Singapore Expats

A post from Singapore from (formerly) artursson--so now you know the names of both my parents. We arrived here a week ago, and yesterday settled Artie into the Overseas Family School, which looks and feels like a very good choice, albeit one made in near blindness. A. likes it there right off, and didn't even complain about starting school three weeks earlier than at home. Thank you jockney and other posters on this thread who spoke well of OFS.

I was particularly encouraged by the proportion of Scandinavian kids in the school, though that may be just a result of clever marketing on the part of management, and by the greenness of the campus: quite a surprise for the central part of Singapore, and a big contrast to the grimness of the ISS campus next door. It's an easy ride on the city bus, or a half hour walk on mostly quiet residential streets, from where we live on Alexandra Road.

So after a lot of extended anxiety, it seems we've landed on our feet, at least as far school is concerned. I appreciate the encouragement that a number of you offered during our search, and I hope to help ease the process for some of the endless others coming along.

hey, welcome to singapore.

hi artusson/clarison - welcome to singapore! simply from a curiosity standpoint - why did you select OFS and not UWC or TTS? was the head of your wife's school was able to pull strings at UWC and you decided on OFS? (i know a lot of people who have their children at OFS as a placeholder for other schools and are really happy there... lots of scandanavians!) anyhow, like i said just curious since i was given a 2014 start 2 years ago for my then 2 year old at UWC.

Well artusson/clarison, you finally made it. Even though I may not have approved of your methodology, I do hope you all settle in smoothly, especially your little guy. OFS is the right choice for a lot families, good luck there.

cbavasi--We withdrew our interest in UWC on learning that it's in process of moving to Tampines, with a phased pullout that struck me as chaos waiting to happen (I have a lot of experience with private school construction.). Since we live west of center, near my wife's campus, we didn't want to subject A. to an epic school commute: thus our lack of interest in SAS, too, even had the fees for both places not been beyond us.

TTS waitlisted us, and I didn't bother to push at that door after long conversations with former expats back in the USA who'd had kids in various int'l schools. The gist of their advice: the more a school approaches a monoculture, the greater the likelihood of a poisonous sense of superiority, entitlement, etc. SAS (70% US passports) got mentioned often in this regard, and by people who'd sent their kids there. [rnt: just don't bother, OK? Ever.] TTS is, by charter, even more of a monoculture. Also, the 'education is a business' theme running thru its website struck me as a weirdly inappropriate message for a trust school actually in possession of the rarest thing in Sing int'l schools, a history, as if the place had been hijacked by alien super-capitalists.

Which might be a working definition of successful Singaporeans. I don't know; I'm a stranger here myself. It has been hard to avoid the notion that wealth matters more here, that acquisition is pushed more relentlessly in every venue, than anyplace else in the world. And I lived in NYC half my life. But people on the street have been unfailingly gracious and helpful, as have all the professionals I've encountered. (I've been sick as a kennel since we arrived, so I got acquainted quick with a lot of doctors: no specific diagnosis, but I feel confident in their competence.)

clarison wrote: [rnt: just don't bother, OK? Ever.]

Nice

Well. I tried.