# Dubai or Singapore for entrepreneur



## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

I am a self employed individual from India and am looking to move out of India for various reasons - quality of life, heavy pollution, red tape in Govt machinery, unprofessional attitude of people in India, unnecessary high taxes, arbitrary capital control FEMA laws (such as resident Indians banned from purchasing real estate abroad which is ridiculous). Anyways I am determined to move and am in a dilemma whether to choose Dubai over Singapore or not. From what I read, Singapore scores over Dubai on a number of factors but immigration as an entrepreneur is far more easy and predictable in Dubai than Singapore. Dubai is also nearer to India than Singapore. I would like to choose Dubai but am disturbed to read few comments and would like to know to what extent they are real and how much they can affect me.

1. Traffic as bad as New Delhi with lots of errant drivers, honking, etc. Is the situation as bad as New Delhi where traffic follows no rule and road rage is so common ? 

2. Locals are always favoured by police even if they are wrong. Need to know how much of it is a real life problem ? Is it the case expats are always scared when they walk nearby a local due to this ?

3. Slow processes in Govt offices, like getting driving licence, etc. Need to know if things work really slow there. For instance, if you need an electrician or plumber do they come on time to fix things or do at their own pace like India ? How does the system responds to emergencies is what I would like to know to get a feel of professionalism their.

4. Getting school admission for child is extremely difficult - is that true ?

5. Hot weather - how bad could it be for someone familiar with summers of North India.

6. Pollution. I know Singapore is very green and has minimal pollution. New Delhi air stinks on the other hand. What about Dubai ?

I have visited Singapore but not Dubai. Will make a trip to Dubai after hearing comments on this thread.


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Why don't you make a trip to Dubai first before you make a comparison? People's experiences vastly differ in this city and only you can decide, after visiting, if this is a place where you would like to set up a business and live as an expat.

No, traffic is not like New Delhi.

The UAE follows the Sharia law. Locals are not "favored" by the police if they are wrong. What is right is right over hear and there are no 2 ways about it. That being said, you are not a citizen so do not have basic rights as is expected in India, although in India people literally get away with murder if they have connections.

Government processes are extremely smooth...my experience at least. Don't know if you've heard otherwise

Schools are plenty and they are also very expensive. Admissions can be difficult if you choose a school that is very popular

Hot weather - we have air conditioning. All Indians seem to be doing fine.

Pollution - you can decide once you visit but first, why don't you check statistics online?


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

pamela0810 said:


> Why don't you make a trip to Dubai first before you make a comparison? People's experiences vastly differ in this city and only you can decide, after visiting, if this is a place where you would like to set up a business and live as an expat.
> 
> No, traffic is not like New Delhi.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for the response. Sure I would make a trip to Dubai, particularly when you say traffic is not like New Delhi, this is enough to make a trip and judge.

I don't mind expensive schools but only worry about admission process if it is as bad as in Gurgaon/New Delhi (it requires a different post altogether to describe the horrendous experience of school admission process which requires not only test of 4 year old but also their parents).


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

currently_indian said:


> I don't mind expensive schools but only worry about admission process if it is as bad as in Gurgaon/New Delhi (it requires a different post altogether to describe the horrendous experience of school admission process which requires not only test of 4 year old but also their parents).


Its not easy to get into top schools in Dubai either. However, you should be able to generally get a place in a decent-ish school (but this may not be your 1st/2nd/3rd choice school).

From what I know (2nd hand info), its more expensive and slightly more difficult to get into a decent school in Singapore.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

pamela0810 said:


> Why don't you make a trip to Dubai first before you make a comparison?


Ok I was in Dubai from Dec 19 to Dec 23 and I was able to extract lot of info about the place as I could in these 5 days. In brief, my conclusion is that it's a no brainer for an Indian living in Delhi or North India to move to Dubai for better life as long as he can make enough money to live a decent life (for people living in South Indian cities such as Bangalore, they may need to consider how many points they give to weather to make a decision). Let me try to frame my findings for the benefit of others who may be in similar situation as well as ask few questions that could not be answered in this short trip.

1. Quality of life seems far better. Almost all stores in the malls are managed by westerners and have abundant choices of goods and services, be it electronic items, restaurants & cuisines, Organic/biodynamic food items, vegan multivitamins, kids toys, so on. Taxi fares are also cheap. 

2. Dubai has 53% Indians so it is natural to expect some things that are bad in India to be there as well. Had some negative experiences when dealing with Indians and Indian tour operator. 

3. Dubai is an city created from desert and reclaimed land, they have done a commendable job to create such a beautiful city & artificial greenery at some places. But due to the desert nature of the land, we saw sand particles suspended in the air and the views were not clear. We couldn't see Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab clearly. I am not sure if this effect is seasonal or this remains throughout the year. Any comments from the expats in Dubai ? Does this contributes to allergies ?

4. I setup a company in Fujairah creative city and would need to get the driving licence from Fujairah once the residence visa is processed. How easy or time consuming would it be to get driving licence in Fujairah (or I can get it in Dubai as well) ?

5. I visited Dubai in the month of Dec when the weather is finest. How tolerable is the weather in summer months ? I am from Delhi and understand we may have slightly lesser temperature and humidity but our homes are not well equipped to deal with the summer whereas homes in Dubai are better equipped. Is it a cake walk for people in North India to tolerate summers in Dubai ? I am particularly thinking about my kid how she would react to the extreme summer in home, outside & school.

6. Healthcare : India is notoriously known for its healthcare, where there are scams and scandals even in big known hospitals. In India, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear patient A was treated surgically for disease B when he had no disease at all just for the sake of money. Most of the doctors are not competent too. I would like to know about healthcare in UAE - cost of medical insurance (for ppl in mid thirties without medical history), quality of healthcare, and how quick is the emergency response by medical team ?


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

I lived in Singapore for several years and moved to Dubai three months ago. Before that I visited Dubai at least 10 times in different times of the year. I think everything depends on the individual and requirements:

1. Quality of life is really hard to define. I still struggle to understand why 5 out of top10 cities are from NZ/AU in such rankings, but if we take such rankings into accounts neither Dubai nor Singapore is on top. Everything is available in Dubai, except it won't beat Singapore for electronics. Groceries are 1/3 cheaper than in Singapore. Restaurants are better value for money in Dubai.

2. There are plenty of indians in Singapore as well.

3. The "fog" effect is seasonal, I believe it depends on winds. There are beautiful clear skies with excellent visibility most of the time I have been here. I remember when I came here for 4 days in December last year and it was raining for 3 days.

4. You can't get driving licence in Dubai if your residence visa is from Fujairah. You need to travel to Fujairah and exchange your driving licence, but first you have to obtain NOC from Creative City. I don't know if the process for indians is as seamless as for EU nationals, but whole process took me around one hour excluding driving back and forth.

5. I can't comment on this, although I was in Dubai in August and you can barely walk even at 3am. I still think that having two seasons is better than having one (Singapore).

6. Not much experience yet although my pregnant wife went to spinal surgeon, who upon checking the MRI and taking into account the pregnancy was advising against the surgery while other surgeon in our home country was pushing for surgery. Also her gynae is very nice, so our experience has been positive so far. Prices are on the higher end, comparable to Singapore, but I have a feeling that Singapore has overall better trained specialists as well as better hospitals. I was not impressed with City Hospital rooms. Although American Hospital is okay, 5* hospitals in Singapore are nicer.

For entrepreneurs Singapore is obviously better. The rules are clear, everything is pretty much hassle free, you pay low taxes with pleasure seeing how efficient everything work. Perfection can be boring for some after some time as well, but it is no brainer that Singapore is a better place to run business overall. Immigration is tougher so you need to pay yourself a nice salary, prove that you have contracts with the clients, otherwise they will reject the employment pass.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Malbec said:


> I lived in Singapore for several years and moved to Dubai three months ago. Before that I visited Dubai at least 10 times in different times of the year. I think everything depends on the individual and requirements:
> 
> 1. Quality of life is really hard to define. I still struggle to understand why 5 out of top10 cities are from NZ/AU in such rankings, but if we take such rankings into accounts neither Dubai nor Singapore is on top. Everything is available in Dubai, except it won't beat Singapore for electronics. Groceries are 1/3 cheaper than in Singapore. Restaurants are better value for money in Dubai.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your valuable feedback.

1. I am not sure on what rankings are based on, but as you said you get everything in Dubai, albeit things are expensive - you get anything from needle to helicopter imported at flat 5% custom duty. May be the rankings take into account affordability of the place too.

2. Oh so the fog is very seasonal and temporary. It feels so relaxing,

3. It looks like Singaporean population is more competent, alert, fast & active which reflects everywhere from doctors & hospitals to electricians & plumbers. I think Singapore wins here clearly. 

4. Singapore is good for entrepreneurs, they have good support such as incubators, investor networks, and even subsidise labor cost as well as some of startup expenses. It also has natural greenery as opposed to artificial greenery in Dubai. I was seriously evaluating Singapore before but from what I understood, its very difficult to get a visa if you are a one man team. I have been making revenues from past 5 years but people said chances of getting employment visa for myself are less with estimates varying from 10% to 80%. Moreover if you get visa you may need to show that you have hired locals or else they may not renew your visa. Dubai on the other hand looks pure capitalist - you pay money and get visa for yourself, pay money get visa for employee, pay money to get anything as a matter of fact. Plus these days you see surge in dengue cases in Singapore which they are not able to control despite countless number of efforts. Some people may be concerned if they have small kids and elderly parents.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

I just learnt that in the month of Ramdan you are not allowed to drink water in public places such as mall, you may eat & drink in closed places or in hiding. Is that correct ? If yes, that counts as a big negative in terms of quality of life & freedom.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

currently_indian said:


> I just learnt that in the month of Ramdan you are not allowed to drink water in public places such as mall, you may eat & drink in closed places or in hiding. Is that correct ? If yes, that counts as a big negative in terms of quality of life & freedom.


Hi,
Yes that is true that during Ramadan you dont eat or drink in public - this is out of respect for our hosts, who are fasting for their holy month.
It is not a big problem and we really enjoy attending iftar events when they break their fast, after sunset.
It neither affects our quality of life or our freedom to live in the UAE - which is a very tolerant country to other faiths.
Cheers
Steve


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## The Rascal (Aug 6, 2014)

currently_indian said:


> I just learnt that in the month of Ramdan you are not allowed to drink water in public places such as mall, you may eat & drink in closed places or in hiding. Is that correct ? If yes, that counts as a big negative in terms of quality of life & freedom.


You've made up your mind already. Enjoy Singapore.


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