Stay in UK or move to Singapore?

[anon178]

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend is living in Singapore at the moment and I'm in the UK, we've gotten to the stage now where we are looking to settle in either Singapore or London. I don't mean this in a rude way but please be aware I'm not looking for relationship advice, just advice on moving there (sorry, when I've asked people before, they tend to just focus on the relationship side of things).

With regards to jobs, he would need to quit his job in Sg and find another one in London. I'm not currently working but have an offer from a bank in London, and would basically be asking them if I could work in Singapore instead.

My main questions/concerns are:

1. I think I remember reading something about the Singaporean government making it more difficult for foreigners to get jobs there. I can't find the article now, but is it true and am I crazy to think I could find a job there?

2. Does Singapore get boring after a while? I feel London has a lot more to do in terms of museums, historical things etc. (I could be wrong) To be honest, I don't go to these places often in London but I worry I would miss having the option...

3. How would housing work? Boyfriend is a citizen so entitled to public housing, but not sure that's an option now as there are big grants available once you get married or turn 35 (neither will happen for a while). Any advice on private housing would be great - price, locations, etc?

4. Cost of living. Is it really as high and impossible to deal with as people say? Especially compared to London. I remember thinking the MRT was really cheap when I was there, most other everyday things seemed on par with London. No clue on housing, healthcare, etc though... Boyfriend and I would likely have a combined salary of around S$200k per year before tax.

Any other general advice or warnings would be hugely appreciated! I really love Singapore overall and think I would love living there, just a bit cautious at the moment.

Hi Op. I've lived in both these cities for extended amounts of time and would choose Singapore without a doubt in your shoes:

1. If you are in banking I would be surprised if you can't get a job within 6 months or so. Ask your bank to transfer you? I got a job fairly swiftly (as a teacher) and I have friends who have come over as nurses, events managers, project managers with their partners and have all secured jobs after a while.

2. Singapore itself - can get a little boring after a while. BUT you are a cheap flight away from so many incredible places that you wouldn't be able to visit from London. Even with young children we had long weekends in Thailand, 4 days or so in Bali, a visit to Vietnam and a few road trips to Malaysia and it was all pretty cheap. Childless friends were pretty much on beachy weekends away every other weekend!

3. for expat couples housing is a vast expense and it is helpful if companies contribute. For you, however, with your boyfriend having Singaporean PR (or is he Singaporean?!) being able to get a HDB will be soooo much cheaper. I understand that they better support married couples when it comes to buying these. Not sure how HDB works in terms of locations but I can recommend a ton of awesome places to live in SG if you pm me.

4. Yeah, it's high-ish but having to live in a pricey condo is a lot of that cost and if you could get an HDB you'd be in an entirely different position. The public transport is amazing and super cheap compared to any British city. Buying Western food is expensive (Especially dairy) but if you eat in a more local way food is affordable and tastes amazing.

London is an amazing city but Singapore is cleaner, ,cheaper to get around, more organised and closer to super interesting parts of Asia. We came back because we had a DC close to school age and no contribution to school fees in DHs package but we would return in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up (and we are in fact trying to make this happen!)

Nothing is forever, but I would definitely choose Singapore for now in your circumstances.