NJSinga

Hi,

I have tried to find this info elsewhere but no joy...
I am moving to Singapore in the next few months and need to know if it is worth buying electrical goods in the UK and shipping them over or buying stuff when I get to Singapore.
By electrical goods I mean things like TVs, DVD players, laptops, phones, toasters, kettles, breadmakers etc.
Thanks,

NJ

ex reg

50 hz in Singapore so if that's the same as where you are from then bring the stuff.

I'd say there might be a little difference in price either way but it won't put you in the poor house or make you a millionaire whatever you do.

I'm in the UK at the moment and considered buying a filter coffee maker here but only because for a reasonable price in Singapore the only option is white which we don't like.
UK one was about third price of the Singapore one.
In the end I can't be bothered and will carry on with the cafetiere.

Do you want the bother of packing everything in your home country or shopping for everything in Singapore.

I will be taking some coffee back with me and some cheese and Branston pickle although there really is no need but I might save myself £5 and I'm a tight git.

Just on the breadmaker.
Don't remember the correct flour being available everywhere.
We are lucky because there is a specialist baking stuff outlet close to us and even a bakery which produces french loaves fresh everyday at 11am and sometime in the afternoon.

Kooky.

I would guess that small appliances would be cheaper at Argos and the like so, if you have space in your shipping, buy and transport. No idea on prices for electronics these days - would hazard a guess that the exchange rates are not favourable.

Not sure if any of the Singapore stores have online catalogues but have a look for Mustafa, Parisilk, Best Denki, Courts, Harvey Norman.

Oh www.bestdenki.com.sg has some prices, for starters.

Englishmum

Paris Silk in Lorong Liput, Holland Village has the best prices in Singapore for electrical goods and appliances (small and large). They have two shops a few yards apart from each other.

However, you could buy items in the UK and bring them over - even the plugs are the same as in the UK. Take them out of the original packages though in case you are charged duty on them as imported goods are supposed to be at least 6 months old.

We did however, buy our vacuum cleaner at Tesco's in Malaysia! (We have the packers in right now as we are moving to Switzerland and it's going in our shipping container...the part time maid who's coming in to do the final cleaning is alarmed that she'll have to use a brush and dustpan lol!).

Inselaffen

you'll have a better range to chose from back in the UK. prices not much different

Yorkieabroad

Englishmum - off to Switzerland eh? We're chasing you round the world again - we're looking like getting set to move back to Singapore! Its 10 years since we left last time, and I'm guessing things have changed a bit (they certainly have with us personally, so going to see a different side of it this time!)....I keep meaning to start a thread with questions on rent/cars/schools etc, but never seem to get time.

Hope the move goes well.

Englishmum

Ha ha ha......I'm currently in NJ and just spoke to my spouse whom handed the apartment keys back yesterday and spent the night at the Crowne Plaza hotel at the (newish) terminal 3....lucky guy got upgraded to a suite too. At the time of writing (9.45pm ET friday night, sat am in Singapore, he is just about to check out and get on the SQ A380 flight at noon to LHR, where I'll meet him at the end of the month.

Oddly enough, some friends of ours left Singapore for Zug, Switerland just as we moved back to Singapore.....now as we're off to Zug, we found out that they moved back to Singapore again (3rd time) last week!

You won't believe how much it has changed in 10 years.....much more crowded than it used to be, lots of Indians there now and mainland PRC. The Marina Sands is amazing, be sure to go on the rooftop a little before dusk and see all the city lights come on and the incredible rooftop swimming pool

Food is much, much more expensive - but they still sell the $1 ice cream bars with slices of bread or wafers in Orchard Rd or near the bridges at Boat Quay and Clarke Quay.....which has been transformed.....even more touristy and busier than Boat Quay with more bars and clubs.

Will your kids be going to SAS? Any ideas where you might want to live this time?

Yorkieabroad

We've got some friends still live down in Tanjong Rhu, and they were saying the same about costs, overcrowding etc. They've been there for over 15 years, and are PR's now, but they're looking at calling it quits, mainly for those reasons. They reckon with packages "anchored" in the "old" cost basis, they are just being priced out of the country.

It looks like ours will just be a 2-3 year posting, so hopefully we can insulate ourselves from escalating rent costs at least during the period we're there. The intention would be to try to get into SAS, so they can slip back into the system here when we come back. Although my 1 year posting last time turned into over 8 years, so at that rate my eldest could be in University before we leave!


Good luck with the move to Zug!

Yorkieabroad

PS - OP - sorry for hijacking the thread!

If the company are paying your move, I'd be tempted to bring all your UK electricals with you. It saves the hassle of working out where to shop for stuff when you get here, whether you're getting a good deal etc. Not to mention it saves a packet - all those little appliances add up when you're buying them all at once, and thats before you start talking about the big stuff like TV's. I wish we could bring our electricals with us, but we're coming from the US so not really feasible

Domino

its not the frequency you have to worry about its the voltage
the UK is 220v and ISTR SG is same so thats ok

if its from the US it is 110v and thats going to make a funny noise then go mortally bang

rgds

ex reg

I thought the UK was 240v.
Not that it makes an yuge amount of difference.

Domino

yes I remember those days but I remembered an article about ours changing to be the same as the rest of Europe so I checked and got
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity
which actually says 230v refering to that lovely word "harmonisation"

as u say not a yuge difference and within the tolerances of the equipment

from the article above you can probably see the UK|European countries of influence vs the US countries, their voltages being dependent on who built the power stations