Singapore Expats

Does anyone know if I need permission to bring in my XBox and 3 video games into Singapore? It is for my own personal use only.

Thanks

The Customs website makes no mention of the game console itself being controlled; my friends brought their PS2 and Wii into Singapore without incident.

The games themselves, however are considered controlled and will need authorization from the MDA (along with films/videos), regardless of purpose, I think. However, I'm sure people have successfully brought in their games into the country without authorization and without being asked upon arrival. How you interpret these instances, it's up to you.

nakatago wrote:The Customs website makes no mention of the game console itself being controlled; my friends brought their PS2 and Wii into Singapore without incident.

The games themselves, however are considered controlled and will need authorization from the MDA (along with films/videos), regardless of purpose, I think. However, I'm sure people have successfully brought in their games into the country without authorization and without being asked upon arrival. How you interpret these instances, it's up to you.

Pretty much spot on. Unless you bring in your games in massive quantities or in boxes clearly labeled games, you shouldn't have any problems.

you mean when they x-ray your bags and see round things that looks like CDs they won't ask to check it?

amarettoSour wrote:you mean when they x-ray your bags and see round things that looks like CDs they won't ask to check it?

The two times I flew into Singapore, I brought discs with me--several DVD-R's and audio (no games, though). The first time was I had back-ups of my data on DVD and some driver CDs of my gadgets. The second one, a spindle of blanks (and the audio CD) because I tend to create a lot of data (photos, digital art, etc). I greet the customs officers with a smile and just let them scan my luggage at the x-ray machines. They then let me off my own merry way.

I have carried lots of DVD's, CD's, etc in my checked luggage and have never once been asked about them... and from all sorts of destinations.

That's brilliant, thanks everyone!

Caroline

amarettoSour wrote:you mean when they x-ray your bags and see round things that looks like CDs they won't ask to check it?

I flew in and out of Singapore many times and never ever has my luggage even be x-rayed. They only checked once when I had a duty free bag with me that was stuffed with worn cloths after a shower in the Qantas lounge in Brisbane. They just asked to see the contents of the duty free bag, not even my two suitcases or carry on.

Same experience. I regularly order CD/DVD/BD from Amazon, CDUniverse, some European stores and they often arrive with Singapore customs sticker and with no problems whatsoever. We had a single incident only when my wife order a DVD (pretty specialistic) for her company and had to deal with MDA - they were satisfied with the explanation that these are educational materials and no screening was necessary. I strongly suspect the whole bureaucracy was triggered here by TNT.

amarettoSour wrote:you mean when they x-ray your bags and see round things that looks like CDs they won't ask to check it?

Only if gold plated! Actually customs are not bad at all, I had 200 sent over, from UK without a problem. DVD's CD's and Videos plus games

They have also checked my CD's in hand baggage but have never checked them individually to see if i had copies. I think they have more important issues, to think about! Copies are only a problem if you are moving them for financial gain. Of course they can confiscate, but that also means making a report. I think common sense prevails in customs and if you try to hide something they know! Everything goes through X-ray machine unless it is sealed by airport staff these days.

ksl wrote:Of course they can confiscate, but that also means making a report. I think common sense prevails in customs and if you try to hide something they know! Everything goes through X-ray machine unless it is sealed by airport staff these days.

I think it is a common sense but not in the customs but on a bit higher level. There are tons of things around where the regulations are in place but they are never or very seldomly executed. Within few months all the streets would get deserted if police one day would start to enforce law and order the way it is done in Europe or some other countries. If the offence is not a threat to the society it receives very low attention. Right weight on right things only but with a good control over all the domains. Very effective and reasonable system.

For the movies it can be also a different factor: if you see how they are actually censored you may come to the conclusion that for a private import/distribution they would not be censored at all.