Singapore Expats

Best Place to Retire??

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x9200
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Post by x9200 » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 11:20 am

Even in Singapore they try to milk you and you pay the Angmoh tax in many places. I know it's not the same as assault or robbery but for stereotyping it is pretty much over the same line.

Say you live in a countryside or some suburbs just like any local and you have neighbors matching your profile, upper-middle class or something. Who is more likely to be targeted by the criminals?
I am not sure if this is any significant, but I would expect you would be stereotyped as more wealthy than your neighbours, just because Anghmos in Malaysia are in average more wealthy than an average Malaysian.

This is roghly what I meant.

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 11:27 am

x9200 wrote: ... .
AS for safety in Malaysia, I have a lot of relatives up there .. and the only time one of them lost a car was, when a cousin bought a new Kembara, and decided to go grocery shopping in Shah Alam and forget to lock the Kembara with the keys in the ignition .. he described it like it happened in slow motion - in front of him a guy walked to the driver door .. opened, started and drove up

all I know who drive in Malaysia, they do the basic safety steps .. always keep the car park coupon hidden (vs Singaporeans who like to display in in front .. ), don't have coins/money in the dashboard visible (vs Singaporeans who dump all coins in any place in the car ) .. keep hand bags / valuables under the seat or hidden (vs .. ) get a Gear Lock and if left for extended time, lock the gear shift, and if left over night, lock the steering wheel (neither of which is done by Singaporeans .. )

Heck I even see Singaporeans, Singapore style, leave their car keys / phones visible in the table, when they go out to eat .. while in SG it is good to show off your phone/what car you drive .. in Malaysia .. or anywhere, why attract unwanted attention ? for that matter a colleague of mine while getting his coffee in Permas Jaya, saw a motorbike fellow casually stroll up to the shop, casually pick the phone and casually ride off, and it took a while for everybody to register what happened ..

Now, above all will not deter a determine robber, but will discourage most of the robbers ..

Apart from the Kembara that went missing, none of my relatives, including a few who drive Mercs and Passats, have lost anything ..

For the girl who got car-napped in KL, more than a few people asked who in their sane mind will go coffee drinking at 3 AM and then wonder why they got car-napped ..

Basic safety - you don't have to stay locked inside your house, but if you can't even bother to know your environment, nothing to say ..

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Wd40
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Post by Wd40 » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 12:26 pm

Vaucluse wrote:
Wd40 wrote:
earthfriendly wrote:WD40, not X9200. I know, I know, all these alphanumeric names all sound the same. Why don't you guys pick a nice nick with a noun or an adjective like....................... "Earthfriendly " :P .
WD40 is a proper noun :P :cool:
Ok, proper noun . . . Apartheid in Malaysia and ZA being the same, 'along the same lines' . . . I'm interested.
I guess Apartheid was a strong word to use. I couldn't really find any better examples, where there is racial discrimination policies by your own gahmen.

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 2:01 pm

OH, you mean like the racial policies of the HDB here in Singapore? :lol:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 2:03 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:OH, you mean like the racial policies of the HDB here in Singapore? :lol:
is the EIP racial ? mmm. I was it wasn't .. as it was for the best interests of the country ..

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nakatago
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Post by nakatago » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 2:13 pm

ecureilx wrote:
sundaymorningstaple wrote:OH, you mean like the racial policies of the HDB here in Singapore? :lol:
is the EIP racial ? mmm. I was it wasn't .. as it was for the best interests of the country ..
Still racism:
Wikipedia wrote:Racism is generally defined as actions, practices or beliefs, or social or political systems that are based in views that see the human species to be divided into races with shared traits, abilities, or qualities, such as personality, intellect, morality, or other cultural behavioral characteristics, and especially the belief that races can be ranked as inherently superior or inferior to others, or that members of different races should be treated differently.
Lee Kuan Yew, The Man & His Ideas, 1997 wrote:I started off believing all men were equal. I now know that's the most unlikely thing ever to have been, because millions of years have passed over evolution, people have scattered across the face of this earth, been isolated from each other, developed independently, had different intermixtures between races, peoples, climates, soils... I didn't start off with that knowledge. But by observation, reading, watching, arguing, asking, and then bullying my way to the top, that is the conclusion I've come to.
And including this, only because the man (and his voice) is awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx34h85-fmA
From God himself. (NOTE: Just ignore the rest of the stuff in the video to avoid US politics).
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

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Post by nutnut » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 3:27 pm

"double-yew-dee-forty" is a nice easy name!

zzm I agree though.
nutnut

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 4:33 pm

For some strange reason, most Singaporeans cannot get their head around the fact that just because a policy does what the government wants it to do, doesn't make it any less racist. It's just government sanctioned racism.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by PrimroseHill » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 4:38 pm

ecureilx wrote:
x9200 wrote: ... .
AS for safety in Malaysia, I have a lot of relatives up there .. and the only time one of them lost a car was, when a cousin bought a new Kembara, and decided to go grocery shopping in Shah Alam and forget to lock the Kembara with the keys in the ignition .. he described it like it happened in slow motion - in front of him a guy walked to the driver door .. opened, started and drove up

all I know who drive in Malaysia, they do the basic safety steps .. always keep the car park coupon hidden (vs Singaporeans who like to display in in front .. ), don't have coins/money in the dashboard visible (vs Singaporeans who dump all coins in any place in the car ) .. keep hand bags / valuables under the seat or hidden (vs .. ) get a Gear Lock and if left for extended time, lock the gear shift, and if left over night, lock the steering wheel (neither of which is done by Singaporeans .. )

Heck I even see Singaporeans, Singapore style, leave their car keys / phones visible in the table, when they go out to eat .. while in SG it is good to show off your phone/what car you drive .. in Malaysia .. or anywhere, why attract unwanted attention ? for that matter a colleague of mine while getting his coffee in Permas Jaya, saw a motorbike fellow casually stroll up to the shop, casually pick the phone and casually ride off, and it took a while for everybody to register what happened ..

Now, above all will not deter a determine robber, but will discourage most of the robbers ..

Apart from the Kembara that went missing, none of my relatives, including a few who drive Mercs and Passats, have lost anything ..

For the girl who got car-napped in KL, more than a few people asked who in their sane mind will go coffee drinking at 3 AM and then wonder why they got car-napped ..

Basic safety - you don't have to stay locked inside your house, but if you can't even bother to know your environment, nothing to say ..
Isn't this the norm in any cities?

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Post by PrimroseHill » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 4:44 pm

Only in SG.
I remembered when my then boyfriend now husband and I used to park the car in Leceister. The stereo was always stolen, remember those pull out ones and the pull out cover/tab ones?
Yup, even those were stolen. And we used to drive a Nissan.
At the end, we had a sign up that said "There's nothing left to steal in this car".

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Post by bgd » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 4:46 pm

PrimroseHill wrote: Isn't this the norm in any cities?
It is, but not in Singapore. Which is why they get into trouble when they travel abroad.

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 4:55 pm

PrimroseHill wrote: Isn't this the norm in any cities?
Try telling that to Singaporeans .. they will insist otherwise ..

Of course, having been in one of the safest countries in their world, their understanding of reality has gone dull I guess

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Wd40
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Post by Wd40 » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 5:09 pm

You must put it into context regarding Singaporeans considering Malaysia as dangerous. Even if the crime rate in Malaysia is same as other cities, the moment Singaporeans enter into JB, they are twice as likely to be targeted, even if they take all the precautions.

I have heard countless stories about Singapore registered bikes getting stolen in shopping malls in JB. Singapore registered cars getting attacked. A gang of motorcyclists attacking Singaporean Motorcyclist etc.

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 5:35 pm

Wd40 wrote:You must put it into context regarding Singaporeans considering Malaysia as dangerous. Even if the crime rate in Malaysia is same as other cities, the moment Singaporeans enter into JB, they are twice as likely to be targeted, even if they take all the precautions.

I have heard countless stories about Singapore registered bikes getting stolen in shopping malls in JB. Singapore registered cars getting attacked. A gang of motorcyclists attacking Singaporean Motorcyclist etc.
I don't agree with you ..

Singaporeans, once they enter Malaysia, think they are Malaysians, seen them throwing rubbish out of the window of the car, and also in JB one of the pubs, were trying to be cool by doing things a regular Malaysian won't do

and in KUL, I saw a SG Plated Cayanne, in one of the most ulu ulu places parked, while the occupants were having supper at 3 am possibly post drinking .. and when I look around the other cars were almost all Protons or the likes .. no fancy MY - Mercs or anything .. I am sure Malaysians will leave their mercs at home and drive Protons when they go out late ..

Quite a few Malaysians I know drive Singapore plate cars, as they are PR here, but residing in Malaysia, and they never have issues .. believe me .. the plate makes no difference.

Just don't do things a native won't do .. and you are good to go ..

And try not to save a couple of $ and go to an ulu place, get waylaid, and wonder what happened.

PS: When I drove across with a Singapore reisdent who has a Range Rover, when we reached KL, he left his car in the Hotel and took a taxi when we went drinking .. now, why would he do that, when he can show off his Range Rover Disco to the bar crowd ??

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Post by ScoobyDoes » Wed, 08 Jan 2014 5:39 pm

The more than 5yrs I spent in KL before moving to SG was all perfectly safe and secure. Driving up to Penang, down to JB, over to Kuantan and Terengganu all went peacefully.

The only cases of 'crime' that came up related near me was my secretary got her bag snatched a couple of times (common then) and her house broken into once. My colleague (German) has his CLK taken at knifepoint around Bangsar, but I blame him as the white guy definitely NOT flying under the radar.

It's all a matter really of being sensible.

As Vaucluse mentioned, expats are not specifically viewed as rich since Malaysians themselves recognise that the country is not one of the more expensive postings so it tends to pull in a better class of foreigner. I've never met with any unfriendly situation there and if my boss hadn't decided to move me here at that time, I wouldn't have done it by my own choice.
'When Lewis Hamilton wins a race he has to thank Vodafone whereas in my day I used to chase the crumpet. I know which era I'd rather race in.'

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