Has anyone moved from UK to Singapore? Thoughts.....
Discussion
I have just returned from a business trip to Singapore and wow, what a place!!
The weather is something that I loved, 30 to 35 degrees daily, but plenty of air conditoning. Monsoon rains, which were heavy, but the infastructure is kitted up for this, with covered walk ways leading you across town.
The whole place is very clean and little crime and a very relaxed feeling to it.
Has anyone made the jump from the UK to live and work in Singapore? How hard was this? Is it easy to find work? Average pay seems to be around 5000SGD/mth which is around £4k with less tax than here.
What is not to like?
Any help appreciated.
The weather is something that I loved, 30 to 35 degrees daily, but plenty of air conditoning. Monsoon rains, which were heavy, but the infastructure is kitted up for this, with covered walk ways leading you across town.
The whole place is very clean and little crime and a very relaxed feeling to it.
Has anyone made the jump from the UK to live and work in Singapore? How hard was this? Is it easy to find work? Average pay seems to be around 5000SGD/mth which is around £4k with less tax than here.
What is not to like?
Any help appreciated.
I moved from HK to Singapore, now taking some time off.
What do you do? A company will need to get a work permit for you, and show that no suitable locals for the job. But it is a fairly decent job market. The absolute easiest way is to be transferred by your company to their Singapore office.
One thing to watch out for, different salaries allow different levels of permit. At 5000 SGD a month, I think your work permit won’t allow you to bring in a partner (think you need more than 7000 SGD)
If you have kids, also need to pay for private education, as you are very unlikely to get them a place in a state school (does sometimes happen)
Obvious drawback - cars are extremely expensive to buy and run!
Rents are high.
I also loved the weather, but my wife missed the Seasons that you get in HK. It’s 30-35 degrees and humid year round...
Also note that you are competing against the world- in my team we had French, Indians, Thai, Mainland Chinese, Malaysians as well as Singaporeans. This means expat salaries only need to be enough to attract Indians and Chinese - who also obviously love Singapore , don’t expect a premium for a UK passport
What do you do? A company will need to get a work permit for you, and show that no suitable locals for the job. But it is a fairly decent job market. The absolute easiest way is to be transferred by your company to their Singapore office.
One thing to watch out for, different salaries allow different levels of permit. At 5000 SGD a month, I think your work permit won’t allow you to bring in a partner (think you need more than 7000 SGD)
If you have kids, also need to pay for private education, as you are very unlikely to get them a place in a state school (does sometimes happen)
Obvious drawback - cars are extremely expensive to buy and run!
Rents are high.
I also loved the weather, but my wife missed the Seasons that you get in HK. It’s 30-35 degrees and humid year round...
Also note that you are competing against the world- in my team we had French, Indians, Thai, Mainland Chinese, Malaysians as well as Singaporeans. This means expat salaries only need to be enough to attract Indians and Chinese - who also obviously love Singapore , don’t expect a premium for a UK passport
Edited by wisbech on Monday 28th October 10:03
Edited by wisbech on Monday 28th October 10:05
Edited by wisbech on Monday 28th October 10:10
Singapore frequently tops the list of most expensive cities in the world to live & often London doesn't even get to make the list. Rent is expensive, you'll need health insurance for the family & private schooling for the kids. Cars are unaffordable & you'll need to be a very desireable prospect for companies to want to bring you in. There's a huge pool of cheaper labour they can draw on before they pay Westerner rates: your best hope is that you're lucky & your company wants to send you there.
It's also a very small island. After a few months you'll be joining everyone else flying out elsewhere at the weekend.
I love it, but then I was paid to go there for short periods. Look in the Asia forum - there's a lot of information there.
It's also a very small island. After a few months you'll be joining everyone else flying out elsewhere at the weekend.
I love it, but then I was paid to go there for short periods. Look in the Asia forum - there's a lot of information there.
I lived and worked there for about 2 years. And to be honest the novelty wears off pretty quickly.
It’s horrendously expensive. Extremely cramped with very little left in the way of open spaces and you end up living in an AC bubble constantly as there really is no let up in the humidity.
It’s horrendously expensive. Extremely cramped with very little left in the way of open spaces and you end up living in an AC bubble constantly as there really is no let up in the humidity.
I've lived in SE Asia for 22 years, I have apartments in KL, and Jakarta, Currently work across the Sing Straights in Johor and live in a resort on the S China Sea. 5000sg dollars is far to low, you couldn't get a decent flat let alone a car. It's so low you wouldn't get a work permit. 3 times that would be a minimum plus accommodation.
Add to that Sing is just to expensive to enjoy, I live a 30 min ferry ride away and I haven't been there for 13 years, Sing looks impressive for a few days but reality is it has no personality,
I had a look at your profile you can forget the the Boxer
There is job on oil and gas.com at the moment for a Project Manger in Johor (which is much cheaper then Sing to live), that's offering 27,000 Sing a month tax paid and accommodation, and that's on the low side.
If you have kids then you need at least 40,000 US a year for school fees or fees paid by your employer.
Most people in Sing who like cars spend loads of time in Malaysia, as Sepang it's not a car friendly environment.
Don't forget medical cover, medical services in S E Asia is excellent but you have to pay.
Add to that Sing is just to expensive to enjoy, I live a 30 min ferry ride away and I haven't been there for 13 years, Sing looks impressive for a few days but reality is it has no personality,
I had a look at your profile you can forget the the Boxer
There is job on oil and gas.com at the moment for a Project Manger in Johor (which is much cheaper then Sing to live), that's offering 27,000 Sing a month tax paid and accommodation, and that's on the low side.
If you have kids then you need at least 40,000 US a year for school fees or fees paid by your employer.
Most people in Sing who like cars spend loads of time in Malaysia, as Sepang it's not a car friendly environment.
Don't forget medical cover, medical services in S E Asia is excellent but you have to pay.
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