Family of five moving to Singapore -- Advice?
August 7, 2013 8:07 PM Subscribe
The last "moving to Singapore" question was a couple of years old, so figured I'd ask again. Looking for general advice and great websites that will help us move to and live in Singapore for the next year. How do we make the best of our next family adventure?
Our family of five is moving to Singapore within three months from Oregon. Our kids are 14, 11, and 3. While we know this will be a major culture shock for us (neither my wife nor I have been out of the country before) we are ready to tackle this adventure and make the best of it. We have relocated for work before, 5 years ago, from Oregon to New York City, so we kind of know the drill, but this is taking it up an order of magnitude!
Specific things I'm hoping to get some insight on:
1) What are some good online resources for us to learn about daily life as expats in Singapore? I have found numerous forums, things like that, but nothing has popped out at me as especially useful. Blogs, articles, forums, websites, etc. would be of particular use.
2) Do you have personal experience living in Singapore with a family? How was it? Would love to know your personal experiences.
3) The international schools are so expensive, I'm not sure I can expect my employer to make it feasible for us to send them there. We are seriously considering homeschooling them for the year we are there. This would not only alleviate the expense of private school, but facilitate the traveling we'd like to do in the region without them "missing school." Any experiences with homeschooling kids abroad would be very helpful.
Thank you mefi...i'm a long time lurker, just haven't posted much. Thank you!
Our family of five is moving to Singapore within three months from Oregon. Our kids are 14, 11, and 3. While we know this will be a major culture shock for us (neither my wife nor I have been out of the country before) we are ready to tackle this adventure and make the best of it. We have relocated for work before, 5 years ago, from Oregon to New York City, so we kind of know the drill, but this is taking it up an order of magnitude!
Specific things I'm hoping to get some insight on:
1) What are some good online resources for us to learn about daily life as expats in Singapore? I have found numerous forums, things like that, but nothing has popped out at me as especially useful. Blogs, articles, forums, websites, etc. would be of particular use.
2) Do you have personal experience living in Singapore with a family? How was it? Would love to know your personal experiences.
3) The international schools are so expensive, I'm not sure I can expect my employer to make it feasible for us to send them there. We are seriously considering homeschooling them for the year we are there. This would not only alleviate the expense of private school, but facilitate the traveling we'd like to do in the region without them "missing school." Any experiences with homeschooling kids abroad would be very helpful.
Thank you mefi...i'm a long time lurker, just haven't posted much. Thank you!
FYI it's absolutely standard that employers pay for international school tuition for their ex pat employees. As in it's unheard of them not to.
Also Singapore American is a great school. I think you would be depriving your kids of a really important experience by homeschooling them when they could go to SAS and mix with kids from probably 100+ countries. I can't stress enough what a great experience going to an international school is.
posted by whoaali at 8:50 PM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also Singapore American is a great school. I think you would be depriving your kids of a really important experience by homeschooling them when they could go to SAS and mix with kids from probably 100+ countries. I can't stress enough what a great experience going to an international school is.
posted by whoaali at 8:50 PM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've been living in Singapore for the past year and a bit, so here are some random thoughts:
1. I can't recommend any specific expat websites, but a cursory search turns up quite a few expat focused sites.
2. http://gothere.sg is a great website for seeing your options to get from one place to another.
3. Broadband is pretty fast and inexpensive here, they've been rolling out fibre to many homes, so you can get up to 100Mbps.
4. Yes, schools are expensive, but the standard is quite high across all schools, whether private or not. I don't have too much experience here.
5. I have a 1 year old, and there are a lot of play areas for younger kids. We also enjoy the free mini water parks that are on top of some shopping centres.
6. Similarly there are a lot of activities around for older kids as well. I go cycling with my wife and kid along the East Coast Park and within a couple of kilometres, you will pass a skate park, wakeboarding lake, remote control track, sailing school and bbq pits.
7. There are many cycling/recreational paths around the island.
8. There are a lot of nice condo's with huge pools and other amenities which make it feel like you're staying in a resort.
9. Public transport is efficient and economical, although it can be tricky to get taxis at certain times of day or when it's raining.
10. As Madamina says, live-in nannies are quite common here, and if I'm not mistaken, usually cost around SGD 650 a month.
11. Eating out can be expensive, or really cheap, depends where you do it. If you like seafood, you'll most likely love eating here.
12. Flying to other places in the region is affordable, low cost airlines include Air Asia, Tiger Airways, Silk Air and Scoot. Zuji.com.sg searches many of them, but not all.
Enjoy!
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 8:53 PM on August 7, 2013
1. I can't recommend any specific expat websites, but a cursory search turns up quite a few expat focused sites.
2. http://gothere.sg is a great website for seeing your options to get from one place to another.
3. Broadband is pretty fast and inexpensive here, they've been rolling out fibre to many homes, so you can get up to 100Mbps.
4. Yes, schools are expensive, but the standard is quite high across all schools, whether private or not. I don't have too much experience here.
5. I have a 1 year old, and there are a lot of play areas for younger kids. We also enjoy the free mini water parks that are on top of some shopping centres.
6. Similarly there are a lot of activities around for older kids as well. I go cycling with my wife and kid along the East Coast Park and within a couple of kilometres, you will pass a skate park, wakeboarding lake, remote control track, sailing school and bbq pits.
7. There are many cycling/recreational paths around the island.
8. There are a lot of nice condo's with huge pools and other amenities which make it feel like you're staying in a resort.
9. Public transport is efficient and economical, although it can be tricky to get taxis at certain times of day or when it's raining.
10. As Madamina says, live-in nannies are quite common here, and if I'm not mistaken, usually cost around SGD 650 a month.
11. Eating out can be expensive, or really cheap, depends where you do it. If you like seafood, you'll most likely love eating here.
12. Flying to other places in the region is affordable, low cost airlines include Air Asia, Tiger Airways, Silk Air and Scoot. Zuji.com.sg searches many of them, but not all.
Enjoy!
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 8:53 PM on August 7, 2013
If you're only moving for a year, be ruthless about what you bring versus what you can buy locally.
posted by k8t at 10:07 PM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by k8t at 10:07 PM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Homeschooling is definitely an option here if you have one fulltime parent at home. There's an active local homeschooling group and you would be able to travel easily and use lots of local resources - great local libraries, museums and activities for kids. You could also pretty cheaply hire a good private tutor to help several times a week for about US$400-$800, depending on the subject and level. You could also enroll your kids in language classes and sports classes too to provide structure and socialization. There's a homeschool mailing list and you can usee Meetup for playgroups for your 3-year-old.
The international schools are super expensive and the kids there are used to shifting countries frequently. It's a mixed bag socially, and if you can homeschool, I would very seriously consider that for a year's contract.
A lot of employers don't pay for education now because it's so expensive. You could negotiate for more pay or other perks in exchange.
You will almost definitely be able to afford live-in domestic help (less than US$1K a month) which if you interview ahead of coming down you could shortlist several good candidates. You can get a local housekeeper who lives out for a little bit more. There is definitely more housework to do here - you need to mop and sweep daily, and in your family 1-2 loads of laundry, fridges are smaller so you do shopping every other day and cook all the time.
You must do your real estate shopping now. Insist on the real estate firm shortlisting and sending you details - floorplans, photo walkthroughs and skype interviews. You can get a house with a garden, but you'll probably have to be further away from the city center. Will you have a car? They are super expensive here to own/rent and run, and public transport is safe and easy so you could expect your 14 and 11 year old in a few weeks or months to be able to go around on their own. You want to get a place walking distance from an MRT station if possible. A condo with a swimming pool and some nice facilities is great - you will have built-in friends with the other kids living there. Especially look into the kitchen - if you enjoy cooking, kitchens here vary widely. A friend of mine got her condo picked before moving to Singapore and is stuck with her husband's contract with a tiny tiny kitchen.
Culture Shock Singapore is an okay overview. There's "expat culture" which can be very insular and stuck-up and hedonistic. I would avoid joining the international clubs (American Club etc) unless you plan to avoid any local contact. I know expats who have lived here for years and their only local contact is cab drivers and shop assistants, and see this as a good point.
Little Day Out is a good website for kids too.
Singapore is like 30% non-local with foreign workers and families. If you make the effort, you'll be able to meet lots of people from all over and do masses of interesting things. A year here could be a great experience!
posted by viggorlijah at 3:48 AM on August 8, 2013
The international schools are super expensive and the kids there are used to shifting countries frequently. It's a mixed bag socially, and if you can homeschool, I would very seriously consider that for a year's contract.
A lot of employers don't pay for education now because it's so expensive. You could negotiate for more pay or other perks in exchange.
You will almost definitely be able to afford live-in domestic help (less than US$1K a month) which if you interview ahead of coming down you could shortlist several good candidates. You can get a local housekeeper who lives out for a little bit more. There is definitely more housework to do here - you need to mop and sweep daily, and in your family 1-2 loads of laundry, fridges are smaller so you do shopping every other day and cook all the time.
You must do your real estate shopping now. Insist on the real estate firm shortlisting and sending you details - floorplans, photo walkthroughs and skype interviews. You can get a house with a garden, but you'll probably have to be further away from the city center. Will you have a car? They are super expensive here to own/rent and run, and public transport is safe and easy so you could expect your 14 and 11 year old in a few weeks or months to be able to go around on their own. You want to get a place walking distance from an MRT station if possible. A condo with a swimming pool and some nice facilities is great - you will have built-in friends with the other kids living there. Especially look into the kitchen - if you enjoy cooking, kitchens here vary widely. A friend of mine got her condo picked before moving to Singapore and is stuck with her husband's contract with a tiny tiny kitchen.
Culture Shock Singapore is an okay overview. There's "expat culture" which can be very insular and stuck-up and hedonistic. I would avoid joining the international clubs (American Club etc) unless you plan to avoid any local contact. I know expats who have lived here for years and their only local contact is cab drivers and shop assistants, and see this as a good point.
Little Day Out is a good website for kids too.
Singapore is like 30% non-local with foreign workers and families. If you make the effort, you'll be able to meet lots of people from all over and do masses of interesting things. A year here could be a great experience!
posted by viggorlijah at 3:48 AM on August 8, 2013
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One thing I remember seeing from their updates was that nannies -- foreign and typically live-in -- are almost a given. They have found a good one and are very appreciative of the care that she's provided.
posted by Madamina at 8:23 PM on August 7, 2013