1. Malaysians & Singaporeans are friends. Malaysia is our neighbor & Johor our closest neighbor. STOP bashing each other, as ultimately, each are only seeking to put food on the table for loved ones & oneself thru honest work.
2. Singapore's current economic push into Johor is to uplift both Singaporeans & Malaysians lives. There exists a far far bigger picture that only a rare few would realize. Our govt & civil service are made up of deep thinkers, whom planned not just 5 or 10 yrs ahead, but 50 to 100 yrs ahead, with risk mgmt teams monitoring scientific & social advance trends DAILY, to adjust accordingly to the master plan.....
3. Johor is a federal State of Malaysia. What it earns as a State, such earnings eventually will have to be shared among every State, less what it needs for its own social & economic infrastructure developments.
4a) The Grab driver is correct in his presumptions that should Singaporeans buy goods in Johor, it will be our S$ that would suffer, as well as necessary goods outlets in Singapore, including the small mom & pop provision shops.
However, it may not necessarily be so.
It's a free market anyway & consumers are kings. It will also help lower inflationary pressures upon Singapore as shop keepers & supply chains would not dare to raise their prices too high here in Singapore, fearing competition from across the causeway.
4b) While goods imported into Singapore can be cheap, as our Port lays within where all compass point meets, it is PROPERTY prices - sale & rental - that results in supply chains such as shop & stall keepers raising their prices. Singapore has just too limited land space. Even as we go VERTICAL such as factories, wharehousing & shops, the land costs are just too high.
For factories, wharehousing & shops in Johor, it is far cheaper as that landspace in Johor alone is many more times bigger than Singapore, resulting in lower land sale & rental prices. Any foolish developer who seeks to market high price units WILL see his competitor building the same but selling at a cheaper price to corner the market & profits.
As a result, Johor biz enterprises are able to offer cheaper goods & services as rents, & living standards are far lower than Singapore......
5) With Singapore's precious high value dollar helping Johor State, it would result in better Johor economic & social infrastructure such as education, healthcare, transportation networks, legal systems, security, etc. It will be a win win situation for Singapore, Johor State & Malaysia...