Moving to Singapore as a single female - help!

[ThierryEnnui]

Any advice, must-knows, do-before-you-come’s would be most appreciated!

I’m on a salary of £48K plus £10K bonus in the UK, with lots of bens including private medical etc. Staying with the same company, but need to have a figure in mind for when they offer (just got the verbal today). Any thoughts?

Also - places to live - I like the sound of Holland (young and bohemian sounds ideal). Is a budget of $3k per month reasonable to get a nice 1/2 bed condo with pool/gym facilities?

I’m 27, female, single. Know not a soul out there!

Really grateful for any advice.

You'll have a ball; Singapore has a great scene for young single expats.
Holland Village is a good shout; some of my colleagues in your position live around China Town or Orchard too.

Sg is expensive for food and going out- I would ask to have a decent uplift on your salary plus full medical including some dental, housing and relocation paid for. 3k is plenty for a 1/2 Condo - it's a renters market at the moment.

Good luck you'll love it here

Make sure you have comprehensive medical insurance provided by your employer. If not, factor in topping up yourself which can run into the tens of thousands.

Get a serviced apartment for a month or two when you arrive and scope out different neighbourhoods before committing - a standard lease is two years.

Holland Village is the traditional expat enclave, but I wouldn't consider it particularly young and or bohemian. Tiong Bahru, Tanjong Pagar/Chinatown or Katong/Joo Chiat may be closer to what you're looking for.

Have a look at the Property Guru website - it's the main site. You should definitely be able to find something good with your budget.

As far as salary goes, it depends on what your role & industry is as to what is reasonable to ask for. Sites like Glass Door might help you get a sense of salaries out here.

Thank you very much both - your insight is really appreciated!

I’ve had my offer verbally (waiting to hear back re: medical) which is base salary of $125k SGD (before bonus) plus $15k p.a. retirement allowance and they will cover a month in a serviced apartment whilst I decide where I’d like to live permanently. From some fairly extensive googling it feels a generous salary and certainly very liveable for a single person!

I’ve expanded my PropertyGuru search parameters to include Chinatown - some lovely condos there.

Would either of you suggest any specific groups or forums I should get myself onto ahead of time? Don’t want to spend my first few months as a total billy no-mates!

$10K a month is definitely enough for a single person to live comfortably.

There are a lot of Singapore based Facebook groups, if you're on FB. One of the most active is Real Singapore Expat Wives (despite the name, you don't need to be married - there are plenty of single members). Also try Singapore Expat Women. There are probably others for young single people (sorry, I'm a boring old married woman with a kid). I think there are some active forums too, but I'm not on any. I did look at a few when we first moved and they seemed to be dominated by middle-aged men, but that may have changed.

I've heard Internations is good for meeting people. And if you have specific hobbies or interests there are plenty of Meetup groups. Singapore is a pretty good place to meet people - there are plenty of opportunities to meet friends as long are you're willing to put yourself out there. You'll find there are lots of people looking for friends.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you need any tips or help.

Hi Terror, thank you so much. Just been accepted into the Singapore Expat Women FB group so that’s a great start! Have also signed up to InterNations but looks like the good stuff unlocks when you pay, so I might wait until I’m physically there to do that.

Unfortunately not on the cards to have a recce trip (unless I pay for it myself) but hopefully the month’s serviced apartment will let me find somewhere really great to live long term.

Very liveable salary and a month in serviced is great gives you loads of time.
Try and join Real Singapore Expat Wives it's a fountain of knowledge on all things singapore. and also there used to be a group called Singapore Expat Gal Pals with loads of women looking for other women to do fun stuff with. Good luck !

Did you move?! How’s it going? I might be moving out in Jan so interested in views.

Hi @Binkybix - I leave 2 weeks yesterday! All beginning to feel very real. I’ll update once I’ve been out there a few weeks! Currently in total panic and ‘wtf am I doing’ mode but think that’s normal at this point

Hi @Binkybix - did you move out here in the end? I’m absolutely loving it!

Hi @thierryennui we are still planning to! Just waiting for approval for the post from Singapore government then we’ll be booking our flights. Glad you’re enjoying it :) will keep you posted!

Try Singapore Expat Gal Pals group and First Thursdays on Facebook, not sure if first Thursdays is still running but I met a lot of my gang of friends there. I don’t live in Singapore anymore but I loved it while I did. Trying to persuade my husband to find a job there so we can move to Asia again!