Singapore Expats

Hi all,

Just moved to Singapore from London and its been interesting so far. I think I've finally found an apartment and am working through the lease agreement at the moment. However, I have one question and I've done a bit of digging but can't quite find the information I'm looking for.

The apartment is currently empty and the utilities - power/gas/etc - have been disconnected.

How does one go about getting these services started again? The same goes for phone and TV but these are secondary to the power utilities.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Workaround

workaround wrote:Hi all,

Just moved to Singapore from London and its been interesting so far. I think I've finally found an apartment and am working through the lease agreement at the moment. However, I have one question and I've done a bit of digging but can't quite find the information I'm looking for.

The apartment is currently empty and the utilities - power/gas/etc - have been disconnected.

How does one go about getting these services started again? The same goes for phone and TV but these are secondary to the power utilities.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Workaround

You can do it either by yourself or ask your agent to help you with it. Typically is a smooth and painless process so don't worry. All energy-water-gas is handled by one company. TV and phone - depends on the operator you would like to use and maybe to some extent on the infrastructure in your place. Basically you call them and ask and they tell you what to do

thanks x2000. I've just sent a message to the agent asking for assistance. He seems fairly helpful so far - although I've read enough warnings here to know not to fall into any traps!

Looking forward to getting my own place. At the moment, staying in a Serviced Apartment and its driving me a bit potty. Need to get settled and start making some friends who know the place a bit better then I do!

x9200 wrote:Typically is a smooth and painless process so don't worry.

It seems that way, but you can't try to be "clever" about the procedure else it all comes crumbling down.
The mistakes I made:
1) I noted my postal address as my new address on the documentation. That meant that I didn't get the letter asking me to send originals via post after I'd emailed them (despite being assured on the phone that I could hand the "originals" to the techie on the day)
2) I completed my GIRO - direct bank deposit form - and included it with the documents that I gave to the techie. That form never made it to whereever it was supposed to go. I had to re-print and re-complete a GIRO form and send it by post to activate

and... expect the utilities guy around 30mins earlier than the stated appointment time (I'd planned for later, but this is Singapore)

hi karteki,

I'm not sure I understand the line about:

"noted my postal address as my new address"

Why should this impact the delivery of the post? Surely it's the same? Or this an expat mistake?

Sorry - maybe I should've written I noted my new address as my postal address - which meant that I wouldn't get any post until I moved into the place (which was the same day they needed to turn the utilities on)

SP Services is the supplier of Gas, Electric and water. I think our agent helped us out with this a little but you will also need to know that as an expat you are expected to pay $500 deposit along with your first bill (or before). I guess this covers any losses for when people leave the country with unpaid bills.

Starhub and Singtel are the main suppliers for your broadband TV and internet so you can compare and see which one offers the best deals.