Malaysia LRT Vs Singapore MRT

by Gobala Krishnan on December 5, 2008

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I remember as a kid I always asked my dad to take me to Singapore so I can get onboard the MRT. That day never came and by the time it did there was already an LRT system in Malaysia for a few years.

So Malaysia LRT vs Singapore MRT. Some observations I’ve made.

Firstly, Jessica pointed out that everything in Singapore moves a little bit faster than in Malaysia. The MRT moves at greater speeds, and even the escalators in the MRT station move faster than the ones here in Malaysia. Maybe Singaporeans are just in more of a hurry than we are?

Singaporean drivers however seems to drive with more patience than Malaysians. That is, until they cross the border and get into Malaysian highways. Then they turn into maniacs who drive at 180km flashing their lights at everyone in font of them and squeezing between lanes at high speed.

I know this because I’m from Johor and that’s what I need to deal with every time I go home to visit my parents. After all they need to vent all their frustration and anger somewhere right :)

Anyways, back to LRT vs MRT.

I noticed that Singaporean manners are not much better than Malaysians. They also do not wait for people to get out of the MRT before rushing in. The seats for disabled and elderly are also taken by young, fat teenagers. So it’s not really that different at all.

What do you think?



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{ 48 comments }

1 Jessy November 20, 2011 at 1:18 pm

No wonder Singapore is ahead of us because Singapore is really a small island ! I always come to Singapore to visit my friends (From Woodlands to Sentosa it’s only takes 1 hour compared to Perlis to Johor Bharu ?? 2 days ??)

2 treec00l September 16, 2011 at 7:59 pm

hahaha,

anyhow IMHO, any malaysia vs singapore comparison is not apple-to-apple comparison.

we are really in a very different league, and background.

and those malaysian who likes to complaint and condemned about malaysia, better get off and change your nationality :) i meant complaint and condemn, not critics. they are totally different.

yes, malaysia need a change, but comparison with the others is not necessary.

3 zul jb July 8, 2011 at 8:53 am

Mrt Singapore is not as great as you think. On peak day it could be pack like sardine with all kind of foreign worker, maid and Chinese from China. I dont have any complaint using , LRT Malaysia. Most Malaysia have nothing to do but critising EVERYTHING about their country. Most of this whinner own a car , and take LRT one a while..anyway. I am from JB. It so pleasurable to leave my car behind , enjoying myself in KL, using the LRT , KOMMUTER AND MONOREL to get around.

zul jb

4 Amywong June 7, 2011 at 5:08 pm

I visited Singapore with my family recently. We had a nice time there though it was raining. With the MRT, we did not get soak in the rain because it was so well-linked that you could move around easily regardless of the weather. The MRT in Singapore is clean, fast and efficient whereas the LRT and Monorail in Malaysia is just the opposite… In our experience to seek help from the people on the street, we find Singaporeans very helpful and courteous though they don’t start small talk with strangers like Malaysians used to do. With regards to public transport system and cleanliness, Malaysia government needs to learn from Singapore!!!

5 menj February 18, 2011 at 11:48 am

Singaporean drivers are “courteous” until they cross the Causeway and grow two horns at the back of their head when they start out on the PLUS highway,

6 syafiq January 21, 2011 at 8:28 pm

well,u have never been on the malaysian lrt before.bt,i sure do want to ride it 1 day.in my opinion,there is a lot of differences between us.but,lets put the differences away and try to be ourselves.let malaysia do it their way.and let us do it our way. :) i have been to malaysia a lot of times.in terms of cleaniness,(honestly speaking) i do agree that singapore is much more cleaner than malaysia.(no hard feelings)

7 saliya nanayakkara August 21, 2010 at 2:29 pm

singapore public transport is very clean & neat.very beautiful country.

8 Justin December 16, 2009 at 5:57 pm

MRT in Singapore is superb! (I’m a Malaysian) They open new extension lines almost every year and the trains are like 10 times more capacity than ours, the stations almost links every housing estate to the city, and transits within different lines are done without getting out of the stations, take KL sentral LRT-Monorail Transit for an example, you have to walk like 1km and cross a main road.. It’s so efficient that I don’t even think you need to own a car in Singapore.

Bus drivers in Singapore are more friendlier, and more responsible, there was a traffic standstill and some passengers urged the driver to let them alight in the middle of the road, but the driver politely refused to open the doors as the traffic at the opposite direction is dangerous..

In KL, you wanna leave the bus, the driver said, “Just go lah” Once, I sat a bus from 1 Utama shopping center to a LRT station in Petaling Jaya, there’s this guy who doesn’t have a change for the ticket (the ticket costs RM2) and put in RM10 into the money box, the man demanded for his change, the the driver just don’t bother and even cursed and almost had a fight with the man, seriously, where is the Budi Bahasa Amalan Kita thingy?

One more thing, I find that in Singapore, the pasar malam is absolutely clean, when the stalls starts to pack up and go home, you can see the streets are so clean that you can’t even find a single paper rubbish on the road. Compared to my neighborhood SS2 night market in Petaling Jaya, don’t even think about paper and cups rubbish, fruit skins can be found all over the place, “this orange very sweet one! Try one piece, nah!”

9 Izzafiz December 11, 2009 at 12:16 pm

I was a malaysian back then and i really liked the LRT until a few years later when i went to singapore. Well, i’ve got to admit that some singaporeans are inconsiderate. But Singapore is much better than malaysia in every way (Except For Food) In singapore, the beaches are Fairly Clean. No Sewer Pipes, etc. Best amusement park. Come On! Sentosa is awesome. And The universal Studios Coming up? What does malaysia have now? Genting? ( I heard many people die there because of lack of safety) And the upcoming one Legoland? COME ON!! Some malaysians are snotty brats too. I have seen some malaysians commenting that chili crab was invented in malaysia. Say that their government is better. Singapore’s Government Is A million Times Better. Malaysia really has to shape up or ship out

10 aldy October 14, 2009 at 9:26 am

I’m an Indonesian, and love to travel to SG, KL, PG and JB as well.
I think both MRT and LRT is same, it’s really depend on the city geographic. the MRT can running faster at straight track, but at arc or sharp shape the train need to lower the speed or derail could be happen.
Both MRT and LRT has their own unique, in LRT u can stand in front of the train and can see the train without driver.
but vending machine in MRT station is better than LRT.
I think either Singapore and Malaysia has a better transportation system compare to other Asian country like Indonesia, Philippine or Vietnam.

11 MrCuz October 9, 2009 at 8:57 pm

I haven’t been on an MRT (or to Singapore since I was 5), but IMHO our LRT could use a little improvements here and there. They can start with a more frequent pickups in the off-peak hours (had to wait 45 minutes the last time).

12 khairi October 4, 2009 at 1:01 pm

Saya lebih suka menaiki LRT Malaysia berbanding Singapura kerana LRT Malaysia sungguh cepat dan hanya mengambil masa 1minit sahaja untuk sampai ke stesen yang lain.

13 sha February 3, 2011 at 6:43 am

1 minit sahaja?hehe..

14 abby farid April 28, 2011 at 8:23 pm

En. Khairi ni mabuk agaknya!

15 Asura September 4, 2009 at 5:33 pm

The day Malaysia boleh, Singapore already have resorts in Mars.

16 Samuel July 27, 2011 at 2:03 pm

Hahaha! That’s really funny

17 Adrian September 14, 2011 at 6:42 pm

Really? I think that the day Malaysia boleh,Singapore would most probably sink or even disappear from world map I think u dumbass asura! And the best thing is at that time singaporean will live dangling on coconut trees and some might live in ‘tonkang’ floating on a sea….poor Singaporean lol!

18 marcos September 4, 2009 at 10:05 am

I am a Singaporean residing in Europe. I returned to Singapore 1 month ago for my vacation. I travelled to Malaysia, and I must say that I enjoyed myself tremendously. I think both Singapore and Malaysia should stop being so tough with each other…I mean, healthy competition is good, but when it comes to lambasting each other or putting each other down, it’s kinda so senseless.
Personally to me, compared to many other countries in the world, such as Dominican Republic, even Italy and Portugal, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, Central Asia, and other Asian countries, Malaysia is doing really very well and developed, no joke!

19 sha February 3, 2011 at 6:48 am

Yup..Agreed…We so childish (malaysia & singapore).
Always fighting bout who’s better..
Let us be a good neighbouring region k.

20 achtung February 13, 2009 at 11:30 am

haha…i used that S$1 to go back to JB.taking SBS bus.not really wasting time for refund,since almost nobody used the ticketing machine (mind u that most of Singaporean own Ezylink a.k.a Touch n Go in Malaysia)

21 mousy February 4, 2009 at 7:07 am

i dun think tat their mrt is better den our lrt..at least our lrt dunneed us to go to the machine n wait for the 1dollar refund as wat the mrt need…such a wasting time job..

22 Gobala Krishnan February 4, 2009 at 9:12 am

yeah I almost forgot about the $1 refund :)

23 achtung January 14, 2009 at 4:22 am

ok…their manners are not much better than us.this is what i really believe.i go to singapore,often.and if u use MRT than u’ll know what kind of people are they,sorry i’m talking about singapore commuters only.they never queue up while waiting for train,they stand at the very near distance to the PSD (panel screen door) as their nose can even touch PSD.blocked people way from coming out of train.

okay,this is my experience and what have i seen in Singapore during my visit.there’s moment when an old lady has to run fast and jump to sit on MRT where it just vacated and i’m on my way to sit on ‘em.so,i just gave up that place and smile at her (btw,she deserve that seat rather than me who’s obviously younger).

take LRT,at least there’s kind people who gave up their seat and give it to elders,no one stand and crowding the PSD that will blocked people way to disembark train.at least,we have this.

on the other hand,i truly amazed with Singapore facilities.especially their public transport.i never take taxi yet,but i do use MRT,bus,airport skytrain.never take LRT yet coz it’s in the residence area and th system is just the same as in airport.oh,the interchange between SMRT train is good,example in Raffles Place and City Hall.but interchange between SMRT and SBST is horrible.i have to walk on a very far distance in Outram Park interchange.Dhobby Ghaut is worse than Outram Park.

24 Sheng Loong December 24, 2008 at 2:45 pm

Well, this is an interesting topic for me as I always take LRT in KL and MRT in Singapore.

My observation shows that Singapore has got far better public transportation. However, I agree with Gobala that Singaporeans’ manners are not much better than us. I always saw pregnant ladies standing and looking for empty seats pathetically in the MRT. I hardly saw Singaporeans give seats to other more needy people. There are also kind people in Singapore though. Maybe Malaysia case is not much better.

Just my $0.02.

25 sha February 3, 2011 at 6:52 am

I never use the MRT (i’m in KL) but i use LRT everyday.
And i have to agreed, most of the LRT commuters are very considerate. They will give away their sits to the more deserve people.. That’s a point for u LRT..hehe

26 Norhafidz December 19, 2008 at 5:55 am

In term of manners, I don’t think there’s much different between us. How about the facilities Gobala? Is it much better than us?

27 Calvin December 18, 2008 at 4:08 pm

our LRT system sucks, I’ve never come across such a badly designed system. 5 different train system in a small city like KL, and it is not even integrated. Look at Singapore’s MRT, to transit from one line to another, simple on onto the other platform, no need to tag out and in or buy a new ticket. Even shanghai and perth have the same transit system like singapore… Malaysia, corruption boleh!

28 cantapus December 18, 2008 at 1:53 pm

I still love M’sia…:)

honestly I wasn’t impressed when I visited S’pore….I’d been there 10 years ago… it was impressive to me when I was a kid …but today I’d realise…we have it all here in Malaysia…shopping?….impressive malls..yeah we have Pavillion and Bangsar Village2 to begin with ….

Food ….we have nice good food everywhere in Malaysia…Chinese, Indian, Malay, Middle East, Western ….name it we have it all here at a reasonable price…

Tourism spots?…we have the best beaches in the world in Malaysia …Langkawi, Perhentian just to name a few…

Malaysians?…we have the lazy, the hardworking all sorts..a good variety …now that’s healthy …

Malaysian girls have boobies:) ….S’pore chics are just too flat chested ahhahahah its alright to be thin but flat front and back isnt sexy :) but I did see many plus size Indian teens too … my point is the clothes on their racks aren’t that suitable for curvy women …

However I LOVE INDONESIA..

The Chinese speak in Malay and that’s admirable …very admirable ….I liked everything about INdonesia …its more like Malaysia….and they are developing fast ….IMPRESSIVE…

Now those were my observation …no ofence…

BTW the Singapore Night Safari was a rip off….I didn’t enjoy it…I love the Bogor Zoo in West Jawa..now that;s a true asian Safari ….

29 Aqif December 18, 2008 at 9:32 am

About the manners
are u sure that malaysian manners are better than singaporean?
coz i never been there..
mean Malaysia is much better
=)
hehehe

30 Acturial December 17, 2008 at 3:22 pm

My father is malaysian, for the past 2 decades i have been going back to lobak, seremban to visit my grandparents, god bless their souls…

One thing i notice about the singaporean youth of today (those born after 1990), they do not/never/ ever compare themselves with malaysia like how malaysians do. Those born in the late 70′s, early 80′s on the other hand are always comparing with msia. I guess it’s probably because back then, msia was neck to neck with singapore, almost certain to overtake singapore by 1990, and that msia was singapore’s biggest competitor.

As a result, you see a lot of nonchalance with regards to negative comments about singapore on the singapore blogosphere. No one in singapore cares whether they are 1st world/3rd world, they’re only concerned with one thing…to succeed regardless of what.

With regards to the transport system, I have no idea what is wrong with the KL pple.
I thought singaporeans were the most inconsiderate pple on earth…ever since the lrt came up, ive been sadly mistaken.

The only sane place left in msia is of course seremban!!

:)

31 Jayce December 16, 2008 at 4:56 am

Singapore has better government than Malaysia. Their management is way better than ours. Malaysia really need to catch up. Come on…

32 Hajib December 10, 2008 at 5:26 pm

I heard singapore cannot eat chewing gum? is it true? hehehehe, so funny… i havent been in singapore yet but i will be there someday, i want to feel staying in the beware city…

33 syafiq January 22, 2011 at 5:12 am

yeah true.we cant eat chewing gum.sad right?haha :)

34 Mah | Work At Home Dad December 10, 2008 at 8:43 am

The last time I was in KL, I took a LRT from the train station to KLCC, the transit from the train station to the LRT was quite seamless, although there were some walking out in the open.

Then again if you are working from home, at home you really have very little chance to get caught up in a LRT or MRT train rush.

Having said that, bad transit passengers aside, I think Singapore MRT do smell better and is more comfortable.

Work At Home With Me

35 achtung December 10, 2008 at 7:10 am

sorry,but i don’t find their mrt run faster than us.from my experienced.but the escalator really open up my eyes and catch my glimpse.very fast.however,people there don’t have code of using escalator.like in Malaysia,we stand at left to give people way to walk on the escalator.they don’t.oh,this is not only Malaysian culture since me in London also used to do the same thing.only in right side of escalator instead of left.

reliability,yes.train length,yes.but again manner,poor.i have to struggle going out from train because those idiot coming inside before we disembark the train.very ’1st world’ minded and ‘developed’.me too,lived in Johor.so i know how decent those from the other side of Causeway.their driving skill/speed really kill me.maybe this is how to act as ‘developed country’ people.i’ve to learn this as it’s only few years until 2020 (hahaah)

they don’t litter in their country,but they litter in Johor.btw,i don’t think that it’s really free litter country.go and find themselves (those who claim that that Singapore is very clean)

i hate those bad mouth people.like ‘we don’t demand respect from them’…hello,wake up.Singaporeans drive safely in their country because they respect their law,and drive unsafely here because they don’t respect law’s here.very ‘developed’ minded.oh,please,they respect their law or they afraid of FINE?remember the word kiasu?that explain everything.

sorry,the comment is about to reply those commenter.btw,i really impressed with the MRT.i hope that we will upgrade our LRT to be at least like cthat.remember,their metro is not the best in the world,but of course ahead of us.

36 KCLau December 10, 2008 at 4:46 am

One big difference is that Singapore MRT is really a convenient transportation system compared to Malaysian version.

37 Kian Ann December 10, 2008 at 3:21 am

Gobala,

We are “same same, but different!” :P

I just went to M’sia over last weekend, and a visit to Putrajaya really opened my eyes. The KLIA express train is superb.

The drivers in KL are maniacs! Heh! I am very amazed at how people cross the road at the Bukit Bintang area. I had to stand by the roadside for 5 minutes before I can confidently cross the road!

38 abby farid April 28, 2011 at 8:38 pm

hehehehee…Welcome to Malaysia! :)

39 Kay Kastum December 9, 2008 at 4:16 am

I always feel when I’m in Singapore, it’s “Jaga-jaga” and in Malaysia it’s more like “Tidak apa”

40 Gloson December 9, 2008 at 1:08 am

Well, I still think Singapore is ahead of us. In Malaysia, there is a load of garbage! In Singapore, according to my mom, they fine you $500 for one piece of candy wrapper.

41 abi December 8, 2008 at 2:55 am

I still think that Singapore is ahead of us. We have lotsa catching up to do.. They have a good system and they know how to respect the rule of the law. Like u said they drive safely in Singapore and become maniacs in Malaysia, because we do not demand that respect.

Just say u were to go to drive into Singapore would u flaunt it? You most prolly wont cause u know the consequences,so in a nutshell….They have done a much better job then us?? :)

My 2 cents mate!

42 Abdul Rahman A Samad December 8, 2008 at 2:26 am

(2 kali 5? Kita sama jek?)

We’re both the same… except that they are “developed” and we’re not.

43 Gobala Krishnan December 20, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Of course, things like public transportation is way better in Singapore. They have educated an friendly cab drivers, what else can a Malaysian ask for?

44 Gobala Krishnan December 20, 2008 at 6:58 pm

Seremban rocks!

45 Gobala Krishnan December 20, 2008 at 7:03 pm

Salute to the cab drivers of Singapore. Al least they don’t behave like ex-gang members

46 Gobala Krishnan December 20, 2008 at 7:05 pm

You have to learn how to cross Malaysian roads. First, check for speeding drivers (i mean like really speeding). Then start walking slowly but keep ur eye on the car, stare straight at the drive if possible. They will definitely slow down for as they dont want to have to send their cars to the the car wash.

47 abby farid April 28, 2011 at 9:06 pm

Tuan Gobala,

Saya orang Melayu dan rakyat M’sia tetapi apabila kita mahu bincangkan tentang “public transportation in S’pore”, rasanya skop ini terlalu besar dan menyimpang dari tajuk asal iaitu “LRT vs MRT”.
Jika mahu ditekankan juga tentang pengangkutan awam secara keseluruhan, kita di M’sia sudah pasti ketinggalan jauh berbanding s’pore. Saya boleh samakan sistem dan efficiency pengangkutan awam m’sia skrg ini sama spt sisitem pengangkutan s’pore 40 tahun dahulu…sangat menyedihkan.
Lebih baik kita tanya dan belajar dari mereka. Kita memang sudah ketinggalan dan mesti akur kelemahan kita kalau mahu berubah!
Terima kasih.

48 abby farid April 28, 2011 at 9:13 pm

In 70s, S’pore gov. campaign “Make Courtesy Our Way Of Life” really change them. M’sian gov campaign ” Berbudi Bahasa…..” apa sudah jadi? heheheheheee….

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