First, let me thank you for posting this thread...someone pointed me to this site, and I must say that 155 pages on living in JB is a little too much to read right now. I'm wondering if I could ask some questions instead?
Some background: my wife is a malaysian citizen (from penang) and i'm american, but we're moving to singapore from the uk in april because i got a job in singapore...we also have a 2 year old boy.
1. i'm wondering if it would be realistic to live over one link or the other and then just commute to D13 every day? i have been trying to estimate drive times and it appears the 2nd link might be quicker, but i have more confidence in people who have actually made the drive than computer algorithms. how long might an average commute take to and from D13 during morning/evening traffic?
2. since my wife is a malaysian citizen, i'm thinking it would be pretty easy to purchase a basic used car in malaysia (like a proton), which i could then drive in and out for work...though i'm not sure whether there might be some 'red tape' i haven't considered yet?
3. my wife's primary concerns are: safety and access to day care where our son can learn both english and mandarin. we've tried searching for day care in jb, but haven't been able to come up with a lot. this is a MUST have...she will not consider living in JB unless we can find something like this. :-)
4. ideally, we'd like to spend no more than $4000/mo on rent.
5. given the above, if you were in my shoes, what would you do?
Thanks in advance for your help everyone...I wish I'd found this forum sooner so that I could do more of my own investigation, but with only 2 weeks left before we move, I have little spare time at present.
Hi dp248, welcome to the forum. let me assist in your questions.
1. Yes, it is realistic to live in Nusajaya, Malaysia and travel to Singapore to work. A lot of people do that and I plan to do that too starting in November this year. And yes, the 2nd link is quicker due to lesser cars because it is more expensive to use; maybe triple the amount compared to using the Woodlands Checkpoint. From what I've gathered from this forum and my own expectations, it should not take more than 1.5 hours at the extreme end. I am expecting a 50-70 mins commute/way once I move to Nusajaya.
2. Foreigners can buy cars in Msia and drive in to Singapore. It's only a Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Residents who cannot drive Msian cars into/in Singapore.
3. Do not know about this... maybe some other forum-mers can assist with this.
4. Is that in Singapore Dollar? If that's the case, that converts to approx Ringgit Malaysia 10k, which is more than enough to rent a semi-d in Horizon Hills, a gated and guarded housing development located 15mins away from the Tuas checkpoint.
5. If I was in your shoes, I would stay in Singapore first and find a way to travel into Nusajaya to see the place for yourself. Once both you and your wife like it and find what you need, then can start thinking about moving to Nusajaya.
All the best to you.