From Nasi Lemak to "Best Islam": The Never-Ending Malaysia-Singapore Competition
Malaysia and Singapore share one of the busiest international border crossings in the world. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people travel across the Johor-Singapore Causeway for work, study, shopping, food and family.
It is one of those rare borders where people on both sides know each other so well that they cannot stop comparing themselves.
And compare ourselves we do.
We compare nasi lemak.
We compare laksa.
We compare chicken rice.
We compare airports, passports, currencies, universities, public transport and GDP.
I
f there is a ranking somewhere, Malaysians and Singaporeans will eventually find it.
Recently, however, I discovered what might be the final evolution of this rivalry.
A Malaysian friend confidently declared:
"Malaysia Islam is the best."
Most people would probably smile politely and move on.
Unfortunately, that is not how Singaporeans are wired.
The immediate response was:
"According to what metric?"
His answer was simple.
Malaysia protects Islam, he argued. One example often cited is that Muslims cannot simply renounce the religion through a straightforward legal process. To him, that demonstrated commitment to preserving and protecting the faith.
The Singaporean response was equally simple:
"A religion is strongest when people are free to leave, but choose to stay."
And just like that, the discussion stopped being about religion and became something much more familiar.
It became a Malaysia-Singapore argument.
One side saw protection.
The other saw restriction.
One side saw safeguarding faith.
The other saw individual choice.
Neither side was likely to convince the other.
But both sides were more than happy to spend hours debating it.
Naturally, someone then produced an index.
Soon enough, we discovered that the Islamicity Index ranked Singapore above Malaysia. The index measures factors such as governance, economic justice, legal systems, rights and institutions rather than personal religious observance. In its 2024 rankings, Singapore was placed 25th and Malaysia 45th.
Of course, that settled absolutely nothing.
Then the conversation moved to another familiar topic.
Some Malaysian Malays like to say that Malays in Singapore are worse off than Malays in Malaysia.
Once again, everything depended on the definition.
If "better off" means being the demographic majority, enjoying greater cultural influence or having certain political privileges, one might reach one conclusion.
If "better off" means income, infrastructure, healthcare, public safety, education and living standards, one might reach another.
As always, the real disagreement was not about facts.
It was about which facts mattered most.
And that is the story of the Malaysia-Singapore relationship.
We are so close, so connected and so familiar with one another that we cannot resist comparing ourselves.
The Malaysian says:
"We have the best nasi lemak."
The Singaporean asks:
"Who conducted the survey?"
The Malaysian says:
"Malaysia Islam is the best."
The Singaporean asks:
"Please provide supporting data."
The Malaysian says:
"Our Malays are better off."
The Singaporean asks:
"What are the KPIs?"
At this point, the rest of the world has usually gone home.
Yet the debate continues.
Maybe that is because Malaysians and Singaporeans are less like neighbours and more like siblings.
We share history, language, culture, family ties and one of the busiest borders on Earth. We are similar enough to understand each other completely, yet different enough to disagree endlessly.
And after all these years, there is one thing both sides can agree on:
The real Malaysia-Singapore competition was never about food, airports, GDP or even religion.
It is about who gets to define what "better" means.
And in that competition, neither side is ever willing to concede defeat. 😄
AUGUST 2026
