I came to SG way before covid, rental was much cheaper and managed to get my PR and bought a flat before prices skyrocketted due to covid. My job doesnt require me to go to office and there are cheap food places near my house. I dont own a car and public transport is very convenient. It's much cheaper to just grab/rent a duration based electric car. Monthly mortage is fully covered by my CPF (EPF equivalent in Malaysia). My income is pretty high (non property agent nor insurance jobs but high base sales job with a good commission payout working in an MNC) and I save 70% of my income (after expenses, insurance and misc stuff). Get to splurge on travel and good stuff occassionally.

The situation is no doubt different post covid- high rental/property prices/much slower PR approval time- I have some Malaysian friends who have opted to rent in JB while waiting for their PR/chance to get a flat/accumulate enough savings. Long term wise IMHO benefits of moving here definitely outweighs working in Malaysia. I agree that you live very comfortably owning a car and a landed big house with an income of 10-15k RM, but that's pretty much it. If your income doesnt grow in tandem with rising inflation and weakening RM, you will feel the pinch sooner or later and travelling overseas is just going to be more expensive over time. While in SG, after living here for a number of years- I have the option to move back to Malaysia or elsewhere without much restrictions.