Looking forward to Taman Negara
We are taking a few days off to visit Taman Negara National Park in Malaysia. I have driven into Malaysia many times while living in Singapore, but this time we decided to fly up to KL to my brother-in-law's place. As we were going through the new budget airport, KLIA2, I was thinking about the affects of the recent decline in Malaysia' currency, the Ringgit. A decade ago, it was fairly stable at roughly 2 to 1 Singapore dollar. Currently it has dropped below 3 to 1. While on the surface that looks good for Singapore travelers and shoppers, because the exchange favors those holding Sing dollars, I already observed some clues that it is not that rosy.
We stopped to get bread at a bakery outlet, the kind that sells nice fluffy pastries with cheese or chicken filling. In Singapore, the typical price would be about $2 per item. These individual pastries were priced about RM 4 to 5. We bought two pieces plus a 500 ml bottle of drinking water. The total was about RM 13. It occured to me that we had paid the Singapore price. Then we booked a taxi, prepaid at the booth for RM 65. My wife commented that it used to be 50. When we got the taxi, we noticed his natural gas tank in the back. He said all the taxis use liquified natural gas. As we drove out, he commented on the destination, that it was a long ways away, and that he wasn't happy about the price. We left it at that. But I thought about the cost differential. The distance in Singapore probably would have cost $40-50. So figured we paid Singapore price for the bread and Malaysia price for the taxi.
Many other comparisons could be made. Today is election day in Singapore, and many people are talking about issues of corruption in Malaysia. I will leaven those comparisons aside. I am going to go to one of Malaysia's national parks, paying local price, because arranged by my brother-in-law. I think I will enjoy myself.
We stopped to get bread at a bakery outlet, the kind that sells nice fluffy pastries with cheese or chicken filling. In Singapore, the typical price would be about $2 per item. These individual pastries were priced about RM 4 to 5. We bought two pieces plus a 500 ml bottle of drinking water. The total was about RM 13. It occured to me that we had paid the Singapore price. Then we booked a taxi, prepaid at the booth for RM 65. My wife commented that it used to be 50. When we got the taxi, we noticed his natural gas tank in the back. He said all the taxis use liquified natural gas. As we drove out, he commented on the destination, that it was a long ways away, and that he wasn't happy about the price. We left it at that. But I thought about the cost differential. The distance in Singapore probably would have cost $40-50. So figured we paid Singapore price for the bread and Malaysia price for the taxi.
Many other comparisons could be made. Today is election day in Singapore, and many people are talking about issues of corruption in Malaysia. I will leaven those comparisons aside. I am going to go to one of Malaysia's national parks, paying local price, because arranged by my brother-in-law. I think I will enjoy myself.
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