Hi thanks for looking at the post! My situation is as follows:
- 30M from the UK. Currently working in London.
- I’m currently being headhunted by a design agency in Singapore.
- The salary I’m expected to be offered is £70 - 75,000 (Roughly 120K SGD)
- I love a pub/bar and a bit of socialising / Also love nature
I’d love to get over to Singapore and make the most of the travel opportunities. I would also be joined by my girlfriend later down the line. My main questions are:
- Is my salary enough to live a comfortable life in Sing? (I currently save around £800 - 1200 a month in London)
- As a UK native where would be the best area to live?
- What’s the working culture like?
Again brilliant info, these are all things that I think will definitely need to be addressed before I commit to the move. I’m currently going through this with the NHS at the moment. I’ve been waiting for almost 2 years on a list and at this point I’m willing to pay so that really is some comfort.
If I can get the employer to comment on those 3 things and I hear from people that my new potential salary would make me better off then I am in London, it feels like a no brainer. I’m not one for high rises, I’ve seen there’s smaller housing around, is this achievable on such a budget? I’m still open to the high rise life but I’ve honestly never done it.
Ideally I’d be living with just my gf as I currently do in London. I’ve been looking at Farrer Park I think it’s called. There’s plenty of climbing gyms around there for me to get stuck into as well
Yup Farrer Park is great! The bouldering and climbing gyms are great fun. Utilise the MRT services!
Look into HDBs, they’re much cheaper than condos. To be honest, landed property in SG is ridiculously expensive and I don’t think it’s worth the price premium. Most of us stay in apartments because there simply isn’t space on our tiny island.
Yes, you’ll do fine on the quoted salary, especially if you’re not a social boozer and eat at hawker centres rather than upscale restaurants.
On the topic of food- eating local is way cheaper than maintaining a more “western” diet (and arguably a bit healthier?) You might be very shocked at the prices of meat and milk in SG - just be aware that we import most of our raw ingredients so you won’t be getting the same prices as in the UK. That’s something I miss about the UK. Also, “western” vegetables are more expensive and smaller. Local vegetables and fruits are great though, and you’ll soon get to try lots of fruits I only ever saw at the Malaysian stall in Borough Market for ridiculously-inflated prices! However if you miss M&S and their frozen dinners, there’s a big M&S at VivoCity that does clearance sales on frozen lasagnes and pastas. Luv me some M&S!
Stock up on penguins and Double Deckers- Penguins rarely make it on the shelves in SG, and I’ve never seen Double deckers (elite chocolate bar, nobody can convince me differently!!)
I have friends who’ve worked in the NHS since graduation and they tell me their quality of life is decreasing year by year. One of them is a medical consultant and her child couldn’t even get seen by a paediatrician - the waiting time was 18 months! She flew back and saw a consultant in public healthcare within a week.