Over the years, Malaysians have been travelling to Singapore to earn better wages in hopes of providing a better life for their families following the rapid depreciation of the Ringgit against the Singapore dollar.
While citizens of both countries would argue that neither country has an affordable cost of living due to rising inflation, a Malaysian who’s lived in Singapore for 11 years recently shared her thoughts on why she felt Singapore’s cost of living is much lower than Malaysia.
M’sian shares how SG’s cost of living is actually lower
In a post which was originally published on In Real Life and reshared by Humans of Kuala Lumpur on Facebook, the anonymous netizen began by saying that she was “born and bred in Malaysia” before moving to Singapore in 2013 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree.
Following her graduation, she married a local and now has a permanent resident (PR) status, where she and her husband have a combined income of S$6,000 (approx. RM21,000).
Throughout her stay in Singapore, she was surprised to learn that the cost of living is actually lower than Malaysia, but noted that it must be considered “dollars-to-dollars, ringgit-to-ringgit, without conversion”.
In Singapore, if you earn S$2,000 and you want to spend S$200, you can get Coach or Braun Buffel. If you don’t convert SGD to RM, you can easily afford the international brands with your income.
“But in Malaysia, if you earn RM2,000, the Coach bag is RM600. You’d have to earn three times as much to afford the same lifestyle,” she explained.
Saved up to RM1,700 per month
The netizen also shared about how she and her husband were able to save more each month from their combined income, where they save up to S$500 (approx. RM1,700) each after deducting household funds and other expenses.
As such, this allows them to spend their disposable income on meals, shopping, and vacations.
Given housing grant by SG govt
On top of that, the netizen wrote that she was able to save on buying a HDB flat thanks to a S$90,000 (approx. RM316,000) grant given by the Singaporean government to first-time house buyers.
Because I am a PR (and my husband is a citizen), we were granted up to $90,000 to purchase our first home in Singapore. We only have to fork out $276 (RM971.80) per month in cash for our half-loan (NOT full loan), while the rest is paid using our Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
“We considered ourselves extremely lucky. Not everyone is gonna get $90,000 for their first house,” she said.
Furthermore, her water and electricity bills are subsidised every three months under COVID-19 initiatives by the government.
The netizen also expressed gratefulness for how effective Singapore’s public transportation was and the fact that she receives Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers which can be used to buy food at supermarkets and eateries.
Things she missed about M’sia
However, the netizen also highlighted that there were certain things she missed the most about Malaysia, such as laidback lifestyle which allows her to “sit at a mamak doing absolutely nothing with friends”.
The overtime culture in Singapore is a killer, while Malaysia is more chill, where the work culture is more laid-back, and people are more likely to socialise and bond with colleagues outside of work hours.
“Having said that, I have made my choice and decided that the pros outweigh the cons in moving to Singapore,” she concluded.
Read the post here:
Do you agree with the netizen’s thoughts? Share with us in the comments!
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