Hi Daydreamer, i would not call singaporean landlord "greedy". First of all,it is true the rental in singapore is much higher than malaysia but this is becos the acquisition cost ( in singapore) is also much higher . it is not becos of the greedy factor. In addition, in my mind, in the area of property leasing , it takes two to clap : The landlord can be greedy and ask sky high but if the market does not bite, he will have an empty house and he has to reduce the asking rent if he wants to rent it out. Once the deal is done, it is a case of willing landlord and willing tenant.
So back to this topic, each family has its own set of needs/circumstances that are best addressed in a way unique to that family.
There is no right or wrong.
I see that there are many expats staying in singapore that are travelling each day to send their kids to Marlborough as they see that as the only way out for their child education ( as the other foreign schools in singapore are all full ). Also there are Singaporeans staying in JB that could not afford the Marlborough school fees that are sending their kids to singapore schools each day. In fact there are many malaysians sending their kids to singapore each day to study as they feel the singapore schools standard is better. So for all these cases , there are no wrongs, they are all fine for the family concerned.
Each of them learned to adapt .