JUST TO SHARE (Lau Tai Onn): Way to Go to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur (Dr JB Lim's Experience)

The blogger wrote to the Great Sifu, retired nutritionist and medical researcher, Dr JB Lim (who is a frequent domestic and oversea traveler) last Saturday morning and enquired about information in respect of traveling by train to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur. The following two consecutive replies were promptly received from the Great Sifu:

The Best Way to Go to Singapore, My Experience (Dr JB Lim)

Saturday, 5 May, 2012 9:27 PM

Dear Sifu Ir. Lau,

It is a pleasure to help you. Not to worry about my ‘precious’ time as I can type quite fast. I am also used to listening to my patients and explaining to them very patiently. I am very patient to them. They too take a lot of my time and care. So it is alright.

Yes, it is true that the fare from KL (Sentral) to (Woodlands) Singapore is much cheaper than from Singapore to KL because you pay from here in Malaysian Ringgit. But from Singapore back to KL you must buy the ticket there, and pay in Singapore $ which is 2.5 times that of RM.

One method to overcome this, is to buy a return ticket from KL. You pay all in RM here, and it would be the same fare as a one way ticket to Singapore. KTM allows you to buy a return ticket in RM. But if you buy a train ticket in Singapore, you must pay in Sin $.

But you must be a Malaysian citizen (I/C required) to buy a return ticket from KL (Sentral). This is what most people do. Furthermore, if you are already 55 years, you are considered a senior citizen, and you will be eligible for a 50 % discount. Express buses give only 25 % discount for senior citizens – not 50 %.

But there is a disadvantage travelling by KTM (train). It is far too slow, unless you take a night train with sleeper (extra charge) for you to sleep (if you can) all the way to Singapore (actually cannot sleep with the train stopping and starting at so many stations on the way. That disturbs your sleep very frequently). I think the night train is at 8 or 10 p.m. (cannot remember), and you arrive in Singapore early around 6 or 7 a.m. the next morning.

But you may also take the 8:00 a.m. train from KL Sentral to arrive in Singapore by about 5:00 p.m.

The only advantage with train is that you have a toilet (very narrow) and food (very lousy) abroad. Advantage, a lot of leg room, and you can walk about from carriage-to-carriage. But buses (luxury coaches) too have a lot of leg room, except you cannot walk about in the buses.

Consider all these before taking a train. As for me from my past experiences going to Singapore from KL, I have now decided not to use KTM train despite the 50 % discount for senior citizen. So what would I do then?

I take the very comfortable KL-Singapore coach straight to Beach Road, Golden City, and other stops if I am in a terrible hurry (which I am not). But using this bus mode, they only give you 25 % discount for S.C. (senior citizen) and not 50 % as for train. I think the fare to Sin. Is RM 60 (one way), but you cannot buy a return ticket with the same fare using RM. For buses, you can only buy a one way ticket (KL- Sing) in RM.

You need to buy the return bus fare in Singapore, and it must be in S $. The advantage of traveling by luxury coach (most of them are double deckers) is that is very fast (5 hours) and comfortable with two stops for lunch and toilets. Compare this with train – whole day or whole night.

Even then, this method is still not good (for me). Moreover, once you arrive in Singapore, you need to stay in a Singapore hotel. Unfortunately, the hotels there are very expensive. It is not just the exchange rate, but the rooms themselves are expensive.

Do not think it is cheaper to stay in JB, and cross over to Singapore everyday during the duration of your stay in Singapore. A lot of people have this idea. They are mistaken, because hotels in JB are almost as expensive as those in Singapore because JB hoteliers know about this tactics of people wanting to go to Singapore, and try to stay in JB instead.

Please bear in mind JB now is even more expensive in everything than in KL because of its proximity to Singapore. Singaporeans coming to JB to stay, buy houses, and to shop cause JB people to jack up all the prices. Everything they buy in JB they pay in Sing $. So JB people jack up all the prices to almost those in Singapore. The cost of living in JB now is very high, far higher than the rest of Malaysia because of these Singaporeans coming over to JB.

So what shall you do? Should not stay in Singapore or JB? Now I have discovered another much, much cheaper method to go to Singapore – an experience I leant a few months ago when I went to Singapore to attend my youngest brother son’s wedding. Both bridegroom and bride are doctors in Singapore University Hospital.

What did I do? Well, I took an express bus from Taman Tasik Selatan Bus Terminus (TBS) to Batu Pahat. Cost RM 15.50. I stayed overnight in Dragon Hotel (clean and comfortable). Single room (2 single beds) cost RM 52.50. Have a good bath (very practical bathroom – bring a 2 meter hose to bath and wash clothes everyday – just one change of clothes will do in a light hand bag (not heavy luggage) and wash each change of clothes every night in bathroom. Rest there for the night with plenty of Chinese food around Dragon Hotel and elsewhere in Batu Pahat.

Next morning, take a Causeway Link, S&S or KKKL Express coach to JB (Larkin). Fare RM 6 for SC. Journey time: 2 hours 15 minutes from BP to JB.

At Larkin, take any of the many stage buses to Queen Street or the JB-Sin-JB Express to Rochore Road in Singapore. Fare RM 1.20. You need to get down at Woodland check point and immigration. Don’t forget to fill in the white immigration card, and keep the counterfoil to surrender to immigration on return journey.

Roam Singapore the whole day, and return to Queen Street or Rochore Road by about 5 p.m. to catch bus back to Larkin. The bus fare from Singapore Queen St (cheaper because it is a stage bus) or Rochore Road to Larkin Express (few cents more expensive). But you must pay in Sin $ (S$ 1.20) in Singapore, but the fare from Larkin to Singapore is RM 1.20. So get some Sin $ in loose change.

From Larkin back to BP (RM 6) and have dinner and sleep in Dragon Hotel (or many other medium cost hotels (Silver Inn, Pelican, Remember Me, etc –around RM 55 – RM 75 per night). Repeat the whole process every day. It is very easy, cheap and convenient this way (for me).

This is the method I would do after many thoughts on how I would go to Singapore cheaply without needing to stay in Singapore hotels. A 4 star hotel in Singapore is in the region of about USD 250 per night. Compare this to just RM 50 – RM 60 in Batu Pahat.

Moreover, it is much more comfortable staying in a smaller but more practical hotel with a practical bathroom and high pressure supply of water to wash your daily change of clothes – bring 4-5 clothes hangers and just one change of clothes (Dragon Hotel so far for me is the best for this purpose). I can stay there for months with just one single change of clothes to bring along. No luggage is necessary. Just a small bag will do. They have liquid soap and hangers in the bathroom. It is so convenient.

You can even make it even cheaper to go to Singapore. How? Contact my many relatives who are Singaporeans, or Malaysian citizens residing in Singapore. I have over two dozens of them there

I can get my eldest brother who stays in 35 Clover Way Singapore to pick you up at Rochore Road or Queen Street on your arrival. I will ask him to drive you round wherever you want. He can also bring you for sightseeing and lunch. Maybe as a courtesy, offer to pay for lunch – Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice – maybe (his favourite)

You may also contact my brother-in-law Ong Geok Soo (one of the e-mail buddies) who was formerly from Jurong Town Corporation. He was a Technical CEO there (he is a Civil Engineer graduated from the University of Malaya). He also shuttles up and down from Singapore and KL almost every week (he bought a condominium at Avenue K, beside KLCC). His two sons are staying at the condo in KLCC

I hope I have given you sufficient info on the best and cheapest way to Singapore. If you want, I can even accompany you to Singapore, but I need to break journey overnight in Batu Pahat to be more practical. I will never want to stay in a hotel in Singapore or in JB.

Of course, you can also take so many air-con luxury coaches from TBS to Larkin. The fare is RM 23 (I think). It takes 5 hours. From Larkin, take so many buses almost to the heart of Singapore. But for buses (unlike train) you cannot buy a return ticket from KL. You must buy the return bus ticket in Singapore and in Sin $. There is no way out. Don’t do this. Take a RM 23 coach (SC fare) from Larkin, and not an S $ 60 ticket (no concession for SC) from Singapore to KL.

The choice is yours. As for me, I will always break journey in Batu Pahat for the night. The next morning, after a morning bath and breakfast in a nearby ‘eating market’ (I met Dato Seri Chua Soi Lek, MCA president and his gang there during lunch time just two week ago. He was having Teochew porridge for lunch in the common eating market. I had a 20 minutes talk with him, else everyone in BP ignores him because of his sex involvement. He is a Batu Pahat boy from the same school as I was – BP High School), walk to the nearby bus station (4 minutes walk) and take a coach to JB to continue onwards. It is so cheap this way.

The choice is entirely yours.

Sorry about my ‘short-hand’ English (almost in point form) to save time. I hope you understand my broken English.

Regards,

juboo lim

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Sunday, 6 May, 2012 6:53 PM

My Way to Go to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur (Part 2)

I forgot to mention that there are 4 bus companies (KKKL, S & S. Transnational, and Mayang Sari) operating their air-con coaches from TBS in Cheras to Batu Pahat. Each of them leaves every hour from 7:00 a.m. till 8:30 p.m. daily.

Shared among them, the frequency of departure from KL to BP would be just 20 -30 minutes apart. Every departure is normally very punctual, sometimes at most, just a 10 minutes delay.

So many interstate coaches:

With so many luxury air-con coaches leaving KL to BP, so frequently and so punctually, this much more reliable than local so called ‘Rapid KL’ city buses plying in the streets of KL. With ‘Rapid KL’ sometimes we have to wait for nearly an hour before the bus arrives. Sometimes, none will come.

Batu Pahat to Johor Bahru:

In Batu Pahat, there are only 2 types of coaches - Causeway Link and S & S that leave for Johor Bahru. They leave every 30 minutes, and the fare is only RM 6 for senior citizens (SC).

But you can also take a coach every hourly from KL directly to JB, and the fare is only RM 23 for SC.

Johor Bahru to Singapore Express:

From JB to Singapore there are two types of buses – a stage bus (picking up passengers on the way in Singapore) and the JB-Singapore-JB Express direct to Singapore (non-stop: 30 minutes).

Never drive to Singapore:

There is one more advice I would like to share. It is never advisable to use a Malaysian-registered car to enter Singapore.

Last year my Malaysian niece, her husband and myself drove from KL to Singapore in my niece Malaysian car to attend a wedding dinner of our Singapore niece.

At the check point in Woodlands, we have to buy an Auto-pass card for our car to enter. That cost us something like Sing. $ 20 – 30 (RM 50 – 75) per day just to drive into Singapore for a few hours for the wedding dinner.

But Singapore registered cars can enter Malaysia free of charge. We left for Batu Pahat immediately after the dinner at 11:00 p.m.

With that kind of entry charges, it is far cheaper to take a luxury coach from KL direct into Singapore which cost only RM 35. Furthermore, we can also sleep all the way on the reclining seats in the coach.

Singapore Excellent Public Transport System:

Singapore public transport system is so good and efficient that commuters need wait just two minutes for any bus and their MRT trains to arrive. Their government discourages all cars (including theirs) from entering the city and clogging their streets.

Stressful for private cars:

Moreover, driving in Singapore is a stress. You get fined for the slightest offence, example, failure to give way to pedestrians at zebra crossing, throwing paper or other objects out of the car, overtaking on the left instead of the right, exceeding the speed limit, parking in the wrong place…not to say beating the red light etc, etc. It is such a stress and a hassle driving cars there, besides high parking fees and high petrol price.

So why do you want t drive in Singapore when the Government there wants you to take their highly efficient public transport system. Singapore is so unlike KL. There, the right buses come every two minutes, so you don’t have to wait.

So are their MRT and feeder buses, and taxis (taxi drivers there don’t cheat, or refuse to pick up passengers, and they always use the meter. This is so unlike in KL). Their public transport system is so very efficient and commendable that most Singaporeans don’t unnecessary drive even in their own streets. Most of them take buses or MRT.

But if you have no intention of staying in Singapore for the night, then break journey in Batu Pahat, Kluang or Pontian, and stay in these places for the night because they are so near to Singapore.

Coaches from Kluang to JB, the fare is only about RM 5, from Batu Pahat it is RM 6, and from Pontian to JB it is RM5 (there is no discount for SC as the air-con City Liner from Pontain to JB is a stage bus, and it is not an express coach).

Concession only for express buses:

Only for express buses does SC get a 25 % discount, but none for stage buses. But it is best to break journey in Batu Pahat for the night because of the abundance of all kinds of Chinese food there.

After a night sleep and a refreshing bath and breakfast in BP, you can continue your journey to JB early in the morning (earliest bus is 7:00 a.m.).

It takes only 2 hrs 15 minutes to reach JB, and another 30 minutes from JB to the centre of Singapore.

Leaves BP at 8:00 a.m. arrives in Singapore at 10 am:

If you take the early morning coach ride (which is very comfortable and enjoyable) from BP to JB at 7:00 a.m., you will already be in the heart of Singapore by 10:00 a.m. The 2-3 hours ride is very pleasant through Johore countryside. So why waste your 2-3 hours morning in Singapore when you can enjoy the countryside in southern Malaysia.

Make sure:

But make sure you leave Singapore by 5:00 p.m. (if you have no intention of staying in Singapore at night) because you have to catch the last bus from JB back to BP at 6:30 p.m. (weekends the last bus from JB to BP is at 8:30 p.m.). But check this ‘last bus schedule’ first at the Causeway Link or S & S ticket counters either in JB Larkin or in BP bus stations, else you may have to sleep in Larkin bus station (like what happened to me the last time coming from Malacca).

Conclusion:

In closing, with so many, many non-stop luxury express buses leaving KL for JB, or directly to Singapore (more expensive) each day and at every hour, taking only 5 hours, why do you want to take a train from KL that takes 8 – 10 hours stopping at 2 dozens stations on the way?

Moreover, there are only 2 train services a day to Singapore from KL Sentral, one at 8 a.m. and the other at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m. (not too sure).

I will never want the train anymore as I did by mistake previously. I would just take the RM 15.50 coach from KL to BP first, base myself there, and go to Singapore the next day every day, only to return to BP for the night, go again the next day (4 minutes walk to the bus station), and for as many days as I like.

That’s how I would go to Singapore – “My Way”. The only disadvantage is, I get my limited 32 pages passport stamped every day.

Go enjoy your trip ‘your way’.

Juboo lim

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The blogger gratefully replied Dr JB Lim as follows:

Monday, 7 May, 2012 8:52 PM

Dear Great Sifu Dr Lim,

Thank you very much for your better-than-expected reply.

To be frank, I didn’t expect you to provide me with such elaborate and comprehensive information detailing your experiences in traveling from KL to Singapore by rail as well as by road.

It is also very heart-warming and touching to read about your suggestion of contacting your Singaporean relatives to give me a reception if I do visit Singapore and furthermore offering your companionship for the journey.

How am I going to repay you should I shamelessly accept your offer of such magnanimous generosity and kindness considering that I only personally met you once in the past and we are merely e-buddies!

Anyway, it all started from a suggestion by a friend Yong YK (who is also my trekking exercise partner every Saturday morning) a few days ago that his wife (a KL Confucian Private Secondary School teacher) wishes to visit Singapore by rail during the coming 2-week school holiday beginning the last week of this month.

I find it very tempting to join them as I am also eager to visit Singapore again with my wife as we last visited this island state 4 years ago in December, 2008 when I brought my family to attend my second younger brother's remarriage wedding lunch in Singapore (see http://taionn.blogspot.com/2008/12/our-singapore-trip-in-december-2008.html).

I hope to visit Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World Sentosa and Universal Studios Singapore, all of which I haven’t been to since their establishment.

The blogger posed for a photo in 1979

Talking about train ride, I am in favor of this because it is nostalgic to me as I used to travel by rail in my undergraduate days with the University of Singapore from 1976 to 1980. I stayed in Tanjung Pagar during my first year (as Engineering Faculty courses were then conducted in the premises of Singapore Polytechnic in Prince Edward Road) but moved to Kent Ridge Campus from second year onwards when I stayed in Clementi Estate until my graduation in March, 1980. The train ride should bring back a lot of fond memories to me.

But after reading your emails, I am now having a second thought, not so much about the fares, but more on the time of travel and other factors.

My initial plan (yet to be consented by my friend) is four of us would travel by train on Thursday night so as to reach Singapore on Friday morning. We can then have the whole day on Friday sight-seeing in Singapore. In the evening, we can cross the causeway and stay overnight in a budget hotel in JB (which I initially thought would be cheaper than Singapore. Note that I paid S$ 135 for a small room of a budget hotel called Harbour Ville Hotel at Kg Bahru Rd in 2008). We would check out of JB hotel the next morning and return to Singapore to continue our adventure. Then on Saturday evening we would leave Singapore for JB to catch a train (hence paying fares in RM instead of S$) back to KL, expectedly arriving home on Sunday morning. I also found out the train stops at Kajang which is not far from our house in Bandar Sungai Long and KL Sentral is further away.