Moving to Johor

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Hi all!

I've noticed that the vast majority of MM2Hers are settling in the Klang Valley/Penang areas. We are both working in Singapore, and have decided to move to Johor State. The government has started a massive development, called the Iskander Development Region (IDR), that will encompass a new administrative "city" for the state, residential areas, industrial areas, a multi-varsity campus, medical hub, marina complex and amusement park. (I believe the on-off talks with Disney Corporation are on again!)

So, as long as we earn dollars outside Malaysia, we're still eligible for the MM2H visa and, in fact, have already been given conditional approval. The IDR is proving very popular with Singaporeans, who see the Malaysian prices as a fraction of what they would have to pay, even for a new HDB flat in Singapore, and are willing to go through the immigration hassles in order to save some serious money. Also the Second Link (with much less traffic) is closer to the IDR than the Causeway, so it's quicker to the west side of Singapore. There are no condo developments thus far in the IDR. All residences are landed (bungalow, semi-detached, or terrace).

Our only concern is schooling, but there's a chance we can get our son (Primary 1) into one of the local private schools. We're not interested in any international schools. Having spent some time being educated in an international school in KL, I have scant respect for them ... an attitude also borne out by our recent experiences with international schools in Singapore, and speaking with other parents.

Just thought I'd put this info out there to say there's a viable alternative to KL/Penang, esp. if you see yourself travelling into Singers on a regular basis. If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer, although we're at the beginning of this journey as well.

Karen

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Hi Karen,

I have been looking through the old postings about places to live and came across yours about being close to Sing. I remember visiting a place some time ago called Country Farm (?) just across the border. It had a riding school etc. We found it a bit isolated. Is this the same place you were referring to in your posts where you settled?

Cheers

Brian

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Hi Brian!

That would be "Leisure Farm" I think you're thinking of. We're in the estate next door. A year ago, I can honestly say that it was isolated and, by Asian standards, I suppose it still is. The university campus, medical centre and private schools (all slated to be, at most, a 5-minute drive away) haven't been built yet (we still have to drive about 20-30 mins to get to those facilities near Bukit Indah/Nusa Bestari), but ground has been broken in all three.

J and I were talking about this only a few evenings ago, and agree that it will really take another 2 years before this particular region is on its feet, facilities-wise. Having said that, we're not regretting getting in early and might even miss a lot of the open space we see at the moment. And, I have to add, the road connections are already in place and totally brilliant ... new, wide lanes, lots of interchanges.

We don't have to get into SG every day; only once a week or so. And, quite frankly, we haven't worked up the nerve to drive there yet. (We have a local MY car.) We go by bus (the CW-3) and usually it takes less than an hour (and RM3.50) to go door-to-Jurong-East, and that's with clearing two lots of Customs & Immigration. The real slowdown comes with the public transport system in SG which doesn't have any facilities for express services from one side of the island to the other so it actually takes me longer to get three-quarters of the way across the island (who can afford taxis every day?) than it did to get from home to Jurong.

Which is all much much more than you asked, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to put down some additional thoughts.

Kaz!