Stronger RM means weaker SGD income: Malaysians earning a living in Singapore feel the pain of their shrinking take-home pay

MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE: For Malaysians earning a living in Singapore, a stronger ringgit has become a silent strain. What looks like good news on paper now means less money back home. Daily costs stay the same. Converted pay does not.

As the ringgit climbed from about RM3.30 to RM3.09 against the Singapore dollar by Feb 4, salaries earned in Singapore began stretching less in Malaysia. That squeeze is landing at a tough time, with school expenses, Ramadan, and Hari Raya close together.

Helmizi Londing, 48, for example, has driven buses in Singapore for nearly a decade. He earns about S$2,000 a month. Since December, his income in ringgit terms has dropped by about RM200, according to a SAYS report.

“If this continues, I will have to further reduce my monthly expenses. With the 2026 school session starting, many parents, including myself, need to spend large sums preparing our children’s school necessities,” Helmizi said.

Helmizi has three school-going children. He said school-related costs alone come to nearly RM3,000. Festive spending in February and March adds more pressure. “There are a lot of expenses during this period. When the ringgit strengthens, we are the ones who feel the pinch,” he added.

The squeeze is not limited to lower wages. Rohana Ismail, 42, another example, is a nurse at a Singapore hospital, earns about S$2,800 a month, and commutes daily from Pasir Gudang. Her income fell from RM8,848 in currency exchange late last year to RM8,717 in January, then to RM8,656 in February.

“Although the difference seems small, it affects those of us who earn a living across the Causeway,” she was quoted as saying.

For younger and lower-income workers, the margin is even thinner. Mohd Faizal Abdul, 26, a cleaner who started working in Singapore last year, earns about S$1,300 a month.

He said, “My salary is about S$1,300, which covers monthly commitments, including vehicle instalments. With the ringgit strengthening, I now have to manage my spending more carefully.”

The ringgit’s rise goes beyond the Singapore dollar. On Jan 23, it crossed the 4.00 mark against the US dollar, reaching a seven-year high of 3.9992. It stood at 3.92 as of 4 February.

That shift cuts the ringgit value of overseas earnings. At the same time, it helps foreign workers in Malaysia. Indonesian workers, in particular, now remit more money home. Some send up to 10 million rupiah, or about RM2,341, each month.

The stronger ringgit has also allowed some to renovate homes, buy vehicles, continue studies, or save for future businesses. RM1 now equals 4,269.87 rupiah, the highest level in over a decade.

For cross-border workers heading south each day, however, the issue is not currency pride. It is timing. When pay shrinks just as big bills arrive, even a “strong” ringgit can feel weak, leaving workers worse off with less to spend than they were before.