Kuala Lampur, Oct. 29 -- Having a decent roof over your head isn't just about comfort, it is about survival and opportunity.

It determines whether a family loses their entire life savings when the monsoon waters inevitable rise, or whether a wage worker can live close enough to their job to avoid spending hours in traffic each day.

Malaysia has understood the task and over the past few decades, the country has made remarkable progress in expanding access to housing, most recently pushing past national targets by delivering more than 511,000 affordable housing units under the Twelfth Malaysia Plan.

Large-scale public housing programmes, urban upgrading efforts and investments in infrastructure have helped improve living conditions for m...