About living in Singapore

[nusa]

Hi all,

I have some questions that I hope someone can clarify.

1. based on my search, the rental appt in an HDB costs, start from, S$1000, or condo could reach S$3000, even S$5000. Can someone tell me about the crime rate in an HDB or condo area ? Do you know if there is an area which is not recommended to live, for any reasons ( crime, a lot of people get drunk on the weekend night, school is realy realy far, or the nearest station is about 30 minutes by walk, etc ) ?

2. what taxes exists in Singapore ? Income tax, car tax, road tax, local tax, saving tax, etc ?

3. what is, in generale, the relationship between chinese and non-chinese ? Is the discrimination still 'obvious' ?

4. if you go to a public hospital, how much do you pay ? Do you have to wait for an operation ?

5. if you commit a crime, is it true that the state or government do not provide you a lawyer ?

I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks.

[Guest]

ha ha...are you planning to commit a crime? (ref point 5)[/quote]

[monstergal]

last comment was just a joke, k. (no offence)

[Guest]

Further to nusa's point one, some local people told me not to liver near Little India area, can anybody tell me why?

[jpatokal]

1. based on my search, the rental appt in an HDB costs, start from, S$1000, or condo could reach S$3000, even S$5000. Can someone tell me about the crime rate in an HDB or condo area ? Do you know if there is an area which is not recommended to live, for any reasons ( crime, a lot of people get drunk on the weekend night, school is realy realy far, or the nearest station is about 30 minutes by walk, etc ) ?

Crime rate in Singapore is pretty much uniformly low. The most important factor when deciding for most people is simply location: it's a trade-off between convenience and price. All HDBs have at least bus service to the nearest MRT, but places like Punggol, Pasir Ris and Jurong are another 30 minutes by train to the center...

2. what taxes exists in Singapore ? Income tax, car tax, road tax, local tax, saving tax, etc ?

It's not the taxes that get you, it's the other payments Car owners in particular will need to get the dreaded Certificate of Entitlement (COE) for the mere privilege of owning a car.

3. what is, in generale, the relationship between chinese and non-chinese ? Is the discrimination still 'obvious' ?

Obvious, no. Existent, yes. No (well, minimal) problems if you're Caucasian, some more if you're Indian or Malay. Taxis don't like to stop, some people won't hire you or rent you an apartment, that sort of thing.

4. if you go to a public hospital, how much do you pay ? Do you have to wait for an operation ?

You pay everything.

5. if you commit a crime, is it true that the state or government do not provide you a lawyer ?

AFAIK you do get govn't-appointed counsel even in Singapore, at least for more serious crimes. But as usual you get what you pay for.

[jpatokal]

Further to nusa's point one, some local people told me not to liver near Little India area, can anybody tell me why?

The obvious answer is "racism", but other than that, Little India is well known for playing host to some 500,000 subcontinental laborers every Sunday, who have little money to do anything except sit around and talk... and inevitably somebody drinks a little too much and there's a fight or two. In Singaporean terms this makes Little India a high-crime area

[Guest]

Obvious, no. Existent, yes. No (well, minimal) problems if you're Caucasian, some more if you're Indian or Malay. Taxis don't like to stop, some people won't hire you or rent you an apartment, that sort of thing.

Is there any government body against discrimination or racism ? So if you've been discriminated, who to look for ?

You pay everything.

I've read somewhere that if you go to a public hospital, the government pay about 70% of the charge, you pay the remaining 30%, for a basic ward. But if you want a first class ward in a public hospital, you have to top up by your-self. Is this true ?
If the public school is free, why public hospital is not ?

AFAIK you do get govn't-appointed counsel even in Singapore, at least for more serious crimes. But as usual you get what you pay for.

Are you saying that even a govn't-appointed counsel is paying ?
A poor man/woman accused of something or discriminated, does he/she need to pay to defend himself/herself ?

[jpatokal]

Is there any government body against discrimination or racism ? So if you've been discriminated, who to look for ?

I'm sorry, did I say "racism"? There is no such thing here, as Singapore is a Multicultural Society where People of Many Races live in Harmony and don't you forget it.

But while there's no unified body, you can file a complaint at the MOM for workplace discrimination. Good luck proving it though.

AFAIK you do get govn't-appointed counsel even in Singapore, at least for more serious crimes. But as usual you get what you pay for.

Are you saying that even a govn't-appointed counsel is paying ?

No, I'm saying that if you can't pay then you will be granted a lawyer at state expense (can't find a cite for this though, applies at least if death is a possible penalty). However, if you are facing the gallows, then you probably want a better lawyer than some tired state hack...

[nusa]

Thanks jpatokal for your feedback.
Any comments about public hospital ?

[Sonus]

Any comments about public hospital ?

May i know what comments are you refering to? etc..Charges, Types of services or......

You can find more info from here.

http://www.moh.gov.sg/corp/systems/index.do