Singapore Expats

Will i really be able to survive the lifestyle?

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dazzlebabe
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Re: Will i really be able to survive the lifestyle?

Post by dazzlebabe » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 1:58 pm

Swilling wrote:Would love some help on this please,



Ok well at least i could bring my best friend and life companion , my dog....oh wait aminute.. He's an Akita.... Akitas are illegal in Singapore!!! What the hell???
Who did you check with?

On the AVA website, you can bring your Akita over,he justs needs to be muzzled in public
All dogs must be leashed in a public place. If your dog is of a large breed like a Rottweiler or Mastiff, it must also be muzzled in a public place. Owners are also advised to muzzle their dogs in a public place if their dogs are known to be ferocious. If a dog bites a person, it can also become Police case.

Note : Breeds of dogs required to be muzzled in a public place include:
i) Breeds specified in Part I of the Second Schedule: Pit Bull, which includes the American Pit Bull Terrier (which is also known as the American Pit Bull and Pit Bull Terrier), American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, and crosses between them and other breeds, Akita, Neapolitan Mastiff, Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Boerboel, and their crosses;
Just me

DazzleBabe

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Post by revhappy » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 2:40 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:
valleyman wrote:On a side note...

Unlike many Indian newbies' with "clumsy" accents and "inane" questions about affordability, the OP's unique lifestyle related questions seem to have a lot of aspirational value for some of the regulars here... my my! The eagerness to help is impressive!!

No offence meant to swilling BTW...
Valleyman, I was wondering how long it would take...... :wink:

There is a big difference between westerners and Indians, at least from my POV (I'm married to one, remember?) Most westerners put a very high value on lifestyle (even professionals) while most Indians put more on career advancement. Don't get me wrong, both matter to both but I would say career is not worth anything if the lifestyle you have to live detracts from it. I had to sell my boat when I came over here. I towed that Glastron all over the south of the US to fish, ski, wakeboard, party, whatever. It was a lifestyle that I had to give up. Same with my hobby of restoring cars & bikes. (Although I did manage to restore a '66 Mk 1 Mini Cooper over here back in the late '80's - but can't do that now after buying an HDB flat).

In my case it wasn't so bad, because my biggest hobby was paying me rather well and let me go diving all over the world. A far cry from the cooped up days as the city manager in DC for the largest tax preparation firm in the US at the time. So it worked out for me okay. We are passionate about our leisure time!
Actually, SMS, the main difference b/w Indians(or Asians rather except Singaporeans though :wink: ) and Westerners is that Westerners live for today and Asians live for tomorrow(although the tomorrow never comes in most cases :) ). Westerners spends their money even before they earn it and Asians leave their money for the children, grand children and their great grand children. :lol: Career advancement is only a part of the pursuit towards money making.

BTW, having a Singaporean Indian wife doesn't really guarantee that you know the "real Indians" well. The Singapore Indians that I have come across are as Kiasu as any other Singaporeans and thats exactly opposite to what Indians are :wink:

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Post by nakatago » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 2:49 pm

revhappy wrote: Westerners spends their money even before they earn it and Asians leave their money for the children, grand children and their great grand children.
Several frustrated "yuppies" would attest otherwise... :cry:
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Post by JayCee » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 3:18 pm

revhappy wrote:Actually, SMS, the main difference b/w Indians(or Asians rather except Singaporeans though :wink: ) and Westerners is that Westerners live for today and Asians live for tomorrow(although the tomorrow never comes in most cases :) ). Westerners spends their money even before they earn it and Asians leave their money for the children, grand children and their great grand children. :lol: Career advancement is only a part of the pursuit towards money making.
I know you were generalising for the sake of the argument, but 'westerners' is a very wide definition, as is 'Asians'.

For example, lots of Brits and Americans will spend money like no tomorrow, but I found Europeans to be a lot more frugal and to have a greater emphasis on saving money, in particular Germans and scandanavians. Same goes for Japanese (who save) and Thais/filipinos (who don't, and expect their kids to look after them when they're older hence why they have so many)

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Post by revhappy » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 3:25 pm

JayCee wrote:
revhappy wrote:Actually, SMS, the main difference b/w Indians(or Asians rather except Singaporeans though :wink: ) and Westerners is that Westerners live for today and Asians live for tomorrow(although the tomorrow never comes in most cases :) ). Westerners spends their money even before they earn it and Asians leave their money for the children, grand children and their great grand children. :lol: Career advancement is only a part of the pursuit towards money making.
I know you were generalising for the sake of the argument, but 'westerners' is a very wide definition, as is 'Asians'.

For example, lots of Brits and Americans will spend money like no tomorrow, but I found Europeans to be a lot more frugal and to have a greater emphasis on saving money, in particular Germans and scandanavians. Same goes for Japanese (who save) and Thais/filipinos (who don't, and expect their kids to look after them when they're older hence why they have so many)
Yeah, I was generalizing, big time, agree with you. Its impossible to paint everyone in with the same brush. I believe the Japanese stash away money in refrigerators :lol: Their gahmen wants them to stop saving and start spending and has kept interest rates to near zero and if they keep their money in the bank they dont get any interest, instead they need to pay a fee. Feel really sorry for them.

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Post by JayCee » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 3:38 pm

revhappy wrote:
JayCee wrote:
revhappy wrote:Actually, SMS, the main difference b/w Indians(or Asians rather except Singaporeans though :wink: ) and Westerners is that Westerners live for today and Asians live for tomorrow(although the tomorrow never comes in most cases :) ). Westerners spends their money even before they earn it and Asians leave their money for the children, grand children and their great grand children. :lol: Career advancement is only a part of the pursuit towards money making.
I know you were generalising for the sake of the argument, but 'westerners' is a very wide definition, as is 'Asians'.

For example, lots of Brits and Americans will spend money like no tomorrow, but I found Europeans to be a lot more frugal and to have a greater emphasis on saving money, in particular Germans and scandanavians. Same goes for Japanese (who save) and Thais/filipinos (who don't, and expect their kids to look after them when they're older hence why they have so many)
Yeah, I was generalizing, big time, agree with you. Its impossible to paint everyone in with the same brush. I believe the Japanese stash away money in refrigerators :lol: Their gahmen wants them to stop saving and start spending and has kept interest rates to near zero and if they keep their money in the bank they dont get any interest, instead they need to pay a fee. Feel really sorry for them.
Yeah I knew you were :)

The funny thing is, I can understand why someone here would have the idea that westerners don't worry about the future when they see western people wasting money boozing and eating expensive food whereas the locals are all in the food courts trying to save.

But then on the other hand, generally western people look after themselves when they're older (pensions) whereas a lot of older asian people rely on their kids to look after them because they didn't save for old age. So that would suggest that westerners live for tomorrow more than asians :)

(I guess the CPF system is going some way to alleviating this problem in the future in Singapore, but right now there are still a lot of old people in Singapore who are on the breadline (and who's kids don't even seem to care, but that's a different discussion))

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Post by nakatago » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 3:43 pm

JayCee wrote:Thais/filipinos (who don't, and expect their kids to look after them when they're older hence why they have so many)
The problem is, I save and my mother knows that I do (because I grew up not really getting stuff I asked for and had to save for them if I want them, no matter how trivial or important). She got accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Hence, I never tell her how much (or little compared to you guys) I make. We just agreed that I'll give her a certain amount a month. :cry:
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Post by JR8 » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 3:51 pm

JayCee wrote: ... For example, lots of Brits and Americans will spend money like no tomorrow, but I found Europeans to be a lot more frugal and to have a greater emphasis on saving money, in particular Germans and scandanavians.
I'd agree with that, especially regarding the Germans. I'm actually beginning to wonder whether Germans can get credit cards, as they are nigh on impossible to use here. In 10 months I've maybe used mine five or so times (four times in our fantastic neighbourhood Italian, and the other in a jewellers), and that has been in high end places where foreigners would not believe that credit cards are not accepted, and they'd lose trade big-time.

I've only ever used my debit card to withdrawing money from ATMs. Retailers don't seem to take foreign cards. They only take a domestic card called an EC (electronic cash) card.

So apart from the above mentioned 5 transactions I've paid for everything else in cash! And you thought banking in SG was primitive! :o

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Post by aster » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 7:47 pm

I used to always use cash until I found out about air miles.

Made me get my first CC ever when I saw how many miles I was missing out on by not paying for my Serviced Apartment this way... :)

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 19 Apr 2011 8:11 pm

Yeah I was probably the same, although the Airmiles scheme turned out to be pretty much a waste of space.

At least my bank took the initiative and changed to another bespoke scheme that I can convert into cases of fine wine :cool:

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Re: Will i really be able to survive the lifestyle?

Post by Swilling » Wed, 20 Apr 2011 9:21 am

dazzlebabe wrote:
Swilling wrote:Would love some help on this please,



Ok well at least i could bring my best friend and life companion , my dog....oh wait aminute.. He's an Akita.... Akitas are illegal in Singapore!!! What the hell???
Who did you check with?

On the AVA website, you can bring your Akita over,he justs needs to be muzzled in public
All dogs must be leashed in a public place. If your dog is of a large breed like a Rottweiler or Mastiff, it must also be muzzled in a public place. Owners are also advised to muzzle their dogs in a public place if their dogs are known to be ferocious. If a dog bites a person, it can also become Police case.

Note : Breeds of dogs required to be muzzled in a public place include:
i) Breeds specified in Part I of the Second Schedule: Pit Bull, which includes the American Pit Bull Terrier (which is also known as the American Pit Bull and Pit Bull Terrier), American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, and crosses between them and other breeds, Akita, Neapolitan Mastiff, Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Boerboel, and their crosses;
According to that link, you are correct, it says that Akitas are allowed!
Here is the conflicting information i read from Pet Embassy.

http://petembassy.net/main/index.php/co ... reeds.html

I feel like after reading the AVA site, that they should know what they are talking about. I'm going to call them today just so i can confirm, But if this is the case, i am so happy.

Thank you so much!

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Post by Saint » Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:04 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:These could be of interest to you.....

The Handlebar Restuarant

http://www.trustedopinion.com/restauran ... handle-bar

http://www.google.com.sg/images?hl=en&s ... 87&bih=808

/
The Handlebar is no more, closed down a month or so ago.

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Post by ev-disinfection » Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:26 am

Saint wrote:
sundaymorningstaple wrote:These could be of interest to you.....

The Handlebar Restuarant

http://www.trustedopinion.com/restauran ... handle-bar

http://www.google.com.sg/images?hl=en&s ... 87&bih=808

/
The Handlebar is no more, closed down a month or so ago.
Heard that they will be moving to the Seletar area.
Real nice place though but the wooden benches and tables are a bit too moldy for me.

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Post by Saint » Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:32 am

ev-disinfection wrote:Heard that they will be moving to the Seletar area.
Real nice place though but the wooden benches and tables are a bit too moldy for me.
So I've heard as well

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Post by carteki » Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:37 pm

I agree with everything that the posters have said about moving to Singapore - its a great lifestyle, there are new things to learn and experience and all those good things, but JR8 said it perfectly...
JR8 wrote:If there is a core to the issue I think it is that many of your pursuits are individualistic, and Asia tends to revolve more around the community, a controlled populace, and homogeneousness.
I continuously find myself butting my head against some arcane herd mentality stupidity with no hope of change. Singapore is too small to have a decently competitive market and where they have tried it is usually the consumer that loses out. It was great for a while, and usually I just needed some time in one of the neighbouring countries to appreciate the quiet and order that comes with Singapore, but after a good number of years I'm ready to go home (to the chaos that is Africa).

One of the hardest things for me about living in Singapore is the difficulty in creating and maintaining a social circle as I have "different" interests. People come and go on a regular basis, which means that finding people who you have things in common with (its taken me years to find locals who don't put Shopping and Eating as their hobbies) will be difficult, but once you've found them you need to continually be on the look out for new friends as these could up and move at a moments notice.

This is not meant to dissuade you from moving, but rather to give an idea as to some issues I think that you may face. I've enjoyed the time that I've spent in Singapore and all the opportunities that living here has afforded me, but it is not for everyone.

There is no shame in coming over and admitting that it is not for you, but I would suggest that you leave your dog behind for a couple of months because it is quite a thing to move your dog here and 6 months later to go through the whole process again if that does happen (and it may not).

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