You over estimated Singapore.

It is only 5.9m people in SG aganist 33 m in MY.

How many loaves of bread, daily essential good, restaurant meals etc can Singaporeans consume in Johor? It is just plain lazy Malaysians in central / northern Malaysia that refuse to move more goods to Johor.

In any case, it is mostly ex-Malaysians that visit Johor, ie maxiumum 1.5 million Singaporeans who are regular visitors. Most local born Singaporeans will probably save abit more for weekend Bangkok and Bali trips.

I fully agree with your assessment. It’s Malaysians themselves spoiling the market - not many Singaporeans would do the commute thing, compared to the absolute numbers of Malaysians.

It's our human nature, especially Chinese, we would tend to capitalise whatever we could. But, in the end we would blame others for our own actions.

It's the same in Sg, the young ones always complaining about their current government because they always feel oppressed. In fact, they don't know they are actually living a better life compared to us Malaysians. At times, I wish that my country would turn into a better one, I would move back to contribute. At current state, I doubt we will progress. No doubt, I am an opportunist too. So, I do feel ashamed at times. At the same time, I feel I'm underappreciated by my own country, which puts me in dilemma. I hate my country yet I love country of origin.

I agree, most Singaporeans would not like to go JB. Most are Malaysians or ex-malaysians as you mentioned. Even I myself hate travelling out to JB. Too many bottlenecks, bad traffic, etc. Food is at the higher side too, albeit being cheaper than Sg. Is RTS going to make things better? I doubt so, it will make things even more expensive. Eventually JB will be the most expensive city in MY.

I noticed that many Singaporeans like to go to JB on Saturday mornings. Many of them return to Singapore on Saturday night or Sunday morning.


You can tell by their style of dress. It's very obvious, especially with the younger crowd. Many of them carry luggage and walk around shopping or eating breakfast at City Square.

Last April, on a Saturday morning, I wanted to have breakfast at McDonald's in Komtar JBCC at 8 AM. It was full of Singaporeans and Malaysians that just entered from the JB custom.There was no place to sit.They also like to stay at KSL Hotel in Taman Century, go for foot massages, or eat steamboat.

I also noticed they take our public buses to Paradigm Mall Johor Bahru (actually in Skudai area, but I don't know why it's named Johor Bahru).

They know which public buses go to IKEA Tebrau, AEON Tebrau, or Mid Valley Southkey JB.As I'm lazy to drive due to traffic or find it convenient to take the bus (sometimes I intentionally go to Mid Valley by public bus just after coming back from SG).


Actually, in JB, many shopping malls are mostly frequented by people from Singapore or Malaysians who work in Singapore.

Last time, before April 2022 when the border between Singapore and Johor was not yet open, these malls seemed haunted. Many YouTubers went there to shoot videos. Those videos are still on YouTube and can be found easily.

This post has been edited by plouffle0789: Jun 30 2024, 07:00 PM

That is actually a small population only. It's just the same as saying why orchard is always crowded with tourist although singapore is expensive. It's the same, there will always be crowd. But, the crowd is small. During covid because most Malaysians are stuck in sg. That explains pretty much everything why the malls are dead.

The blanket statement is far from the truth. It is the only country I find the first generation migrant has a better quality of living compare to the second generation. A lot of Malaysians start developing confirmation bias after a period of time in SG and look for reasons to root themselves. And one convenient way is to under appreciate Malaysia.

Only if you work your way through merit. Usually the pioneer generation. Subsequent would complain, if they cant make it to the top. In malaysia, merit brings you no where. I would say singapore is only for working, not a place to stay. I have spent half of my working days in malaysia, likewise the other half in singapore. So, I understood well in terms of opportunities for my job in Sg. It may be different for others. So, I would agree to your point to certain extend.

No doubt Malaysia is a good place for simple life, with own transport, bigger house. Singapore is boring, only a place to work, not much activities especially on weekends, living in a small house, take public transports, etc. Perhaps to me, I am a minimalist, so I'm fine with those limitations, but in return I have more spending power.

You can visit many national parks or the botanic gardens.

You can also visit Pulau Ubin, （Every year on Wesak Day, there is a free boat service from Singapore to Pulau Ubin and back due to the temple celebration.)

Pulau Kusu (which has a special temple celebration event for 30 days in the lunar month of September),

and St. John's Island.

There are many museums available as well, such as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and the Peranakan Museum.

https://www.nparks.gov.sg/

This post has been edited by plouffle0789: Jun 30 2024, 09:44 PM

I don't understand. How could you say that the quality of life for people in Singapore during the 1960s or 1980s was better than for those in the 2000s generation?



In Singapore, public transport, safety, education, and the economy have consistently improved compared to earlier times.

This post has been edited by plouffle0789: Jun 30 2024, 09:49 PM

I wasn’t referring to the inter generational migrant but any economic migrant.

I don’t think you have to pick a side but if you find you are cornered to, particularly for economic reason, consciously or unconsciously, then is better to take a pause and think what went wrong in the planning.

Every person will have a different opinion and perspective on their own journey. What works for one cannot be translated to another.

Personally, Singapore has been good to us and for that we are grateful.

Well you're right. But to me, Sg has been great to me, in terms of exposure and opportunities. In MY, I felt I couldn't do much. I am in STEM, so pretty much why I feel that Sg is more conducive for me.

You're right on this. Everyone thinks that coming over is better, but in fact it may not suit for everyone. Some may prefer a merit based environment, some may prefer to flatter others, some may prefer a laidback life.

Do what's best for yourself.

As a rough and rather approximate rule of thumb, migrants who have skills or knowledge or talents that fit well into what Singapore needs (eg finance, medicine, sciences, technology, pharmaceutical, engineering etc) to grease the gears of her economy and who don’t mind hard work for the promise of merit based reward regardless of creed, colour, religion or connections will do well and prosper in Singapore.

Low skilled, semi skilled workers who are here to fill a job that the locals shun, well, you’ll make a decent living, but your upsides are limited.

I agree, there are a lot of attractions that Singapore has to offer. Botanic Gardens, Gardens by the Bay, the treetops walk at MacPherson, the Ridges walk at Henderson, Pulau Ubin, the southern Islands, Sentosa, MBS, Sembawang Hot Springs, even Jewel at Changi, the back lanes and alleys along Arab Street, Lorong Haji, Prinsep Street ... so on and so forth.

But, unfortunately, you cannot escape or avoid the fact that Singapore is a very small island, and it's geared up for money, work, success ... and all the rest is secondary. Good place to make some money, carve out a career and be successful professionally and financially, but what are you going to do after that?

In your case, you've already mapped out your eventual return to Malaysia.

Many Singaporeans are jealous of the fact that Malaysians have that "backdoor" to retirement where the perception is the houses are bigger, the land is bigger, the air is fresher.

true true.

but very high probability.

SG is small. Not being an outdoorsy person, I'm left with going shopping or perhaps drive to Ikea Tampines.

Talking about returning to MY, they changed rule again for MM2H. Doubt it matters to you or those of us not intending to retire back in MY.

Yes, I'm not planning to retire in Malaysia. I might apply later on, but perhaps as an ex-citizen (under Category 5) for wife and myself (if my Borang K gets accepted).