The West and The East issue

booboo1010

New Member
I’m posting this on behalf of my buddy.

Her FHB stays at east* and she stays at west* currently. She is trying to convince him to move out to the west after they married. Her FHB being an “east boy” doesn’t want to move out of east. The reasons he gave was (1) he is paying for his parents this house so this east house is consider his. (2) he has a lot of friends in the east.

My buddy being the west girl has all her friends and family at the west.

Any advice to help my buddy to convince her FHB?

(*east and west singapore)
 


simpleman

Active Member
personally i find people talking about east/west people as ridiculous. Are we so inflexible? I'll move to anywhere convenient and singapore is so small.

East is more crowded but got more things. west is less developed and cheaper as well.. so in the end compromise lah..
 

kahlen

New Member
How big is Singapore?

*headache*

Ask the girl to move to the "east" save up relocation sum for taxi fares.
Move to central - nt many can afford
Move to the North
Don't try to convince a man. One day he might use the excuse to visit his parents in 'east' and ended @ red light dist.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
if you are telling me your friend stays in some offshore islands, I would understand.
How East and West are they staying apart? East can be Marine Parade or Loyang / Changi Village. Likewise, West can be Clementi or Jurong island.

I don't think distance is a problem in sgp. Rather, its the accessibility of the location.
 

pirate

New Member
i once met a singaporean for a real long real time, i was really happy. we talked about which part we were staying. without hearing the answer, the rest of the world commented, OMG!!! you both must be neighbours!!! kekekekkke
 

sunshinepeach

New Member
If the bf is considered to be 1 of the owner in the east's house, then i dun think they wld be able to buy another house in the west.. So, even if he agree to move to the west, where are they gng to stay? Wif the gal's family? The gal may be very happy with this arrangment, but how abt the guy? Will he be comfortable?

I believe if the guy were to give up the ownership for the East's house, his parents wld have to pay back all his CPF $$ which obviously, they may not be able to.. otherwise, why wld they want him to pay for the house in the 1st place?

Agree with SM.. West is less developed, though there were developmental plans for Jurong. No offences to those in the West.. (I also just moved to the West) West is considered industrial area.. thus lots of factory.. I find that the air in the West is very very much polluted as compared to other areas.. plus the cocoa smell was very unbearable for me initially. And hubby and I had agreed that if we can afford, we would move out of the west in 4 years time.

My family and friends all stay in the North.. and it was difficult for me @ 1st.. I guess we are all in singapore.. everywhere is still reachable by bus/car.. unlike in bigger countries, whereby pple need to take domestic planes.

Ultimately, both parties must be happy with their decisions. Even if ur friend managed to convince the bf to move to the west, but he is unhappy, then, i really think it's pointless.
 

booboo1010

New Member
my friend just told me she wants to consider Boon Keng.. neither east or west.. anyone staying at Boon Keng or near Boon Keng? how is the location?
 

ariesta

Member
boon keng??? hmmnn tink tats close to bugis rite..so the new flats maybe on the ex side. anyway, dun understand tis east and west issue tat your fren is facing. coz personally i feel tat my family/frens bond is strong enuff to withstand all these travelling... i am a east gal, my hb is a west boy. we ended at central area, not because of the east/west situation. but becoz my mil is more comfortable in tat area. (personally as a east gal, central feels more to the west than east) one shld not be soo selfish wif ones SO... no point getting an ex flat so as to satisfy ur own pride and ego.. both take a step back and re-evaluate the relationship
 

koikoi

New Member
my hubby then BF used to stay in the east...
And me in the west. We have no such issue...
when we were discussing on where we should get our flat etc, we face the same issue... he preferred the east while I preferred the west...
but we compromise on getting the flat like queenstown etc... somehow, we did not get any number in the balloting...

we just look ard be it west or east... finally, we decided to settle down in the west... most of his friends are staying in PG or SK, he used to toy with the thoughts to get a flat that but now he is just so glad we got our place in the west...

dun rush into getting a flat when both can't compromise... cos during renovation time, sure got one party unhappy etc... wont put in effort...
happy.gif


book keng is near to kallang if i'm not wrong...
happy.gif
 

simpleman

Active Member
If still cannot compromise..

then work out 10 year plan..

5 years in the east, 5 years in the west?

fair?

I stayed in the central/west and north east/east before.

West is good in the sense that traffic is better cos morning you go against most of the traffic.. going home... not so bad lah.. better than staying in the north/north east/east

Industrial area? Ok.. not so bad.. West is so big.. so you can choose..

East is very crowded during the weekends.. if you don't like crowds..
 

powder

Active Member
actually the 1st thing to consider is where they work... rather than whether east boy west boy or whatever.

2nd thing is to consider if the guy can even buy another place... else it's a moot discussion.

they should engage in more sex and less of such talk
 

rafflesjay

New Member
Of course go west.
U ever see a movie " Journey to the east" before or a song name " Go East". The whole world is telling you west even since young we also play Western bar!
Sorry not in the right mind just want to vent it out. LOL
 

havavi

Member
gee... i am a west girl till i met this east boy and got married... now living in the east waiting for northeast flat...
hey a lot of my friends in the west also met east guys and married. now living in the east too and got northeast flat...
conincidence!!!
 

roomfulofstars

New Member
Hahahaha... my HTB and I have this problem. Except he lives in Kallang and I live in extreme West. But I am also more a West girl and he also more used to his area. That said, I'm open to a few accessible places like TP, Queenstown area where I grew up. I was also open to the City view at Boon Keng place but too ex.

Somehow gotta compromise lah. His parents want him to be near them. My parents want me to be near them.
 

simpleman

Active Member
For F sake, SG is so small and we talk of east and west as if we are in the US.

My advice is to stay whenever easy and convenient for both of you - if there is no IDEAL location, then just compromise.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
to be fair... I don't think its the size but the accessibility. E.g. its not exactly so convenient to travel to and flow Tuas and Loyang. Both not off shores but totally inconvient in terms of public transport.

We are not like HK where the MTR brings us East to West within 30 mins or so. From Boon Lay to Paris Ris is easily 1.5 hrs.

And driving... off peak, its probably 20 mins or so. During peak in PIE, East to West can easily go beyond 1 hour. That's tiring if you consider round trip, that's over 2 hours everytime.
 

simpleman

Active Member
We are not talking about staying in loyang and then working in Tuas, are we?

We are talking about in general east and west people..

So I don't really see a problem. If you can afford to stay in loyang and you have to work in tuas then you better has the means of transport.

I used to drive 3 hrs a day (morning 1.5 hrs, evening 1.5 hrs) - ok.. no big deal. If really a problem, then shift to somewhere slightly nearer.

By the way, if I stay in loyang, I can reach tuas within 1 hr during peak if driving (now with the KPE it is going to be even faster, go by KPE then ECP/AYE). For public transport not too sure but 1.5 hrs or slightly more is possible. If take public transport, have a good book, mp3 player.. not too taxing..
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
hi bro...

How general is it? I think we need to be more specific. I agree sg is not very big. But nevertheless, I repeat sgp is not that accessible still in many areas.

e.g. femme wrote : "Except he lives in Kallang and I live in extreme West". To me, extreme West would be Boon Lay and beyond.

u r assuming the peak hour is passable. Accidents occur frequently enough to know its not 1 hour all the time. I work in the East and drive daily too. Mostly, only 45 mins in the morning. In the evening, its surely closer to an hour if I'm traveling at 6-7pm or so. The congestion isn't just on the highway. We are not simply measuring the timing from one exit to another.

Also, not everyone drives beyond 100km/h like u and me. A KS driver will probably take 30% - 50% more time on the road for the same route as us.
 

simpleman

Active Member
milo,

they are talking about east/west.. not really in terms of travelling to work.. but rather that their friends are in east/west..

I don't know.. just that we are really spoiled. If really a problem in the travelling, then just compromise.. and do we really have to be that close to our parents or in-laws - unless we need to put our children there. Even then, that is the price you pay for having children, you need to work out the alternatives.

Just complaining about EAST/WEST in SG context is quite useless. OK.. 2 hrs max.. that will get you home.. and it won't be 2 hrs everyday.. and if that is killing you.. then move your arse..

OK.. which place is not accessible? And where are we working that make that place not accessible? Not as if singapore is that big.. you will soon hit some MRT/bus-stop even if you stay in some ulu place.

In the final analysis, I just find that we complain too much about little things.. that we should be better off and to try to solve the problem .. and so far, there is no specific problem to solve - no one mentioned anything specifically about the EAST/WEST issue..

In the end, just compromise lah.. choose somewhere not too extreme.. .. don't choose extreme west (Jurong West?) or extreme EAST.. ha ha actually the worst is extreme North? How extreme can we go when we are just a little red dot.
 

powder

Active Member
spore is really small...

anyway if travel time has always been an issue, either u shift to central area or - u date your own kind. means u only date pple staying in Your area... if u practise tat in the first place, u won't even be facing this problem.

it's hard enough for some pple to fall in love in the first place, then after they are in a relationship they forget the whole magic and start sulking over east vs west... basically it tells me tat this person tends to take things for granted, and worse - pick on very minor issues to blow out of proportion.

well if your world revolves around feeder services and your estate, then good luck to u. u're like an american who only knows america... and hardly travels our of his own state, let alone overseas.

huh? boon lay to pasir ris is 1.5hrs meh?i've never needed to drive more than 1hr in spore in all my yrs of driving (exceptions being roadblocks ie mas selamat or accidents)... of cos - i avoid CTE most of my life. something must be wrong man... neither MRT nor Driving has taken me tat long... buses i agree but who the hell would choose a bus from boon lay to pasir ris Unless u intend to sleep or read a book?

anyway so bothered abt distance just breakup lah... date again when both parents shift or u can rent a place together.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
which place is not accessible? I have already mentioned some. When we rely on feeder buses which frequency is not exactly so regular. It can get on one's nerves. This is precisely the reason why I drive. I don't want to rely on sgp public transport.

I repeat : "to be fair... I don't think its the size but the accessibility. E.g. its not exactly so convenient to travel to and flow Tuas and Loyang."
In case you haven't realize, I'm not saying Singapore is very BIG. I AGREE its small. But at the same time, I also understand its not exactly so quick to get from point A to B. The equation is not simple as plotting a straight line and assess the distance.

Am I complaining? No. I'm pointing out the 'blind spots' in sgp transport. We don't pretend it doesn't exist.

Powder... I'm surprised you haven't been driving longer than 1 hr in Singapore. Haven't you been caught in a jam just at Eunos alone for 30 mins? I had been on a cab ride from Eunos MRT to UBI driving school that took more than 35 mins!

Everytime, when I drive PIE from Eunos to Tuas for my in camp, I must leave an hour ahead. Sometimes, I can reach within 35 mins. But there are times, it took LONGER than an hour too. It all depends on the traffic conditions. When you jam at all exits, Eunos, Paya Lebar, Kallang Bahru, CTE, BKE, Clementi Ave 6, Boon Lay and finally Tuas. Don't tell me it hasn't been longer than 1 hour. So, let's not just paint the rosy side and say ... oh I will never driven longer than 1 hour on the roads. That's bull. All it takes is to have 1 or 2 accidents in your route + rain which is so COMMON in singapore... You will have your 1 hour jam.

I have been staying in East most of my life. My bus + MRT rides from NUS is never lesser than 40 mins even if the train and bus arrives in perfect timing. Public rides (bus + MRT) from Pasi Labar Camp to Bedok is NEVER within an hour. And not forgetting the MRT is at Boon Lay. You will take another 15-20 mins to get by bus to the MRT. And then another 10 mins to get another feeder bus back home from Bedok station. It has always been this long. I'm not making things up here.
 

cuclainne

New Member
yesterday, while in the car on the way to jurong birdpark with the kids, the husband turned to ask where is the exit from the expressway and i told him that it's still quite far, about 15-20mins. when i said that, he laughed because he thinks that it's a singaporean mentality to think that anything that takes more than 5-10 mins is considered "far".
 

powder

Active Member
milo it's a fact - "i've never needed to drive more than 1hr in spore in all my yrs of driving (exceptions being roadblocks ie mas selamat or accidents)..."

i won't lie just to post something like this. it's quite impossible to go beyond an hour in driving... i think u need to re-assess the routes u're taking, some minor adjustments might go a long way in saving time.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
bro... when u r already in the jam.... experience tells me its mostly worse off trying to move into another route. because chances are, hundreds of other drivers are already jamming out into the alternative routes... I am likely end up even later.

Actually, accidents is not really an exception in Singapore at all. Not to mention, we will have the Grand Prix annually. Like I said, there are times, it can take just 20 mins for the same distance. Traffic conditions is something we cannot really control. And I would not benchmark my personal timings with everyone else. Some drivers are faster / slower. We cannot denial singapore is getting more congested. Instead of accessing the routes I take, I simply drive home during off peak. It will only take me 25 mins to pick wife and reach home from office.

We shouldn't plan our timings based on best cases. I always buffer for conditions because its so damn common here. And it doesn't make sense to discredit these as exception.
 

nickyspam

New Member
Dear All,

I am also west side gal but I think East side will be a better place for children to grow up. Maybe Boo Boo you can advise your friend to look at it in a longer term.

East side has better air and more parks like East Coast Park and Pasir Ris Park. For our West Coast park the sea is so polluted by the Oil Barge.

So you may wan to think of the future children.

Cheers
 

vios

New Member
Hi Pam

Is that even a consideration... east side better place for growing children?
Please spread it to the kiasu/kaisi parents, so that the East side will be filled with 'clever children'.

Hahaha...
 

simpleman

Active Member
milo,

While I agree with the uncertain traffic conditions, esp raining + accidents.. so far I have been driving for 20+ years.. I NEVER once SET aside more than 1 hr to reach a destination and the number of times that I am late for appointment is very few - rare and even so, probably 5 to 10 mins late.

If it is raining + friday/sat night, normally i would add 15 mins to my estimated time. For most appointments, 30 mins is enough - even when I travel from north east to extreme west - about 35 minutes during evening peak hrs.. if I add rain, then +15 minutes.. almost always can get me to destination. 1 hr to me is probably sufficient in 99% of all instances for me.

Even the worst jam in CTE clears in 30 mins. Unless it is really a massive jam that block 75% of the highway - this is not very common in SG and normally LTA would take drastic action. I remembered once some crane caused a massive jam on AYE and LTA even change the direction of the AYE traffic to ease the jam.
 

jinnous

Member
Its understandable that a girl wants to stay near her parents. My hubby's parents stay in the central. We stayed in the north and his siblings stayed in the west. We are all half hour away from each other by car. How far can that be? But guess compromise is the best thing. East is nice, there are a lot of things there than in West.

I would say stay in the East bah. Who knows her family or friends might move there in future. Then how? Move with them again?
 

simpleman

Active Member
Actually I am not disputing that there are some blind spots - there always will be.

But in general in SG, we do have it quite good - even with the jam + rain + peak hour traffic - it ain't that bad really compared to other major cities.

If it is really so bad, most of us would have given up our cars because all things being equal, having a car will get us to our destination on time if we plan it and take note of the traffic conditions.

And there are times to avoid certain roads or even on these roads, there are ways of filtering to get more quickly through - we must always have good knowledge of the roads we are using.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
hi powder...
"i won't lie just to post something like this"

I don't really mean that. No intend to accuse u of lying.

sm...
I would just give the benefit of the doubt to someone that tells me he/she is caught in a terrible jam loh. Yes, sg is indeed small. That had not been my point. Generally East and West could be no issue but there are exceptions. Don't be so quick to shoot off anyone claiming the inconvenience.

Taking MRT isn't always the fastest way. There are routes that makes u go a big round and its most definitely more than an hour if you include time needed to wait and switch lines. I seriously think MRT should consider increasing their train speed. We cover so little distance because the train speed and frequency isn't optimum. I don't see why HongKong trains can be so faster with not much turbulances. Especially during peak hours, the trains moves even slower and takes longer between each stop.

The last time I took public transport was a month back on the day of the F1 race trials. I let 4 trains go only to realize it is going to be this crowded all the way. And at the bus stop, the damn feeder bus was so crowded that it refused to board anyone. I ended up walking from MRT to office. I left house at 7.30am and only reached office at 9.45am soaking wet from the choked drains and flooded pavements. I wasn't even in somewhere so remote. Just a walk from Bouna vista MRT down. So, yes. to me. Our public transport is still pretty a nightmare during peak hours.
 

powder

Active Member
bro of cos i know u'd never mean tat, i just making a point. maybe it's my driving style... and Speed.

i seldom drive more than half hour to be honest... even tat nite when i drove from shenton office to meet the guys for dinner at amk on a tues nite, took me abt 19mins via chinatown/cte/ave10... i'm an 'overtaker'.

been a long time since i took pie... i think cte+pie is one of the worst combinations so i avoid tat unless wee hour traffic. else there's other roads for us to mix and match... it's impt to know and gauge abit ahead when planning the routes.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
hi bro,

I'm pretty much an overtaker myself. But that's besides the point. There are situations when its almost a total standstill. So, overtaking isn't going to help. And driving from East down to Tuas, there isn't really much alternatives actually. The same few bottlenecks are there. An accident in the long route and we are screwed.

I always plan my routes but I cannot always predict the conditions. Sometimes, I'm fast other times, I'm stuck. E.g. try driving home using AYE from West at 5:30pm during weekdays. Its super jamming with everyone trying to beat the 6pm ERP. I will have no choice but to spend at least 15-20 mins more for the same drive.
 

simpleman

Active Member
milo,

Normally I find people giving excuses that they are late.. traffic jam.. mostly they don't plan.

Unless it is a massive jam that is reported.. else if you notice.. the people always late are those that are the closest cos they don't give much allowances for variation. If you are having meeting in town on fri/sat night - you have to give allowances for the heavier than usual traffic.

I normally give variation of +5 to 10 mins to cater for unforseen circumstances and I am hardly late.. During the outings with the guys, they all know.. i am almost always on time.. when I am late or likely to be late.. I know it the moment I am on the road and mostly I will inform them in adv.

and yes, f1 night does have an impact even on PIE - cos on that night it was more jam than usual (this is something I learn now)
 

powder

Active Member
east to tuas for work during rush-hour i shall not dispute... i dun travel tat route much. but then if talking abt dating... 1 east 1 west... i dun see any issue... we dun meet our partners during rush hour traffic, and neither should we be silly enough to fetch them to work if one is east one is west.

can consider ecp / aye / telok blangah highway (dun know wat it's called but it passes vivo) / exit anywhere along nus-penjuru area and rejoin the aye to tuas, or just exit boon lay.
 

miloice

Well-Known Member
"people always late are those that are the closest cos they don't give much allowances for variation"

Exactly... that's why we shouldn't be talking about best cases here. During peak, probability of worst cases is quite high loh.
happy.gif
 

icey

New Member
I think I belong to one of the rare cases around.. I stayed at serangoon north and I worked in Jurong (near jurong island). Everyday I board the company bus from a bus stop which is 15mins walk from my house. It takes around 1hour and 15mins to reach my workplace. Jams and rains are pretty frequent, especially during the evening. Just last week the bus took 2.5hours to send me back due to severe jams at the expressways.

And for public transport, its even worse. I need to take a feeder bus out, where the journey is around 20mins (+ another 15mins for waiting if you're lucky). And the mrt ride is around 1hour 15mins (not consider the wait and the change of mrt at jurong east interchange). And after alighting at boonlay mrt, I still need to take a feeder bus where the bus interval is 30mins and the journey takes about 25mins.

There was once I was on half day (pm), I took about 3hours to reach my place via public transport. My colleagues was joking that I stayed at malacca.

I once over-time til 1130pm. The roads are pretty clear. It takes around 45mins via taxi.

Yes, I agreed that singapore is a small island. But there are still some places where public transport is still pretty layback.
 

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