Pros and cons of moving to Singapore as told by an American 🇸🇬 

I grew up in Singapore. Now I live in San Francisco. The things I miss in Singapore are the cleanliness, convenient, efficient and inexpensive public transportation, public safety and great food.

Nice video but a small correction -- there is a common misperception that chewing of gum is banned here. This is not correct. Sale of chewing gum is banned. You can still chewing you gum but just make sure to dispose it properly.

While there’s been a few cases of expatriates who had to leave Singapore due to their non compliance with Singapore covid rules like masking up, those are mainly cases where the individuals challenged the authorities when they were told to abide with the rules. They forgot that when you’re in a foreign land, you do have to follow its rules and not act like you’re above its law.

Love this! I have family in Singapore and love these kind of informative videos on tips moving as an expat. Looking at one day moving to Singapore so this is super helpful!

You are very informative! No nonsense, only honest & clear review, GREAT! Like it:)

Very informative. I have visited Singapore on 6 occasions and it never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for the video.

Thanks, your content are pretty much covered what I want exploring elements, and nailed down the answer to my key concerning when considering the next move...

This was great, happy you’re having a good time in Singapore

Very informative video thank you!❤

some additional notes on cost of living: the general high housing cost is mitigated by lower health insurance/ no need for owning a car/ food (decent food options-hawker center) Don't forget internet and mobile service. - Also regional travel (lower cost) vs flying domestically in US. So the big gap is not high as initially thought.

Great video and sharing. Agree with all your views about Singapore.

This video explains the pros and cons so well. I've just moved to Florida from Singapore to do my Master's at the University of Florida and I agree with all the points you have laid out. You have to be aware of both before you make a decision to move to any new place. Thanks for this video!

You communicate very well, thank you for the video. I'm sure you will go far with your business ventures

As someone who is considering moving to Singapore this was SUPER helpful! Thank you so much!!

Very useful and informative video. You explained the pros and cons well.

Well documented. Thanks

Great video! I can’t wait to move to Singapore! ✈️

Hi your English is really friendly for someone who learning english. Love your channel❤

Great vid, sister. Thank you

❤love it!!!

Thanks for doing this video.

Thnx this was a cool video! The nightlife woudl be nice to see!

Cost of living isn't a problem because you'll be earning the salary for it right? Moreover, just be mindful of your spending. Tailor your spending accordingly. Food can be as cheap as less than $5 for a meal versus $200. A part of that is the rental market. Look at off-central locations as well as HDB rental. This will cutdown a lot of your cost. Other than that, the rest of the cons are true. EDIT: Another con is true will be the work/employment permit, but this applies to any country, not just Singapore.

Great video! God bless!

The hawker centers seem so convenient and delicious ... I want to move to Singapore

I saw your smile when you started to talk about food 😋

Very well done.. and a great list. I am most envious of the food! PS: you forgot to mention weather :-)

One of the few youtuber's that emphasises quality content instead of representing herself excessively and the associated validation/ attention seeking

Singapore is fantastic. I don’t know what it’s like to live there but I visited there several times when I was in the military and I always enjoyed myself. Very safe, clean, and the people were always friendly.

nice I wanna move to singapore too! Wait a min... I am already in Singapore. Darn!

Thank you for sharing! Do you mind providing some clarity on what career you took that led you to this opportunity? I visited Singapore a few months back and have been considering a move to Asia for awhile now so would love some insight from a fellow Asian American who made the leap

The shophouses in Blair Road so gorgeous ❤

Great insight

Thank you for the video, really helpful. I am looking to move to Singapore next year. Any recommendation on how to find an apartment, for example websites that you recommend to search on?

Oh yes, I heard about the rentals being too high. Good and informative video.

I'm surprised you didn't list weather as one of the cons. It's true weather can be a pro or con, depending on your preference. As a citizen born here, I think Singapore is nice in many ways except, the weather, our size and limited nature for outdoor activities. Oh well, can't change any of those but everything else I think we do try to make it work or make it better. Anyway, I hope you make more friends and enjoy your stay here.

Slight correction there. Bali is not a country (3:10). Bali is an Island & Province in Indonesia.

The weather is about the only significant drawback for me otherwise Singapore is a great place. I don't like the continuous high humidity although you get somewhat used to it after a while.

I trust that it's not too late, I would love to see Cafe hopping content. I am interested to see what kind of cafes Singapore has. My dream is to me tomorrow and open up my dream Cafe

I'm sorry if this was already answered but how did you find a reasonably priced place to live? I am trying to find a 1-2bed in a relatively central location with 700+sqft. for around S$2500-3000 and its hard lol

One thing to add, even though your work pass is tied to your employer, this should not discourage the average foreigner from switching jobs. The fact that you have been approved to work in Singapore can be a boon to a potential new employer, because it means if they hire you, they should not encounter much trouble with getting your work pass application approved, as opposed to hiring someone who has never worked here before.

I'm getting more persuaded that I need to visit SG soon. The food culture looks really enticing.

I grew up for 16 years in Singapore before moving to Austin, Texas. I do miss my family, the food and how clean and safe every where is. What I don't miss is how expensive the cost of living is. Home and car prices are insanely expensive. To get the best of both worlds, I live in the US and travel back every year to see family and enjoy the local Singaporean food.

If you mentioned high cost of living, you could also mention about income tax which is rather low compared with nearby countries. It kinda balanced out.

All of your pros are reasons I want to move to Singapore. Fingerscrossed I can find a job that supports my move. One day!

Fellow American expat moving to Singapore next month; can’t wait! Any recommendations on areas to live? I’m looking at Orchard/Novena areas now. Need to be close to the North/South MRT line for work.

Expat can live In HDB which is public housing properties

I understand this is mainly aimed at young professionals. That said, for people with kids considering moving to Singapore, one key aspect that is not discussed is the cost of private schools, which are usually the only choice for expats and, for what I understand, can be quite pricey. Some employer cover kids' school tuition, but this is not always the case. Anyway, great video very informative!

Hi, i'm new to your channel! Can i ask what job industry you're in and what job that may be? I'm considering after finishing college in the U.S to live in Singapore if such a job opening is available in the tech industry.

Spent 4 days in Singapore and I would love to live here.

If you dont mind, where did you live in the US? I lived in LA and looked around the west coast of the US, when it comes to safety issues, I 100% support your idea. But I am not sure about East coast.

Expats may choose to live in HDB flats too. However, most Western expats would rather live in Condos. There are s Asian expats from South East Asia who do live in HDBs.

Wow that sounds amazing!! What do you do if I may ask? If I were to guess I would have said you were a Business Consultant 😆

Singapore is the best place for food in Asia, it's world renown for their food. You're One degree North of the equator, so it's very hot. Tons of things to do there. They even have horse racing. And if you get bored with Singapore you can hop across the bridge into Malaysia . Everything is really cheap there. I bought a scroll picture for 5.00 bucks. It's very safe, you can go out at night and not worry about anything. When I was there Porn was band. One thing I didn't see was fishing trips. The casino wasn't there either, they were talking about it. The Hospitals are the best in the world.

Just a quick note... You mentioned Changi Airport in passing as a great travel hub. Absolutely true! Perhaps you could also have mentioned that it is probably the best airport on the planet. Incredibly clean and efficient. Also home base for Singapore Airlines which is also rated as one of the best airlines in the world. Finally, Singapore is strict and take law enforcement very seriously. As a result, homelessness, graffiti, tourist scams, corrupt business practices, and crime in general are almost nonexistent. One of the safest and most efficient places on earth. General cleanliness is off the charts - very atypical for almost all of Southeast Asia. All on all... expensive - but a great travel destination! Your video was excellent and covered all the bases. Well done!!! 👏👏👏

How are the health services? Thank you

Welcome to Singapore 🎶 🎵

Shalom .Thank you. Watching from Australia. 73 Praise the Lord 37 . 26 Praise the Lord 86 . Amen.

Very nice and informative video. I want to visit Singapore to experience the food and history there. I don't think I would want to live and work there.

Something I’m having trouble finding information on is the use of chemicals and fragrance in Singapore. In the United States toxic air fresheners and cleaners are everywhere and many people wear heavily fragranced products that make some people sick. Is there anyone who can weigh in on this who lives in Singapore?

Very interesting review. No matter where you live, the main thing is money. Money speaks for everything. Have you been to Singapore neighboring country, Malaysia? The closest is Johor Bahru. Enjoy street food and restaurants at cheaper prices. And delicious too. Also try go to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia with the trademark of Petronas Twin Tower and continue journey to Penang where many travelers consider it a paradise for Street food. Spend a little time and you won't feel disappointed and have fund. Penang, as well as the historic city of Malacca. Cost of living is almost 3 times cheaper from Singapore. You can get information from vloggers who have been to Malaysia.

Working culture is very intense here as bosses here are not chill as the west and usually they’re more calculative. But then another drawback is that it doesn’t even encourage any groundbreaking creativity which (if you’re not their favourite pet), they’ll shoot down and condemn it right away

I am looking right now to move, but the salary I get in US and the cost of living are the key factors. 3000 US dollars for 2 bed room, is way expensive for some one to move from Texas. Dual tax is another one you loose money. If I move to Singapore at the same level the pay is normalized and you have to take pay cut. The only thing that benefits going there will be if your company repatriates and not relocate

Do Americans transport pets to Singapore and do you know how difficult this would be?

How long will you be living here? Under your company contract.

How is the health insurance in Singapore?

Hope that u get to widen your social circle to include some Singaporeans as well. Very often expats here are rather isolated in their own network and hence don’t really get to see the real Singapore

4:56 hold the chart longer and increase the font please

Eating in a hawker centre in the humid heat is absolute torture.

Singapore is one of the best place to start your business or basically, to find yourself getting a good amount of income if you choose to work for a company. Chances for foreign talents to get a job in Singapore is significantly higher comparing to the locals as the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore has stated that every companies are required to meet the 4-1 employment criteria (4 foreign talents, 1 local). Even though Singapore does not have a minimum wage, the basic salary for every job is much higher comparing to our neighbours like Brunei, Malaysia & Indonesia. Such jobs like a toilet cleaner can be seen reaching up to $2.2k of basic monthly salary excluding overtime and allowances. Others like an IT engineer in Data Center can roughly hit a minimum $4k monthly basic pay excluding OT & allowance(Diploma holders & below). Other than jobs, daily expenses in Singapore can still be considered as acceptable although many Singaporeans prefer to spend on groceries elsewhere like in Johor or Batam. But not the extend as choosing Singapore as a place to live, education & work may only be temporary as Singapore is never the place for retirement. Thousands of local Singaporeans has chose to move abroad for retirement, even citizens aged 25-40 has already move away from Singapore for better living lifestyle and work life balance. In other words, getting out from depression and stressful life in Singapore. Even at the age 70, there are many who still need to work to find ends meet. As for myself, a local Singaporean who has live for the past 33 years here in Singapore and has also chose early retirement and already moved away for good, Singapore is a place to make money, never for retirement.

Abide by what ‘other rules’?

Thanks for this great inf, how much is a 2 bedroom apartment nearby the city ?

can a foreigners buy an apartment in Singapore? If yes, is it Tax free? Thank you.

Rents are sky high currently, expect to spend 30-40% of your salary for an apartment

Wow

Not much here on careers. SG is mostly administrative. If you want to work in a start up or in tech, or a creative industry, SG doesn't offer much. It's mainly a bank.

Thanks for the video, I thought about moving to Singapore with a job at hand, but I'm starting to realize it's very difficult, not to mention rental prices HDB stuff, and work life balance. I sincerely thought Singapore would have been a country that would have abandoned the OT "work churn" mentality, but I see it's still got ways to go.

recently, is in the news, two 5room HDB units are sold for sgd1.42million and sgd1.37million AND two coffeeshops are each sold for more than sgd40million... this stirs up again many singaporeans and again more people shouting for higher sale prices and higher rentals...

My mainland Chinese & US investors have bought USD $450 million worth of real estate in SIN just in 2022 alone. They do not even set foot once in these condos, villas and apartments. All of them use secondary passports and family trusts to buy real estate. Until this stops, real estate will be horrible. Hong Kong fines empty apartments. Singapore needs to regulate speculative real estate transactions else the entire market will be owned by Chinese and Blackrock. PE firms will own Singapore in next 10 years. Not good for middle class.

Grew up in Malaysia and Singapore and loved the food and living there. Moved back to the US. Would visit over time but then took a 15 year break. Just went back and both places have changed. As for Singapore I have to say nope I would not want to live there. While good food and safety. 1) To damn hot and humid, 2) It's been influenced by outside countries. 3) Damn prices for stuff is too damn high. 4) Once you go around and done everything I found I got board. Don't get me wrong it's a great country/city and I would tell everyone to go visit but to live there I'd pass, but I can see why a lot of people retire there. Oh I live in California just so you have a point of reference.

We moved from Singapore to New York after living there for 14 years. I don't know how we lived there for so long in such a hot weather 😅

Your video gives a very snapshot of whats its like to live in Singapore. Singapore is great place to live and work but there are many shortcomings living there which your video does not cover. Its a great place for expats who are there just temporarily for work. But is it a place to settle in permanently? Many factors make people leave the place. I can cite a few here. 1) High cost like you said. Owning a car is like 5 times what you pay in America and the car only lasts 10 years. 2) You can have a house in America with a backyard and front yard and maybe with a pool, but in Singapore you will live in a tiny apartment which will cost an arm and a leg if you buy it. Plus most of the real estate there is on a 99 year lease.....which means you pay a bomb for it, but it depreciates to nothing at the end of the lease. 3) Education is very competitive and you will subject your kids to immense rote learning pressure and exam hell 4) Rules, rules and more rules....many of the rules there regarding safety are great, but there are also rules that make little sense. I won't cover them here. 5) Huge rich/poor divide. 6) Lack of diversity in govt. It is a one party rule state. It has done well for the country but many policies are implemented without much challenge because of the weak opposition. SG has one of the highest Gini co-efficients, or income inequality in the world. I guess if you are rich, you won't complain. 7) The weather. It is hot hot hot, all year around. 8) Small like you said, and lack of natural beauty, and crowded with people. I love in America where there is so much space. 9) Finally, SG for all its modernity, it is just really a concrete jungle as you kinda alluded to. There is hardly anything natural there. So yes, great place to come to work for a specific period of time, but to live until one dies, I don't think so.

One can chew gum but illegal to sell them. If one is prone to explore other cultures and looking for adventures, it is just 2 to 3 hours away by flight. Ride an elephant in Thailand, climb the highest peak in Sabah, surf in Bali, shoot an AK-47 assault rifle and toss a grenade in a range in Cambodia, etc

Hi, is it compulsory to be fully covid vaccinated before visiting Singapore?

Come to Malaysia for holidays

🙋🇸🇬

Gun shootings should be your number 1 reason to move to Singapore. It’s super safe here 😢

yeahhhhhh singaporeeeee

No way I will Ever get used to the weather🥵! Street or hawker center food is cheap but everything else cost $, including a glass of water or ice! Just imagine trying to survive in this climate with no good supply of ice water or ice! No big gulp or AYCD soda fountains here☹️

I like that you mentioned about the nature and hike part. As a Singaporean I have hiked the trails of Singapore hundreds of time. I feel expats are so welcoming and friendly compared to the locals for some reason😅. Th work culture is really intense and this is coming from a workaholic like me. I want to move to the US in the future. I just love it there majority are so welcoming. They know how to enjoy life too.

Welcome to Fine garden city! Luvs from Sg FYI, u can chew gum, just dun make big bubble in face of cop or spit.

During the pandemic period 2020-2022, you'll realize very quickly the disadvantage of staying in a crowded small island vs the large expanse of the US.

Great video But I would like to learn more about the rules and regulations

The pros and cons of moving to Singapore . The pros is more business management potential vacancy and convenience for shopping and the distance and the cleanliness . cons which is owning a private car is considered as luxury rather a basic needs because of the Singapore Certificate of Entitlement system.

SG is a multicultural muti religion society. People are friendly and peaceful.

Many incredible places like, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Bali ... if this was a singaporean multiple choice exam the question would be .. pick the odd one out 😉🤣

My wife and I have lived in Singapore almost 14 years. Recently we had to downsize to a smaller condo because our rent increased 100%… 😢

An Asian living in Asia, what’s the big deal?

Only 13th?

Do you know why the Singapore government ban chewing-gum because the government are fed up of spending millions of dollars to clean the sidewalk and bus seats support...