Singapore Expats

Hello All,
Thank you for all the great comments in this forum. It is very informative forum.

I am moving to Singapore (fr. Canada) in January with my spouse and 2 boys (1yo & 3yo). My youngest son still on diapers, baby food, homogenized milk, and sleep in a bed crib, etc. May I ask everyone besides their clothes and basic medications (i.e. cold and flu) what else do I need to bring?

The first few weeks I planned to stay in the hotel (will be paid by the company) while we look for a 3 bedrooms condo. The company will give $5,000 CAD to buy all living necessities to start our 18 months stay in Singapore. May I kindly ask is this enough to give us a start to buy things like bedings and matresses, kitchenwares, basic furnitures, households, etc?

I have many many questions so I need to start to read a lot more topics i this great forum. However, I am only concern about the children if and will there are everything available to buy so they can be comfortable in a new living environment.

Thank you kindly in advance for your comment,

Best regards,

LT

the condo will have white goods, so all you need are towels and beddings so you could just "move in"! singapore is a shopping paradise, so you will have lots of place to spend your money for your goodies.

i would suggest a Service Apartment for 1 month instead of hotel since you got 2 young kids.

I had a friend who stayed in a Serviced Apartment when she first arrived here and has children of a similar age. She couldn't wait to get out of the place as it wasn't exactly kid friendly with so much glass paneling and marble steps.

Depending on how lavish you like to have your home, $5,000 could fully kit out your home or pay for just a side unit in your living room. We came here on our own steam without the financial backing of a company and managed to fully kit out our apartment for a lot less than that so that should be fine.

Luckily didn't come with any children (was 3 months pregnant though) and we spent the first month sleeping on a double air bed which was also our sofa We just went to Ikea and Carrefour to furnish our apartment.

Before you bring any sheets and beddings, check if the usual sizes here are the same as back home! In most cases this is NOT true - even US king/queen size is different from Singapore king/queen size! Of course you can get plenty of fitting and reasonably priced textiles here, just maybe not the exact brand you're used to.
Everything else for kids or adults is also available here - the only things you need to bring is an open mind and a sense of adventure!

beppi, best post so far! Your last statement says it all.

Thanks, SMS, for liking my life philosophy.
But, alas, the times when I went on a month-long assignment carrying nothing more than a daypack are definitely over - currently in Bangkok with a suitcase and a guitar ...

There are a handful of Canadians here, once you get settled check out the canadian association, chamber of commerce, canadian school etc.

You can get anything you need here. However, it is EXPENSIVE in Singapore. I would suggest bringing the big-ticket kid items from home - strollers, car seats, etc. You will pay nearly twice here what you would at home.

There are lots of children's clothing stores, but the sizes tend to be on the small size, so if you have big kids you may want to bring some extra summer clothes to fit them as they grow out of what they currently have.

If the company is paying to send a shipment by slow boat you may also want to send a few boxes of diapers for your wee ones, they also cost a lot more here.

Good luck! You are coming just in time to escape winter.

Hello

I hope you don't mind me here, but I just wanted to say hi and that I found pour post helpful. My husband, 2 yr old son and I are also moving to Singapore in the New Year, and we are clueless (we only found out last week after applying for the position a few days before, without much thought.... eek!)

Anyway, I hope your move goes well!