Singapore Expats

Dear all,

my company is planning to send me to Singapore towards the end of the year beginning of next year.

We are Germans having two small children, 1 and 3 years.

We want to send our kids to the German school which is 10.000,- Euro per year.

What is an appropriate must-have-wage to have a good life in Singapore when we want to live in a nice condo in an international community or where the German community lives at ??

Am I right, that we need at least 10.000,- Euro/ 20.000S$ per month for living?

Thanks,
MB

burgmer wrote: What is an appropriate must-have-wage to have a good life in Singapore when we want to live in a nice condo in an international community or where the German community lives at ??

a must-have-wage should be S$100,000.00+ /month (maybe more if you want a butler, driver, servant, etc) to have a good life. but then, is money everything in life???

there's no such thing as an international community living in one area where one race group together to seperate from another race. singapore is multi culture.

btw, all condo are nice. have a look at The Marq on Paterson Hill.

durain wrote:btw, all condo are nice.

Not!

Sorry burgmer. Lots of posters here feel if you have a big budget you are shallow and incapable of being in touch with the 'real Singapore'. Bah!

There is no appropriate wage for living well, list what is most important to you and do a direct comparison. Don't you have an HR department to help you? I can't believe companies send people so far away with no help, what a recipe for disaster.

road.not.taken wrote:

durain wrote:btw, all condo are nice.

Not!

got la.

road.not.taken wrote:

durain wrote:btw, all condo are nice.

Not!

Sorry burgmer. Lots of posters here feel if you have a big budget you are shallow and incapable of being in touch with the 'real Singapore'. Bah!

There is no appropriate wage for living well, list what is most important to you and do a direct comparison. Don't you have an HR department to help you? I can't believe companies send people so far away with no help, what a recipe for disaster.

Start believing...
My company also sends me to Singapore, and they have no clue about day to day life in Singapore. This is why we (future expats) find this forum so valuable.
As for trying to live in a familiar community, is a legitimate considaration. Future expats think this may ease the shoking transition to a different culture and location. It has nothing to do with money nor with the ability or readiness to get in touch with locals.

starline wrote:Future expats think this may ease the shoking transition to a different culture and location. It has nothing to do with money nor with the ability or readiness to get in touch with locals.

What kind of shocking transition do you actually expect?

x9200 wrote:

starline wrote:Future expats think this may ease the shoking transition to a different culture and location. It has nothing to do with money nor with the ability or readiness to get in touch with locals.

What kind of shocking transition do you actually expect?

I guess the use of 'Shocking' is inappropriate in this case. However I was reffering to the case of a family with kids who don't speak the language, and will probably experience dificullties and challenges in this transition. Being part of a community is important for some.

The only shock I ever faced in Singapore was a climate shock There are cultural differences you run into after the first couple of weeks, but for me 9Dutch) going on a holiday to the south of Spain has more apparent, short term cultural differences then I experienced in Singapore.

So the most important thing you should be looking at for a condo is if it is air-conditioned!

*bit tongue in check 2 cents*

Pepijn wrote:The only shock I ever faced in Singapore was a climate shock There are cultural differences you run into after the first couple of weeks, but for me 9Dutch) going on a holiday to the south of Spain has more apparent, short term cultural differences then I experienced in Singapore.

Exactly. Now, depending on your individual predispositions you will experience some kind of secondary "shock" after 1-2 years of being here. Likely not earlier.

Pepijn wrote: So the most important thing you should be looking at for a condo is if it is air-conditioned!
*bit tongue in check 2 cents*

I do not think there are any without aircon.

let you have some sense for your lifestyle

On a per month basis,
Good 3-rm condo in town with expat community S$7-8k
International school for kids S$1.5k-$2k
Car S$1.0k-$1.5k
Food/Entertainment $3-4k

$14-15k should get you by quite comfortably. Food is not expensive if you localise - eat at local place. Rentals can be halved if you do not stay in town