Relocation salary to have a decent life in Singapore

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pasta26
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Relocation salary to have a decent life in Singapore

Post by pasta26 » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 2:18 pm

Dear all,

i had been offered a technical position in singapore for 10k SGD (8k USD) monthly.
no other allowance, any other expenses (including housing, transport, tax) will be on my own. medical and typical employee benefit will follow local package

i am 30s, male, single, 7 years technical experience, B.Eng with MBA, chartered engineer

the main reason to accept singapore because
a) it is a very safe country
b) i like backpacking in SEA. Singapore currency is relatively strong in its region and this could be very convenient to travel countries around
c) i personally like asian culture, perhaps could find a asian/chinese gf there also

Question:
a) could 10k SGD get me a decent living in Singapore? do 10k SGD a good expat package? (i might not considered as expat because they dont give housing/transport to me, just gross basic salary)
b) if i accept the offer, i plan to stay on for 3 years, then only decide my next steps/actions. is singapore good for long term staying?
c) how many foreigner permanently stay here >10 years? heard singapore local is starting to reject foreigner since their last election.
d) should i go for Singapore PR? but i heard only 1 chance given to guy. first approved PR dont need to do national serive, However if i loss it eg back to my country for a few years without back to Singapore, my Singapore PR will be provoked. for second PR application (for guy only) will require me to serve their national service.
Last edited by pasta26 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

AngMoG
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Re: Relocation salary to have a decent life in Singapore

Post by AngMoG » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 3:34 pm

pasta26 wrote:Dear all,

i had been offered a technical position in singapore for 10k SGD (8k USD) monthly.
no other allowance, any other expenses (including housing, transport, tax) will be on my own. medical and typical employee benefit will follow local package

i am 30s, male, single, 7 years technical experience, B.Eng with MBA, chartered engineer

the main reason to accept singapore because
a) it is a very safe country
b) i like backpacking in SEA. Singapore currency is relatively strong in its region and this could be very convenient to travel countries around
c) i personally like asian culture, perhaps could find a asian/chinese gf there also

Question:
a) could 10k SGD get me a decent living in Singapore? do 10k SGD a good expat package? (i might not considered as expat because they dont give housing/transport to me, just gross basic salary)
b) if i accept the offer, i plan to stay on for 3 years, then only decide my next steps/actions. is singapore good for long term staying?
c) how many foreigner permanently stay here >10 years? heard singapore local is starting to reject foreigner since their last election.
d) should i go for Singapore PR? but i heard only 1 chance given to guy. once i loss it, my next PR application will require me for their national service
a) Yes. You can afford to rent a (small) condo on your own with that, though that'll take around 30% of your salary away.
b) It is difficult to plan long-term in Singapore right now as a foreigner, as they keep changing the (opaque) rules. With your salary level, you should be ok for now.
c) I have not seen any statistics, though I've been here 7 years now. Probably quite a few.
d) Wait about 3-5 years before applying. The NS thing is not true, not sure where you got that from; 1st generation PRs do not have to do NS. However, if you have a male offspring who is PR, he will have to serve if he is still here after a certain age (15 I think).

pasta26
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Re: Relocation salary to have a decent life in Singapore

Post by pasta26 » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 4:14 pm

AngMoG wrote: a) Yes. You can afford to rent a (small) condo on your own with that, though that'll take around 30% of your salary away.
b) It is difficult to plan long-term in Singapore right now as a foreigner, as they keep changing the (opaque) rules. With your salary level, you should be ok for now.
c) I have not seen any statistics, though I've been here 7 years now. Probably quite a few.
d) Wait about 3-5 years before applying. The NS thing is not true, not sure where you got that from; 1st generation PRs do not have to do NS. However, if you have a male offspring who is PR, he will have to serve if he is still here after a certain age (15 I think).
ok, apologize for didnt explain them clearly.
what i mean is,
first approved PR dont need to do national serive, However if i loss it eg back to my country for a few years without back to Singapore, my Singapore PR will be provoked. for second PR application (for guy only) will require me to serve their national service.

Dert42
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Post by Dert42 » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 4:15 pm

10k a month and single you will be fine.
I get more then that, but have 2 kids and a wife and we're doing ok.

AngMoG
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Re: Relocation salary to have a decent life in Singapore

Post by AngMoG » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 4:23 pm

pasta26 wrote:
AngMoG wrote: a) Yes. You can afford to rent a (small) condo on your own with that, though that'll take around 30% of your salary away.
b) It is difficult to plan long-term in Singapore right now as a foreigner, as they keep changing the (opaque) rules. With your salary level, you should be ok for now.
c) I have not seen any statistics, though I've been here 7 years now. Probably quite a few.
d) Wait about 3-5 years before applying. The NS thing is not true, not sure where you got that from; 1st generation PRs do not have to do NS. However, if you have a male offspring who is PR, he will have to serve if he is still here after a certain age (15 I think).
ok, apologize for didnt explain them clearly.
what i mean is,
first approved PR dont need to do national serive, However if i loss it eg back to my country for a few years without back to Singapore, my Singapore PR will be provoked. for second PR application (for guy only) will require me to serve their national service.
I think you are needlessly worrying. Your first question should be whether you want PR in the first place, for which you should first live here a while to decide. Then, you may or may not actually get it (the criteria are quite opaque).

Even so, I do not think you'd need to do NS if you get PR for a second time (which, I think, would be quite difficult too). That would likely be 10+ years from now. (Say, 5 years to get PR in the first place, plus say you "lose" it at the end of the first renewal cycle, then come back a couple of years later.)

PrimroseHill
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Post by PrimroseHill » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 4:28 pm

$10k is alright. Live here first before deciding to go for PR or not

beppi
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Post by beppi » Fri, 15 Nov 2013 4:44 pm

S$10k is, by local standards, a very good salary for your job. You can live well on that and save quite a bit!
There are many long-term expats in Singapore, but they tend to stay in different social circles than the short-termers (just a few years). I lived 12 years in Singapore and could do longer (now abroad due to career reasons). It's an easy place to feel at home - of course having a local wife and family helps. After retirement, however, I would choose elsewhere.
A PR, once revoked, will be nearly impossible to get back. But in case this happens for you, you will still NOT need to do NS!

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