Idlewild

Dear All,

All replies much appreciated... are you glad you live in Iskandar? We are so torn.

Live in England now and deciding where to spend our (probably) last two decades of life. We've read some very mixed reviews about Iskandar on here but don't want to be put off by the natural forum bias of bad news gets more airtime.

Is it really so hard to get to Singapore for a day of leisure?
Can you get decent internet speed in some of the housing areas?
Do you worry daily about your safety?
Is the sprawling development affecting the quality of life there?

Many thanks everyone!

Idlewild.

ex reg

Have you been to look around??

We love Malaysia and Johor but live in Singapore.
When working and living in JB I'd travel across the Causeway maybe 4 times a day.
No way can you do that now.

Also we used to drive into Johor regularly for a few days holiday, to eat in JB, Puteri Harbour or Gelang Patah or for the missus to get her hair done in JB.
Over the last 6 months we haven't been across the Causeway or The Second Link once. It's not just the queue and the wait at the crossings it's all the cars pushing into the queues. Both Malaysians and Singaporeans do this and there isn't much control. BP rises.

Supermarkets are poor imo and we'd seldom use them for 'fresh' food. The wet markets can be good but you have to be careful.

Don't ask a Singaporean about security in Johor you'll know the answer after the first word.

There are one or two much nicer places to live in Malaysia.

There are forum members who live in Iskander and can give you a better view, but they are working and not yet retired.

Good luck.

Spend a couple of weeks there at least before deciding.

Idlewild

Thank you ex reg for your really helpful reply.

I think you have confirmed what we suspected all along. We haven't been to look because it's a big expense to do so and we wanted to really establish first how nice (or not) it sounded.

You are not the first person to caution against this move. We have friends who moved from Singapore to Iskandar 10 years ago, then moved back to Singapore!

Best wishes, Idlewild

Thairetired2016

I have no experience living in Malaysia. We did consider getting on to Mm2h 2 years ago as "the grass looked greener" in Malaysia than in Thailand. We travelled to different parts of Malaysia to get a first impression, and then perhaps live there for 3 months to experience every day life. We enjoyed the travel experience but Malaysia was not for us. Religion in some areas was too much into our face, supermarket choice was meagre compared to Bkk. What we saw in fresh markets wasn't impressive either. I would not make a decision to move to Iskandar or to anywhere in Malaysia or to anywhere in the world without having at least visited and spent a few months in the country.
If you can afford to settle in Singapore, go there.

Idlewild

Thank you Thai Retired... much appreciate hearing your experiences. We won't make any decisions until we go and visit, but at this stage we are even put off the expense of visiting. My worries are being confirmed. We won't get immigration rights to live in Singapore as two retired people I'm afraid - I think you need millions and millions to qualify! Pity, I loved living there and miss it a lot. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Rosebres

Thats interesting. We do have the option of retiring in Singapore – I am a Singaporean living in the UK and my husband has Singapore PR. However, I find Singapore too crowded and too busy nowadays, so we are looking at Iskandar.
We have 2 family weddings to attend in Singapore this coming October, so will take the opportunity to look around JB and Iskandar.
I have the impression that majority of the British people choose Penang as their retirement destination in Malaysia. Are you thinking of retiring there since you have written of Iskandar?

doggmeister

This!! I am confused why people are even talking about the option to retire in Singapore.....is everyone on here rich? The point of retirement is to move to a low cost country and eek out the rest of your lives in relative comfort, seems to me Singapore (I think now tops the most expensive country to live in) is probably one of the last countries to consider for retirement..please correct me if I am wrong

genm

Hi, I have a residence in Iskandar, so I can answer to your q's.

> Is it really so hard to get to Singapore for a day of leisure?
It depends. It takes 1 hour to MBS from Iskandar if you are lucky but it can take as much as 5 hours. I experienced that last week.

> Can you get decent internet speed in some of the housing areas?
Yes, UNIFI by TM, a local internet provider, offers decent plans.

> Do you worry daily about your safety?
No, it's pretty safe. Even there is no begger on the streets.

> Is the sprawling development affecting the quality of life there?
Not too much. It's okay.

Hopefully it helps.

P.S.
> are you glad you live in Iskandar?
Yes and no. I love eternal summer here. But I am here for tax reasons and this is not a fine place for people in my income tax bracket.

ex reg

You are well wrong.

I'm not rich at all.

But my wife is.

IAmNotABritishExpat

> Is it really so hard to get to Singapore for a day of leisure?
5 hours is exception than rule, and it depends on holidays in Malaysia or Singapore. Two/three weeks ago there were two public holidays, Sultan of Johor's Birthday and Good Friday (Singapore).

In general, if you travel by shuttle train from JB Sentral to Woodlands, it will take you about 20-40 minutes to cross the causeway via shuttle train, including clearing immigration if you choose non-peak times, that means avoidig weekends and choose late morning/early evening and probably late nights. Avoid taking public bus from Johor Bahru if you can, they are very crowded and think of pickpockets. There are exceptions of course, but I wouldnt want to comment here, I am not staying in Johor Bahru in the first place.
From Woodlands CIQ you can board taxi to almost anywhere in Singapore. It is super-convenient, assuming you are not carrying heavy luggage. All you need is $.

Hope it helps.

geedee

Hi Idlewild,
Your questions:

Is it really so hard to get to Singapore for a day of leisure?

Depends when you go. Rush hour(s) and weekends can be a disaster, forget Saturday, Sunday not too bad. Weekdays OK after 0900 going in, get back out by 1600


Can you get decent internet speed in some of the housing areas?

Internet in my house way faster than internet in Singapore office... we have fibre optic, 100 mbps up and down, can upgrade to 300 but no need, watch 4K HDR Netflix no problems.

Do you worry daily about your safety?

No more than any other countries we've lived in.

Is the sprawling development affecting the quality of life there?

No, funnily enough. There are high rises going up everywhere but no real impact on day to day living.

It's a big decision.... a month or two on vacation would be a good idea before committing.