deepug

Hiya
I am in discussions with my employer for a relocation from UK to SGP. We're a single income family of 3 [DD (5+), wife and self]. My job (consulting) involves a fair bit of travel.
As my prep for this move, I'll welcome and appreciate any insights from members here, especially on the following:
SCHOOLING
- DD goes to Year Reception here in a local state school. The year ends in July. Do I need to consider any SGP school term dates, etc. in order to synchronise my move? Do all schools in SGP start in Jan only?
- Should the choice of school depend on where we live or should it be vice versa?

EMPLOYMENT
- My employer will not consider an expat package; it will be a local contract only. What all should I consider while discussing the finer details? e.g. I hear that UK has a pension system, but SGP does not, etc.

Will keep this post brief.
Cheers
Dee

ex reg

Singapore has a CPF system which is equivalent to the UK pension.
The employer pays into it and you can withdraw all of your contributions and your employers if you partake of the scheme when you leave Singapore.

Google Singapore CPF and you should find the info you want.

For me the place of schooling will define all else.

Others on here will know a lot more than me on all of this.

But any other questions I'll be onl;y to happy to give my opinion.

ex reg

My punctuation was awful.
Just back from the pub when I wrote the post and tired etc etc

And then after a few hours sleep was just woken up to the newly installed central heating system going bananas, like the noise on the deck of the Enterprise when under attack. And I'm no Spock.

Anyway 'The employer pays into the CPF as an additional %age of your salary and you can withdraw all of the contributions, if you do partake of the scheme, when you leave Singapore.'

Joining the CPF scheme didn't used to be compulsory. That may have changed.

The punctuation above may well be no better.

bakedbean

We may deduce that you are not at home in Singapore

In fact...... geez...you're not sticking central heating on in May in the UK? Surely it's summer by now.

ex reg

Summer

Doing it now because we aren't here in the winter, been back 5 weeks.
The old system was still working but was 45 years old so didn't want it failing at a vital time in future.

The new system has a 5 year warranty and it seems if it lasts 10 to 15 years we'll have been lucky.

dean350

If you are considering a local contract then there is quite a long list of expenses to think about:

1. Education: You can put children in local school here but as a foreigner it is very difficult to get them into a school close to your home. International schools are about 12-15,000 GBP per year per child.

2. Health Insurance: You will need this as there is no free healthcare here for anyone. Expect to pay 2000GBP or so per year for a local policy for a family of three.

3. Accomodation: If you rent a private apartment then they cost from 1500GBP per month in the suburbs to 4000GBP plus per month in the city centre.

4. Transport: Cars are very expensive. If you lease then expect to pay at least 700GBP per month for a small car.

5. Utilities: If you like to have aircon on a lot then you could pay 200GBP a month plus for electricity and water. In a 3 bedroom apartment with low air con use expect to pay about 80GBP per month for electricity and water. Local TV is limited so add another 25GBP for cable TV. More if you like football.

6. CPF is the compulsory pension scheme as already mentioned. On the plus side income tax is very low. Check out the IRAS website for up to date rates.


Singapore is a great place to live but its best to do a lot of research into what your expenses will be and take these into account when looking at offers.

deepug

thanks Dean. Very useful.