Cold feet- Moving to Sg

[scatterbrain expat]

Hey! I've been offered a job starting this August in Sg. Will be paid S$6000 + med insurance.

I'm in the 20's/indian. Love cycling and would prefer to stay somewhere East. Looking to spend S$1100 + PUB for a room. Though not into clubbing, I usually like to have a couple of drinks with friends after work (Rum/Bourbon lover). I would love to travel during the weekends. Also a hardcore foodie. Is this possible with the salary I'll be getting?

I've been lurking around these forums quite a bit recently and starting to get nervous about being able to make ends meet. I've also noticed a lot of rentals who have a strict 'No Indian' policy...is this a widespread sentiment?

All thoughts and comments welcome!

[AngMoG]

HI scatterbrain,

The money should not be a problem, if you are planning on staying in a room. You should look for a Master's Room though, it comes with attached bath. I you are alone without kids or husband, there is no issue getting by on that amount of money, traveling included.

Yes, there are quite a few "no Indian" notices with rooms, usually after a bad experience of the owner with Indian tenants, but often enough also simply because of prejudice. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of rooms available without such notice, so do not fret.

However, please take into account that there is no guarantee you can get an employment pass. At that salary level, your chances are good, but without details, that is difficult to assess. I do not want to scare you, but do not commit too much until you have the in-principle-approval letter (e.g., book a cancelable flight).

[nowhere]

Go for a master room - it can cost anywhere between 700 to 1400 SGD depending on location+aircon+cooking. You would see subtle racism against Indians so be prepared with that. If you go through a property agent, they would match you to an Indian family only to avoid any problems later on. You would also have to inform the landlord/agent whether you want to do light cooking or not.

With 6K, one should not have much difficulty maintaing a reasonable lifestyle. Food and transportation is very cheap in SG. The bulk of your salary will go into accomodation. The rest is yours to spend/save/invest.

Do try and check the medical insurance terms. Some have an upper limit for each hospital admission/ claims. Try and get the best you can afford as medical expenses is a lot in SG.

[scatterbrain expat]

Thanks AngMoG and Nowhere for the response.
I plan on booking my flight only after getting the E-pass. My Med insurance is capped off at S$10000/yr.
I'm single, so no family to worry about Anything I save will purely be to explore SE Asia.
I did put up an ad online to assess the rent situation, people were pretty interested till I dropped the 'Indian'
Hopefully someone here has had some passable experience with Indians...or is this something I really have to be worried about?

[BillyB]

try ..com.sg for a wide variety of room options across Singapore.

WRT health insurance - your total health cover is low if you get a major illness and you want to use one of the better hospitals in this town. I'd see if your company can do something about this or ask them if you can take the premium and use it towards privately funded cover.

[nakatago]

try ..com.sg for a wide variety of room options across Singapore.

Yeah, rooms there sounds like just up your alley. Caveat emptor: you have to pay their service to make them useful.

[BillyB]

try ..com.sg for a wide variety of room options across Singapore.

Yeah, rooms there sounds like just up your alley. Caveat emptor: you have to pay their service to make them useful.

And it's full of perverts..................so i'm told

[taxico]

when my wife and i first rented our apartment to indians (professionals), we did so without prejudice.

after experiencing a few "professional" indian families, we decided to no longer rent it out to anyone from india.

the place, especially the kitchen, is destroyed by each family through what i can only term "crazy cooking." and two of the families are vegetarians!

the rooms were left in an extremely extremely filthy state. as were all the toilets and bathrooms.

any furniture that was not glass, had burnt marks or water stains left from what i assume were bottom of pots.

even the computer monitors were damaged by food (gravy?). no more! one was a senior oil and gas engineer, another was a banking exec, and the third was some sort of bank IT man that flies to switzerland with much regularity.

our decision to allow indians to rent the apartment was met by much disbelief and joy from the property agent... well, now we know.

(i'm sure not all indians behave this way, but 3 in a row is enough for us)

[zzm9980]

Different cultures just have different 'norms' as to what is acceptable in regards to cleanliness and hygiene. My wife's family shocked me initially too when I would see the food (raw and leftovers) just sitting out for hours in warm humid climates on the counter. Sometimes there would be a plastic strainer tossed over to keep the larger insects off. But that's just the norm in Vietnam.

I have two local friends with major complaints about their Myanmar maids. One said that the baby will spit up milk everywhere and the maid will just wipe it off the baby, but leave it on the floor or furniture without thinking to clean it unless they're directly asked. That's 'normal' for them.

That said, I'm sure not all Indians/Vietnamese/Myanmarese fit the above generalizations; but unfortunately those generalizations exist and you have to deal with it.

[scatterbrain expat]

Ok! I did ask for it and I'm now awfully embarrassed. But thank you so much for taking your time and posting here...I'd rather be mentally prepared than shell shocked when I get there.

taxico, we've had a couple of tenants ourselves who've somehow managed to break kitchen counters and bathroom tiles.My family is now extremely careful about who they lease it out to. So, I get what you're saying.

zzm9980, yes we're all not like that but unfortunately there is no way to prove it. I'm just gonna have to hope for the best!

try ..com.sg for a wide variety of room options across Singapore.

Yeah, rooms there sounds like just up your alley. Caveat emptor: you have to pay their service to make them useful.

And it's full of perverts..................so i'm told

I will try this and thanks for the heads up!

WRT health insurance - your total health cover is low if you get a major illness and you want to use one of the better hospitals in this town. I'd see if your company can do something about this or ask them if you can take the premium and use it towards privately funded cover.

Have no idea about the health expenses in Singapore...looks like I have to do a little research. Will talk to my company when I know a bit more.

This definitely din't cure my cold feet but thank you all!

[bgd]

From what you have said about your interests in cycling, food and travel Sg is a good base for that. There are always cultural challenges when moving countries but often the rewards far outweigh the negatives.

If it helps I really enjoy the cycling opportunities here. After years of cycling the East Coast Park daily I still haven't tired of it, but you do need to choose your times.

If you want excitement, frustration and danger join the crowds on a Sunday afternoon.

[scatterbrain expat]

Hope i'll find a place near the east coast park...look forward to all the cycling I'll be able to do!
Thanks bgd

[ecureilx]

...
(i'm sure not all indians behave this way, but 3 in a row is enough for us)

I know what you mean .. I shared apartments with Indians who occasionally cooked .. and that meant, the others also have the opportunity to cook their favourite dishes.

Then the current place I am parked, my co-tenant- husband and wife both work, but. . it is a mirror image of what you describe .. from 6 AM the kitchen will be occupied and by end of the day, the sink is still full of unwashed dishes .. makes it even miraculous since the husband works on night shift and the wife, day work- though they can monpolise the kitchen for the whole day ...

It is a little wonder ..

and since me and the other half are on the lookout and I mentioned the idea of sharing with an Indian Family, she went ballistic .. and said "NO SHARING WITH INDIANS .. " and I could surmise that it had to do with the Kitchen use through and through .. and my feeble attempts to counter her saying that not all Indians are fully intent on hogging the kitchen fell on deaf ears

Many years ago, when a friend was leaving his rental apartment, the landlord deducted 1000 $ from the deposit - to cover "STEAM CLEANING" as the landlord was adamant that the kitchen must have been messed up with constant cooking ..

I was pretty close to asking the LL what else is the kitchen to be used for .. though my friend managed to prove to the Landlord that the kitchen was NOT a mess and it was as clean as it was when he took over the apartment .. tough time getting the deposit back though ..

[beppi]

I shared flats with Indians on several occasions and had absolutely no negative experiences regarding cooking (and most everything else).
They were single young men, so having a whole family might be different.

[ecureilx]

I shared flats with Indians on several occasions and had absolutely no negative experiences regarding cooking (and most everything else).
They were single young men, so having a whole family might be different.

I too guess so ..

As I said, when I shared with guys, there was no issue .. and as a Landlord asked "NO MAJOR COOKING"