Singapore Expats

Hi everyone! Newby here. Glad I found this site.

I'm a journalist based in Paris; I'll be moving to Singapore early in feb 2005. By that time, I will only haved had a chance to save a month's worth of salary (about 4,000 Sing$). I'm already looking for a job but if I haven't got one by then I'll just have to spend a month looking. I'm looking for a job in French/English teaching (I'm bilingual), researcher, journalist.

Three questions: 1. IS THIS TOO LITTLE to get by, given that I'm going to have to pay for accomodation + living for a month?

2. How easy is it to find a flatshare if you have not yet got a job? Any ideas/propositions welcome. I've lived in London, US, and shared flats as a student. I'm super easy going. Flatshares have been consistently good experiences.

3. When people offer a job, what is the salary supposed to include? Health insurance and housing?

And last but not least...If anyone needs a French/English writer/teacher I'm up for a discussion. I'm a Cambridge educated editor with 4 yrs experience in journalism. My email: [email protected].

Cheers to everyone!...Nicolas

rooms for rent are posted on another section of this site as well. Last I checked, around S$400 got you a good room with a bathroom not so far out from town. Food is cheap S$4-6 a meal, if you are fine eating in food courts/ hawker's centers, indulging primarily in local cuisine. Transport is very efficient and should set you back a couple hundred S$ a month, depending on how much you travel, and where you end up staying.

if you are coming to singapore without a job offer, then don't expect to receive an "expat package", meaning, housing allowance, car allowance, flights home, etc. Health cover is a reasonable request, even on local package. Market is still moving very much in the direction of hiring on local terms, and the days of the fat expat packages are but a memory for most of us mortals...

i'd say it is possible to stretch your S$4k for 2 months of housing and living expenses, if you watch your budget and avoid alcohol (S$8-10/drink at a pub). Good luck!

Hi! You could try applying to international language schools like Alliance Francaise & Berlitz. They have branches here.

Thanks for the advice + support! Without a job you'll have to pay cash for accomodation right?

Pay cash for accommodation? Don't get what you mean. You might have a problem as many landlords have second thoughts about renting to tenants with no valid passes to stay here in the long term. Reason's because the local govt's very strict with leasing out to illegal immigrants. The situation might be different if you're renting a room. Anyway, who knows. There might be others out there who have more flexible landlords.

What I imagined is that it might be possible to find, say, a French citizen who needs a flatmate and would be willing to share his/her flat if I paid part of the rent in cash. But from what you're saying it sounds like authorities would take that as dodgy business. I guess it all boils down to finding a job first...which is a bit of a catch 22 because I'll need a place to stay where I can crash at night to carry on searching for jobs during the day...In which case the solution is staying with relatives or in a hostel...Does that sound right?

nicolas-paris wrote:What I imagined is that it might be possible to find, say, a French citizen who needs a flatmate and would be willing to share his/her flat if I paid part of the rent in cash. But from what you're saying it sounds like authorities would take that as dodgy business.

No, this kind of thing is quite common, just post in the Share Rooms forum right on this site. But as the earlier poster said, you would find it difficult to rent a room from a 'real' landlord, not because of the law but because they have no guarantees that you'll stick around or even pay the rent.

There is a little lucrative niche market for additional private tuition in French language for Singaporean children because there is immense pressure on these students to do well.

Just took a peek at the Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC) website, and there doesn't seem to be any advertisements for vacancies, but I guess you could try emailing them if you are interested. The website is: http://www.moelc.moe.edu.sg/

Pay by the state for teachers is quite high in Singapore, unlike in the UK, where teachers tend to be paid just a pittance.