Living in JB 2 (Johore)

[ginfreely]

it is considered a branded. i got three to test out, quite good, still working after 6 months. Besides the price , next come after is the reliability. Tried those LED developed in the early stage (china made), not unreliable. it started to flicker or dim after weeks of use. Notice that there are quite a number of lighting shops start to bring in LED. From their recommendation, better to go for quality which is slightly more costly.

Oh so Mango LED is considered a branded, haha thought it is some unknown brand becos no shop but selling out of a kiosk in Aeon Bukit Indah.

 

[Funds Transfer]

If the Government chooses not to listen to Singaporeans, at least hear out one of their own....
This came fresh from the Forum page today.

How sad...if this is observed by even those who would be their staunch supporters....


The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com Published on Jul 18, 2012

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Singapore must pause and reflect

I COULDN'T agree more with last Saturday's article ('The little reddening dot'), which highlighted that anger, impatience, a sense of entitlement and rudeness are steadily on the rise here.
When I came to Singapore in 1992 on an overseas work transfer, I saw at that time a small country that was well-managed, had a vision and direction, with one of the more civilised cultures in Asia.
I even became a Singapore citizen in 2008 as I regarded this country as home. However, in the past five years, there has been a remarkable shift in the opposite direction, which does not bode well for the long-term future of Singapore.
In fact, if this trend continues, many of the desirable talent Singapore worked so hard to attract and cultivate - citizens as well as foreigners - will think of leaving.
After all, when the level of frustration, high cost of living, crime, corruption and unhappiness reach the levels seen in New York, Sydney or other global cities, one might as well go to these places to live.
Singapore has been a special place to raise a family and have a good career, but maybe not so in future.
The article refers to the Government being able to make a choice.
To me, the Government has chosen the path of monetary and materialistic emphasis, plus enhancing its global image, over its citizens' quality of life.
The surge in population, which strains infrastructure; rising costs as people compete for jobs, goods and services; and the emphasis on casinos and wealthy foreigners to drive growth, all impress on young people the need to increase their material wealth, and they are then trapped in a rat race to achieve this.
A social imbalance emerges, with accompanying behavioural consequences that are hard to reverse now.
When you add poor planning, and one-dimensional solutions focused mainly on financial outcomes, things may worsen in the coming years.
It is too shallow and unstable a platform for long-term viability.
I am sad to witness this trend and I hope Mr Leslie Koh's article may be the starting point for Singapore to see that a bright future starts from a more balanced, happy and sustainable lifestyle.


Kenneth Ling

 

[Funds Transfer]

PAP should be the one to take the high way if they continue their poor performance as seen in the last few years. It is sad to see so many foreigners cheering and supporting PAP's policies, obviously these policies serve their interests well! Nevermind they are at the expense of the locals.

The FTs and foreigners are not cheering any more...as you can see from the letter to the Forum today.

 

[ginfreely]

Probably need a vacation or two from everything.

Thank you sir. No regrets in my life, though my time may be short but i have lived a full life. Just constant worry about my family as every other day, something will crop up that needs my help one way or the other.

A very learned neighbour recently said to me(also always helping those with 11B):
A responsible person will have a harried life, a very responsible person will have a very short one.

Sometimes society rewards good behaviour with bad punishment instead, society rewards those
who accomplishes the impossible with yet more work.

I need to do what some caucasian neighbours are doing, sleep very early, get up in the morning, go for walks, jobs and have morning tea and breakfast together in the patio/front porch/back garden.

Never got to do this as what work i have to defer in the morning/afternoon, i still have to finish in the evening/night. I may be with them in person but always working or thinking of the next task to do or helping others.

I have a bro who is worse off, head of a group and he works even harder throughout the night. Another one works tirelessly without sleep and food, even sacrificing his food and breaks.

Wife just pointed out how come we have moved here but never got to do this. I felt sad and bad towards her. I will be devoting more time to the family and probably will take it slower the coming two years especially when i have little ambition in life. I know my behaviour is counter to everything we learned and were taught back in Singapore but really, i came out here not to compare but for semi-retirement.

I know for a fact, more things don't find you happiness, happiness was always right with you but you never turned back to look.

About the Caucasian neighbours lifestyle, it is true if you observe anywhere, they are always the first to come home from work. Singaporeans have been brainwashed to sacrifice personal time to work. After working with Australians, I observed they won't spend a single minute of their own time to work OT or pay a single cent first for any company expenses.

 

[ginfreely]

The FTs and foreigners are not cheering any more...as you can see from the letter to the Forum today.

Haha the letter from Kenneth Ling that you pasted above? He is converted to new citizen already, no more foreigner and probably ageing and no option to convert back like those Pinoys, Indians. Only then they can feel the pain of Singaporeans.

 

[melodysoul]

Hi Melody, it is worth it but only if you feel happy about it. You can ask if they can put in more so that you can continue and landlord and you are both happy. Perception is very important in life. Back just few years back, 450k for a terrace was considered super expensive, now the same people who doubted my relatives are themselves coming out here. One of those who were asked, way back remarked recently to us that 870k for the terrace is considered cheap when he balked at the same type of unit (priced back then at 450k) just a few years back.

Perception colours what we see without our ever realising it.

Hi WuqI,

Thank u for the advise.
Thank you

 

[kopikong99]

Hello All,

I am happy to finally gotten the key to my superlink in the golf . is currently looking for a electrical contractor for wiring work and Aircond installation. Does anyone have any good one to recommend.


Thank You all in advance.

regards,
Louis

Try this contractor, Ah Keong. HP: 0197146256.

I have used him for my renovation and I find he is good.

Happy renovation.

 

[Funds Transfer]

Bro Wuqi,

Glad that your 'recommendations' have turned out to be right after all...Take care and get well soon.

Below is what could have happenned if it turned out to be the other way round....
A very strong negative ending statement...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48204468

Cheap Malaysian Property Riddled With Risks, as Singapore Investors Find Out
Published: Monday, 16 Jul 2012 | 11:09 PM ET Text Size By: Bianca Mascarenhas
CNBC Asia-Pacific Twitter


Singaporean Deepak Gurnani has spent the past couple of years trying to recover an investment gone wrong in Malaysia. The 51-year-old businessman spent $66,000 on a property in the popular beach destination Port Dickson, Malaysia in 1993. It functioned as a fuss-free home away from home until two years ago, when the developer defaulted on the payment of the property’s maintenance fees.
...
Kuala Lumpur (KL), Penang and Iskandar, which is part of the southern state of Johor, rank among the top hot locations for investment in Malaysia for foreign investors.
...
“Malaysia is one place where I will never put money again,” he said

Bro Diaspora

Thanks for sharing this interesting article. But I would like readers of this forum to ponder about a few things. While I am not trying to be an apologist for property investment in Malaysia, there are lessons to be extracted.

If my memory serves me right, the Singapore Dollar exchange for 1.60 MYR then; today it is 2.50. In simple terms, assuming one purchased a Malaysian property in 1993 at SGD100K/MYR160K and price remained constant. That same property will be worth only SGD64K, resulting in a loss of SGD36K due to foreign exchange. Could that be the reason behind the losses instead?

IMHO, the problem faced by the interviewee seems to be more between an owner and property manager who appears to be the developer too. If I am not wrong, Coco Bay Condominium is then placed in the hands of a hotel brand that in turn derives revenue by providing accommodation to holiday makers through the real estate. As the tenant (hotel brand), it needed the maintenance and taxes to be paid as part of the agreement which obviously did not happen.

Such issues should not apply to all types of property investment in Malaysia but to some. In fact, it is not unique to the country as I have known of such similar challenges in US and New Zealand where poor governance of the property manager and a lack of legal understanding of guaranteed rental return arrangements have led to losses. This is a potential pitfall that we need to avoid. I must emphasize that this is more related to owners who prefer not to have the hassle of managing the property and are typically not buying houses for own use.

Coming back to Mr Gurnani, the problems seem to surface only in 2010, 17 years after his initial investment. If he had been getting yields of at least 6% per annum, he would have received a fairly good return and the house has paid for itself!

 

[garlic]

FT converted to Sinkie @ 2008, now complain... probably he was singing a different tune in <2008, demanding same rights as citizen since he also paid tax.. and also only converted after his age no need to serve NS...

 

[FHBH12]

SG govt wants all to stay invested in Singapore to prop up property prices n support land prices. It cannot do so openly.

 

[Arowana88]

Seeing this makes me sad. Bros and myself rented out some units cheaply. One of them quite poor thing as its his first time renting out so he was extremely nice but blur as well. He rented out one unit to someone and they complained from day 1 it was expensive even though it was still cheaper then other units on rental(His at 2600 RM fully furnished, auto gate, water pump, all beds, all rooms aircon with lights, solar film, etc).

Then his wife came and told my friend off one day as she said her relatives find it expensive as she can still get 800 RM units from Bukit Indah and accused my friend of overcharging them etc. I felt bad as a middleman though i linked them up pro bono.

Sometimes cannot be help as people still don't understand the difference sometimes.

Wow bro u scare me leh... Tot I make u sad !..

Come to think about rental, if u divide by 2.49 what is rm2600 or rm1900? U rent a 4 room flat rental higher than anything one is paying here. So it's always good to rent to foreigners. It's really good for sinkies to stay in MY cos it really save plenty of our money! I paying utilities 1/4 of what I pay in SG, now I almost never buy food in SG, I buy 2 prata with egg only rm3, mee goreng with chicken and egg Rm6. Cannot find in SG already! We earn dollar exchange RM , very useful! I feel like a pure Malaysian now!

Bros who haven't move to MY, just try and u will believe it. I came here 12 years ago went to city square where they have property fare, now really heart pain didn't invade here earlier! Last time threshold 250 k now 500k, they coming up idea to increase 1 million! By that time buy lagi heart pain!

 

[FHBH12]

Wld like to know if u have encountered crimes urself.Currently I have too much commitmen in Singapore to shift. Using my JB hse as a weekend home is a maybe. Becoming a weekend maid for e JB hse is likely.

 

[homeinjb]

Not feeling so well these few days so will be offline mostly. All PMs have been answered.

Take care of ur health bro

 

[Funds Transfer]

Wld like to know if u have encountered crimes urself.Currently I have too much commitmen in Singapore to shift. Using my JB hse as a weekend home is a maybe. Becoming a weekend maid for e JB hse is likely.

There is a crime thread that makes interesting reading.

Crime exists, more than the acceptable level, but we should exercise common sense and be on guard all the time.

 

[whoami]

Not feeling so well these few days so will be offline mostly. All PMs have been answered.

Take good care, Chief.

Juz dont push urself to hard ya.

 

[FHBH12]

If shifting to JB makes one's life harder, then prob you need to review the original purpose or current situation.

 

[abugumgum]

Agree on this, the decision is entirely one's to make, only you can tell if the shift is for the better.

However, the larger environment is a fluid one too.

If shifting to JB makes one's life harder, then prob you need to review the original purpose or current situation.

 

[jerrycoaching]

Not feeling so well these few days so will be offline mostly. All PMs have been answered.

Thank you for your help and I hope you get well soon!!

 

[wuqi256]

Thanks everyone. Bros, i have recently done a U turn at the 2nd link myself after doing it for LGLab last time to test water.
Did it for my folks as i wanted to do a quick exit for their MACS (i know just in case) as they are all there.

Remember you can turn right after clearing the MY customs and see a blue sign, like "pusing balik ke malaysia"
When returning and doing the U turn, no customs clearance is necessary as we were able to just turn back. We did
request them to scan the MACS sticker when going out though just in case.

 

[wuqi256]

If shifting to JB makes one's life harder, then prob you need to review the original purpose or current situation.

Well said, its very true.