Any Aussies/Kiwis out there....need reassurance!

[zoeislagirl]

Hi there, I currently live in Melbourne and have a 2 yr old and a 5 month old. My husband has been offered an amazing job in Singapore and we are not sure what to do! The idea of leaving our home in Melbourne, uprooting the children and relocating to Singapore scares me to death!

I just want to know, how child friendly is Singapore? Is daycare easy to find? I would prefer daycare to a maid looking after the kids at home. Do they have playgroups there?

I am a dentist and if there are any dentists out there, did you find it easy to find work.

Thanks for all your help!

Helen

[aussiemeg]

I am from melbourne and have been living here for 3 years now and I absolutely love it, more than I ever expected and we now intend to stay here forever. Singapore is so close to Melbourne in terms of viable offshore postings and my mum who is 72 has been here 12 times in 3 years. The timings are good and she can make it at almost a moments notice if one of my twins is sick. We also ahve been able to get quite a few Frequent flyer flights and there is now the cheaper budget airlines which our friends come up on.


I just want to know, how child friendly is Singapore? Is daycare easy to find? I would prefer daycare to a maid looking after the kids at home. Do they have playgroups there?

Singapore is so child friendly it is ridiculous. There is none of the pedaphile paranoia of home and everyone from young kids to old men love kids and a re friendly. At first the touching and photographing is alarming then amusing then jut accepted. There are so many things to do with regard to children climbing frames, gymborees, music classes accompanied learning groups and then there is the huge selection of nurseries. Mine are 3 in october so they could either go to the Australian school nursery from 9 to 2 a few days a week but I have chosen a smaller nursery which is mornings 9-12 for 3 monrings a week then they will go to the British school next year. I would advise trying to negotiate school fees as they are really high. In terms of non organised activites there is the bird park, zoo, children's gardens, outdoor play areas, the ability to swim everyday, sentosa, and the list goes on.

Maids are a thorny issue. We were without one for the first 6 months but it is nice to have someone clean the house and a built in baby sitter for night time that you can trust. The society does kind of assume you ahve a maid which means some things are more difficult like no double trolleys at the supermarket but it is an individual decision.

Hope this helps
Megan

[zoeislagirl]

Thanks so much for your reply. It was very informative and reassuring. If we do end up going to Singapore it shouldn't be for more than 2 yrs so we hope to return to Melbourne before our eldest starts school. But then again, I grew up in Hong Kong as an expat and that was only meant to be a 2 yr contract and my family ended up staying 12 yrs!!

Is it hard to meet other expat families in a similar situation? There must be a whole community there? I have no family here but my friends and mothers group are a huge support base for me and to leave that all behind is a difficult sacrifice to make.

Does anyone know how do salaries in Singapore compare to Oz? I know tax is very low right?

Thanks again for all your help!

Helen

[aussiemeg]

Roughly speaking and I am more than open to correction and it is industry dependent but salaries seem to be higher here, rents are extremely expensive looking upwards from $5000pm, cars are extreme, public transport is cheap, school are expensive, entertainment is cheap, tax is low (15 or 22%).

The expat community is very easy to break into if you have kids and there is the Australia and New Zealand association (ANZA) that runs a heap of activities including a mums with kids under 5 playgroupon Fridays.

Just do it. You will love it.
Megan

[mizza]

I agree with Aussiemeg, just do it! I am also from Melbourne, had been living in London for 5 years and my husband had a work opportunity here. It was such a hard decision, especially as I was pregnant, but we took the plunge and are so glad we did. If you have kids, you will have friends and mummy groups galore. I moved here at 7 months pregnant, my son is now 3.5 mths and I have many other expat friends and we are a great support for each other. This is a great place to have a family and stay for a few years, and close to home (melb)

[rosborn]

Couldn't agree more with the ladies. It's a fantastic place to raise young kids. We moved out 5 months ago - 8 weeks before baby #2 and I love it.
My daughters and I have a full social life of playdates and catch ups. She swims most days. Most expats, being in the same boat, are very friendly. It's easy to make friends.
Sure it's hot and the beaches (at Sentosa) pale in comparison to Oz but seriously, it's a great place to have a great quality of life.
We have a helper and that alone is a blessing when you are raising children. My husband and I have more quality time together and I have more quality time with the kids.
DO IT!!! It's an adventure!

[ZaOx]

/*Start of rant*/. Having lived in singapore for over 8 years (late childhood - early teens) studying through the public system it sort of trainers children to be wieners.

The state controls the eduction intensively and a lot of the humanities subjects have embedded pro-PAP comments. Students are told not to question anything as everything is planned out before hand. I found it was also an extremely materialistic society i find. Everyone is racing for the latest mobile phone or computer (this is especially true for boys).

As far as sports goes, within the local people there is a strong emphasis on the asian sports (for obvious reasons) while soccer has a massive cult following.

BTW, i believe rent is around $2000. No point in getting a car because the government wants to control the number of cars on the roads. As they say in singapore: "Law by law". You'll find when you move there your safety comes at a price. The government imposes many restrictions ranging from chewing gum to freedom of speech.

/*End of rant*/

[here_i_am]

Public transportation here is not the most toddler friendly. (As a previous poster says, people simply assume you have maids and either have them to help you with the kids or leave your kids at home with the maid.) We decided to get a car after a while despite the high cost because it saved us a lot of time and trouble esp with a fixed in-car carseat. When i do want to travel with my toddler without the car, my last option will be the buses here. MRT is convenient and easy as long as you avoid the rush hours.

By the way, comparing with Hong Kong, you will find Singapore a breeze! Its a lot cleaner and safer. I'm not Australian but i had stayed in HK for some time too and I'm also just an expat here.

[sundaymorningstaple]

ZaOx,

From which place would you rather have to try to stagger home drunk by yourself at 3am in the morning?

[ZaOx]

I'm responsible, i don't get smashed when i go out to the city. I only get smashed at house party's that i know people of. Besides its not like singapore is safe either. I remember the time in the news some kid got stabbed cause he head shotted another person in cs.

They also have murders at clubs. At least in adelaide there isn't that bad stuff going down as the government has made all the clubs tidy up their act

Besides as a moderator you should know this is OT.

Anyway, its fine for little kids but IMO the state system breeds wieners who don't know how to stand up for themselves. And those that do get marked as bad students and the teachers just assume that there is no hope for them. This is my own experience while i was staying in singapore.

Obviously i've been away for some time and it would have changed by now (I know they got rid of the EM streaming system)

On the bright side as said before food is cheap, transport is reasonably cheap and everything is accessible. The highlights are the night markets which australia does not have. Hours of operation are good as well where most stores close at 10 and a lot of the local eateries are 24hrs.

[sundaymorningstaple]

They also have murders at clubs. At least in adelaide there isn't that bad stuff going down as the government has made all the clubs tidy up their act

Besides as a moderator you should know this is OT.

What wrong with OT. I used to party a lot at OT. Shame it's gone en bloc.

They also have murders at clubs? Yeah, but how many in the past quarter of a century? I've been here that long and could count the time on less than 10 fingers in 25 years. Want to still compare? Why did they make the clubs in Adelaide clean up their act? Sounds like it was pretty bad down there. I think you've got your wires crossed. By the way, did you do your NS?

[ZaOx]

Sorry OT = off topic (just to clarify)

Adelaide had to clean up i think due to drugs mainly. I found while staying in singapore all the problematic people went clubbing (dunno why maybe im stereotyping here)

Problem is singapore is a small city so there's no place to run which is good as singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I enjoy while staying there being able to walk around at 10Pm without a worry of being knifed. Can't say the same with adelaide though. But as far as personal development went i felt singapore surpressed myself.

Mind you i was studying there from p4-p6 and sec2-sec3 so my mindset was already extremely australianized. Got into a lot of trouble too with teachers as they were'nt really used to my way of thinking and operating.

Anyway No i didn't do NS as i didn't renew my PR. My reasoning was two folds:
1) Why should i serve a country i don't actually support
2) Why waste 2 years of my life

[MaddyJay]

to some degree, ZaOx is right..

schools here are overbearing, tests in kindergarten is just too over the top..
freedom of speech is slowly coming around..
don't get me started on the whole PAP thing.. lol..

but singapore is safe and clean and most ppl are nice..
its just a whole different country and you will always be different. i've been here 6 years now.. 'ang moh' is an annoyance even tho they don't mean any harm, hoarded mrt seats are infuriating.. but when i take the bus sometimes with my 1 year old, they are nice and give up their seats or move to the back etc. so it really depends how you see it and how you want them to see you. if they think ur a hoity toity 'ang moh', then they'll treat u like one..
melbourne has its positives and negatives, just like singapore. but you'll never know if you never go..

-maddie

[ZaOx]

What MaddyJay is true you gotta try it at least. I know what type of person i am (very vocal person) so the attitudes in singapore didn't suit me.

Its a great place to grow up till your about 14/15ish (In my opinion again). Singapore provides security and safety which is hard to find in any country in the world. People there are taught to respect the elderly, disabled and pregnant so they have much better social manners in that respect.

But it really sh*ts me off when they talk about you as though your a foreigner (i'm chinese and even i get treated like that. stupid sim lim trying to con my money ) And yea the MRT are ridiculously crowded at peak hour although public transport hands down beats adelaide's shiezen service.

[Leemmo]

Gosh this conversation got a bit deep didnt it, poor Helen must be wondering what she is getting herself into! her kids are not even at school yet and she is only looking to come for 2 years.(even tho most people end up staying for at least another 2 after that)

Hi Helen

I have lived in the UK most of my life and then NZ for most of my 8 year olds life and then 2 yrs in Melbourne.

Sing is much safer than any of the countries I have lived in so far. I often give my dog his last walk around midnight with no worries of any danger. And even tho there is some truth in what has previously been said about control here (no word goes unheard) if you are a good person it is for your benefit and no consideration for young children whose biggest concern would be throwing a rock or using a stick as a sword. (which my son still likes to do (the sword that is).

Singapore especially if you live in a condo is an excellent environment for children who never go without someone to play with and there is always adults around if there is a problem. We have only been here 5mths but are not regretting it at all.

It is expensive here we find and you are looking at over $6,000 for a decent sized condo and local wages are not big, but it all depends on if you are coming over with a good package through your company. The tax helps if that is how your company pays you. You can eat a meal for $3 dollars ahead but a nice restaurant will cost around $50+ a head depending on the amount of alcohol you drink as that can be half the bill, wine is VERY expensive here.

We live on the East coast which is very popular with expat families, and have met lots of families that have been here for alot longer than they intended. Whats more is that the economy here seems stronger than most places at the moment, so it is a good time to be here.

well I hope that helps a bit

good luck