DaveTV

Hello everyone,

New here as I've just been offered a job with a large media company in Singapore.

My partner and I (not married) are thinking over the move but just need to make sure it would be right for us. We want an adventure abroad but don't want to be living on the breadline!

My new job would hopefully bring in £40k a year (80k SGD). Is this enough to live on? I really have no idea!

What areas should we be looking to live in? We like city life but also the chance to gain a bit of quiet. It looks like everything's on offer in Singapore. Does coastal life mean more expensive?

My girlfriend is a nurse specialist working in cancer treatment. Any ideas on where to look for work for her in health in Singapore? Is it more likely she'd be able to get work once she got there? Or are agencies available for expats to find work?

And what would be the difficulties of us moving there together but not being married?

I'm sorry to swamp you all with questions but we're feeling pretty swamped by what seems like an amazing opportunity but one which seems HUGE!

Thanks,
Dave

Englishmum

Have you been offered a local package only, or does it also include medical insurance, accommodation, flights etc.?

Singapore is very expensive (local food can be cheap, but you won't want to live on ramen noodles for every meal!) and alcohol is astronomical....so are cars, don't even think about having a car there! You may choose to live in a flat on an HDB estate (Housing Development Board) to keep costs low and the further from the CBD then the cheaper it will be. (Spouse has just walked in from work, says a flat may be approx S$4k per year but definitely less in an HDB). Income tax will be low though!

Furniture costs are expensive but there is always IKEA or the expat moving out sales....or nasty tacky looking stuff in local estates. Some landlords also 'rent' furniture but again, much of it is tacky stuff they've had for years (and I would *not* want a secondhand mattress). Clothes and shoes are expensive if you are a normal Western size....there is Marks & Spencers but it can be twice or triple the price than the UK shops.

I'm amused about you comment re; 'coastal living' in Singapore as it's not the tropical paradise which you may be imagining.....much of the land has been reclaimed from the sea and there are no nice beaches (a lot of rubbish from the hundreds of ships moored nearby makes it to the shoreline as well as oily slicks) as well as the huge port and industrial areas. It's not a good idea to swim in the sea, even at Sentosa (a pool is the best choice).

I'm out of touch with salaries (spouse was on a full expat package, but he is in senior management) but you may be able to get more info on http://www.expatsingapore.com (there is a section for jobs/careers).

It may be possible for your g/f to find work as a nurse....but the salary will almost certainly be less than in the UK. They have many nurses from the Philippines who are happy to work in Singapore as they can earn far more than they can back home.

For your girlfriend to get a 'Social Visit Pass' (for residency) you may need to get the British High Commission to write a letter stating that you have been living together for X amount of years as if you were married (you will need to provide proof). To get the very latest info, you can phone the Singapore High Commission in London and enquire (google for their website).

However, it's a great place to be an expat and explore SE Asia and beyond

https://www.coldstorage.com.sg/onlin...g/Default.aspx (food prices)

ex reg

I think Englishmum meant to write S$4k pm rather than pa.

All the people I've known who've viewed working overseas as an adventure or a 2 year holiday have found out that that type of thinking is not the way to go and things have usually ended badly for them and their employers.

Anyway, good luck.

Bocat

Hi Dave

$80k doesn't seem a lot in Singapore but then we are a family of 4 and there are only 2 of you. It probably is do-able - but as Englishmum said - Singapore is not a cheap place to live.

For apartments etc - HDBs are certainly a cheaper option but most people who come over here are more keen on the idea of a condo with a pool etc. Check out www.iproperty.com.sg and www.propertyguru.com/sg to get a good idea of what's available, sizes and prices. And do bear in mind that most landlords ask for 2 months deposit (a pretty substantial amount!)

Englishmum's right - cars are extortionate here. We lease one - but even that costs a fortune. My recommendation would be to find somewhere close to an MRT line as the MRT is pretty quick generally.

Is your job offering any benefits like medical insurance or payment of your rent? Medical care can be pretty costly here.

We're not trying to put you off honestly but Singapore really is not a cheap place to live so just want to give you a realistic picture.

Please feel free to ask any other questions you might think of.

bakedbean

I've really no idea how it works re employment passes if you are not married, but can say that there is a National Cancer Centre at Singapore General Hospital. I know of foreigners working there so I guess it might be possible.

Yorkieabroad

Sorry to dredge up an old thread....

We were in singapore for 8 years, but left 10 years ago.

We are now going thru the seemingly annual "there's a possibility of a job back there, what will it take to go" sort of chat.

One aspect of that is cars....Last time I bought a Honda Civic for 110k because a) there was only me, which grew to me + wife + kid and b) company gave me a 10 year interest free loan.

This time there will be 5 of us (3 kids age 7-10) and no company loan, and we may only be there for 1-1.5 years. So, can anyone give me an idea of what sort of price would it be to lease a car that would seat 5 of us for 1-2 years?

Thanks

Englishmum

Hiya!

As you may know my spouse left Singapore last Summer for another posting in Zug, Switzerland. The car he leased was a Nissan Murano. It was brand new when he took out the lease in October 2008, yet strangely had a slot for playing cassettes....! There was also a camera when reversing the car which often fogged up in the rain. You've probably seen Murano's in Texas, they are very room inside and would easily accommodate a family of 5. I seem to recall that the lease was approx $2900 per month. You can definitely get cheaper leases, especially for older cars but at the time my spouse had a 'use it or lose it' car allowance.

I did also notice (after being away for 8 years) that cars had definitely increased in size...lots more 'minivans' and SUV's....congestion also much worse, especially in peak hours. However we also noticed that the population figures had increased a lot as well, more crowds and more construction. TBH I know it's great to have a car in Singapore when one has kids, on our second posting there we lived within walking distance of a bus stop with a number of bus routes and a 10 min walk to the Dover MRT station (we lived on a condo in Mount Sinai). Quite often I'd take public transport as it was less hassle than driving the car! One guy who lived across from us was a Taiwanese expat, he had 7 cars in Singapore including a flourescent lime-green Lamborghini which always seemed to be parked outside the entrance of the St. Regis hotel. More money than sense... There are so many Ferrari's, Aston Martin's, Bentley's and Lamborghini's there now.

One also has to take a compulsory driving test, it must be done within a year - you can't just show a foreign licence to get a Singapore one (but you still keep your US or/and UK licence. It's a theory test on a computer screen so you don't have to go out in a car with an examiner.

This incident happened last month in Singapore. A Ferrari driven by a mainland Chinese guy in his early 30s with a young woman passenger (pregnant wife and son at home) went through a red light at Bugis at around 4am, killing not just the Ferrari driver but also a taxi driver and his Japanese passenger. It sparked off an anti-foreigner debate:

Yorkieabroad

Hi there - I had a feeling you'd be along sooner or later!!

I saw that your husband was in Zug (frying pan/fire cost of living wise!), but keep getting confused as to where you were now as you seem to pop up all over the place

Thanks for that on the lease cost - yes, there are a lot of muranos here - cute little things next to the F-250's ;-)

I'd heard it was getting more crowded there, and the traffic even worse - we have some British friends there who went PR years back, and they are looking at leaving as soon as their youngest has finished at UWC - they've had enough, but love the school too much to leave. I'm reluctant to fire more questions at them, as this really does seem to come up every year, and I'm scared of turning into the boy who cries wolf!! However this time, the company that are courting my wife are well aware of the family situation and have already agreed to pay for an inflated lease allowance and the kids tuition, which is a start, so it may be a bit more real.

Last time we had a baby, and taxi's weren't an option I really fancied too much with carseats (or lack of!) and strollers etc. I guess this time it may be easier, but if we are looking at getting the kids into SAS (if we can), and wife is working in the CBD, I think we'll still be looking for a car. Plus we'll be looking at spending quite a bit of time north of the causeway....

That was a scary crash - just shows how quickly it can all go south. I had to smile at the taxi drivers reaction though -"ay, ay, ay - lucky ah?" I haven't missed that accent!!

Englishmum

I'm currently back in NJ, I've applied for US citizenship and hopefully will get it by the end of the year, then I'll relocate to wherever my spouse happens to be lol! We will have to keep the house in NJ for a bit or our son will be homeless...

Singapore has changed *a lot* since you were last there; Orchard Road will be unrecognisable - the nice little green with the tropical trees on the corner of Orchard Rd & Paterson Rd - ie opp Tang's and the former Borders (looks like a glass witch's hat) - at Orchard MRT station has gone It has been replaced by a huge 'upscale' shopping mall, with all the usual shops like Luis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada which you see at every other mall on that street. The Brazilian guy - a founder of Facebook - who just gave up his US citizenship, lives in the penthouse in the tower there. There are more 'upgraded' and new malls further along OR too. Orchard Towers is still exactly the same though, with the same clientele/ladyboys lol!







One thing which may be of interest is that there is the new construction of the Circle Line trains (still ongoing) and lots more stations. Holland Village was a total mess when we were there but they've probably completed that section by now. My spouse has an expat working for him in Singapore who lives in a cluster house at Bukit Timah; the rent was just raised because the house is near a new Circle Line station. Quite a lot of American families with kids at SAS live in Bukit Timah for quick access to the school as they don't want to be stuck out in (boring) Woodlands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_MRT_Line

The link below is pretty good for checking out the kind of properties now available in Singapore and 'asking prices' for rent (negotiable of course!). You can see pretty much every condo or cluster house, landed house in Singapore even if there isn't anything available for rent - loads of pictures and list of facilities etc. We lived in one of the duplex penthouses at Montview condo....there is/was a massive complex going up neaby called the Trizon. There were quite a few Texan families in our condo - mostly with Exxon Mobil. You could spot the women a mile off with their 'big hair', shorts & sneakers with white socks and long manicured talons lol! The 'oilwives' as they called themselves only seemed to want to mix with fellow Texans.

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/housi...er-housing.htm

Perhaps one consideration might be to just rent a car for weekend getaways? Btw the good thing is that there are now quite a number of budget airlines eg. Tiger, Air Asia, Scoot for regional trips (inc. some destinations in Oz with JetStar - owned by Qantas) and we flew to Bali with JetStar. There are also some double decker luxury buses with wifi etc. going a few times a day between Singapore and KL.

http://www.budgetairlineguide.com/bu...s-in-singapore

Hope this helps!

Yorkieabroad

Thanks for that - those links help a lot.

I lived in a place called Singapore for 8 years, but I think it must have been somewhere else, because it bore no resemblance to that place you sent over!! I'm gonna be a newbie all over again...aaaagghhhhh.

I can't believe the number of new condos there are! However I did a search on the property link you sent, with our criteria and the very first hit was about 200 yards from the last place we lived. Must be trying to tell us something.

I suspect it may all go up in smoke again though, as IT consultancy my wife has been talking to came back and pretty much agreed everything we were asking for - now he has to put it to the client and convince them to take her on. He reckons he can, I'm not so sure....she didn't undersell herself, and the previous sticking points (schooling being the main one) were agreed without batting an eyelid. We shall see....

Steve fae Scotland

LTVP (Long Term Visitors Pass) is what my partner is on. Simple to apply for and pretty quick via one of the agencies here or a more lengthy process is DIY not too easy. Im on a work pass and her LTVP is linked directly to that. One issue is banking, as you're not married getting a joint account will be difficult. That said I have two cards and just give onto the missus. That said I'm legging it after 5 years here over to Dubai and its tax free status. Like mentioned please try to get the ex pat package - accommodation (SGD3500-4000 minimum) Med and Dental Plan, Transport allowance (1500 car rental plus 500 fuel card). Be aware you need to convert your UK license before 6 months via a simple touch screen test.
Good luck and let me know if you need any more info.

Bocat

Hi Yorkieabroad

Have you considered living just over the border in Malaysia if you return? If you hop over to the Malaysia part of the forum there's a lot of discussion on there about living in Malaysia and working in Singapore.

We finally made the move a couple of weeks ago after almost 4 years in Singapore. Can't give a full opinion on it as yet as I'm now in the UK for a holiday but I already love the space and peacefulness of it all.

There's a new international school opening there (Marlborough College which will have a UK based curriculum).

Just thought I'd throw this in as an alternative.

bakedbean

I think there's several threads going now. It's clearly a growing trend and not surprising as Singapore gets ever more expensive.

Domino

God, has it changed - Raffles must be rolling in his grave.

My first time in Singapore was end of 1964, was there the day they ceeded from the Malay Federation.
The first time I saw a 6ft 6in sikh with a huge white beard pull his bed across the doors of a bank I freaked out. Had had a few Tigers but this was just too much.

My last time was in 1973 and things were changing drastically, bulldozers had flattened the tin shacks and the high rise were going ever higher
Now there will never be the walk down from Kranji Wireless to the village, nor the old bars in Nee Soon......

think I will go back to all my old photos and fond memories of the place

ex reg

What?
Like these.
http://timlight.mymalaya.com/Singapo...ges/index.html