Should I relocate????

[London1971]

Hi, great forum.

Simple question for you all. Should I relocate from UK to Singapore?

Background - my boss has offered me the chance to move to SG for 2 years/permanent. Part of me says "hell yeah! go for it!". The other part is the conservative/sensible piece... but it's quite loud. I'm a caucasion, 35 year old brit with a girl friend and cats and love my house, car and space here in the UK.

Some pertinent info and questions - I am diabetic - what are the health care faciliteis like? Have 2 cats - any issues with condo's/HDB's having pets? getting them there safely? Is there more to SG than the bars and restaurants in Clark/Boat Quay? How do you cope with the heat? Any restrictions on living arrangements with girlfriends, etc? Why is property so expensive?

Apologies for the rambling. unconstructed spiel. really just looking for any views that maight help me decide if moving to SG would be awesome or a huge mistake.

Many thanks!

[durain]

firstly, have you been to singapore before?

if you can relocate for 2 years and have the option to either go back to london or stay on, i think that is a great. will your company cover you for medical?

most likely you will be staying in an apartment (they call it condo coz it sounds more up market), wont be driving for a while unless you want to pour money to buy and run a car, no free newspaper during morning and evening, no reading The Sun and the list goes on...

there's gonna be the good and the bad no matter where you go. the key thing is to adopt to the environment. yes, it is hot, but life goes on. most places are air-condition, so you can always chill out when the heat is too hot outside.

property is expensive because it is just an island. just like japan and HK where there's not much land. are you thinking of buying or renting?

should be no problemo for your girlfriend to stay with you but i dont know for how long. singapore is very strict on immigration (unlike UK, just let anyone in and taxpayer for their stay!). usual social visa is 30 days but can be extended.

sorry not a whole list of the good and bad. you wont know it until you try it, so maybe make a trip to singapore and scout about.

[keepitreal]

Best move I ever made from London to Singapore - great place to live and so easy to adapt. Shame I can't afford to live here any longer though.

I would strongly suggest you negotiate a housing allowance with your firm as rentals here are crazy. HDB is another option but if your giving up a lot to come here then you'll more than likely want full condo facilities etc which you won't get on a HDB estate.

[London1971]

Thanks for the advice guys. Guess it's down to the package now!!

[familyof5]

what does your girlfriend think? someone will correct me if i'm wrong, but i dont think she can work here....there is only so much shopping you can do in singapore.

[London1971]

she works for the same company and could easily get a job locally with the company, possibly doing her exisitng job so should be no probs, And she has spent many days shopping in SG already and hasn't got tired of it yet! Can girls really get bored of shopping??