Singapore Expats

My 1st post! Anyone moved from Geneva to Singapore?

Moving to Singapore? Ask our regular expats in Singapore questions on relocation and their experience here. Ask about banking, employment pass, insurance, visa, work permit, citizenship or immigration issues.

Sponsored by:

Utrust Immigration
Post Reply
2BornotTB
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:16 pm
Location: Switzerland

My 1st post! Anyone moved from Geneva to Singapore?

Post by 2BornotTB » Wed, 03 Apr 2013 8:18 pm

Hey there!

Good possibility that we will move to Singapore in the near future.

We currently live/work in Geneva (Switzerland), 1 child currently anyone out there that has moved from Geneva to Singapore that could give some feed back on:
What to expect/major differences?
Good/bad compared to Switzerland that we should consider before moving?
What does an average DAY look like to a mother with a 7 yr old child look like?

...and mostly what are ALL the positive aspects of living in Singapore?

Would be really grateful to receive all and ANY feed back!

sarabe
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:42 pm
Location: zurich, switzerland

relocating from zurich to singapore

Post by sarabe » Sat, 27 Apr 2013 11:22 pm

We are currently based in Zurich and have made the decision to move to Singapore at the end of August. I saw your post and just thought it good to respond.

We have 2 kids, a 9yr old and an almost 3 year old.
We looked into a lot of blogs etc before making our final decision.

We are very much looking forward to moving and have already enrolled out eldest into the swiss school.

I can't really help you with the good/bad etc as we are not yet there, but check out online blogs from women living in Singapore as foreigners, most seem to love it.

Will post more as I know more.
All the best with your decision.

beppi
Manager
Manager
Posts: 1768
Joined: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:15 am
Location: Ahlongistan (O$P$)

Re: My 1st post! Anyone moved from Geneva to Singapore?

Post by beppi » Sun, 28 Apr 2013 5:08 pm

2BornotTB wrote:...and mostly what are ALL the positive aspects of living in Singapore?
I like your attitude of focusing on the positive sides - that is one of the most important (and most often missing) requirements for a successful international move and integration in a new culture. Keep it up and you'll be fine!

User avatar
gonzales
Regular
Regular
Posts: 107
Joined: Sat, 24 May 2008 1:31 pm
Location: Singapore, Wild West

Post by gonzales » Mon, 29 Apr 2013 3:00 pm

Folks,

SG is a great little island to live on.

Differences to CH?

-Climate is obvious, the air is thick with humidity all year. But the Sun shines almost every day.
-No short day in Winter months, you get 12 hours of light all year round.
-Public transport is obscenely cheap, reliable & frequent.
-Shopping Malls can be very noisy as the electronics shops blast out the volume from their latest TV & Audio offerings - this is a bug bear of mine.
-Credit is cheap compared to Europe, mortgage interest rates are ~<2%.
-Safe to be out & about at all hours of the day & night - not unlike CH I guess.
- Great variety of cuisines available on any part of the Island from as little as S$2.5/ plate.
- Car ownership is prohibitively (for most) expensive at the moment. Google "COE Singapore".
- Most International Schools have a private bus that can pick up your kids in both directions. We choose not to use this service for safety reasons.
- You will probably wear a dress every day so don't bring over a ton of long pants, they'll be sitting idle.
- Don't worry too much about having a negative experience moving here, in my experience I have never come across ANYONE that moved here that didn't love the new life.

User avatar
sundaymorningstaple
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 40356
Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
Answers: 21
Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 29 Apr 2013 5:36 pm

gonzales wrote: - Don't worry too much about having a negative experience moving here, in my experience I have never come across ANYONE that moved here that didn't love the new life.
For a while, anyway. After about 2 years the agro starts to set in for most. If you make it past that, you will be good for a long stint, but even then, people like me who have been here over 3 decades find the veneer starts to wear pretty thin. But don't let anybody throw you off. It's worth the experience and if you want a tast of Asian without being thrown into the deep end, it's the best place to start and weekend hops can be done all over the region for deeper immersion into REAL Asia.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

2BornotTB
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:16 pm
Location: Switzerland

Post by 2BornotTB » Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:25 pm

Thank you all for your replies.

Thanks for your helpful reply Sarabe! I look forward to hearing more as and when you can. We would most likely put our son in the Swiss school also.

Wasn't looking for negatives - just wanted to be aware of all angles so as not to be too surprised by any eventualities. I think we would/will love it from what I have read so far too :)

Now I want a definitive date!... :roll:

stiwi
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 153
Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 7:06 am
Location: Singapore

Post by stiwi » Fri, 03 May 2013 7:19 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote: For a while, anyway. After about 2 years the agro starts to set in for most. If you make it past that, you will be good for a long stint, but even then, people like me who have been here over 3 decades find the veneer starts to wear pretty thin. But don't let anybody throw you off. It's worth the experience and if you want a tast of Asian without being thrown into the deep end, it's the best place to start and weekend hops can be done all over the region for deeper immersion into REAL Asia.
Well said. 2 years is crucial. Me & wife didn't manage to get past it and decided to leave after 2 years just to realise that SG is our place and we want to come back :)

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Relocating, Moving to Singapore”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests