# Moving to Singapore



## claribel

Hi,

I am looking to move to Singapore in about 3-4 month time. It seems that I should get a job (and visa) paying around S$ 80,000 PA in the first year. However I want to get a better idea what kind of a living this would buy. My girlfriend is looking to join me and hopefully she can add to the salary as well.

It seems that housing seems to be the biggest cost in Singapore, although I live in London and it is not really cheap here either. Can anyone help me to get a better understanding how much a 1 (maybe 2) bedroom flat would cost and what areas should I be looking at? Or any other tips, why Singapore is (or is not) a good place to be.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Cheers

Timo


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## ptrlee

Singapore is the most liveable city in the world for Asian expatriates. Racism is rife in some countries like Australia which saw a spate of protests against Indians lately, but not in Singapore where the ruling party is extremely protective of foreigners to the extent of dishing out preferential treatment to them. The quality of life is amongst the best in Singapore.


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## lorgnette

although I live in London and it is not really cheap here either. 

In London living as a local is much cheaper with local products and larger consumer markets available. Living in Singapore as experienced by locals and expats bearing a whole range of costly exported commodities added to high accommodation rentals (even with comparable low public transit costs) make Singapore a more expensive business destination. If you arrive in hopes of finding a job, you might join a coterie of desperate unemployed foreigners with limited stay visas sharing a similar fate-- many have left condos failing to land a suitable position. 

Can anyone help me to get a better understanding how much a 1 (maybe 2) bedroom flat would cost and what areas should I be looking at? 
It ranges from SGD1.5K for 1 room studio to 3K-6K for apartment/condos depends on location and radius to train stations and city centers.

Or any other tips, why Singapore is (or is not) a good place to be.
Currently there are tightened Immigration regulations on foreigners' entries and length of stays; unless you have a job waiting, it might be worth waiting another six month in case laws relax.


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## JWilliamson

Remember that Singapore is much hotter and the humidity is very high through out the year. The city is more congested and the flats will be much smaller.


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## veriya

if you think Singapore is an ideal place for you, you should check out Malaysia too. rental and other expenses are way cheaper, and you have more to explore too.


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## deanclark

Agree with JWilliamson and Veriya you could also try nearby country to Singapore . Singapore is very friendly and good place to live in but crowd and heat is very high.


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## ysayap

Singapore job market now a days is getting tough. Before coming here, do make sure that you already have a job.


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## Wherenext

I moved to Singapore from US in Jan this year. The move itself was a very stressful part of the life.
Singapore is a very expensive place to live. What area you would want to live will depend on where your work place is. And you guessed it right...housing here is the most expensive I have seen in many places. I have lived in France, Switzerland and US...but god!!! Singapore is expensive...
It would be a better to have a job offer in hand before you decide to come to Singapore as many of friends tell me that job situations here are not as nice as it used to be. However i managed to get a job within 2 mnths of arrival. I came here on my husband's dependent visa and started trying for a job once I reached here, but then again I already had 6 years of relevant work experience when I came to Singapore.

There are two kinds of housing available here...HDB(which is the govt build apartments) and the private condos(which are the ones constructed by private builders). Living in HDB would be cheaper than condo, but you will miss put on the amenities like Gym, swimming pool etc. Also there would not be guards for the place...not that it is necessary...Singapore is an extremely safe place to live in.
My husband and myself live in a two bedroom apartment in the Bukit Batok area and the rent is S$2700 per mnth and the apartment is not very big either...would be around 900-1000 sq ft. So it would do good if you can try and get a housing allowance from your employer.There are multiple websites which will give you an idea of what would be the rental in each place...just search of rental property in singapore...

The public transport system here is very reliable and cheap. I am not sure how London is but compared to US public transport here is heaven. Hiring a cab is also much cheaper than in the US..not sure about the comparison with London 
We did not even think about buying a car since it is SUPER EXPENSIVE.

Eating out is cheap in Singapore and most of the people here eat out on daily basis. Most of the households where both the partners are working, cooking is rare business in Singapore. I am Indian and I enjoy cooking food ..so my hubby and myself, we eat out only like twice a week max. If you go to a fine dine restaurant, it might cost you more, but the local food courts (food courts will be there near every train station here and also near apartment blocks) are really really cheap and they serve good food.

Liquor of any sorts(Wine/whisky etc) and cigarettes are super expensive!!! This is the saddest thing for my husband...ha ha...I dont drink/smoke so I am pretty ok with that 

Work life here is pretty demanding but I guess that is the general Asian culture. People slog long hrs and people here seem to be 'ok' with this fact. This was a major shock for us since this was not the culture in USA. 

We use A/C a lot and hence our electricity bill is high...it is almost S$ 350 - 400 a month. My friend seldom uses A?C and hers is only around $100-150 per month. So if you are the kind who cannot stand hot weather...you know what the figure would be.
TV, Phone and internet costs us S$150.

Both of us use taxis for travel to and fro work since we work almost at the end of Singapore(the place is called Joo Koon) and it costs us $1200 per month.

The monthly groceries would be around S$200-250 max. 
The rest of the expenses will depend on wht your and your partners intersts are.

Another advantage of SIngapore is that you can travel to a lot of places nearby for holidays...Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia etc.

Hope I was able to give you an idea of what the living costs and what are the advantages and disadvantages of moving to Singapore.


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## abbix

Thanks all for some pretty interesting posts. I'm an Indian, currently based in India. Am quite keen on relocating to Singapore. Have even been sending out my resume to tonnes of jobs, but not getting anywhere on that front. Wondering if anyone can help out with some effective (singapore-specific) job hunting tips? Or even names/contacts of some of the better headhunters would be useful. I cant afford the luxury of moving there and then looking for a job/work permit. So everything needs to be set up before I get to Singapore. Ofcourse, I would be more than happy to travel there for job interviews, etc. Have an MBA from one of India's best B-schools and over 10 years of experience in business research / corporate strategy. Can anyone provide any pointers on the job hunt?
Cheers,
Abbix


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## marks1

I think the best way is to go to the country and once there start a job search 
Good luck;-)


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## lorgnette

Have even been sending out my resume to tonnes of jobs, but not getting anywhere on that front. Wondering if anyone can help out with some effective (singapore-specific) job hunting tips? 


Abbix, 

Have your resume peer reviewed and proof read first. If you have been sending them out from India without receiving responses, probably the resume needs fine tuning. Even if you are in Singapore, unless you have a good resume you will likely not received any or many responses on ground too.


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## waiaung

For jobs, you should look thru JobsDB (Search on Google, cos theydont allow me to put URLs here) But warn you, Singaporeans are really reluctant to employ foreigners at the moment, as the ministry of man power is also tightening the rules about foreign labour as the locals are finding it difficult to get jobs. Good luck to you!

But S$ 80,000PA is a respectable income, and the middle income here in SG is considered from 3k to 5k PM.


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## CatExpat

It will be easier to finda job once you're already here, but if you need to get something before you arrive, then contact a few recruitment agencies (call them for a chat - don't rely on emailing your resume as they won't respond).

Rent is high, but the country is small. So if you don't mind travelling for a while to get to work, you can live a long way out (say 45 minutes to an hour from work) and pay a fair bit less rent. Also, if you look for an older condo, it will be cheaper and also bigger. "Older" in Singapore means only about 15 years old, so the places are still very nice. You won't be able to get a lease on a place until you have an employment pass, so if you don't want to be in a serviced apartment, you will need to have that sorted out before you arrive.

Good luck finding a job.


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