Go back to SG after 17 years?

last SG · 2009-08-31T23:30:34+00:00

I've lately been comtemplating moving back to Asia from the US within the next 2 to 3 years also. Kind of fed up with the loose fiscal policies of the US gov...

scrambledeggs SG

just a bit of background... i have been living overseas for the last 17 years......

if i include all the cities where i have lived for at least 6 months or more.... than i think i have lived in 9 cities so far during my time abroad

perhaps feeling a bit tired from a nomadic lifestyle... recently i have been wondering if i should go back to SG for good... not that i have any job offers nor am i actively looking for jobs in SG, but just a thought that i should call an end to my time abroad....

all this while i have kept in touch with SG, and of course i know that SG has changed a lot since the time i left

just wondering if anyone have any opinions or similar experience? would you go back if you have been away for a long time?

viciouskitty74 SG

Important questions you should be asking yourself.

1) Do you have any $$$$ readily available to root yourself into Singapore again.

2) Do you have any family, a bedroom readily available to house you when you return to Singapore.

3) Is there any CPF you can use to minimise your cash expenditure should you return to Singapore for the roof over your head issue.

3a) Or if you are sick.

3b) Or if you wish to utilise the the CPF to take on some courses to make you more relevant to local job market?

4) National service?

5) Bringing your dependants over

6) What exactly is your plans, that may be relevant to 3b.

7) With current job market issues and relevance of your current skills. How long you can survive not in a job yet having expenses?

viciouskitty74 SG

Returning to Singapore, may sound well and good, when you think of reconnecting with friends and relatives.

But how much can your friends and relatives entertain you? They have their lives to lead too.

And how sure are you that people will not want to fleece you for what you have, thinking you have been living overseas, and thus very rich?

angel3070 SG

Singapore now is like a foreign country, so I think you are already in Singapore.

automator SG

So many people want to leave sg and you want to come back.

I will be very happy to trade places with you

seyKai SG

A house is not a home, home is where your heart is

if your heart is in SG, Welcome Home

scrambledeggs SG

many thanks, viciouskitty74! those are good practical questions that i believe i need to ask myself seriously….. in general, i think cash flow should not be a problem as i have been fortunate to earn and save enough all these years… so i believe i can take my time to find a place to stay

and as for looking for a job, i guess before i return, i should try to check for possible opportunities first……

bring dependents over? i really don’t know… guess i do need to check with those immigration guys

but you are right about CPF … which i have virtually zero since i hardly ever work in SG….. i will need time to build up retirement savings and also make sure i don’t deplete my existing foreign savings

hmm.. why should my friends and relatives fleece me, if they are my true friends and relatives? and its not like i need them to entertain me…. if its entertainment, then i dare say there is much better entertainment overseas and i don’t think that is the real reason to return to SG

so this got me thinking more, and i think the reason for thinking about going back is not about $ or entertainment, or even because of friends and relatives in SG….

automator, i think i know what you mean...i remember when i first lived abroad, i thought the feeling was liberating…. somehow the people seem more open, more interesting….. somehow the experiences seem so enjoyable, and the way of life seem so refreshing… even though not everything is great overseas, even though there are some aspects of life which are not as convenient as in SG, and even though there are challenging and difficult times overseas as well…. but i think somehow when you are abroad, you feel more compelled to try to make things works, you feel more motivated to try your best since you are the foreigner minority, and you feel more willing to adapt and to make do sometimes….

perhaps the real reason for thinking about going back SG is simply because of origin… like what seyKai seem to day..... yes, i suppose i could technically live and retire and die abroad…. but somehow there is always that feeling that i might return to the place of origin someday…. angel3070 says that SG is now like a foreign country and there are many foreigners, but i believe those foreigners in SG are also thinking like me…. they may not entirely want to stay forever, and will think about going back to their countries one day… so i guess that is the same reason why i am thinking about going back SG…. i wonder if other SG people overseas have this same thoughts?

angel3070 SG

Anyway, welcome back, but I warn you, PAP has ruined everything here.

Totally sold out to foreign aliens.

2cansam SG

when u mentioned that you wish to return to your original roots, i felt that that all Singaporeans living abroad will feel the same too.

however, as with the valid points noted above, it's all about the practical side of things. ( do you have enough money to survive in a city that is ranked as one of the most expensive in the world ?)

automator SG

Tell you the real situation now in singapore:

the government brings in foreigners who ask for very low salary to come and compete with singaporeans. So if you come back now to singapore to work, you will be working long hours with low salary and you have to compete against these cheap foreign labour.

You might not even be able to get a job because these foreigners are so cheap to employ and companies all chose to employ them instead.

Of course, you can ask for a low salary but your salary will not be enough for you to spend.

Costs are rising in singapore but salary is being cut.

You still want to stay in sg?

viciouskitty74 SG

Whereever you are, its probably going to be winter holidays soon.

Return to sg, stay for three months and look around to decide further lah.

deepak.c SG

Anyway, welcome back, but I warn you, PAP has ruined everything here.

Totally sold out to foreign aliens.

Be prepared to pay at least $150,000 for your 2 bedroom HDB apartment.

Be prepared to pay property tax and radio & TV license (even if you are residing in the property), alot of countries don't charge property tax if you reside in that piece of property. Radio and TV license?

While prices of everything has escalated, your salary has decreased drastically due to more foreign talents (PRCs, Indians, Indo, Filipinos) competing in the job market.

Singapore's citizen population is approximately 3 million (this includes newly converted citizens) while the foreign population is around 1.6 million.

If you can't afford a car, be prepared to be squeezed like sardines with the aromatic PRCs and Banglas.

A normal taxi ride from Katong to Orchard can set you back $15 in the morning peak hour.

Your plate of hawker food no longer cost $1.50 to $2.00, it's averages around $3 to $4.

deepak.c SG

Seriously, if I managed to get a foot hold in another better foreign country, I would definitely not consider moving back to Singapore. If I really do miss Singapore (because I spent my childhood years here), I would come back to visit as a tourist, definitely NOT coming back as a citizen again.

Once bitten twice shy.

angel3070 SG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNDw8TJzNtM&feature=PlayList&

charlize SG

If you haven't stepped back into Singapore for the last 5-10 years, be prepared for a major shock.

I reckon the foreign country you were living in feels more like home than the Singapore now.

Singapore is a hotel - not a home anymore.

mlmersrlosers SG

wow...im in no position to give u suggestions u seem to have alot more experience than me. Personally, I got tired of sg becos of its boring lifestyle. No places to go on weekends. Nevertheless, its a safe country I think if compared to other countries. Mayb u should treat it as a holiday destination instead of a place u can call home cos I dun have the homely feel anymore. Its overcrowded with PRCs and filipinos.

deepak.c SG

I am in love with the Singapore I grew up with, NOT the current Singapore the government has made it now.

angel3070 SG

I dun have the homely feel anymore. Its overcrowded with PRCs and filipinos.

And some people still hesitate to vote PAP out. That is the kind of mentality that brought down Singapore.

scrambledeggs, come back as tourist and see for yourself how PAP has ruined everything before you make your decision to move back.

mlmersrlosers SG

And some people still hesitate to vote PAP out. That is the kind of mentality that brought down Singapore.

cos PAP have the support of the richies, who have helped protect their assets and etc.

The heartlanders, who wanted to vote PAP out, might have no say.

What is the ratio of the richies vs heartlanders in SG?

deepak.c SG

It's because they have 100% access to the media, you can put forward alot of propagandas in the dramas and news.

Seeing is believing.