As a 35-year-old digital nomad and owner of a start-up digital media company in Singapore, I need to be focused on maximizing my income while minimizing my expenses. Singapore is a nice place to live and work, but it's also getting very expensive. And that's why I've decided to take advantage of the MM2H Golden Visa, also known as the
Malaysia My Second Home Visa. I've decided to apply for S-MM2H and relocate to JB.
My business generates about S$3k per month, which is enough to live in Singapore, but it would obviously stretch so much further in JB. And the lower cost of living in Malaysia also means that I can save much more money, invest more and, ultimately, have my savings grow faster.
So I currently have about S$200k in fixed deposits and SGX investments and living in JB will allow me to continue growing my net worth without the high costs that come with living in Singapore. It's a simple sum.
Once my S-MM2H application is approved, I'll stay in the JB property my parent bought years go. And the great thing is that, as the crow flies, I'll still be within 10 km of my parents' home in Singapore :) Basically, it doesn't even feel like I'm moving to another country. The considerable cultural overlap between Singapore and Malaysia is also reassuring; after all, I'll still be surrounded by the familiar Malay culture, language and food that I grew up with. Not to mention my relatives in JB, as well as the growing Singaporean expat community of course.
Financial Benefit, Tax Breaks
Without a doubt, one of the key benefits of
MM2H is the tax-free remittances. This means that I can transfer all my earnings from Singapore to Malaysia without having to worry about paying taxes on that income. Combined with using Wise for these transfers, the overall financial advantage allows me to keep more of my hard-earned money. Plus, with the favorable SGD/MYR exchange rate and much lower cost of living in Malaysia, my income from Singapore will go way further across the Causeway. It's like I'm instantly tripling my spending power. How could I ever pass up an opportunity like this?
But sure, another reason MM2H is the right choice for me is the fact that Singapore is still so close. And the RTS Link is almost completed, which will make traveling between JB and Singapore even more convenient. I mean, I can still visit Singapore whenever I need to, for family visits, spend some time with kaki, or a work meeting. For us, Singaporeans MM2H is truly the best of both worlds.
Better Safe Than Sorry
Now, I have actually considered the alternatives, such as using the usual 30-day social pass and then do the required visa runs. But I've heard that Malaysia may soon start cracking down on the misuse of this short-term visa. Likely, they'll start by instructing their Immigration staff to lessen the 30 days to 15 and then to 7 days. I've already heard of a few cases where they were banned from entering Malaysia for 3 months. Clearly, that's the last thing you want; never mind the anxiety each time you arrive at CIQ.
So, for me, S-MM2H offers a long-term solution that allows me to live in JB without any stress or potential immigration issues. In fact, it's an opportunity to live a much more comfortable life
and still close to my family in Singapore. I think it's a smart move that'll also allow me to grow my wealth, even whilst increasing my disposable income. To be honest, with benefits like this, S-MM2H is almost a no-brainer, to me anyway. So yes, I'll take full advantage of it.
By the way, if you're interested, I got most of my S-MM2H information from
MM2H Singapore.
By Farah Rahman,
Sembawang
