Relocation issues to Singapore

[JustSee]

Hi all,

I have been accepted to a job in Singapore, after reading through the different forums I am left with bits of unanswered questions and I hope you can assist me answering these.

I have read that when renting an apartment the landlord takes on himself the property tax - is this true in most cases? Are there any taxes that should be payed by me on renting the apartment? - I mean monthly/bimonthly taxes and not stamping or agent fees.

Are there any parts of Singapore that I should avoid when renting an apartment? Parts where traffic will not allow you to sleep at night or other parts where there are extremists? (I am from Israel and my nationality makes it harder to live in some parts.)

Has anyone had an experience when relocating pets to take the dog for a walk when you were stopping for a connection for over an hour?

Any recommendations on hotels that might allow pets in?
-The dog will be in quarantine and I will be travelling with my two parrots as I understood that no quarantine is needed for birds so I will be taking them with me to a hotel for a period of a week or two.

Thank you all!
Ilia.

[JR8]

Hi all,

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I have been accepted to a job in Singapore, after reading through the different forums I am left with bits of unanswered questions and I hope you can assist me answering these.

I have read that when renting an apartment the landlord takes on himself the property tax - is this true in most cases?

Yes

Are there any taxes that should be payed by me on renting the apartment? - I mean monthly/bimonthly taxes and not stamping or agent fees.

No. The owner is liable and not the tenant.

Are there any parts of Singapore that I should avoid when renting an apartment? Parts where traffic will not allow you to sleep at night or other parts where there are extremists? (I am from Israel and my nationality makes it harder to live in some parts.)

Singapore is a city state and hence (in my opinion) is generally noisy. I'd avoid places like in the City (CBD) Marina Bay, Shenton Way that must be one of the world's biggest construction sites. Also when flat-hunting avoid proximity to obvious construction sites. There are a handful of highways that criss-cross the state and these tend to run 24/7 as well and I don't know if SG has got the concept of double-glazing.

Extremists? No I don't think so, most SGns wouldn't recognise an Israeli if they had an IDF platoon complete with hardware sat right in front of them. More seriously SG is so small that it is generally quite homogenous. There are no ghettos as such, or areas that one might wish to avoid. There are areas that have higher concentrations of one race but multi-culturalism is a state imposed dogma and there is zero point zero tolerance for racial stirring, never mind 'extremism'.

Has anyone had an experience when relocating pets to take the dog for a walk when you were stopping for a connection for over an hour?

Can't help but try a search (the button under the Profile button) and search for 'dog' and 'pet relocation', and you'll find some recent discussions on the topic.


Any recommendations on hotels that might allow pets in?
-The dog will be in quarantine and I will be travelling with my two parrots as I understood that no quarantine is needed for birds so I will be taking them with me to a hotel for a period of a week or two.

First time I've seen this asked! No idea, maybe others have!


Thank you all!
Ilia.

[zzm9980]

I'd mostly agree with JR8, but with a few caveats for you...

As an Israeli, you probably are aware you need to be more vigilant than most nationalities anywhere you go in the world. Make sure you're aware the two bordering nations don't recognize Israel as a country, and practice a form of Islamic law. Our enlightened neighbor of Malaysia just deported someone to face a death sentence in Saudi Arabia for something he 'tweeted' on twitter. Yeah. Slightly less harsh, share a room with a member of the opposite sex you're not married to, go to prison. Yep. So when your friends want "go jb lah*" on Friday night, or Batam for a night, you probably will want to stay home

To emphasize this further, more than a few times in the past six months there have been news reports of Singapore picking up radicals here or there and shipping them to the US. They haven't done anything, but they're always accused of plotting.

Not trying to scare you, or even discourage you from coming, but just want to make sure you don't think you're off to Iceland or something. Be vigilant, don't say/do anything stupid. That said, someone in my office does wear a Yammukah (sp) to work every day, so you don't need to live in hiding either.



*- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUyfqOZKMtA

[zzm9980]

Oh, and to the other questions. The only tax you pay on your apartment is a "stamp duty" when you sign the lease. I don't know the exact percentage, but it's quite low. I paid something like 7% of one month's rent for a two year lease. So expect to pay a couple hundred bucks.

Construction and noise everywhere. Most major arterial streets will be noisy. I'd suggest looking for a low rise condo in the middle of a residential (houses) neighborhood. Something like Telok Kurau. But then be aware you're much less conveniently located.


As for your parrot... I saw a pair of guys a week or two ago at the beach. They were each out on the breaker, about 300m from each other. They'd toss this parrot into the air, and it would fly to the other guy blowing a whistle. Back and forth. Pretty fun to watch. Not sure I want one though.

[JR8]

As for your parrot... I saw a pair of guys a week or two ago at the beach. They were each out on the breaker, about 300m from each other. They'd toss this parrot into the air, and it would fly to the other guy blowing a whistle. Back and forth. Pretty fun to watch. Not sure I want one though.

That's really gay. Like the Siegfried and Roy of parrots!


p.s. Good points ZZM, I was thinking local neighborhoods rather than regional geo-politics. (Though I think Close Proximity maybe applies equally to all non-Muslims)

[zzm9980]

Yeah, local neighborhood crime, you're mostly fine. Don't leave a bicycle outside for two weeks on the void deck. Even with two different locks. (Shame on me)

Regional issues, again, probably OK, but play it smart and safe. Most Israelis probably never thought twice about a holiday in Bangkok until last month either A terrorist act in Singapore would have 10x the impact of one in Bangkok, so I'm sure there is someone in some 2 room HDB in ulu ulu channeling his inner jihad trying to figure out how to make it happen before he gets his ass ISA'd.

Just imagine the news headlines in the US: "Westerns killed in China by Osama bin Laden's ghost!"

[Mi Amigo]

As for your parrot... I saw a pair of guys a week or two ago at the beach. They were each out on the breaker, about 300m from each other. They'd toss this parrot into the air, and it would fly to the other guy blowing a whistle. Back and forth.

The parrot was blowing a whistle? This I've got to see

[zzm9980]

As for your parrot... I saw a pair of guys a week or two ago at the beach. They were each out on the breaker, about 300m from each other. They'd toss this parrot into the air, and it would fly to the other guy blowing a whistle. Back and forth.

The parrot was blowing a whistle? This I've got to see

Hah sorry. The two guys would each take turns blowing a whistle. The parrot flew to whoever was blowing it.

[Mi Amigo]

Yeah, I guessed that; just my feeble attempt at humour. It would have been been good to see a whistle-blowing parrot though.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Well, while not physically doing it, it IS a 'parrot' so the parrot would wing his way whistling without the whistle!

[JustSee]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Tax wise - I wasn't sure of the taxes as this differs between every country.
It's good to get a clarification on this.

About the question of the arias that I should avoid is because currently I am living near a highway and it takes time to get accustomed to the noise.
And being Israeli is not the same as being jewish , I'm not Jewish and yet I get crooked looks because of my passport.
Also, in the last few weeks I've been filling my gap about Singapore and reading its history, seeing that there were attempts at terror and there were a few unpleasant issues.


Regarding the pets, I have found that the four seasons and the marriot are pet friendly, but the nightly rates are way more than what I intend to pay... So I am looking for something more in my budget - guess I'll start calling different hotels.


Thank you again for the comments,
All the best.
Ilia.


P.S

An owner that teaches his parrot or any parrot to whistle should be exiled! parrots whistling is one of the most annoying things. Mine know only two words so far, "Gimmie a kiss" and "shut up".

[nutnut]

Hah sorry. The two guys would each take turns blowing a whistle. The parrot flew to whoever was blowing it.

Lol, obviously male parrot then!

I couldn't resist!

[canuck1955]

When m,oving to Singapore one of the most stressful items is renting a place to live. As someone who has lived here for 9 years and had 3 landlords here is some advice...most local landlords will try and scre...you when you are moving out They view the deposit you gave them as their free repair fund! Take photos when you move in. Make sure the leases are specific about normal wear and tear..I just had one instance where my dryer developed some rust spots on the top of it >>>its located outside under a canopy..the landlord XXX XXX XXXX expected me to buy him a new dryer! Small claims court no looms. Just make sure you document everything and dont take any crap...The locals all love to try it on...