Marc Naidu shares why he moved from Singapore to Johor as an expat. His wife moved from KL to Johor too.

With the ringgit’s decline and recent changes to Malaysia’s retirement visa programme, more Singaporeans are pondering if the grass is greener on the other side

Tan Nai Lun
Business Times
Fri, May 24, 2024 · 03:00 PM

SPENDING the weekend in Malaysia has become a near-weekly affair for Evelyn Ku and her family of four.

The 57-year-old bought a two-storey house in Johor Bahru in 2013, after having enjoyed the peaceful environment when she visited a relative there.

She says her friends call her a “weekend Malaysian”, although for now, she is not crossing the border every single weekend yet because of work or other obligations. But when she does go there, she sees her time there as a prelude to her lifestyle down the road as she plans to retire in Malaysia. 

“Life is short – we don’t know how many more decades we have left, so we decided to live in the moment, and look for a slower lifestyle elsewhere,” she says.

Amid the rising cost of living in Singapore, more Singaporeans like her are seeing Malaysia as that “elsewhere” that is near Singapore, so they get the best of both worlds.

A survey by Blackbox Research and Qualtrics in February this year found that one in three Singaporeans polled say they may retire in Johor Bahru, once travel arrangements become more convenient.

Moving across the Causeway enables Singaporeans to stretch their retirement dollar and enjoy a slower pace of life, but still be close enough to benefit from Singapore’s safety, facilities and family networks. Recent changes in Malaysia’s retirement visa programme are also sweetening the deal, with more applicants here taking the bait.

But if more retirees make this move, there could be implications for Singapore in the long run, such as a loss of human capital, which could also affect nation-building efforts.

Renewed interest 

To be sure, retiring in Malaysia is not a foreign concept. In 2009, then-health minister Khaw Boon Wan suggested that Singaporeans consider living in nursing homes in Johor Bahru amid rising healthcare costs.

Indeed, Singaporeans’ spending power in Malaysia has never been higher than in 2024, with the Malaysian ringgit trending at new lows. In February, the ringgit hit an all-time low of 3.56 against the Singdollar. 

Last October, the ringgit hit a new low against the US dollar – 4.7958, the weakest it has been against the greenback since 1998, during the Asian financial crisis.

The widening gap between the Singdollar and the ringgit may make for a bigger push factor than the rising costs in Singapore, says Dr Leong Chan Hoong, senior fellow for social cohesion research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University.

“You can immediately convert your savings to the equivalent in ringgit, which will then give you a sense of the amount of purchasing power you have, and the quality of life you can enjoy,” he says.

Plans to bring the borders closer are already in motion – the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link will likely open by December 2026, and immigration clearance is now a QR code away.

The proposed special economic zone in Johor Bahru may also bring borders even closer, such as through passport-free travel.

Ku says: “With such a terrible rise in prices, I believe a lot of Singaporeans are thinking of retiring somewhere cheaper, like Malaysia… Anyway, it’s so convenient to travel between Malaysia and Singapore.”

‘Malaysia My Second Home’ visa programme

Recent changes to Malaysia’s retirement visa programme, Malaysia My 2nd Home (MM2H), have brought the topic to the forefront.

While MM2H has undergone several changes over the years, it was most recently amended to include lower financial thresholds and age requirements, among other things.

While the revised scheme has not yet been approved, Ch’ng Toh Ghee, managing director of MM2H agent Alter Domus, says the number of Singaporeans looking to apply for the visa through his agency has “jumped dramatically” since the crop of changes proposed last December. 

As of Jan 31, 2024, there were 56,066 active MM2H pass holders, comprising 27,759 principals and 28,307 dependants.

The highest number of pass holders are from China, at 24,765 active holders. There are 1,282 active holders from Singapore, of which 789 are principals and 493, dependants.

While Ch’ng’s Penang-based firm has typically served European and US clients, it has received an average of one enquiry a day from Singapore since the review, up from an average of two to five a month previously.

The majority of these clients are already spending much of their time in Johor Bahru; others are looking for holiday homes in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, he said.

Ch’ng also notes a spike in interest in Sarawak, given that the state has its own version of the MM2H, with even more relaxed requirements.

“A lot of my Singapore clients are starting to worry about how they will get to the age of 80 or 90 financially if they don’t do something about the rising costs (in Singapore) now,” he says. 

Philip Ng, chief executive of immigration consultancy OCSC Global, also observes that the number of Singaporeans looking to retire outside Singapore has risen, especially in the last year or two, amid persistent inflation. 

“My clients looking at Malaysia reckon that they can live quite comfortably there, compared to Singapore,” he says.

MM2H is more attractive than similar retirement visa programmes in the region because it requires applicants to only put money with the Malaysian government in a fixed deposit, says Jacky Poh, deputy head of South-east Asia at wealth migration specialist Henley & Partners.

“The money is not lost. It’s not a donation, it’s not an application fee; it’s still yours. So from the migrant’s perspective, it is a win-win,” he says.

Cheap and near

While there are many reasons for retirees to consider making the move, cost is likely the top concern for those thinking of moving to Malaysia.

As Ku puts it: “In Singapore, there is no way we can afford a landed property.”

You Chai King, a Malaysian national and Singapore permanent resident, notes that living costs are lower in Malaysia, ranging from the cost of food and entertainment to transport and car ownership.

The 54-year-old, who has lived in Singapore for over 30 years, says her Singaporean husband was actually the one driving their plans to retire elsewhere. The couple are holding off on the move until their children graduate, but have begun looking at You’s hometown near Ipoh, where she already has a property.

A key factor for them is that the property be near an airport, which makes for convenient flights back to Singapore when these are necessary.

Malaysia’s – and especially Johor Bahru’s – proximity to Singapore makes it a logical choice for those who want to still be connected to home. 

Henley’s Poh says: “For example, the Mount Austin region in Johor Bahru, a trendy neighbourhood, is within a two-hour drive to Singapore.” 

He adds: “If I’m a retiree, I would have plenty of time and do not have to travel during the rush hour. It’s a brilliant plan.”

For 52-year-old WK Tan, who owns a house in Johor Bahru, proximity is a key factor for him because his children are likely to remain in Singapore while he and his wife live in Malaysia. He says his retirement home would need to be near enough for them to visit regularly, and also in case he needs to return for medical treatment.

Tan, who is still working in the semiconductor industry, says that having his Johor property near where he now works is also quite important, because “I don’t want to wait until I’m 60 years old to look for a place”. 

With flexible work arrangements having gained traction since the pandemic, more Singaporeans are able to kick-start their overseas retirement plans earlier.

Tan is still working, but expects he would continue working after leaving his full-time job. He imagines he could become a private-hire driver or a property agent to pass the time.

Ku, a home-based accountant, says her job already gives her the flexibility to spend more time in her Malaysia home, if she wants to. She says she may apply for the MM2H programme when she plans to stay in Malaysia for longer periods. 

While the programme prohibits MM2H visa holders from being employed by Malaysian companies, it does not bar them from remote working, or running their own businesses.

However, those looking to move immediately may have some trouble, because Malaysia has not begun issuing MM2H visas incorporating the changes that were introduced last December, nor has it announced when it would do so. 

Implications for Singapore

While individual retirees-to-be do their sums and see the attractiveness of moving across the Causeway, academics have flagged the implications of an outflow of Singapore’s older generation. 

Paulin Tay Straughan, professor of sociology (practice) and dean of students at the Singapore Management University, says retirees can be “very powerful assets”. They are human capital, and are most suited to volunteer work since they have more time and flexible schedules to commit to this. 

Dr Straughan, who is also the director of the Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA), notes that the new generation of older adults – such as the cohort that just turned 65 – are better prepared for retirement than the generations before them. 

“If you want to be very mercenary about it, you can think of it as capital walking out – instead of spending their retirement savings in Singapore, they’re spending it elsewhere,” she says.

She also suggests the move could destabilise families in Singapore.

“If these grandparents end up uprooting and retiring elsewhere, then where do you gather for family celebrations? And over time, will Singapore still be home for the generations to follow?” she says.

The younger generation may lose their role models, and it may set a pattern in retiring outside the Republic, she adds.

The trend has yet to take hold, but it bears watching because of the challenges it may pose to nation-building efforts in the longer run.

Regardless, Dr Straughan says it makes sense for Singaporeans to look to Malaysia, given the lack of suburban areas in the city-state; people elsewhere also move to the suburban areas of their countries when they retire for a more laid-back lifestyle.

She notes that those who are thinking of relocating are likely already familiar with Malaysia: “I cannot imagine that one would just go like that, without a sufficient similarity and support in place … The difficulty is always when you have to uproot and replant yourself elsewhere, you have to start building that all over again.” 

This has not deterred people from trying, though. 

WK Tan, for example, says his Johor Bahru home has given him the space for hobbies he did not have a chance to develop in Singapore, such as gardening and collecting cars.

He splashed out on renovations for the house, as he sees it as a place he will settle in. He says: “My mentality was: ‘If you’re going to build a retirement home in Malaysia, make sure it’s a very nice one that makes you want to come back home every time’.” 

He has planned for the long run, having built a pool for his future grandchildren – even though neither his children nor wife swim regularly. He has also future-proofed the home with a lift, in case of mobility problems down the road. 

“Retirement is not just about your hobbies. It is a lifestyle that has to be sustained emotionally and socially, and time has to be spent doing work that is meaningful to you.” 

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