Advice needed as I am about to sign a contract to relocate

[JB]

Hi
We are from the UK and are about to sign a contract to relocate to Singapore end of this year for 3 years. Any general advice on the below would be greatly appreciated as we negotiate the contract

1. Pre school - our daughter will be 3 can you recommend and good pre schools?
2. Do most families have maid?.......... if so are they live in and advice on where to find one.. does and don't
3. Any experiences on accomodation... house or condo?

Would love to hear the experiences from other British families

[Bafana]

You can get good maids from the Tanjong Katong complex - Types available include Filopino, Indonesian, Indian and Sri Lankian.

The Fillopino maid have good english and are chrsitians but this come at an extra S$100-150 per month premium and one day off a week...

I have an Indonesian maid who is greta and has picked up english very quickly - She costs around S$600 per month full time live in with no days off(The fee includes Government levy which is at present S$340 per month). Got her from the Admore Agency at the above complex...

Hope this helps...

[beenhere10years]

I'm not British but I may be able to help you a bit. First of all, if it's a good job, then come. Singapore is a particularly nice foreign posting, especially with children your age. There a re so many stay-at-home Moms with young children.

Your questions are too broad to answer here without a lot more information but:

1) There are tons of preschools, you will have no trouble at all finding one close to where you decide to live.

2) I would say most expats from the UK with kids have maids. Virtually all my friends have maids. It's one of the greatest advantages to living here.

3) There are so many different types of housing, impossible to sum it up here. You will have lots to choose from unless, like in the UK you are in the lowest bracket or the highest. In between there is a lot to see and consider.

I hope this helps,

BH10Y

[Guest]

You can get good maids from the Tanjong Katong complex - Types available include Filopino, Indonesian, Indian and Sri Lankian.

The Fillopino maid have good english and are chrsitians but this come at an extra S$100-150 per month premium and one day off a week...

I have an Indonesian maid who is greta and has picked up english very quickly - She costs around S$600 per month full time live in with no days off(The fee includes Government levy which is at present S$340 per month). Got her from the Admore Agency at the above complex...

Hope this helps...

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Hi Bafana, do you think it is a value-for-money for paying only SGD 260 for a human being working (if not serving) for you with no off day (probably must stand by 24 hours a day, when your family need anything). You even pay her much less than levy you pay to govt. Any chance for her to get career advancement or pay increase, at least she speaks english a bit now.

(Am I too harsh?)

Hi JB,
do you think religion is important for you to hire a maid? If so, Bafana has good info for you that filipino is christian...I will add more, most srilankan is buddhist, most Indonesians are moslem, and Indian/bangladesh, some Hindi and some moslems.