Malaysia vs. Singapore iPhone4 Plans

I am looking for a smart phone to replace my old phone as it sometimes mute by itself. It may cause serious misses or I shall be late for work if it not functioning as an alarm clock.

After looking around most of my friends and colleagues are using iPhone, naturally that shall be my choice for evaluation. I tried to make a quick comparison between the iPhone plan offered in Malaysia and in Singapore.

I’ve converted the currency to Ringgit Malaysia as an apple to apple comparison. I just the comparison on the near 300 minutes per month plans. The cost of the iPhone 4 set for both 16GB and 32GB are much cheaper in Singapore as compared in Malaysia. But the monthly subscription fee is more expensive in Singapore. After doing a total comparison for a 24 months contract, it is almost in parity (with Singapore’s iPhone plan, M1 and Singtel are slightly lower).



After comparing the cost per min from all the telcos, it shows the Malaysia plan (Maxis) is slightly lower. For Malaysian, please note that Digi charged extra RM0.15/min if you made calls beyond 200 minutes per month. So, if comparing the extra 133 minutes with Maxis plan, it is still cheaper with about RM20 on top of the RM58 per month (digital billing).

The only pros for Maxis are that it offers another 12 months plan for people who like to change up to date hand phones. And overall has a better coverage and longer experience in 3G business.

Definitely, I will sign up a plan with Singapore telcos…haha…...just make the comparison for reference. In Singapore, basically, we do not have to worry about the data overspend or we send too many SMS as the data bundle and SMS per month is as many as 12GB and 500 SMS. Malaysia’s telcos are no where near…

From the above it is obvious that I shall sign up with M1…...although previously I made the prepaid service comparison where Starhub was superior…

If we are doing a dollar-to-dollar comparison (meaning, just compare the currency unit with currency unit), Singapore iPhone 4 plans are much cheaper…

Singapore Postpaid Phone Plan

I still remembered when iPhone first launched by Maxis in Malaysia in 2009, it was relatively new or rare for Malaysian to have one. Maxis iPhone plan was very high back then and the initial cost of paying for the iPhone was also very high (about RM2,+++). It was a luxury to own one, with the monthly subscription fee of around RM100. Only one of my colleagues who are up to date of high technology gear had a iPhone 3Gs in the whole office.

After coming to Singapore, I feel that I am really out of date because everyone on the street is equipped with smart phone. Even the old lady who is a hawker has a more advanced phone than me…...haha…I think is because a lot of people in Singapore travelling via public transport everyday. Every time while waiting for your ride, within the ride or on the move, you can use your smart phone to read newspaper, SMS, listen to music, watch video clips, play games, etc…

Anyway, as I am still new working in Singapore, there is not much phone calls to make, I started with just a prepaid plan and using back my Malaysia phone. One thing bad about Singapore prepaid phone is that we need to pay for incoming calls.

So after a while, although you are paying relatively cheaper (compared to Malaysia) outgoing calls and SMS fees but your total bill per month for phone is still high. The breakeven point of signing up with a postpaid plan is the sum of your current monthly phone usage fee and the discount you get for new phone (divided by 24 months) by signing up the new post paid plan.  Another valid point to consider is your old phone is about to spoil…hehe….

Universal Studio, Sentosa Singapore 3

Lastly is the Madagascar, most of this area are still under construction and only the merry go round is opened… (I quite like the penguins in the animation....)

Overall, I felt the USS is a bit small... (initially I thought the USS is on the whole Sentosa Island, it was actually just about 1/5 of the island if not smaller). And the weather here is too hot, not really enjoy…may be shall be better to get wet on the water rides…hehehe…...I still prefer Genting Highland for the weather…or may be shall visit USS again when all the rides are available…

 (I saw some posts from other bloggers, the lighting at night at USS is a nice scenery...)

Universal Studio, Sentosa Singapore 2

I skipped the ride at The Lost World as the “Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure^TM” is a river rafting ride (may make myself wet) and the “Canopy Flyer” need to queue for 70 minutes…...But I watched the “Water World^TM” show where live stunts and explosions water show took place.

At the Far Far Away, I watched the “Shrek 4-D Adventure^TM”…(actually it just spraying water to make the 4^th dimension…haha…). I took the “Enchanted Airways” as well, it was a junior roller coaster (just like the dragon roller coaster in Genting Highland, the USS is also dragon but English Dragon…hahaha…)

 (....to be continued )

Universal Studio, Sentosa Singapore 1

I went to Universal Studio Singapore (USS) two weeks ago. It is my second trip to Sentosa Island after Resort World set its deput in Singapore. But first time was just visited the Casino as the USS was still under construction.

I took the Sentosa Express from Vivocity (Harbourfront MRT) for SGD3. It was about noon when I reached there. The weekday pass was SGD66, it came with a SGD5 food voucher and SGD5 souvenir voucher.

It was a very very hot day......not a good day for outing...There are in total 7 main attraction parks in USS. But two of them are still out of service (partly), namely Sci-Fi City and Madagascar.

From the main entrance, it was Hollywood. It is actually more a shopping street with all the souvenir shops and restaurants. There are a lot of movies and cartoons dressed characters around for visitor to take photos…some of them even need to queue…

I walked counter clockwise from the entrance. The USS is actually a round design with a lake in the middle. All the attraction sub-parks are built around the lake. The first is New York after Hollywood. I went to the “Light, Camera, Action!^TM Hosted by Steven Spielberg” where a special effect studio of a major hurricane. It was quite amazing where you really felt the special effect of Steven in action.

Next, it was the Sci-Fi City. The famous “Battlestar Galactica^TM Cylon and Human” are still closed due to safety regulation of Singapore. It is one of the main attraction in USS. Only the “Accelerator” was still operating, I did not take a ride as it is just a spinning cup to make people dizzy…

After that was the Ancient Egypt. I took the “Revenge of the Mummy” ride. It was an indoor roller coaster in a total darkness… ...It was very exciting and thrilling, it shall be the main attraction with the “Battlestar Galactica^TM” still out…



(....to be continued )