In August, Marlborough College – the Wiltshire boarding school whose former pupils include Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William and David Cameron’s wife Samantha – opened the doors of its new 90-acre campus in Iskandar, a fast-growing special economic zone located on the other side of the Johor Strait, which separates Singapore from Malaysia.
Marlborough College Malaysia, as it’s called, has places for some 350 boarding and day school pupils, ranging in age from 5 to 18.
The growing interest by expats in Johor comes around six years after the Malaysian government targeted the Iskandar area in particular for development, and as the cost of living – particularly housing – has been soaring in Singapore.
The trend was flagged up in a much-commented on Sunday edition of Singapore’s Straits Times last month, which noted that “cheaper and bigger houses across the Causeway draw expats who commute to work”.
“Developers and property agents said expatriates began moving to Johor from about five years ago, but the completion of houses and recent opening of international schools in the Iskandar Educity project has raised interest markedly,” the newpaper noted.
It added: “UEM Land, the major developer in the area for projects including East Ledang and Horizon Hills, said about half of the buyers for its properties are foreigners, including Singaporeans.”
Other attractions in the area include a new Legoland amusement park, Pinewood Studios complex, and a number of new hospitals and universities that are either newly opened or nearing completion.
Thus far, no advisory firms are thought to have moved into Johor, according to industry sources in Singapore, because it is thought that Johor residents will make use of Singapore-based advisers, although it is thought there could be regulatory issues if Singaporean advisers were seen to be advising Malaysian residents.
The trend of foreigners to live in Johor, particularly those who work in Singapore and commute, is facing some opposition from local Malaysians who say it is causing prices to rise, and driving them out of the area.
In opening a school in Malaysia, meanwhile, Marlborough is joining such other well-known British schools as Dulwich College, Harrow and Wellington College in going after the international schools market, which is struggling to keep up with demand for places in many key expatriate centres.
A 350-acre university campus is also being built as part of the Iskandar development that, when completed, will be shared by eight international universities, including three from the UK.
