Have been receiving many queries on this issue of late from Singapore drivers traveling in to Johor Bahru.
At both Johor Bahru checkpoints (Linkedua and Sultan Iskandar Sultan Ismail CIQ), just after you have stamped your passport for entry into Johor Bahru, Malaysia, there will be barrier immediately ahead of you where you have to scan your Touch ‘n Go. Once the toll fee is deducted from the Touch ‘n Go, the barrier will lift up and you can then proceed to drive your car into Johor Bahru. If you do not scan your Touch ‘n Go card, the barrier will not lift up and you cannot proceed further until this toll fee is deducted.
Things are done very differently at both Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoint.
Malaysia's Touch 'n Go and Singapore's Cashcard
At both Singapore checkpoints, the barrier is lifted manually by the custom officer processing your passport. While the Singapore custom officer is busy scanning your passport, you are expected to slot your cashcard into the cashcard reader for the toll fee to be deducted. There are occasions when (as feedback by many of our readers), if you had forgotten to slot in your cashcard for the toll fee to be deducted, the barrier will still be lifted as it is done manually by the custom officer. Typically, the custom officers do not check if you had paid the toll fee, nor is there Read on…
October 29th, 2011
A debate of sorts stirred up recently when the Chief Minister of Penang – Lim Guan Eng allegedly shared: “”Penang was number one last year in terms of cutting crime by 27 per cent. For the first six months… also cut crime by another 25 per cent. Whereas in Johor, a Singaporean is likely to get kidnapped. Won’t have that problem when you come to Penang.”
What is apparently an off-the-record comment eventually made its way to National TV, where TV3, during its Buletin Utama prime time news on Monday night, had played the audio recording of Mr Lim’s comment. This has stirred up the wrath of many Johor politicians. Even the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar commented that he was offended by Mr Lim’s comments.
So, is Johor a safe place, really?
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (New Straits Times)
The Police Chief of Johor certainly thinks so, in a respond to Mr Lim’s comments. The interview with The Star is reproduced below:
The Star/Asia News Network
Friday, Oct 14, 2011
JOHOR BARU: Only 320 crimes involving Singaporeans were recorded in Johor last year. Most involved missing cars and motorcycles.
Since 2008, only two cases of abduction of Singaporeans were reported.
Thus, any assumption that people fear to come to Johor is utterly baseless, said state police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff at a briefing of local and Singapore journalists of the crime situation.
He added that the negative perception of Johor’s crime rate had to be countered through frequent briefing sessions for media members from Singapore.
He said criminals do not select their victims based on nationality, race or religion but commit crime as and when they get the opportunity.
“We have put in place various strategies including increasing police intelligence, working with community policing groups, increasing raids, creating police beats and utilising the latest technology to clamp down on crime here,” he said.
He was responding to a remark made by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng about Johor’s security.
What is your take on this? Do you think Johor Bahru is a safe place now? Do you think that safety in Johor Bahru has improved over the years? Do you feel safe walking the streets in Johor Bahru? Will you bring your family into Johor Bahru for shopping?
We have decided to throw this topic open to the internet community. Let’s make a judgement based on our collective experiences and share our thoughts right here. We will be keeping this post pinned on our front page for the next 30 days and welcome all your comments and anything you have.. 
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October 15th, 2011
While the US Dollar is hitting new lows due to the recent debt crisis which had engulfed both the Americas and the Eurozone, the Singapore Dollar has been sitting stable on solid ground. No one knows exactly how the value of Singapore Dollar is pegged but it is clear that it is weighted against most of the currencies of major economics, which include the Euro, US Dollar, the Chinese Yuan (RMB) and the Japanese Yen. On a relative note, the increase in value of the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc against the US Dollar resulted in an appreciating Sing$ against the greenback.
In recent months, the Singapore Dollar (SGD) has also been appreciating sharping against the Malaysian Ringgit as well, hitting a high of 1 SGD = 2.475 MYR. This is a level not seen in years, and represents a 10.9% increase from a recent low in May 2010 (back then, 1 SGD trades at 2.23 MYR).
Singapore Dollar hitting a new high against the Malaysian Ringgit
On first thoughts, it might be hard to comprehend why the Malaysian Ringgit depreciates with all the spending by Singaporeans at Johor Bahru Read on…
August 6th, 2011
