Singaporeans coming home?

[JWNYsg]

Just wanted to ask about Singaporeans who have been away and are coming home, whether by circumstance or choice

Has it been easy?

especially if you have been away for lengthy periods?

or if your spouse or kids do not know much about Singapore?

the pandemic has made long term planning extremely uncertain

Singapore is very much my home but I am worried my foreign wife may not be able to adapt and also there is heightened scrutiny of foreigners who do not seemed to be welcomed

from a career perspective, coming home may be good for me. But longer work hours and commitment may not be good for us

my parent may be happy to have her only child home, but am i depriving my significant other of her obligations in case her elderly parents move on

I have some job offers to consider and appreciate any sharing. Thank you

[abbby]

Some are returning and some are not, depending on their circumstances and where they are now..

Where you located now? And which country is your wife from..?

[smoulder]

My thoughts are that there may not be too many people here in your exact situation, but there certainly are a ton of foreigners who made the move here not knowing anyone in this country. They then made this place home. So at least, you could probably get a lot of affirmation from foreigners on how to adapt to the life here.

[JWNYsg]

Some are returning and some are not, depending on their circumstances and where they are now..

Where you located now? And which country is your wife from..?

Currently residing and working in Thailand, where my wife is from. We are legally married and registered from Bangkok

She is a home maker and we do not have kids together.

Her English proficiency is not good

Age is on my side because i am below 40, and this is my second overseas posting. I took a pay cut many years back to reside and work here. There are opportunities opening up back home in Singapore for the financial sectors and i am looking for a package (no expat benefits) similar to my previous salary in Singapore. SGD130-180k per annum

In Thailand after the exorbitant income tax i take home about SGD8K a month (but no CPF for example)

I can stay with my parents (i do not have any HDB ownership currently)

i presume other than settling in, we could have a normal decent life back home?

our worry is the quality of life might not be as good. The only push factor to go home is that Singapore seems to be handling the pandemic better and it could be my last chance to go back and work my way up the corporate ladder again

Appreciate any further thoughts. Many thanks

[JWNYsg]

My thoughts are that there may not be too many people here in your exact situation, but there certainly are a ton of foreigners who made the move here not knowing anyone in this country. They then made this place home. So at least, you could probably get a lot of affirmation from foreigners on how to adapt to the life here.

Thank you for your kind reply.

There is a long term uncertainty here in Thailand based on various factors, economy, political stability, etc

My view is that if there is a good opportunity to return to, that would be ideal (instead of getting retrenched here as that would put my visa status in limbo as well)

the apprehension is more how my wife could adapt back in Singapore. Homesickness, way of life, etc

The only reason i took a pay cut many years back was to accommodate her and move to Thailand to live as a married couple. We do not have any debts here or in Singapore but in way, life has to start from scratch again

[Addadude]

In 1997 an Irish friend of mine transferred from Jakarta to Singapore with his (young) Indonesian wife. They had barely been married a year. Within 8 months she was home sick for Jakarta and her parents, crying herself to sleep every night and he reluctantly packed up and moved back. Less than 3 weeks after they were back she told him she missed Singapore...

I'm hoping your wife is more mature than my friend's missus was at the time. I think Singapore would be a good move for all the reasons you outlined above but you will undoubtedly need to give her a lot of support and extra TLC until she settles down. If she can find ways to interact with the Thai expat community here, it will make her transition a lot easier.

[JWNYsg]

In 1997 an Irish friend of mine transferred from Jakarta to Singapore with his (young) Indonesian wife. They had barely been married a year. Within 8 months she was home sick for Jakarta and her parents, crying herself to sleep every night and he reluctantly packed up and moved back. Less than 3 weeks after they were back she told him she missed Singapore...

I'm hoping your wife is more mature than my friend's missus was at the time. I think Singapore would be a good move for all the reasons you outlined above but you will undoubtedly need to give her a lot of support and extra TLC until she settles down. If she can find ways to interact with the Thai expat community here, it will make her transition a lot easier.

Thank you for your kind reply

in essence I may be over thinking it myself. My mrs hasn't made any demands

Being Singaporean, i am extremely cautious (kiasu) as relocation is a big thing, we do not have any property in Thailand so we are leaving for a period of time permanently if i do choose to go back

thanks for your support. I definitely would need to reach out to some of our friends who are based there with their Thai wives.

[smoulder]

Yes agreed. I can now understand why you are a little cautious. Definitely try to get in touch with fellow Thais here to help her settle in. Language barrier can be a big thing.

Apart from that, little things like going to Golden mile to shop or eat may be useful to give her a little taste of home.

[abbby]

I think it would be easier for you to assimilate than your wife since its your home country and you have family in Singapore. But there is quite a lot of Thai people here as well..and thai food, products etc are pretty common. I think her basic English proficiency should able to get by.

I think one of the plus points of Thailand is food is cheaper and property is cheaper...cost of living is much lower, compared to Singapore where everything is getting very expensive, food, cars, properties. But again, maybe that can be offset with your lower taxes than in Thailand in some ways.

[JWNYsg]

Yes agreed. I can now understand why you are a little cautious. Definitely try to get in touch with fellow Thais here to help her settle in. Language barrier can be a big thing.

Apart from that, little things like going to Golden mile to shop or eat may be useful to give her a little taste of home.

You're right. Stuff i can think off top of my head, medical. In Thailand everyone goes to hospitals for treatment mostly. Even common flu. Clinics are not so popular. Back home, clinics are usually for day to day illness or injury. So hopefully can find some Thai speaking clinic.

or stuff like a hair dresser, i am sure GM will have some of those. And visits to their supermarket for local essentials

I think it would be easier for you to assimilate than your wife since its your home country and you have family in Singapore. But there is quite a lot of Thai people here as well..and thai food, products etc are pretty common. I think her basic English proficiency should able to get by.

I think one of the plus points of Thailand is food is cheaper and property is cheaper...cost of living is much lower, compared to Singapore where everything is getting very expensive, food, cars, properties. But again, maybe that can be offset with your lower taxes than in Thailand in some ways.

If i do return, will try and get her to go for some basic English lessons once she is familiar with some travel routes by public transportation. She is not young, so it would be harder to motivate for such things but fingers crossed

I worry about cabin fever for her in foreign land at beginning. Also i definitely need to commit more hours at work (let's call it normal Singaporean hours). Unlike in Thailand where most people log off at 5 or 6pm due to travelling requirements home

My HDB unit won't be like our current rented condo, but home is home. We can manage these things hopefully

thanks everyone and wishing all a nice weekend

[Lisafuller]

I think it would be easier for you to assimilate than your wife since its your home country and you have family in Singapore. But there is quite a lot of Thai people here as well..and thai food, products etc are pretty common. I think her basic English proficiency should able to get by.

I think one of the plus points of Thailand is food is cheaper and property is cheaper...cost of living is much lower, compared to Singapore where everything is getting very expensive, food, cars, properties. But again, maybe that can be offset with your lower taxes than in Thailand in some ways.

Agree, although basic english proficiency is technically enough to get by, it will be difficult to assimilate since the language barrier will be so prominent.

[sp786]

"Kampung" Thought - Home is where the heart is

"Global" Thought - Home is where the $$$ is.

I reckon you could get her a sponsored PR / Citizenship and get over your concerns, for you don't want to worry too much during such testing times and strain yourself. Based on anecdotal evidence I reckon foreign spouses from the ASEAN region are getting this approval somewhat easily.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Actually anecdotal evidence suggests just the opposite with the exception of Malaysias. Girls from Thailand, Philippines, VN & PRCs have a harder time as there are so many working girls who come from those countries, that ICA really goes over them with a fine tooth comb. Too many senior guys have lost their CPF to some of these women. Granted I sure this is not the case here as the marriage has been ongoing and they have been married for a couple of years already and living in her country. But there have been lots of cases where guys have gone to those countries and married and tried to bring the new brides back to Singapore. And subsequently had major problems. This is also one of the reasons that girls working here on WPs have to get permission from the MOM to marry here. If they don't, they'll be given a 1 yr ltvp if pregnant, and then shipped back to their home country but by allowing the birth here, the father, (if they got married), will have his name on the BC and the child will be given SGC. But at the end of the woman's LTVP they will not renew it. I know this first hand as my nephew fell into that trap with a Pinoy woman. The baby is now 14 years old and has been living with me for the last 13 of them. Don't ask about the worthless P.O.S. nephew.

[smoulder]

Actually anecdotal evidence suggests just the opposite with the exception of Malaysias. Girls from Thailand, Philippines, VN & PRCs have a harder time as there are so many working girls who come from those countries, that ICA really goes over them with a fine tooth comb. Too many senior guys have lost their CPF to some of these women. Granted I sure this is not the case here as the marriage has been ongoing and they have been married for a couple of years already and living in her country. But there have been lots of cases where guys have gone to those countries and married and tried to bring the new brides back to Singapore. And subsequently had major problems. This is also one of the reasons that girls working here on WPs have to get permission from the MOM to marry here. If they don't, they'll be given a 1 yr ltvp if pregnant, and then shipped back to their home country but by allowing the birth here, the father, (if they got married), will have his name on the BC and the child will be given SGC. But at the end of the woman's LTVP they will not renew it. I know this first hand as my nephew fell into that trap with a Pinoy woman. The baby is now 14 years old and has been living with me for the last 13 of them. Don't ask about the worthless P.O.S. nephew.

SMS, if I'm not wrong, the usual red flags are when the Singaporean male in question is in the low income category.

On the other hand, I have heard of a couple of cases where the men were mid to high income and didn't have issues for PR for their Vietnamese wives.

[JWNYsg]

I think it would be easier for you to assimilate than your wife since its your home country and you have family in Singapore. But there is quite a lot of Thai people here as well..and thai food, products etc are pretty common. I think her basic English proficiency should able to get by.

I think one of the plus points of Thailand is food is cheaper and property is cheaper...cost of living is much lower, compared to Singapore where everything is getting very expensive, food, cars, properties. But again, maybe that can be offset with your lower taxes than in Thailand in some ways.

Agree, although basic english proficiency is technically enough to get by, it will be difficult to assimilate since the language barrier will be so prominent.

Yes I would need to find ways to make her feel comfortable

In Thailand I’m quite by myself a lot and occasionally meet Singaporean friends. Never felt out of place per se

Just want my wife to feel the same