I am an expat currently located in KL and will soon move to Singapore in September for a new job assignment. I have a budget of 4.4K SGD to start with for an apartment for a 1-2 year stay. I would appreciate any advise/suggestions for a good and ideal apartment for my family. Please consider the following in your suggestion:
- 4 kids of ages 13, 4, 2 and a toddler. School for my teenage boy and children amenities will be essential.
- wife not working. Access to shops, groceries and mix with other expats' wives will keep her busy

- work will be Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate. Btw, my job makes me travel 40% of my time.
- i am normally home on weekend and like to use condo amenities (gym, big pool and other family get together activities).
On other notes :
- Do you suggest buying a car in Singapore? We bought a car in KL only to realize that I depreciated its value by more than 30% just to get rid of it so we can move. Or second hand car is more appropriate?
- We have 2 househelpers in KL and we want to bring at least one to Singapore as the this will not be cheap, what's the quickest and cheapest way to do it? What will be our cost if we bring 2 maids?
- On our DVD collections, we know we cant bring them to Singapore for obvious reasons (I am in Malaysia and chances majority of my collections is worth 8MYR each and too cheap to be originals). We will definitely leave them behind but I can also rip my collection into my harddisk. Will they check what's inside my PC and my storage device ? Otherwise, we will not take the chance.
- will our personal effects including our appliances (tv, pc etc) be taxed or taxfree?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR VALUABLE INPUTS.
Cheers!