- Joined
- Jun 17, 2020
- Messages
- 16,941
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- 113
I need to get this off my chest because whenever I tell my colleagues I live in JB, they look at me with a mix of pity and horror. They immediately imagine the 4:30 a.m. alarm, the soul-crushing human crush at the CIQ, and the exhaust fumes of the Causeway.
But here’s the confession: I’m living the Singaporean Dream, just not in Singapore.
I’ve cracked the code. Because my working hours fall during the "reverse traffic" window, I’m cruising at 80km/h on the bridge while everyone else is stuck in a 2-hour gridlock going the opposite way. I have "best of both worlds" syndrome, and frankly, looking at the cost of living in SG right now, I feel like I’ve escaped a burning building.
The real eye-opener happened last weekend. I was having coffee with my neighbors—a group of Singaporean retirees in their early 60s. We live in a gated and guarded landed estate. These uncles and aunties are playing the game at a level most of us haven't even considered. They told me they’re renting out their 5-room HDB flats in places like Queenstown or Ang Mo Kio for $5,500 a month.
Let that sink in.
They take that $5.5k SGD, convert it to roughly RM18,000+, and use just RM3,500 of it to pay off a massive, luxurious mortgage in Malaysia. Their CPF? Untouched. It’s just sitting there compounding while they live like royalty. They aren't on MM2H either; they just pop back to SG every three weeks to see the grandkids and top up their Bengawan Solo cravings. They don’t deal with neighbor disputes over corridor clutter or PMD fire risks. It’s quiet, it’s secure, and it’s dignified.
After paying the mortgage and expenses, they still have enough left over to maintain a decent car (the "norm" here) and save more than most mid-level managers in SG.
We always talk about the 1:3.5 exchange rate like it’s just a number, but we forget the human element. Yes, the SGD is stronger, but a Singaporean’s life isn’t three times longer than a Malaysian’s. We all have the same 80-odd years on this earth. Why spend 60 of them "hustling" in a pressure cooker just to afford a shoebox?
In Singapore, the "norm" is the MRT squeeze and the "pardon me" dance with rude strangers at the hawker center. In JB, the "norm" is driving. You spend your transit time in your own private sanctuary with your own music. You encounter fewer "Karens" because you aren't constantly bumping shoulders with them in a crowded mall.
People say JB is "dangerous," but honestly? I feel safer in my gated community than I did dealing with the passive-aggressive notes from my old neighbor in Jurong.
I see my friends in SG stressed about COE prices and GST hikes, and I’m sitting here in my garden in JB thinking: Why are we all competing for the same 700 square kilometers? The math just doesn't add up anymore. If you can handle the border (and do it smartly), the quality of life isn't just slightly better—it’s a different universe.
Thoughts? Am I the crazy one, or is everyone else just too afraid to jump ship?
But here’s the confession: I’m living the Singaporean Dream, just not in Singapore.
I’ve cracked the code. Because my working hours fall during the "reverse traffic" window, I’m cruising at 80km/h on the bridge while everyone else is stuck in a 2-hour gridlock going the opposite way. I have "best of both worlds" syndrome, and frankly, looking at the cost of living in SG right now, I feel like I’ve escaped a burning building.
The real eye-opener happened last weekend. I was having coffee with my neighbors—a group of Singaporean retirees in their early 60s. We live in a gated and guarded landed estate. These uncles and aunties are playing the game at a level most of us haven't even considered. They told me they’re renting out their 5-room HDB flats in places like Queenstown or Ang Mo Kio for $5,500 a month.
Let that sink in.
They take that $5.5k SGD, convert it to roughly RM18,000+, and use just RM3,500 of it to pay off a massive, luxurious mortgage in Malaysia. Their CPF? Untouched. It’s just sitting there compounding while they live like royalty. They aren't on MM2H either; they just pop back to SG every three weeks to see the grandkids and top up their Bengawan Solo cravings. They don’t deal with neighbor disputes over corridor clutter or PMD fire risks. It’s quiet, it’s secure, and it’s dignified.
After paying the mortgage and expenses, they still have enough left over to maintain a decent car (the "norm" here) and save more than most mid-level managers in SG.
We always talk about the 1:3.5 exchange rate like it’s just a number, but we forget the human element. Yes, the SGD is stronger, but a Singaporean’s life isn’t three times longer than a Malaysian’s. We all have the same 80-odd years on this earth. Why spend 60 of them "hustling" in a pressure cooker just to afford a shoebox?
In Singapore, the "norm" is the MRT squeeze and the "pardon me" dance with rude strangers at the hawker center. In JB, the "norm" is driving. You spend your transit time in your own private sanctuary with your own music. You encounter fewer "Karens" because you aren't constantly bumping shoulders with them in a crowded mall.
People say JB is "dangerous," but honestly? I feel safer in my gated community than I did dealing with the passive-aggressive notes from my old neighbor in Jurong.
I see my friends in SG stressed about COE prices and GST hikes, and I’m sitting here in my garden in JB thinking: Why are we all competing for the same 700 square kilometers? The math just doesn't add up anymore. If you can handle the border (and do it smartly), the quality of life isn't just slightly better—it’s a different universe.
Thoughts? Am I the crazy one, or is everyone else just too afraid to jump ship?
