Anyone know anything about living in Batam pls?

[Osprey]

I'm about to accept a job in Batam and will be moving from the UK. Does anyone have any experience of living in Batam - what's it like, any advantages, disadvantages etc.

Alternatively does anyone have any experience of living in Singapore and travelling to work in Batam - again, advantages disadvantages etc? How long would it take to commute?

We will be moving as a professional married couple, (no children - all left home now) we like our creature comforts, not roughing it!!! Good relocation package and salary but not exhorbitant. Living in Singapore and commuting is our preferred option at the moment but would like to explore all options.

Any advice welcomed,
thanx.

[Leone and John]

A lot will depend on where you are going to live on Batam.... there are a few area's that are not exactly 'popular'. Nongsa area is popular with OS people and there are many that live at Nongsa Village.

But there is also a Batam Expat site, you should be able to get some honest answers off that.

http://www.expat.or.id/info/batam.html

I know of a few Expats (or OS people) living there and they do enjoy the lifestyle and all of them want to stay there.....one couple have been there 20 years.......to start with, its a lot cheaper to live there than in Singapore ....if we could find a job over there, we would move there tomorrow.

I would not live in Singapore and work in Batam, you will find that people do it the other way around.... live in Batam and work in Singapore.

There are two main ferry terminals to take the ferry from, Harbourfront and Tanah Merah, you would have to live close to one of these IF you decided to live in Sing and work in Batam.

For images of the area, do a Google Image search .... that should be helpful too. I can give you an email address of a friend living there that will be helpful too. Let me know if you want it.

leonefabre AT gmail DOT com

[Osprey]

Many thanks Leone for such a helpful response. I'll take some time to read through the info on the Batam expat site - didn't know of it before, thanks. BTW, what are OS people?

You've certainly given us plenty of food for thought - we had expected that it would be better to live in Singapore. I would like to follow up with some questions once I've had a chance to concentrate my thoughts, that's a kind offer, thank you, and it will be very useful to email your friend with some of our questions too.

Thanks again,

Osp.

[Jeppo]

I lived in Batam for 5 years as well. If there's anything specific you want to know, you can post here as well.

[Leone and John]

sorry....

OS people .... Overseas people ....

most people would use the term "expat", and I do too ..... but there are tourists that stay there long term, others that own property but stay just a few weeks, retirees, expats that live and work..... all sorts of people, I didn't want to use the term 'expat' loosely, I just mean many people are there for many reasons.

apologies.

[Osprey]

Thanks Jeppo, will do.

OS - of course!! Should have guessed that! Thanks.

Still ploughing through looking at all this info and getting some questions together, very helpful thanks.

[Justin_Br]

To give you an alternate viewpoint.

I had stayed in Batam for two months while I did some training and returned to Singapore to my condo on the weekends. There are two main ferry terminals to go over to Batam with. The ferry takes 45mins from Tanah Merah to almost 1hr 20mins from Harbor Front ferry terminal. The difference in timing is since Harbor Front is downtown and Tanah Merah is on the east coast. Ferry tickets are just under S$50 for a return ticket.

Things to consider. It would be a VERY difficult daily commute and as such your only real choice is to come back on the weekends. Thus, you would need two places to stay at and Singapore is VERY expensive for rent. Think S$4000+ for a condo so your wage will be reduced very quickly.

Nongsa has beautiful places to live but is VERY isolated as it takes approx 45 mins to get into town. However, the seclusion can be quite nice. Thus, you will need to see where your work is and determine the commute distance since Batam is a large island and your commute could easily be over 1 hr drive depending on where you live and where your work is located in relation to each other.

Batam is less expensive than Singapore but their infrastructure is poor. I would NEVER go to their hospitals in Batam and would rather take my chance with the delay and ferry it over to Singapore.

Batam can be a nice weekend get away and I will be traveling there this coming weekend.

[Osprey]

Thanks Justin. Very useful. The area in Batam is near the ferry terminal at Sekupang. What is this area like? Would it be an option to live there or is it too far away from anything? It's difficult to find maps or judge distances and times.

[pt706]

Hi There

We may be able to assist you as we have a beautiful home in Batam. We have just bought it and are renovating it. The house is a 2 /3 bedroom fully furnished and equipped house with a sea view, 10 minutes from the ferry terminal (Singapore is 40 minutes away). It is in a secure compound and there are other ex-pats around. We live and work in Singapore. We would love to live there, but commuting is too difficult. We are looking for a mature couple who will look after our home, as if it were there own.

Please give us some of your details for example:
1. When will you be moving?
2. Where on Batam will you working?
3. What contract / lease period are you looking for?
4. Where have you been working recently?
5. I am sure you can supply references (from the UK)?

If you think that our home sounds as if you would be interested, please call me direct on (+65 9044 0161) If we are too late, and you would like to meet us anyway, please call when you arrive in this part of the world!

Charles

[Osprey]

Hi Charles

Thank you for your reply to my queries. It sounds like a nice option - living and working in Batam seems very appealing. The house sounds about the right size, and we would of course be able to supply references. However, for the moment our plans to move out are on hold, there's not much we can do about it either - except be patient!

We will let you know once we have some definite news,
thanks again and our best regards.

[parrocoparroco]

We are about to move to Batam from UK too, we are "young" couple with 2 years son....also moving there for work proposal for 2 years. I have done my own research and find out that the places to rent in Batam are
Sukahadi, Nongsa and Duta Mas, am I correct?, which of the three would u recommend? an idea of the rent prices per month?, is there other recommendable places to live in the island....we already know that is a safe place, friendly people and we are not scared of moving there, of course we would like to live in a nice and confortable house and facilities.

We will appreciate the assistance you may porovide in this matter.

[Axla]

I have been offered a job in Batam, which involves relocating to Batam for approx 2 years.

My major concern is my family, wife and 2 children, and the general 'scene' (security, preschools, expat community etc) in Batam. We have researched Singapore and we are impressed by the apparent lifestyle and preschools on offer there. The same cannot be said about Batam (from what I've found). I have talked with 2 different people from Singapore, which both had the same view, that Batam is 'significantly different' from Singapore, i.e. not the same high standard.s

I'm doing some more research into Batam, but I can't find more useful information about the expat scene or other necessities, epecially when moving with children.

Please help me find more information about Batam which will make my decision easier! I really want to accept this job offer, but from what I've found up to now regarding Batam and its lifestyle, I cannot accept.

Please explain to me why I'm wrong in this opinion!

Thank you for any comments or suggestions!

Regards!

[Leone and John]

There are a few websites that may help:

http://forum.batam.com/

http://batamexpats.com/

http://www.batam.com/

http://www.livinginindonesiaforum.org/

We enjoy going over to Batam (Nongsa Village area) as often as we can .... in the past 12 mths have been over at least 18 times and are thinking that we may retire there too ...... one day!!

There are many expats that live on Batam, some like it, some don't .... I don't think I could live in Batam Centre itself. But having not tried it, cannot really comment.

It is a duty free area and shopping is cheap, a lot of Singaporeans do their shopping over there..... including me!

The people of Batam are really caring and helpful and are always smiling. I think the people are what make Batam so enjoyable for us.

You may like to make contact with other expats in Batam and chat with them direct. The above website for the forum 'living in Indonesia' would be of benefit to you.

But any experience of living anywhere OS can be a positive move, especially with children as I am sure you are wanting them to grow up to be open minded adults and to learn about other cultures.

But whatever you decide.... ENJOY.