The good, the bad, and the ugly in Singapore

[beaches]

Hello there,

I am looking for some brutally honest advice from those of you already having lived in Singapore for a while. Currently I am in Hong Kong and I am quite happy here. However, there is a chance for me to move to Singapore and I am quite keen to go. But I would like to ask you....please tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly about living in Singapore. Both culturally and logistcally speaking. What do you love or have difficulties with about day to day living in Singapore? Please help me to decide if I should stay or go by posting your thoughts. Many thanks

[sundaymorningstaple]

Just read through the thousands of posts on this forum. Lord knows there is enough information and grouses already here. No need for anybody to rehash it again. Would be quicker to fly down here and experience it yourself.

[beaches]

Oh OK. Sorry. New to this forum business. I will take a look.

[beaches]

Ohhhhhhhh yes. There it all is! No shortage is quite correct. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. This will keep me busy a while

[ozzmum]

I can only think of a couple of positive things.....I am from Australia, maybe I am missing home too much! Cheap taxi's, low tax rate, and warmer weather here when its winter at home. As far as the every day to day stuff I have many a pet hate. I could really rattle on quite a bit. probably my top is lack of manners , lack of common sense and people skills that locals have. Would it really kill them to wait for people to exit the MRT before getting on, or saying "excuse me" instead of "uh" when they don't understand or want you to repeat something!

[frenzal]

I can only think of a couple of positive things.....I am from Australia, maybe I am missing home too much! Cheap taxi's, low tax rate, and warmer weather here when its winter at home. As far as the every day to day stuff I have many a pet hate. I could really rattle on quite a bit. probably my top is lack of manners , lack of common sense and people skills that locals have. Would it really kill them to wait for people to exit the MRT before getting on, or saying "excuse me" instead of "uh" when they don't understand or want you to repeat something!

I think you're just applying your own cultural values onto the values of others. I'm sure that Singaporeans find a lot of problems with the Australian culture when they're visiting our country, too.

[micknlea]

Ozzmum, if she/he lives in HK now then all those experiences will already have been had, nothing different here to there really.

Actually you might find it a (little) bit more polite here in places, but definitely slower in walking pace so you will have to slow down a bit more than you have already when you moved to HK.

Cleaner, less pollution, but can get hazy at times, just not as constant as HK. Always hot here, no "winter" months like there. No typhoons here though.

Lots of pros and cons for both. I would live in either any time and can't pick between the two as a favourite.

Edit: Did you have a thread on the expatsingapore forum that has now disappeared? This sounds very familiar.

[sundaymorningstaple]

micknlea,

you know what happens over there with the slagging and the arbitrary deletions of whole threads by the admins there. That why this forum & the old & new sewing circle were formed.

[kaseyma]

Hello there,

I am looking for some brutally honest advice from those of you already having lived in Singapore for a while. Currently I am in Hong Kong and I am quite happy here. However, there is a chance for me to move to Singapore and I am quite keen to go. But I would like to ask you....please tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly about living in Singapore. Both culturally and logistcally speaking. What do you love or have difficulties with about day to day living in Singapore? Please help me to decide if I should stay or go by posting your thoughts. Many thanks

Are you an expat in HK?

There's more than walking pace that is slow here.
It can be frustrating if you are used to the quick efficiency of HK.

However, it might be nice to have a moderately priced apartment that's bigger than a large closet.

Good dim sum is not so easy to find, but there are many other varieties of Southern and SE Asian cuisines.

So, why do you want to come to SG?
Why would you want to leave HK (especially if you're quite happy there)?
These should be the most important factors, rather than the random experiences of a few expats.

[hehehe21]

My family income are 17k s$ per month,unfortunately we don't have housing allowance.so our budget is below 3k for a small condo unit,it is very hard to find at this time(one year ago my unit only cost 1500 now going to 3500)...However,I saw a news from local newspaper said that such a family like mine is low income expats and should move to HDB,the executive who has 8k budget can consider condo.

I viewed many many condos and apts, all the decoration are very old and shabby,but agents call this furnished.I was so surprised how dare they ask 1.5k per month for a mini room within 50sf which without toilet even windows and call it a "studio"??And now they even call the livingroom bedroom to make an illusion it's a cheap 2+1 unit,actually it's a poor 1+1 with tiny living room.

What's more,If you renovated your house,when you moved out,the owner will ask you to bring your staff out and make it to the shabby one again.If you can not make it,he will buy your staff in lowest price.After that he will add "renovated" in his new adv and plus 1k for the price.

I'm really tired with such cheeky Singapore.Before you moved here,everything is like in heaven,clean,safe,cheap....but after sometime you will find the turth:poor civilians and a rich familial govenment,low social security,no democracy,high cost and stress with low income....

[beaches]

Hi, it is the OP here again. I want to consider SG over HK because of the pollution in HK. If there was no (or less) pollution in HK then I don't think I would ever leave. But my health is failing me because of the bad air here. So I am thinking I need to move and I would like to stay in Asia. I am actually Australian. That is my main reason for wanting to move to SG. I have only visited SG before, and only for a few days at a time so I haven't ever looked at it from an expat view, only a tourist. But I may take a trip down to inspect. I just wanted to know how expats really find living in SG, that's all.

[sierra2469alpha]

Beaches - FOB (Fresh Off Boat) Aussies too, although it's been our second home for a couple of years, in effect.

Air here is much better than HKG. Of course you'll always find differences in any culture and how you let those affect you is of course up to the individual. As some people say, they do walk slowly over here and there's no situation awareness, and while it can annoy some people we just make a little private joke of it and turn it into a positive!

Not sure what the wine/beer prices are like there these days, but it's expensive over here (I say this because you're an Aussie!!).

We're not looking back - not missing home, but then again we have the ability to go back if ever we need to, so I suppose the knowledge that we can helps. There's an excellent article somewhere on here about the stages people go through - it's worth seeking it out.

If you want specifics PM us. Cheers, P & C

[Splatted]

mrt etiquette aside, I find Singapore trains are WAY ahead of most public transport services in the world.

I'm currently back in Melbourne, and I'm finding not only do trains not come on time now after privatization, but are randomly cancelled with out any notice whatsoever.

You also have to walk carriage to carriage to find a seat that doesn't have a soiled patch on it.

I honestly wish Singapore bought out the melbourne public tranport system, and then we'd really see the standards improve.

[beaches]

Yes, must admit I do not miss Australia for living. I am very happy in Asia. One day I will go back to Sydney, but no time soon. I enjoy it for a short holiday but after that, I am happy back up here (or maybe in SG??!!!) So I totally understand the gripes about the Melb trains for example. I think the MRT and the MTR in HK are just fantastic! Thanks for your insights into living in SG. I appreciate them.

[hehehe21]

mrt etiquette aside, I find Singapore trains are WAY ahead of most public transport services in the world.

I'm currently back in Melbourne, and I'm finding not only do trains not come on time now after privatization, but are randomly cancelled with out any notice whatsoever.

You also have to walk carriage to carriage to find a seat that doesn't have a soiled patch on it.

I honestly wish Singapore bought out the melbourne public tranport system, and then we'd really see the standards improve.

Hi man in Singapore you don't need to worry about the seat at all,because it's always crowded .Yesterday another guy jumped into the rail for suicide made the whole red line stopped for 1 hour in rush hour.
For bus,I think nobody wanna keep himself waiting for 15-20 mins under the 33C hot weather,but in Singapore you have to do this everyday.You have to tolerate the hundreds of stops(every 50-100m will have one stop) too.

For tourists every city is nice because they don't have chance to experience the really life in that place