Living In Malaysia Isn’t “Cheaper” Than Singapore According To This YouTuber

A YouTube video by a Malaysian financial edutainment channel Mr Money TV compares the cost of living in both countries.

TRP / DC LAW LLC

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There are currently around 215,000 Malaysians working in Singapore and are generally known to do so because of its stronger currency (e.g. they can make more money).

Exchange rate aside, you’ll probably hear from friends and family currently in Singapore about how expensive it is to live there and how they miss all the “cheap” food, shopping and cost of living in Malaysia.

But is living in Malaysia cheaper?

A video that premiered recently on Malaysian financial edutainment channel Mr Money TV, begs the question: Malaysia Vs Singapore, is living in Malaysia really cheaper?

The 16-minute video, which currently has more than 11k views, goes into detail on which country is cheaper to live in and save your money.

Buying Power Between Kuala Lumpur And Singapore

In the video, they compared two people as an example, both of whom make 4,000 in their local currency with one living in Kuala Lumpur and the other in Singapore.

For a fair comparison of the buying power of each country, the 4,000 will remain in their respective country’s currency – so RM4,000 vs SGD4,000.

Daily essentials

The following is an example of how much each person spends a day eating out and shopping.

	Kuala Lumpur	Singapore
Mee rebus for breakfast at a nearby coffee shop	RM7	SGD3
Big Mac Value Meal at McDonalds for lunch	RM15.60	SGD8.65
Grande Cappuccino at Starbucks	RM13.80	SGD6.60
3-course dinner at a mid-range restaurant	RM80	SGD77

Based on eating out alone, it seems it’s cheaper to do so in Singapore.

What if they didn’t eat out all the time and bought food to cook/eat at home?

A supermarket haul consisting of a litre of milk, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, chicken breast and a kilo of apples cost roughly RM37.25 in Malaysia and only SGD21.14 in Singapore.

Looks like Singapore has us beat again there.

Now, what if they spent the day shopping on things like gifts, clothes and groceries.

	Kuala Lumpur	Singapore
iPhone 12 as gift for their partner’s birthdays	RM3,399	SGD1,199
Levi brand jeans for themselves	RM300	SGD99

At this point, the video points out that the person in Malaysia has spent almost a month’s salary while in Singapore, only a third of their salary was used.

With only 5 minutes into the video, Singapore already gets more bang for the buck.

Transportation and accommodation

Of course, there are many other factors to consider which the video also covers like transportation and accommodation.

In Singapore, public transportation is widely used and a monthly travel card that can be used on the MRT and bus will cost SGD128.

In Malaysia, the cost of a monthly travel card is RM100 but trains and bus routes are not as well connected hence why Malaysians tend to drive more.

That said, the cost of owning a car is more in Singapore because of all the additional factors like having a Certificate of Entitlement (COE), but the actual price of the car is the same.

Like many Malaysians in Singapore will tell you, rent does take a big chunk of your monthly salary.

And with Singapore called the ‘little red dot’ due to its relatively small size, real estate is a hot commodity.

But you know what? Rental in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore cost about the same in their respective currencies! A studio apartment that’s around 1,000 square feet and close to the LRT/MRT is roughly around 1,500 in ringgit and Singapore dollars.

But what about BUYING property?

Based on the calculations made by Mr Money TV, it’s more affordable to own property in Singapore because the mortgage loan rate is less than 1.5% and in Malaysia it’s about 3%.

In summary, Singapore gives you more buying power, but Malaysia gives you more options in life.

Watch the full video here: