Strong Sing$ attractive: Report

Strong Sing$ attractive: Report

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A strong Singapore currency and high
salaries are attracting some 200,000 Malaysians to cross the
border daily to work in the city-state, a report said Tuesday.

Yoong Jih Ping, president of the Consumers Association of
Johor, told The Sun newspaper the monetary benefits outweighed
the "daily hassle of traveling."

The plus factor, he added, was that the workers were bringing
revenue into Malaysia as they still live in Johor, the
southernmost state bordering Singapore.

The Malaysian ringgit is currently valued at around 2.40 to
the Singapore dollar compared to about 1.70 before the regional
financial crisis struck in mid-1997.

International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz has
urged the Johor state government to check the labor drain, saying
it is forcing Malaysia to bring in workers from abroad.