MM2H For Young Singaporean Couples

As a young couple in Singapore, my wife and I have been seriously contemplating making a move. Where to? Well, we've been thinking long and hard about relocating to Malaysia with the Malaysia My Second Home visa that we've been hearing so much about.

To be honest, the allure of living the expat life in Malaysia, with its low cost of living, shiok makan and laid-back lifestyle, has become increasingly hard to resist. And with Singapore just 30 minutes away, once the RTS is up and running, MM2H feels like the perfect opportunity.

We've been saving up in SGD for a while now and with the current Ringgit to SGD exchange rate being so favourable, it just makes sense to convert part of our SGD savings to Ringgit and buy a property in JB. Everybody knows that property prices in JB are way more affordable compared to Singapore. In fact, with MM2H, we can even own a landed place there and come and go as often as we like, without worrying about any new immigration rules coming into effect to put an end to the 30-day visa chop abuse that's pretty common nowadays.

Social Pass Vs. MM2H
Speaking of this, we've heard of some Singaporeans who tried to stretch their stays in Malaysia using just their 30-day social pass, but it's not always ending well. Sure, you can do a quick hop back and get another 30 days, but that's not sustainable in the long run, especially since, by law, you need to spend the same number of days outside of Malaysia as your previous stay in Malaysia. And that's the minimum! Frankly, we've both got this gut feeling that the Malaysian government will sooner or later start cracking down on this. To us, getting blacklisted isn't worth the risk, particularly when you can have peace of mind with MM2H.

And the MM2H visa offers us so much flexibility elsewhere too, including nice tax breaks. For instance, we can very comfortably live off our investments and the rental income from our condo across the Causeway, because we're permitted to transfer these funds to Malaysia tax-free! We've worked out the numbers and it looks like a pretty sweet deal. Our rental yield alone would more than cover our living expenses in Malaysia, leaving us more money for discretionary spending, basically, allowing us to enjoy the finer things in life. And ultimately, that's what it's all about. Life is for living, after all.

What's even better is that MM2H comes with plenty of other perks. For one, Malaysia's healthcare system is quite good and it's way more affordable than in Singapore. Additionally, the presence of a significant Singaporean community in JB means we won't feel too far from home even whilst in JB. Shiok.

Landed Property Dream Comes True
We've already started looking at properties and it's exciting to think about the possibilities. We're drawn to the idea of having more space, maybe even a landed property, clearly out of reach for us in Singapore.

Overall, the MM2H visa seems like the ideal solution for us. It offers the best of both worlds: similar cultures, yet with a much lower cost of living. And we still have the convenience of having Singapore just next door. So yes, we're ready to take the plunge and start this new chapter in our lives

With the future looking bright, it's hard not to feel super optimistic about this decision.

Want to know about MM2H for Singaporeans? Click MM2H.com.sg

By Bernard Lee,
Singapore