Batam Info / Interest / Help Thread

[nitecrawllerr]

Originally Posted by cleyeo

Beg to differ, to say Batam is a safer place I wouldnt agree. Let me tell you a true experience, I have uncle staying in Batam, he has 4 children, so there are 6 people in the family. Everyone of them, father, mother + children were robbed before. Car were stolen before, few motorbikes were stolen before. When make report to police, still need to five coffee money. You need to see yourself when a certain group (religion based) hold a rally to protest things that are not in hand with them.

And I can bet $1 with you, if you walk alone (in the evening), the chance you are getting rob in Batam is much higher than in Johor..

I been in and out of JB for donkey ears. Have a free hold landed property at JB too. So far so good. Never been rob at nite. Medical expense cheap and service Good. Cars also cheap and i can drive all the way to KL...or even Thailand. Just need to pay tolls. What more can i expect? Satisfied leow. Only hope the cost of living dont go up as fast as sillypore.

[nitecrawllerr]

Originally Posted by retirebatam

However, Batam is not a long term retirement place for me but it will still remain as my favourite cheong place due to the fact that overnight cewek booking is available, more selection of brown sugar cewek ranging from javanese to sundanese to minangkabau to batak, better hospitality provided, great food and many other unforgetable awesome experiences...

Yes. Is a good place to cheong. For retirement i will look at the tenure of the property. If no freehold or 99 years i just give it a miss. Of course other area like transportation, medical expenses etc etc have to consider too. But to me property important to me. But tats me. My meat may be ur poison.

[Naka_Timo]

Originally Posted by nono1973

Wow, nice one. Batam have this type bo? if have intro me leh...

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by cleyeo

Beg to differ, to say Batam is a safer place I wouldnt agree. Let me tell you a true experience, I have uncle staying in Batam, he has 4 children, so there are 6 people in the family. Everyone of them, father, mother + children were robbed before. Car were stolen before, few motorbikes were stolen before. When make report to police, still need to five coffee money. You need to see yourself when a certain group (religion based) hold a rally to protest things that are not in hand with them.

And I can bet $1 with you, if you walk alone (in the evening), the chance you are getting rob in Batam is much higher than in Johor..

My JB friend also told me that most of his friends in JB has ever encountered kena robbed, kena snatched handbag, things stolen from house, etc

Actually in order to judge whether Johor or Batam is a safer place just based on the media news reports has proven the statistics of crime in JB ...which is a well known fact among sporean & msian.

Which implies that in general Johor Bahru has a worse crime rate than Batam overall however crime can still happen anywhere (base on luck) even in super safe singapore.

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by OnlyLiveOnce

Brother Retirebatam,

I would like to add some of my personal views:-
Retiring in these places is very much a personal consideration based on one's inclination, health and wealth. Batam and JB have advantage of proximity that is very important when you need to be back home for any emergencies. However, you may need to consider properly on the tenure and rentability of any properties you are interested to purchase and other factors such as vagaries of local laws that often discriminate non-citizen, political stability, religious sensitivity, medical facilities, cost of living and social security, among others. You may also need to re-evaluate your links and obligations to our country before leaving with regards to family, relatives, assets before making a jump.

As for myself, I have happily retired here with sufficient fund to move around all the nearby exotic and interesting places for enjoyment and fun. Remember, 'to each his own' and 'one person's meat is another's poison' .
Cheers and enjoy.

Thanks bro for your other pointers pertaining to retirement criteria.

However financial status of the retiree is still the most important deciding factor to be able to retire in a foreign land.

正所谓 :

有钱能使鬼推磨

有钱一条龙，无钱一条虫

Wish you happy retirement and not forgetting to cheong and enjoy to the fullest…

[Splitter100]

Hello bros

Side track a little
Bringing whole kampung over to Batam this weekend
Any good shops to recommend for my OC and relatives?
Massage + pedicure + manicure + facial

Thanks

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by ndnd

I agreed that batam is a safer place compare to Johor Baru,
There a period when i need to walk pass Jodoh area evey nite between 12am to 2am and i walk alone, no problem encountered. I hang out every nite when im in batam for past 25 years and never have any issue before. Only one incident when i have got into fight was at the old nagoya foodcourt with a local chinese group, and later met them again in pacific disco extend another round. Heard one of them from that group pass away next day, maybe due to too tired.
I always find batam very safe for me.

Actually in my opinion, there are four aspects of safety in a country

Normal crime
In general, indonesia’s has a relatively lower crime rate compared to malaysia. Reason could also be due to indonesia’s culture, a lot of emphasize on teaching people to be good and to treat other people with respect. Indonesian people in general tend to get contented easier. Although it has some petty crimes, serious crime are seldomly heard.

Riots
When comes to riots concerned, bolehland is a relatively much safer place. KL riots which was reported in the news seldom have casualty but more like some peaceful protest.

Unlike in indonesia big cities like jakarta, indonesian chinese often get targeted as it only constitute 1.5% of the total population in indonesia but control 70% of the economy.

Terrorism
There is also another type of risk faced in indonesia which is terrorism. Remember about the shocking case of Surabaya churches bombing carried out by a family members on the suicide attack which caused many deaths.

Although in Malaysia has some kidnapping cases in sabah near Philippine before however for penisular malaysia is rather safe.

Natural Disaster
2018 is an unfortunate year for indonesia as there were so many fatal disasters happened in indonesia:
1) Feb 2018 - a landslide in Pasirpanjang, Brebes, Central Java
2) Aug 2018 - Earthquake in Lombok (beside Bali)
3) Sep 2018 - Large earthquake caused a tsunami at Palu, Sulawesi
4) Dec 2018 - Eruption of volcano and underwater landslides caused the Sunda Strait tsunami.

Because of its geographic location long the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia has suffered from many natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and floods, etc

From the past history, disaster had striked Java, Sumatra, Bali/Lombok and Sulawesi, etc

Luckily for Singapore, JB and the Riau islands including Batam are safe as its geographical locations do not lie at the continental tectonic plates..

[miumiu6464]

Originally Posted by Splitter100

Hello bros

Side track a little
Bringing whole kampung over to Batam this weekend
Any good shops to recommend for my OC and relatives?
Massage + pedicure + manicure + facial

Thanks

Eska Spa at both Nagoya Hill Mall and Mega Mall has all services you listed, plus hairdressing as well.

[fde83]

Hi bros, do anyone know if godzilla: king of the monsters, showing in batam this weekend

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by nono1973

Hehehe...i guess everyone is truly different then. One of the key reason why i picked Batam instead of Thailand or JB is becos, lesser people choose the option i did. In a way, Batam is way less crowded,hehehe...

1. When it comes to cost of living, its really much depending on how much one wish to spend. If i choose to spend less, cost of living can be way lower than in JB but if i choose better living option,it could cost way higher. Try the S$5 living a day challenge and you will have a better understanding when it comes to cost of living. Its more about quality of life versus cost of living and everyone's requirement can be different..

Yes, everyone’s lifestyle during retirement differs. One must have proper financial planning before going into retirement so that his retirement life will not get disrupted halfway..

Retirement planning basically to ensure that :

i)There is a steady flow of income for the retiree for the rest of his life after he has stopped working.

ii) Retirement expenditure to be budgeted carefully, including taking into account those hidden or indirect costs. Also to ensure that monthly retirement income must be more than the expenditure. The surplus after expenditure can then be accumulated to enhance the savings. And the cycle goes on.

iii)Must reserve funds for medical treatment and unforeseen circumstances like emergency.

iv) Liquidity of asset is an important factor as it is the ability you have to convert any asset into cash quickly as you may need it urgently. Cash is the best.

v)The monthly retirement income must not be subjected to too much fluctuation.

The monthly/yearly income for retirement can come from the following:

1) Passive income from rental of property like flat or room. Rented out a HDB 3 room flat can fetch about $1800-2200 monthly. However, this is not a very stable type of income as the tenant may terminate the lease anytime.

2) Annuity income on a monthly payout from insurance or investment company. Annuity offers better interest rate returns (usually about 4-5%) as compared to fix deposit in bank.

3) CPF life monthly payout from 65 years old for as long as the person lives. If have already set aside the full retirement sum by age 55 is expected to get a monthly payout of one thousand over dollars from age 65.

4) Insurance saving plan payout usually in a lump sum after having invested for many years.

5) Other investment income like FD interest, shares dividend, etc

Above is my 2 cents on retirement planning, everyone may have his own perpective...

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by nono1973

正所谓 : 生不带来，死不带去 ........

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by nono1973

3. In Batam, my ideal place of my staying condominiums were almost like my staying place in Singapore, neigbourhood can fulfill almost all my daily necessities. All things (other than medical facilities) were within reach within 20 mins of walking distance (yes, i use the word "All" here, which is a strong word,hehehe..)

Advantage of retiring in Batam is that foreigner can buy property in Batam like apartment or condominium unit for as low as S$75,000 as compared to owning a condo unit in JB at the minimum price of RM 500,000 = S$165,000

The monthly maintenance fee for JB condo unit per month range from RM 100 plus to RM 300 plus. However not familiar how much is the maintenance fee charge at Formosa Residence or Citra Plaza studio apartment ?

However, the loan interest rate for buying property is generally slightly higher in Batam than in JB. (also depends on the type of loan package and bank)

Due to the frequent devaluation of the indonesian currency, many businessman or property buyer loan large amount of rupiah as over time, the currency becomes devalue and so are the loan rupiah amount.
Thus in this way,the loan interest will be off set by the devaluation of the rupiah..

That is why many indonesian businessman loan rupiah from bank for doing business but quickly convert their surplus business profit from rupiah into US dollar or Sing dollar to grow their profit..

吃不穷，用不穷，不会打算一世穷

[retirebatam]

Originally Posted by nono1973

8. Hmm...when it comes to cheonging,both sides do have many options. In fact, i find JB having many more options than Batam,hehehe...or the least i could easily find Thai girls, Vietnamese, PRCs etc and other more exotic races of girls in JB, but those choices in Batam were unlikely there in bigger numbers as compare to JB. Which means, JB has more choices of different types of girls than Batam,hehehe...right?

You are absolutely right.

Tomyam in JB
Malaysia is next to thailand therefore the tomyam girls from the border of thailand or hatyai will travel south to KL or JB. Therefore you see many thai massage joints in JB. Some famous thai joints include King's Spa, amazing thai, bangkok spa, etc

PRC in JB
For the past ten over years ago, Jb has ever been flooded with many PRCs offering massage, KTV and short time service at massage joints. However, in recent years as China gets richer, more high tech and modern, many PRC girls have gone back to china to look for greener pasture, as the amount of ringgit earned may not be sufficient for them.. However, there are still a lower tier PRC girls remain in JB "cari makan" which they have their own regular customers.

Pho in JB
In recent years, there has been an increasing number of vietnamese girls in Jb offering sex service in massage parlour and health centre. Some vietnamese joints include Rich&Bitch, little saigon mp, VIP spa, etc. JB Taman sentosa area have many vietnamese restaurant to cater to all these viet girls working around the vicinity.
In the near future, the viet girls will take over PRC as the most number of foreign masseuse in JB

Bakso in JB
These indon cewek ususally come from either Batam or tanjung pinang on social visit pass (1 month) offering short time service either freelance or massage joints.

Nasi Lemak in JB
There are many massage joints offering body and penis massage done by young and pretty malay girls. They are trained to massage the manhood of their customers which is called urut batin. Some joints strictly no roaming while some allow with good tips.

Char keow teow in JB
The local chinese malaysian girls are found in upmarket hotel health centre. They normally offer package sex service at a high price tag. These hotel health centre seldom get raided as it only employs local malaysian chinese , sarawakian or sabahan, (no foreigner allowed) therefore can said quite safe to cheong there.

[Hurricane88]

Try not to go off-topic...stick to Batam as main topic...

[nono1973]

Trying to compile all the necessary info into my signature now,hehehe...since i added on my Batam property findings link into my signature and seems like it doesnt have much space.

My compilation of Batam property findings info all on below link for my future reference :

https://thesbf.shop/showthread.php?p=...0#post18734650

...and then whats on my signature :

The Batam Food List
(Updated on Jan 2016)

Beginner's Guide for 1st Time Batam Visitor



Some Batam Basic Info Update
(up till Dec 2018)

向善天不欺，作恶天不赦

Batam Places to avoid :
Morena series of joints,Delta Spa & MM

My latest 40th Batam Trip Summary
(for June 2017)

Now i only need to have ONLY one link which is this one single post which covers most of the Batam info on this thread. Mainly for myself and for those who are new to Batam,especially for many friends i made in this thread and those who walk together along me.

Sincerely thank you all for sharing.

Hehehe...now that i will have more space on my signature, i can create more informative posts i need and then link it to my signature in future. Time to redesign my signature,hehehe....enjoy Batam!