Family friendly

[psoxe]

I am after feed back from people who have moved to singapore from the UK with children.

i have 4 children aged 5,8,9 and 12.



please can you give the good and any bad points !!


Thanks

[durain]

here are some i can think of...

pro - no drive-by shooting, no stabbing in school, learn mandarin, canning for doing graffiti, more public holidays, safe.

con - no free travel for kids on public transport.

[sundaymorningstaple]

If they are under .9m tall they are free.

[familyof5]

Hi. I'm australian but i lived in the UK (London) for 6 years before moving back to Oz briefly, then to singapore. My kids are much younger than yours. (2.5 and twins 11 months).

Depending on how you cope with the heat, the weather can be a pro or con. Though all the condo buildings have swimming pools. Having said that, we used ours every day for a week, then my daughter got a bit sick of it.

We've found some good places to go that have great play areas for little kids, and some of the mums i've met with kids the same age as mine, and older ones (similar to the ages of your kids) say that they love it here and their kids are settling in and seem to love it too. I can't give you much more detail than that as i'm constantly chasing after my 3 and never seem to have more than 2 minutes conversation!

I'm not sure whereabouts in the UK you are, but there aren't a whole lot of open grassy spaces near where we live, and i miss that. Though you could say that about inner London too.

I'm not a huge fan of shopping, but my kids keep me pretty busy. I'm guessing you might have some spare time on your hands as your kids are older. Unless you like shopping, you might have to think about some pros and cons for yourself too.

Hopefully someone else can help you with schools etc. Thankfully i dont have to worry about that just yet.

[psoxe]

unfortunatly all my children all tall.

They will cope with the heat better then myself.

thanks for this advice.

I will be working but my wife will be at home.

[familyof5]

well everywhere is airconditioned. a bit like london in winter. you never seem to get too cold because everything is heated. so if you have an office job, you'll be fine.

[road.not.taken]

Not from the UK, but here's my 2cents :


Pros from a practical aspect:

relatively safe place to raise children

excellent schools are available

illegal drug use is not as prevalent as the UK, but still exists

domestic help is usually affordable*

great healthcare

ease of travel around the region

cheap public transport

clean air and water


Pros from a philosophical aspect:

ability to raise children with global perspective and sensitivity to other cultures and races

ability to raise children without threat of day-to-day violence

TV and other pop culture references are somewhat limited



Cons from a practical aspect:

excellent schools may be impossible to get into or be financially out-of-reach

housing, food and transportation costs all on the rise

many comfort foods unavailable

Houses with gardens almost impossible to lease or buy

Neighborhoods, where kids ride their bikes, walk to friend's houses, etc. are very limited

*many children are spoiled by having the same maid that was listed as a pro earlier in this post!

underage drinking is rampant/less emphasis on the dangers of drink driving

ignorance about the illegal drug use here and it's penalties

strenuous exercise outdoors may be difficult for some due to the heat and humidity

kid's will catch all the new strains of viruses they never had before

single parent syndrome: one parent often travels much more than they did at home

decent kid's clothing almost impossible to find

noise pollution is epidemic throughout Asia



Cons from a more philosophical standpoint

harder to stay close to extended family at home, milestones are missed

friends move in & out of their lives too frequently, a very transient community

children can lose touch with their 'home' country -- making for a difficult transition later on

Children raised in Singapore often find they have limited 'street smarts' out in the rest of the world

[road.not.taken]

Not from the UK, but here's my 2cents :


Pros from a practical aspect:

relatively safe place to raise children

excellent schools are available

illegal drug use is not as prevalent as the UK, but still exists

domestic help is usually affordable*

great healthcare

ease of travel around the region

cheap public transport

clean air and water


Pros from a philosophical aspect:

ability to raise children with global perspective and sensitivity to other cultures and races

ability to raise children without threat of day-to-day violence

TV and other pop culture references are somewhat limited



Cons from a practical aspect:

excellent schools may be impossible to get into or be financially out-of-reach

housing, food and transportation costs all on the rise

many comfort foods unavailable

Houses with gardens almost impossible to lease or buy

Neighborhoods, where kids ride their bikes, walk to friend's houses, etc. are very limited

*many children are spoiled by having the same maid that was listed as a pro earlier in this post!

underage drinking is rampant/less emphasis on the dangers of drink driving

ignorance about the illegal drug use here and it's penalties

strenuous exercise outdoors may be difficult for some due to the heat and humidity

kid's will catch all the new strains of viruses they never had before

single parent syndrome: one parent often travels much more than they did at home

decent kid's clothing almost impossible to find

noise pollution is epidemic throughout Asia



Cons from a more philosophical standpoint

harder to stay close to extended family at home, milestones are missed

friends move in & out of their lives too frequently, a very transient community

children can lose touch with their 'home' country -- making for a difficult transition later on

Children raised in Singapore often find they have limited 'street smarts' out in the rest of the world

I thought of a few more in the 'Con' category:

food allergy awareness is growing, but is behind the UK, Europe and the US (friends were just lamenting yesterday)

special services for any type of learning difficulty is harder to come by (they are here, and improving, but not as readily available)

For what some would consider a minor infractions (ie. carrying a false ID even when they are of legal drinking age) very heavy penalties can be enforced.) Again, some might put this in the 'plus' category.