Singaporeans moving to Johor to give their pets space

Kimberly Spykerman, Straits Times 8 Dec 08;

MISS Sharon Han, 42, loved the lush grounds surrounding her rented bungalow at Seletar airbase which afforded her dogs a Doberman named Solo, and a mongrel named Jabba - the freedom to run around.

When she was told that the airbase would soon be demolished to make way for an aerospace hub, her first concern was for the dogs.

Miss Han, an office manager with a local engineering firm, said: 'Big dogs need a lot of space and you don't always have that kind of luxury in many estates here.'

She and her partner Mr Andreas Baumgartner, 48, did not think they would be able to afford another home with the kind of space that their dogs had become accustomed to in the five years they had lived there. So they moved to Bandar Nusajaya, a town in south Johor, where a 6,000 sq ft semi-detached house with lots of garden space cost them just RM$500,000 (S$210,000).

Naysayers might think that moving across the Causeway for your pets is a bit extreme but Miss Han, a Malaysian who became a Singapore permanent resident in 2000, says any inconvenience to them is a small price to pay for their 'kids'.

There were no quarantine restrictions on the dogs and they spent less than $130 getting import and export licences for them, and a health certificate from the vet.

She is not the only pet lover who has shipped out of Singapore in search of some space for beloved pooches.

With relatively few restrictions on buying homes in Malaysia - the houses have to be at least two-storeys and cost at least RM250,000 - other Singaporeans are finding it a snap to cross the border.

The Straits Times met two other couples who live in Bandar Nusajaya because they want the space for their pets. It is a 40-minute car ride from downtown Singapore.

Mr Ricky Chua and his wife Wei Ling wake up at 5am every day to feed and walk all their nine dogs before driving into Singapore to start the work day.

Both work in the construction industry - he is a senior manager with a development firm while she is a manager with a building contractor. The commute to their workplaces takes 11/2 hours, and they get home around 7pm.

Mr Chua, 44, says his 4,500 sq ft terrace house in Johor is a dream come true. Before it, the couple lived in a four-room HDB flat in Sengkang. They refrained from having a dog. 'I've always wanted at least four big dogs, and that was hard if you could only afford to live in a flat or a condominium,' he said.

They moved to Johor four years ago. Now they own two mongrels and seven Golden Retrievers. All were obtained in Johor. The couple have no children, although Mr Chua has four children from a previous marriage, who live with his in-laws.

Aside from the space, living in Johor comes with the bonus of lower costs. The Chuas, for example, spend RM1,200 a month on food and other related expenses for their dogs. In Singapore, Mr Chua says expenditure on their pets would be as high as S$2,000.

Private tutor Gabe Lim, 48, says moving to Johor has led to him spending more time with his dogs. Because travel time needs to be planned, he has become more conscientious about starting and ending work on time. He travels to his students' homes and takes about an hour to reach Singapore.

He and his wife, June, moved into a 6,300 sq ft semi-detached house in Johor at the beginning of this year. They started off with three Schnauzers and recently added two more to the brood. The couple have no children.

Mrs Lim, 38, works from home running an events management business in Singapore.

'Due to the lower cost of living, we're able to adjust our schedules to make quality time for our dogs. Back in Singapore, there's a tendency to get stuck in a rat race to maintain a certain quality of life so you end up working longer hours,' she said.

While no one regrets moving, the couples admit to missing the round-the-clock convenience of Singapore. But the commute is not necessarily as tedious as it is made out to be.

Mr Chua says: 'Travelling time from here into Singapore is almost the same as travelling from one end of Singapore to another.'