Forthcoming Professor at NUS with 4 kids housing/education?

[Amundsen]

I am asking a few questions..hope someone can help please.

My husband has been approached by ANU to apply for a post of Professor. Does anyone know what salary to expect – he is a full professor at a leading UK university.

Housing – ANU offers subsidised housing as part of the package but only 3 bedroom apartments are available. We have 4 kids so this accommodation would be too small. Does anyone have any ideas about the cost of 5 bedroom apartments and how to get the university to contribute to this? Or are 3 bedroom units just the norm?

Education – we have 4 primary (elementary) school age kids age. We assume the kids would have to attend Singapore local schools because ANU would not pay for International Schooling? Does anyone have any experience with this or what our options would be for schooling? One child has a learning disability and the Singapore education system - according to Wikipedia - does not cater for kids with special needs? I do not want to home school. What would be our options?

Standard of living – How much does one need to earn to live well? Could we live well on one academic salary?

Any advice appreciated.

[x9200]

Please start here:

and then ask questions.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Beauty! I've saved that one. Guess we'll be seeing a lot of it along with poof & nuclear explosions!

[x9200]

I will try later to slim it a bit down ~1MB now.

[richie303]

I have added some responses below, but as I have highlighted, you need to be more specific. Singapore is a fine city to live in, but, if you don't have a preconception of how you want to live then it's very very difficult to help.

Hence the immediate response to your question being to use the search function!

Pointed and specific questions are always assisted with, but if you cannot be specific then you will come across the same response, as you can imagine there are a number of people asking sweeping questions on the board and the veterans of the site are unforgiving.

Good luck! and remember, the tax is much much lower here!

I am asking a few questions..hope someone can help please.

My husband has been approached by ANU to apply for a post of Professor. Does anyone know what salary to expect – he is a full professor at a leading UK university. This will surely come from NUS, but, I imagine if he requests similar to the salary he has in the UK then this would be considered, those with specific skills are usually catered for well.



Education – we have 4 primary (elementary) school age kids age. We assume the kids would have to attend Singapore local schools because ANU would not pay for International Schooling? Does anyone have any experience with this or what our options would be for schooling? One child has a learning disability and the Singapore education system - according to Wikipedia - does not cater for kids with special needs? I do not want to home school. What would be our options? International schooling even at the age of your kids is expensive ($20K PA per kid) we have friends with a kid who has special needs who is going to Dover Court Prep (near NUS) and they cater best as far as I am aware

Standard of living – How much does one need to earn to live well? Could we live well on one academic salary? depends on your living costs, this question could be answered in many different ways! if you are schooling your kids in local schools then the cost is lower, if in International Schools it's much higher, cost of property f you upgrade what the university gives you can be huge or gianormous, Singapore is a very expensive place to live, if you buy a car/MPV they are very expensive... It is all relative. I'd suggest in your situation that 4 kids at international school, car, large condo and other living costs will come to about $15K+ a month, or you can probably do it much cheaper (local schools, public transport, HDB or small condo etc) again all relative.

Any advice appreciated. In order to assist you need to provide much more information, salary range, property budget etc etc. Please use the search function and start making some decisions on some of these factors, but remember Singapore is very much a place where you can get anything you want, as long as you have the cash to do it! So your husbands salary is of paramount importance!

[Amundsen]

Thanks for being so helpful. I had looked around the website but I wanted to sound people out. I'm struggling for time with the kids and work. I have a stressful full time job, 4 hour commute makes things more difficult... We’ve never been motivated by money but with 4 needy kids and a UK state school system which is stretched and not being able to afford to go with private education, when my husband mentioned this option in passing I thought it sounded appealing especially given the UK government bang on and on about the excellent Singapore education system! So in a rush to find out the facts before I let my husband take this any further. For me personally it would mean giving up a job that I love so I need to prove the pay back would be worth it for the kids. Singapore for me would be the opportunity to take a career break and to spend time with the kids to ensure they get the opportunity at school to achieve their potential.

[wkwoods]

I wasn't aware that ANU (Australian National University) was setting up a campus in Singapore, but I'm not surprised.

Full Professor salaries are hard to gauge as they can vary a lot depending on how famous the professor is. At NUS (National University of Singapore), there are whispers that some of the big names they brought in were paid in excess of S$30K/month (about USD300K per year), but safe to say the garden variety professor makes significantly less than that. However since, your husband is being recruited, its well possible that he can demand top pay.

5-bedroom apartments would be very expensive and very difficult to find. You might consider a small house in the suburbs like Sembawang or Upper Thomson. I'd think rent would be at least $5-10K/m. How many sq ft are the apartments offered by ANU? NUS foreign staff live in a development called Kent Vale, which are all 3-bedroom, but spacious at 2,000 sq ft or so.

I would recommend the local school system, but not all kids can adapt. If you put your kids there, I suggest you embrace it wholeheartedly and don't compare it to the UK. Mine thrived in it after we transferred them from International School but they were born here and lived here most of their lives.

[boffenl]

Hi, tought decisions. My daughter is in a local school near the NUS campus, so there are a lot (5-10%) of international kids there. There are also some very nice condo's in the NUS area--not sure if they have 5 bedrooms, but I'm sure you can either look on this website or google 5 bedroom condo Clementi (or West Coast) and see what comes up.

There are also some great houses (I'd call them townhouses) near NUS and brand new condo's that will be on the high side of your price range. BUT if your husband is being recruited and you must have 5 bedrooms, I think you cna make the case for a larger housing stipend.

As for alternative schools for kids with different learning abilities, there are actually some very good programs out here. Again, you'll need to google your kids learning difference and see what pops up. The Ministry of Education does keep a list of these schools and I'm sure would welcome and email from you if you need more info.

Good luck!

[movingtospore]

Good luck with your move.

NUS used to subsidize International School fees for expats. They don't anymore. BUT if they are after your husband, you should be able to ask them to increase the salary to compensate you for the excessive cost of living in Singapore, in particular school fees for children. 4 children! You can enroll in local school, but this is getting increasingly difficult for expats, even if you want to go that route. It can be challenging to get a spot until you are a PR. And if you don't want to be a PR then you are at the bottom of the list. Fair enough as the schools are for locals, but you need to highlight this to NUS.

They also have faculty apartments, which they continually say are full though I've heard there are empty ones...could push for one of those as well, the old ones are large. With 4 kids you might be better off that way. Good luck.

[JR8]

My only 2c is: Be aware that SG is a very small country, and describing your circumstances as you have makes you identifiable.

[zantac]

My husband NHS consultant is joining NUHS and was offered pretty much same package. Salary will be whatever your husband earn at gross (tax is lower there btw) housing and kids school sub is added in as well.
Gosh, I think the University owns some good condos we have to rent private 3 bed (2kids 1 on the way) I don't know how big your house is right now but for square footage Singapore isn't that small. If they are paying you rather then offer you a condo then you could look a little bit out of town. Remember SG is not that big so travel time is not long. (been there before)
My kids will join local school also and the schools are really good there.
I won't be working either but unless you are out every night drinking wine (it's expensive there) you should be able to manage fine.
I have my worries too but things aren't looking that good for NHS as you must know by enough media coverage... so we are biting the bullet and giving it a go. Well, I hope you manage to work things out either here in UK or will see you in Singapore. Take care

[luminoso]

While you may be earning less money in Singapore in absolute terms, please bear in mind that Singapore has much lower taxes than the UK, and things also cost slightly less than in the UK save for rent and cars. Everything else from food to transportation is cheaper, even with the devaluation of the pound.

The top rate of tax in the UK is 50%

The top rate of tax in Singapore is 20% (and it applies only to those earning $330,000 or more)

The VAT in the UK is 20%

The GST in Singapore is 7%

[JR8]

While you may be earning less money in Singapore in absolute terms, please bear in mind that Singapore has much lower taxes than the UK, and things also cost slightly less than in the UK save for rent and cars. Everything else from food to transportation is cheaper, even with the devaluation of the pound.

The top rate of tax in the UK is 50%

The top rate of tax in Singapore is 20% (and it applies only to those earning $330,000 or more)

The VAT in the UK is 20%

The GST in Singapore is 7%

You need to add National Insurance onto UK tax rates to get the whole picture.

[luminoso]

Oh yeah, I didn't even factor in NI!

In a nutshell, it is not logical to simply compare gross salaries in Singapore and the UK.

I was earning GBP 68k a year in the UK (at a time when the pound was equivalent to SGD 3), but I came to Singapore and took on a job that paid only SGD 110k a year. However, I was able to enjoy a much better standard of living in Singapore and found that I could also save much more money.