Sydney to Singapore

Old Jun 4th 2008, 4:15 am
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Default Sydney to Singapore

Hi

My wife has a new job and they may want here to more to Singapore. We currently live in Sydney and whilst I like Sydney I would definitely be interested in living in Singapore for the experience.

Does anyone (who lives in Singapore) have any advice on what Singapore is like to live and whether a move from Sydney to Singapore would be a good idea?

I know all cities have there positives and negatives. But to me Singapore appears to be exciting for a married couple in their late 20s.

Sydney is beautiful, but Australia seems to mainly geared towards people with children and people looking to retire! For example, my wife rang me from Singapore at 11pm (Singapore Time) to tell me she was shopping. You just can't do things like that in Sydney as everything shuts at 5.30 and people are in bed by 10 (or so it seems).

Last edited by Notts_bloke; Jun 4th 2008 at 4:24 am.
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Old Jun 5th 2008, 7:57 pm
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Smile Re: Sydney to Singapore

Originally Posted by Notts_bloke
Hi

Does anyone (who lives in Singapore) have any advice on what Singapore is like to live and whether a move from Sydney to Singapore would be a good idea?

I know all cities have there positives and negatives. But to me Singapore appears to be exciting for a married couple in their late 20s.
If you want excitement mate you'd be far better off going to Hong Kong or Bangkok.

Singapore is great for expat families, very clean and safe.....but it doesn't have the 'buzz' of HK or Bangkok. There really is little to do there apart from eating or shopping....which is why they're always listed as Singaporean's favourite pastimes! The cost of alcohol is astronomical (taxed very heavily) and you can take in 3 cans of beer into the country duty-free... Also check out the high cost of cars in Singapore, again a massive tax on them, higher than anywhere else in the world...on the other hand you might be happy to travel everywhere by taxi, bus or the MRT trains (which mostly serve the districts where the locals live).

There are sporting activities but in the tropical climate it's not a lot of fun TBH as the heat and humidity saps ones energy. Most expats get island fever (it's the size of the Isle of Wight with a population of 4 million and growing) so feel the need to 'escape' to other countries in the region on a regular basis.

Perhaps you should check it out - but living there is very different to spending a few days there as a tourist, so bear that in mind! We enjoyed living there immensely for a few years but we had children with us and a lot of our socialising revolved around their activities.

There are expat clubs and associations; we were members of the British Club which the company paid for (we just paid for our food and drink) and I volunteered in the ANZA offices for a few years - the Australian & New Zealand Association (which was livelier than the more sedate British Association lol!):

http://www.anza.org.sg

http://www.britishclub.org.sg/Public...?id=2005000021
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Old Jun 11th 2008, 10:55 am
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Default Re: Sydney to Singapore

Welcome to Singapore.

I am a true blue Sg gal living there for the past 30 odd years. There are many ups & downs in living in each countries.... Sg is no exception.

++++++ plus points :
1) Safe place where you can walk freely even at midnight everywhere.
2) Good public transport system with MRT (Metro in English term) linking all locations.
3) Small country approx 650sqkm where u can drive round in perimeter in 3 hrs.
4) Food paradise with chinese/western all kinds of food at a price you can chooes from. Be it upmarket or cheap hawker food.
5) Super-dopo shopping paradise. All malls operates 7 days and 10am to 10pm. At certain sales period of the yr, mall operates till midnight. Mustafa (a mega mall) operates 24 hrs.
6) Mixed culture with eurasian, indian, chinese, malay..we are one big harmony multi-cultural society.
7) Highly efficient & busy society but not as pressurised as Hong Kong & Macau.
8) F1 race course in the city starting yr 2008! (Ticket very $$$)
9) Next door to Malaysia & Indonesia where you can spend the holiday trips by 1 hr car journey or 1 hr boat trip cheaply.
10) Highly clean & efficient government.
12) Nigh clubs for the night fun lovers.
13) Choice healthy lifestyle with gym, fitness clubs, classes atmost every corner of the city.



----minus points :
1) A small country where you can conveniently travel the whole country in 3 hrs which some interpret it as boring & too small?
2) High density population of 4million (to be confirm as it ever increasing) meaning it a competitive environment.
3) One of the most expensive housing place in Asia.
4) Most expensive car price in the world. 1600litre toyota cost around SGD65000. SGD1=USD1.36 now.
5) VAT at 6 or 7% (to be confirm as i have been away for last 1 yr).
6) Increasing housing cost. (but inflation is everywhere now).
7) Expensive medical fees.

The above is my perspective of Sg and one can said that it a boring place to live in. However it is also one of the place with high percent of immigrants! My British friend has stay in Sg for the past 10 yrs & he love it. But another british friend of his simply don't like Sg & leave within one yr.

I think Sg is one of the best city to live and work in. Although it is lack of the natural bits like mountains, lakes, alps etc. But one can't have everything, isn't it? I have been travelling in many countries & including Australia. I still thinks Sg is the best place one can choose to stay/work/play, although not a ideal retirement location (since the medical is $$$ & no mountain to climb!).

Btw, i am now in the midst of applying visa to go Australia to experience the lifestyle..choosing Brisbane. But i will still stay as a Sg Citizen.

Hope my advise is useful for you

Cheers.
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Old Jun 18th 2008, 12:01 am
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Default Re: Sydney to Singapore

Just seen this after answering a similar query, could have saved myself a lot of time.

Might be worth cross-referencing:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=543551
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