Moving to Singapore

Singapore is a modern and vibrant city in South-East Asia. Apart from being a financial powerhouse, Singapore also offers a mixture of eastern and western cultures, giving it a unique identity.

Visas and Paperwork

An Employment Pass is required for working in Singapore, and a student pass would be needed to study here. Contact Singapore provides help in advising on employment possibilities, studying and living in Singapore, while Expat Singapore can assist in matters related to settling down.

More information is available at the Ministry of Manpower website.

The Cost of Living

The cost of living in Singapore is considered high and it features amongst the most expensive cities in the world. However, there are wide range of living, eating, and schooling options that can range from affordable to expensive.

Housing

When looking for a property to rent, some of the things to consider are:

* Location

* Property size/ number of rooms needed

* Facilities like gym, children’s play area and swimming pool

* Duration of lease,

* Level of furnishing,

* Accessibility

* Budget

A partially furnished property usually comes with lightings, washing machine, and basic kitchen equipment. A fully furnished property comes with extra items such as beds, sofa, and television. Local newspapers and online property sites have listings of homes for rents and can also provide contacts of housing agents.

HDB: The economical and affordable HDB housing hosts about 85% of Singaporeans. These apartments are located in self-contained housing estates, with schools, supermarkets, clinics, hawker centres, sports and recreational facilities. Under the Scheme for Housing for Foreign Talents (SHIFT), foreigners can rent HDB flats at a lower rate.

Service Apartment: A serviced apartment is a fully furnished residential apartment with facilities of a hotel. This includes sports and recreational facilities, as well as, daily cleaning service. These apartments are cheaper than a hotel but more expensive than housing and are popular with people who come for a short- term contract. Most of the service apartments are located in the business districts.

Private Houses: Private houses include condominiums that have their own facilities (like gyms and swimming pools) and many expats choose to live in condos. Condos are available in many sizes and are located in almost all areas of Singapore.

Landed: The landed properties refer to stand-alone homes.

Education

Singapore is well known for its education system and boasts of many reputed schools and universities. The schools range from the local MOE schools to the Private and International Schools. The medium of instruction is English, however, there are several international and language-specific schools to choose from as well. Apart from that, there are specialised art schools and computer centres that offer a wider range of educational services. There are numerous play schools, kindergarten and childcare centres to cater to the younger children as well.

Some of the well-known universities in Singapore are:

Transport

Singapore Public transport is accessible, excellent and cheap. For more information on transport, please refer to the Land Transport Authority website.

Employing a Domestic Help

For information on hiring a domestic foreign worker, please check here

Postal Service

For Postal Services, please Click Here

Healthcare

Healthcare in Singapore is mainly under the responsibility of the Singapore Government’s Ministry of Health. The system uses a combination of compulsory savings from payroll deductions to provide subsidies within a nationalised health insurance plan known as Medisave.