The number of Singaporeans going to Johor Bahru to shop for Chinese New Year goods has dropped, according to Shin Min Daily News (SMDN).

This is in light of the recent bilateral developments between Singapore and Malaysia.

Day trips to JB have always been popular

The report, published on Sunday (Jan. 13), was titled, "Forecast for Singapore-Malaysia relations not optimistic, fewer groups crossing the causeway to buy CNY goods".

It said that every year before Chinese New Year, Singaporeans living in the same neighbourhoods will organise day trips to Johor Bahru to buy goods to prepare for the holiday.

They will go there in groups using rented buses.

According to SMDN, 61-year-old Liao Li Yun, the chair of the Rivervale Residents' Committee (RC) in Sengkang, said that such trips that allow participants to enjoy the food in Johor Bahru -- in addition to the shopping -- have always been popular among the residents.

She also said that all available places for the trips have always been snapped up quickly.

RC cancelled a trip

However, the report said that many of such trips had been cancelled lately, such as the one organised by Liao's RC which was set to take place this year.

Liao said the RC has been planning for it since November last year.

All 40 seats for a single bus that would take its passengers first to Johor Bahru and then Batu Pahat were taken up quickly.

She told SMDN:

"Some residents asked us, relations between Singapore and Malaysia now are not as good as before, will there be any problems?

The RC itself also had its concerns, and so we decided to cancel the trip."

Liao added that the participants were refunded in full, and that the RC would plan another shopping trip instead to a local wholesale centre where residents can get their Chinese New Year goods at a discounted price.

When asked if the residents were disappointed as the trip was cancelled, she answered in the negative.

Instead, she said there were quite a number of residents who asked if they would run into some sort of problem if they were to go on the trip.

Residents cancelled their trip

Member of Parliament (MP) for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Lee Bee Wah also revealed to SMDN that a group of residents who were going for a day trip to Johor Bahru this year had cancelled their plans as they felt that Malaysia has not been friendly lately, and so they did not want to shop there.

Sembawang grassroots leader Shen Li Guang told SMDN that cancelling such trips to Johor Bahru is not something out of the ordinary.

He said this is because the uncertainty in Singapore's relations with Malaysia would definitely affect residents' decisions.

Also, if there is not enough participants, the tour group would not be able to form anyway, leaving cancellation unavoidable.

Gan Thiam Poh, MP for the Ang Mo Kio GRC, also told SMDN that residents there get their Chinese New Year ware mostly in Singapore, and not Malaysia.

He said:

"Many small and medium F&B businesses have promotions during the festive season. Prices are very cheap.

There's a growing trend of people shopping locally in the last few years as it's more convenient and saves time.

Some neighbourhoods would also organise Chinese New Year markets for residents to buy their goods."

He added that he just came back from a day trip to Batam with his residents, where he bought some Chinese New Year goods too.

SMDN, citing some insiders, reported that day trips to Malaysia organised by RCs are on a downward trend.

This is because trips that could be cancelled have already been cancelled.

The number of participants for trips that cannot be cancelled have also dropped.

Some Singaporeans calling for others to "boycott Malaysia"

Although not every Singaporean has made a conscious decision to stop spending their money in Johor Bahru, the same can't be said for some others.

A Facebook public group called "Boycott Malaysia! We will not be bullied!" was created about three months ago by Facebook user Joshua Loke.

It was in late October last year that Malaysia extended its Johor Bahru port limits into Singapore's territorial waters.

As of Tuesday (Jan. 15) afternoon, it has 738 members.

Members, for the most part, share developments on the ongoing disputes between both countries.

Occasionally, they call on one another to continue their mission of "boycotting" Malaysia by telling them about the brands that are actually Malaysian, and by letting one another know about the seemingly skewed perspective of the Malaysian media.

But of course, not all Singaporeans will stop going for sure.

The actual situation is most likely closer to what's being described in the following comment on The Star's version of the SMDN article, which had the headline "Singaporeans stop shopping in JB".

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Top image adapted via Johor Now

Content that keeps Mothership.sg going

??

Property hunting can be a chore, but we made it into a game. Sort of.

???

Pretty pastries and cheese fruit teas. Instagram-worthy cafe without breaking the bank.

??

Earn some CASHBACK right now! Don't say we never jio.

?

Find out which decade you should be born in.