This is my submission for the Data Studio class' first assignment. The prompt was "something you miss from home."
I grabbed via an API traffic images of the two causeways that connect Singapore and Malaysia's Johor Bahru. Many Singaporeans like myself like to go to the Malaysian city to shop and eat. Many Malaysians from the city also travel to Singapore every day for work.
I wanted to create a website where a reader could automatically know what time it is in Singapore/Malaysia, the latest traffic details, and whether a popular supermarket was opened or closed depending on the time.
For my data analysis, I looked at recent hourly traffic images of the causeways over one weeked and created a table that said whether it was a good time to go depending on the road conditions. I found that the Jurong causeway — the side entering Malaysia — had fewer traffic jams than the Woodlands causeway. Jurong is a little further from Singapore's city center than Woodlands, and the Malaysian side right across from Woodlands has a few malls conveniently located at the border, but if you're driving, entering Malaysia from Jurong might be a better idea.
I also found that Saturday afternoons and Sundays are a good time to go shopping in Malaysia. Coming back to Singapore might be an issue though, especially on a Sunday evening, since you're be waiting in line with the Malaysians entering Singapore for work too. Traffic can be unpredictable too. For example, on Sunday 15 Jan, on the Woodlands causeway entering Singapore, there were traffic jams at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. but not 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Lastly, I did a simple price comparison of grocery items and petrol prices by manually looking them up online from Singapore's NTUC Fairprice and Malaysia's Aeon. Unsurprisingly, things were cheaper in Malaysia than Singapore. The biggest shock for me was the price of a fresh chicken — Singaporeans are paying more than triple the price as our neighbors.
The story webpage is here: https://rachel-el-p.github.io/crossing-into-msia
I got the chance to pick up html more. Also, how to use the auto updating code, and how to pick out the right information from the API.
I would've wanted to create fancy clocks that tell you the best times to go to Malaysia, a table where the row that corresponds to the current time is lighted up, and to draw cute-looking bread, eggs, and chicken. Maybe when I pick up Adobe Illustrator and JavaScript skills.