Just $70– Why Johor Becomes Singaporeans’ Favourite Day Trip

Every month, Rachel Tan, a 53-year-old Singaporean tutor, boards a bus across the 1-km (0.6 mile) causeway for a day trip to Malaysia’s southern state Johor, where she stocks up on groceries and treats herself to lunch and a film. Thanks to recent streamlined immigration procedures, she doesn’t need to flash her passport but a QR code to pass the checkpoint before catching a complimentary shuttle bus that whisks her to R&F Mall.

 

Thanks to strong Singapore currency, Johor is a shopping, dining and relaxing paradise for Singapore residents, attracting more than 11 million trips across the short 1.056-kilometre causeway in the first 7 months this year. Johor welcomed 14 million tourists in the first half of 2025, close to 80% of whom were Singaporeans. The number is expected to hit the roof with Visit Johor Year 2026 (VJY2026).

 

For Rachel, the entire day out, including shopping, typically costs her about RM300 (US$70, SGD92) – a fraction of the price for a similar experience in Singapore. “Since I need to go somewhere to relax on my day off, why not go somewhere where it is more affordable?” – she told This Week in Asia, noting that her 10-ringgit cinema ticket would be unheard of back home, where watching a film often costs five times as much.

“To me, it isn’t any trouble at all. Once I cross the customs, everything is easy,” – Tan added. Johor has long been a magnet for Singaporean day trippers, but recent years have seen their numbers skyrocket. Rising costs at home, a strong Singapore dollar (or rather a weak Malaysia ringgit) and ever-simpler cross border process have all fuelled the travel boom.

 

Banks and multicurrency wallet providers interviewed by This Week in Asia have observed double-digit growth in Johor-bound spending by Singaporeans, with food and drinks, groceries and retail the largest categories. Analysts predict this spending surge will only accelerate, propelled by the newly established Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

 

The RTS Link is a 4-km railway shuttle flagship bilateral project slated to launch at the end of 2026 that promises to ferry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction – slashing travel time to just five minutes. Connecting the Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru to the Woodlands North station in Singapore, this cross-border project is designed to ease congestion on the Johor-Singapore Causeway.

Although the true economic impact will materialise only once the RTS becomes operational and daily cross-border traffic ramps up, the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link is set to transform cross-border flows, with Johor’s retail, food and beverage (F&B) and hospitality sectors poised to become the next growth engines beyond residential property.

 

While ease of travel may intensify pressure on Singapore’s retail and dining sectors, businesses could also benefit from eased labour shortages and wage pressures as more Malaysians commute into Singapore, according to Chua Hak Bin, regional co-head of macro research at Maybank Investment Banking Group. “There will be some dislocations and churn in the retail and F&B scene as a new equilibrium is reached,” – Chua said.

 

{ Rising Spending }

Data from Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) shows that Johor registered the fastest retail spending growth among Malaysian states between 2022 and 2024, averaging a 60% increase annually. Data from UOB also show that Johor accounts for nearly half of all credit card spend by its Singapore customers in Malaysia during the first half of 2025.

Transactions on Singapore-issued credit cards in Johor more than tripled over the same time period, the bank said, with Singaporeans making more frequent or longer trips across the border. In light of this, UOB recently launched a new redemption scheme, enabling its Singapore-based customers to offset purchases at more than 150 Johor merchants using rewards points earned at home.

 

Dining out remains the single biggest category, making up about 15% of all Johor billings from 2023 to the first-half of 2025. Hotpot chains such as Haidilao and Chi-Gui Mala Hot Pot, along with local favourite Grand Bayview Seafood Restaurant, were perennial crowd-pullers. Hong Leong Investment Bank Research said brands such as Oriental Kopi and Focus Point offer direct leverage to rising cross-border spending power.

 

Groceries come next, accounting for 10% of Johor spend in the first-half of 2025. Supermarket names familiar to Singapore shoppers – Aeon, Giant and Jaya Grocer – populated the list. Apparel ranked third, taking up 9% of spend in the same six months of 2025. Uniqlo and Lululemon stood out, while children’s label Little Genius rounded out the mix.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), meanwhile, saw a more than 20% year-on year rise in spending by Singaporeans in Malaysia in September, according to Regina Lim, head of the bank’s group lifestyle financing and ecosystems. “What we’ve observed so far suggests that Singaporeans are making everyday purchases rather than shifting their spending to wholesale,” – she said.

 

Retail spending in ringgit by customers of Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, soared by more than 30% in the first eight months of 2025, compared to the same period last year, said Chan Sow Han, its head of consumer banking payments and platforms. This growth spanned both credit and debit card transactions, as well as transfers via Malaysia’s DuitNow payment platform.

 

Chan attributed the trend to three factors – a strong Singapore dollar, attractive incentives, and easier border crossings enabled by QR code clearance at immigration. Ashley Thomas, head of strategy and operations at Revolut Singapore, said total spending by the digital bank’s customers in Malaysia had grown over 25-fold since 2022 and the third quarter of this year, with transaction volumes increasing more than 40 times.

Meanwhile, YouTrip’s Chief Operating Officer Kelvin Lam attributed the three-fold rise in Johor-bound transactions by Singapore-based users over the past two years to domestic inflation and the increase in the city state’s goods and services tax (GST) from 7% to 9%. After the Malaysian ringgit hit a record low of 3.55 to the Singapore dollar in February last year, many Singaporeans began closely tracking exchange rates, – Lam revealed.

 

The historical low ringgit sparked a new trend – 40% of the multicurrency mobile wallet’s users in Singapore convert funds into ringgit in advance whenever the rate was favourable. “Instead of cutting back, Singaporeans are redirecting their budget by crossing the border to buy groceries, shop and dine at familiar brands such as Uniqlo, Haidilao and Ding Tai Fung at a lower price tag,” – Lam said.

 

{ Easing The Ride }

At the same time, both governments have sought to tighten cross-border regulations this year, particularly concerning ride-hailing and vehicle entry, to improve safety, prevent illegal activities, and support licensed transport operators. Malaysia has rolled out Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system for Singapore-registered cars, while Singapore has impounded unauthorised Malaysian taxis or unlicensed private-hire cars.

Bilateral talks are reportedly underway to expand taxi services, which could further boost cross-border commerce. Currently, only licensed taxis may carry passengers across the causeway, and they must pick up and drop off at designated terminals – Larkin Sentral in Johor Bahru and Ban San Street Terminal in Singapore. But the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone may eventually help ease movement of people and goods.

 

Last month, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority said it had investigated more than 100 foreign-registered vehicles for illegal cross-border passenger services this year, with most impounded pending investigations and court proceedings. Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling announced that bilateral talks were under way to allow Malaysian taxis to drop off passengers anywhere in Singapore and vice versa for Singaporean taxis in Johor Bahru.

 

Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said last month that his government was “100% ready” to legalise cross-border e-hailing services with Singapore in a bid to enhance connectivity between the two countries. However, Singapore is not ready, raising concerns that its higher vehicle ownership costs could disadvantage local drivers. “We have to find a way to allow it, so I think this will come sooner or later,” – Loke said.

While demand is growing for more convenient cross-border travel options between Singapore and Johor Bahru, commuters prefer “unlicensed” taxi services. One key reason – the lack of door-to-door service offered by licensed taxi drivers, which has made unlicensed taxi services more appealing as they tend to offer flexible pick-up and drop-off points. 

 

{ Johor Gentrified }

As connectivity improves, inflation has become a pressing issue for Johor, which aims to achieve developed state status by 2030. Johor’s Chief Minister Onn Hafiz said in July that the influx of Singaporeans buying groceries and property was driving up local costs. As a case in point, he cited a plate of nasi lemak with fried chicken costing around RM9 in Johor vs RM7 in Kuala Lumpur.

 

While Johor’s overall inflation rate has largely tracked the national average, its food and drink prices have climbed more rapidly in recent months, said Lavanya Venkateswaran, a senior Asean economist with OCBC. “Even so, should modestly higher inflation be accompanied by strong economic growth and better employment prospects, these would still constitute positive moves,” she said.

During Singapore’s May 2025 General Election, many voters dutifully cast their votes in the early morning, before rushing to Johor for a brief shopping trip. Johor’s lower cost of living not only makes shopping, eating, petrol filling, and car washing significantly cheaper due to the favourable exchange rate, but also offers an attractive option for cafe-hopping, haircuts and massages.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Mahathir Hinted Johor Royalty Behind FAM-FIFA Fraud Scandal
• Taylor Swift’s S$500 Million Economic Impact – How Singapore Cleverly Got An Exclusive Deal For The Pop Star
• A Lesson From Langkawi Ghost Town – KL Finally Scrapped Liquor Ban To Boost Tourism & Economy
• Mahathir’s Jinx & Muhyiddin’s Fatwa – How Bangsa Johor Stops The Spread Of Racism And Radical Islamist
• Anwar Madani’s Religious Politics – New Concert Rules Prohibiting Mixed Seating Of Males & Females Backfire
• Young Voters Beware!! – A Vote For Opposition PN Is A Vote To Ban Blackpink Concert & Other Entertainment
• Building Affordable Homes – Even The UK Learned From Singapore’s HDB Public Housing Programme
• UMNO Dirty Trick Begins – Autogates At Johor Checkpoint Suspended To Prevent Chinese Voters Return From Singapore
• Paying The Price For Incompetence – The RM14 Billion Reason Singapore Isn’t As Desperate As Johor To Reopen Its Border
• A $40 Billion Listing – How Two Malaysians Moved Grab To Singapore And Grow It As Southeast Asia’s Most Valuable Startup
• Malaysia-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) Cancellation – A Crony War For A Piece Of RM110 Billion Cash Cow

Tweet

October 20th, 2025 by financetwitter

If you enjoyed this post, what shall you do next? Consider: