Grapefruity]

My husband has been offered an opportunity in one of these cities. We are already living abroad and are thinking it may be time to either move on or move home.
I'm wondering which would be a better place to live. Penang or Kuala Lumpur.
If anyone could please advise pros and cons I would really appreciate it.
We have a daughter who is 2 years away from university so a good school would be very important.
TIA!

I lived in KL for 14 years. Have visited Penang but never lived there.

KL has very good, but expensive schools. Alice Smith (Oldest in Malaysia, still a great rep and a true independant still Non profit. My eldest two DDs did A-levels there, since I left they have built an amazing 6th Form centre. Also Garden International (Taylors Group) or BRitish School (NordAnglia) are both good schools.

KL is as easy to live in as any big Asian city, English is widely spoken, most things available, driving is a nightmare, plenty of high quality accommodation with landlords of varying quality. Huge expat community. You could easily live in a bubble. Great hub for regional travel.

Penang does have schools as well. I have been back in the UK for 18 months now, when I left Prince of Wales School and St Christophers were the ones to look at, I have no personal experience, but a friend pulled her DS out of Prince of Wales, but that was a few years ago and I can't remember why (might have been the teachers were a bit ropey) Penang does have an expat community, but it's much smaller and has a more provincial feel. You would probably feel more in proper Malaysia there (if that's what you are looking for)

I did enjoy my time in KL, it was a good place to live, it has it's frustrations, but I kind of look back on them fondly now

Thank you @BookWitch
That information is very helpful
There's good and bad everywhere. I'm hoping the good outweighs the bad. It's always a risk moving somewhere new.

It really depends which system you are looking for, A level, IB or another.
In Penang, it is a really small choice. POWIS is the big name there, St Christopher's is primary only. There are a few other 'British' schools, delivering UK curriculum of a sort in Penang but you need to be asking lots of questions (how many local teachers, how many local students, facilities, do they follow UK holidays -most of these schools follow Malaysia calendar etc).
Be aware that any school can call itself "British", there is no law about that and it means very little.

As with lots of international schools, research research research. Penang is a small place for a teenager doing their last two years of school.

There is a woman in KL called Helen Prior who is an independent school advisor, she would be able to help (she runs a business doing this but has good info on her site)

www.schoolselectmalaysia.com

As well as the schools named above, all good but expensive, there is also the International school at Parkcity (great if you are living in Desa Parkcity) and also IGB school (IB) plus ISKL (IB and US I believe).

KL is definitely better for teen-agers, not only socially but in choice and quality of education.

Thank you @Penyu
That's very helpful. I feel like Kuala Lumpur would be the right choice.
Now I need a rough idea of the cost of living...
Could anyone point me in the right direction to see how much I should expect to pay to rent a three bedroom house? Or would an apartment be smarter?

Much better schooling options for your DDs age in KL. There are some good schools there and Penang has limited choice. Lovely place for a holiday though! I love KL- good luck.

Rental for expat type properties goes from 3000-12000+ myr month, really depends on what you want.
If you have pets, you might prefer landed house. If not, condo tend to have better facilities.
KL traffic can be bad so you need to base your location around school and job..
Popular places for expats are Mont Kiara, Bangsar, Desa Parkcity, Sri Hartamas.
You will find much cheaper rental as well, depends on what you are looking for. Lots of real estate agencies online to research.
Penang definitely cheaper. Salaries tend to be lower there too though.
If you have a massive big house, and air con on all the time, it can get very expensive, so be careful of that!