December 5, 2012
Cash, condominium, car, credit card, and country club membership. In Singapore, if you’ve got the “Five Cs”, you’ve got it made. However, with private condominium units priced at upwards of US$1000 per square foot, and a family sedan setting you back US$115,000, many Singaporeans are finding it harder than ever to simply get by.
he behemoth US$115 billion dollar Iskandar Malaysia development corridor just across the border is helping an increasing number of Singaporeans to meet their aspirations. Launched in 2006 and slated for completion in 2025, Malaysian government incentives are bringing in substantial new investment. The new metropolis is already seeing progress in the development of ports, industrial, medical and education clusters, residential towns, and leisure facilities.
The Malaysian border city of Johor Bahru, a 30-minute drive from downtown Singapore, was for years the foil to Singapore’s cleanliness and safety, reluctantly ventured into for cheap petrol and groceries. Now, incorporated into Iskandar, the city has seen huge improvement in physical infrastructure and security. Johor Premium Outlets, Legoland, University of Southampton and Newcastle University have recently opened, and Pinewood Studios and Gleneagles Medini Hospital open next year. Singapore’s expatriate parents, tired of long waiting lists to send their kids to the best international schools, are rejoicing the opening of the Malaysian campus of Marlborough College, Kate Middelton’s alma mater.
Johor Bahru has suddenly become a somewhat desirable place for Singaporeans to affordably shop, study, and live. Singaporeans- for most of whom owning “landed property” is a pipe dream- can now purchase a four-bedroom house in a gated, golf-course community for the price of a 500 square foot “shoebox” apartment back home.
Iskandar’s ascent coincides with increasing discontent with the rising cost of living and overcrowding in Singapore. Most Singaporeans living in Johor Bahru commute to Singapore for work; but employment opportunities are now opening up within Iskandar too. This formerly sleepy Malaysian backwater is well poised to take advantage of talent moving from across the border.
By Saher Latif for AGI Magazine
