Making the best of your ringgit

I set up a Malaysian bank account in the aftermath of the Asian crisis, when Dr Mahathir’s currency controls made it impossible to deposit ringgit checks into my Singapore account. The dividends from Clob shares have been building up for more than a decade, and I discovered, to my joy, that I had more than RM10,000 in the account.

Yippee! Those shares that I was stuck with because their values plunged, actually paid out decent dividends.

Unfortunately, after converting the cash back into Singapore dollars, I was a little disappointed to find it came up to about $4,000. Not much, especially when set against what I’d paid for the Clob shares all those years ago.

Solution? Keep it in Malaysia, and spend it in Malaysia.

I figure that since most food and common groceries are cheaper across the Causeway, my RM 10,000 will be able to buy about $6,000 worth of things if I spent it there, rather than the $4,000 if I changed it and brought it back.

I’ve tried it a few times, and I think I’ve worked out a safe, economical and enjoyable routine.

First, go across the Causeway, and head towards town. Buy cheap petrol at a station near the Causeway – the huge Caltex station has closed, but there are other alternatives. Then swing up Jalan Wong Ah Fook and turn into City Square. (I like its car park because it’s bright, and security guards do rounds every now and again, so my Proton with Singapore plates feels safer – unlike the somewhat dingy, forbidding car park at Holiday Plaza, say.)

City Square also has a Maybank, where I can withdraw the day’s spending money, and go upstairs to the Watsons to buy personal care products, vitamin supplements and general medications like cough mixture. I believe in taking cod liver oil and vitamins to stave off the upper respiratory tract infections that are endemic here, and these things are cheaper in JB than in Singapore. A bottle of cod liver oil, $6-$7 at home, costs RM 11 in JB.

And if I do catch something, stuff like Prospan, a German cough syrup made from dried ivy leaf extract, costs under RM 14, as opposed to $8 to $10 in a Singapore clinic, assuming you can find a doctor who will sell it to you without making you undergo a diagnosis first. My brother, who recommended it, got the syrup from his physician, who gave him Prospan and some other medicines for flu - and charged $130. I say dump the doctor and buy the stuff from Johor Baru.

There’s an Apex pharmacy in the basement (run by the same management as Watsons) which can dispense anti-histamines like Zyrtec (no sleepy side effect) and Atarax (might feel sleepy) and other “real” medicines if you need them.

Also in the basement are food outlets like Secret Recipe. I rather like their lamb stew and their fusion soups, but I baulk at their prices in Singapore. However, the prices in ringgit are the same as in Sing dollars, so it actually becomes very decent. So much so that I don’t care if they charge me for my glass of water – a practice that outraged me in their Singapore outlets.

There are also other shops seeling clothes, footwear, and even some groceries in the rather limited minimart in the basement.

Then go home.

Or, if the minimart was a disappointment, drive up the road again to Taman Sentosa and park in The Store (outdoor carpark, surrounded by The Store and other shops, with a security guard or two to keep an eye on things). Taman Sentosa also has the virtue of being full of food outlets, from restaurants to coffee shops and a hawker centre. I have a soft spot for the Bamboo place that sells beggars chicken.

Yeah, there are lots of other places that are probably more fun than this route, but with even locals talking about petty and not-so-petty crimes, this route is fun enough for me.