From Overseas to SG (balik kampung!)

last SG · 2009-05-15T18:39:00+00:00

Singaporean travel left right center as well....So why the negative view?

DaDeCrater SG

I just read a thread regarding singaporeans who wanna start living in US. But me, it's the other way around. I wanna go back singapore to work and live there permanently (getting a PR or Citizenship).

Background:

Nationality: Indonesian (Chinese)

Spent 8 years in SG previously, up till high school.

Got my bachelor degree here in the US with Finance and Real Estate concentration. Also earned MBA degree, and currently pursuing California certified public accountant license. Currently under H-1B status in the US. Job experience in accounting for 3 years and running.

There you go.. any helpful soul out there who wants to give advice, please do so.

anything.. property purchase, loans, living expense, job search, immigration issues, tax issues, life issues, starting a family... whatever this forum can talk about..

ulquiorra87 SG

Help me try to understand why would you want to make such a decision in the first place? Do you understand what you're getting yourself into?

Yea anyway if u wana go Sg nows a good time property prices are dropping now can wait abit longer though it'll probably drop alittle more

seyKai SG

your balik kampung should be in Indonesia, why singapore?

DaDeCrater SG

I think SG is a good place to live in. Some people might think otherwise, but, having been to other countries (and stayed for at least 2 years), I finally realised what a good life singaporeans have.

to seyKai:

Having spent 8 critical years of my growing up, I've always considered SG as my kampung. Didn't really spent that much time in Indonesia. I'm now in my mid-twenties, 8 years in SG and almost 8 years in the US, i definitely have an identity crisis right now.

to ulquiorra (what a hard name):

What am I getting myself into? Living in SG, i think, is less stressful than here in Cali. No need to have a car, and there's less stress (I think). All in all, I had a great 8 years in SG, I don't know why i decided to study abroad after high school at that time. I should continue my education back there. I REGRET IT! arghhh...~

Btw, for comparisson purposes, i'm earning abt US$50k a year, excluding health ins and 401k (pension plan). Since, I'm done with my MBA, I should be able to earn more, but still tied with immigration status. DAMN I HATE USA! Immigration issues are such a pain!

Short Ninja SG

Indonesian Chinese seem to appreciate Singapore more than the others and they do assimilate well with Singaporeans.Yes,Uncle Lee wants you! and the peranakan chinese community welcomes you too.For me,any kampong that can help me accumulate my wealth is a good kampong and so I am not ready to balik kampong just yet.Maybe when my children are much older by then the 'late Uncle Lee' no longer rules.

MINIGUN2000 SG

to dede:

it is not a wise move coming to singapore.

in the usa your only problem is the difficult and perhaps arrogant and thoughtless people you come across. there is the immigration paperwerk to solve which you probably hate in the usa. why dont u just get hitched to a chinese american in usa??

to solve your problems in the usa:

1)H1b visa----------get married to an american citizen

2)no other visible problems

your stay of 8 years in singapore never exposed you to much of singapore working life. there are company politics,back stabbing ,sackings and dirty tricks in most companies just like any company worldwide.

from looks of things.....u dont have much of a problem in the usa but if u do come to singapore and make it your home....be prepared to have a lot of problems even if you are rich .

i think perhaps u should just take a holiday ...i think u need a vacation from usa.i know the whites generally werk asians harder but its as bad as werking in singapore after balancing things out.

the companies in singapore expect people to work long hours and at least 4 hours free overtime everyday if you are an executive.the pay is much less than usa.if u go back on time you will be fired after a year even though u have finished your tasks.

MINIGUN2000 SG

to dede;

theres no money in singapores multi national companies like General Electric,IBM,matsushita etc.not even enough to buy food and savings and its much poorer idf werkin fer a local company...might as well be in indonesia...if u want the salary same as what u described then u should start off as a junior political minister for the government in singapore.

if u come over to singapore,,,u will have a whole new set of problems in a different land ,that is all.

......to get a permanent resident in spore is easy...u dont even need to understand english or even have much education like all the other foreigners who come to singapore as pr status.getting a spore pr is rather cheap from what i perceive.

perhaps u could come over right after u get your green card or us citizenship ...tat way if u do come over to singapore and fail in singapore you have at least a backup life support in the usa.

maybe u should take a long walk and think things over.

dalim1966sg SG

We certainly do not need another free-loafer like you to reside here.

Full-stop.

lookslikegod SG

Please do not come to Singapore. You got your education and you decided to leave after that for what you assume as a greener pasture.

Just don't come. We don't need you. Seriously.

Meia Gisborn SG

Living in SG, i think, is less stressful than here in Cali. No need to have a car, and there's less stress (I think).

Have you ridden the trains or buses in Singapore during peak hours? If you think it was bad back when you were in Singapore in the 90s, it has gotten much worse now with the overcrowding stemming from the island's explosive population growth.

Suddenly, California doesn't seem that "stressful" after all!

You'll be giving up a very generous compensation package by moving to Singapore and working there.

If your employer values your services enough to be paying you US$50,000 a year on top of having helped you acquire your current H-1B visa status, I'm sure you'll have no problem convincing them to take the next logical step of sponsoring your application for permanent residency (i.e., the much-coveted "green card"). Thereafter, it would be a simple case of sitting out the 5-year waiting period and then applying for naturalization.

But the choice is ultimately yours.

Arapahoe SG

I know it is tempting right now but if you have the resources to hang on maybe it is a good idea to hang on till end of this year. If you have choices i would not considered SG.

DaDeCrater SG

freeloader? where did that come from? didn't i say i wanna work?

dalim1966... you must have stayed in SG your whole life (109-66=43 yrs?). and lookslikegod, hey, if you think i'm trying to steal jobs from singaporean then you definitely want SG to plateu it's economy. even SM Lee don't see the economy will grow further without resources from abroad.

eniway, i think MINIGUN has brought forward a pretty good argument of why I should just stay here at the moment. you're right. maybe i didn't have enough expossure to working life back in SG. but this thread was supposed to give outsiders an idea on how to start living in SG. maybe some (who had no choice but to work in SG), will find this thread useful.

Meia gisborn: you should ride the 405/101 fwy during peak hours! at least mrt trains are still on time.

cheers~

MINIGUN2000 SG

to dede:

even sm dont see what???what he probably can see is oil and arab sheikhs.i dont think he really looks and care for long if u have your own hotel in singapore.

as for mrt trains in singapore....whats the point if they are on time when its jammed packed to the doors.....and still more people want to get in!!it will be like 3 trains later before u can think about squeezin in with people who smell and sneeze openly.

daily life in singapore:

the mrt comes at 9am.....it is crowded and people still rush and squeeze in at door....often with no elbow space.you decide to wait like me for the next train in 7 mins time.

when the train arrives its still jammed packed...u decide to wait for the next train.....when it finally arrives,u can see the door opening and it actually pulls the passengers inside the train that are squeezed nearest the door.

you decide u have had it withthe mrt trains and walk down to hail a taxi......then u see an army of people waiting and waving taxis to get to work.....and when u finally get one in 20 minutes which is very lucky , u find that your boss is furious at u for coming in late.

then after a hard day at werk,u decide to take the train back at 7pm .to your horror u get the same story as when goin to work.

u decide

Boomslang4829 SG

DaDeCrater, I think that you should check out the job market in Singapore before making any firm decisions.

US$50K/ yr is pretty tough in Cali. Are you in the Bay Area or SoCal? In any case, you might just consider moving to a nice part of the US to start with.

With what I've seen in Singapore, the pay is pretty good(6-figures) only if you're at the executive level, but the hours are long, very little work-life balance. But I agree that the US ain't heaven either, with paying taxes through our noses and it's actually pretty hard to save money even making 6-figures (after 401K deduction, Medicare, Social Sec, Fed/State tax).

You're probably feeling nostalgic for the SG of yester-year, but it doesn't exist any more. Socially, Singapore is very different from even 5 years ago. It's be good to go nack for a vacation and get a feel for it.

Boomslang4829 SG

Oh, just realized you mentioned the 405/101, so you're in the Bay Area...well then, in that case, maybe you won't get much of a culture shock if you move to SG since there are already so damn many Asians where you're at.

Boomslang4829 SG

My bad, I meant SoCal with the 405/101...but I guess there're too many Asians in Cali in general.

Arapahoe SG

to dede:

even sm dont see what???what he probably can see is oil and arab sheikhs.i dont think he really looks and care for long if u have your own hotel in singapore.

daily life in singapore:

the mrt comes at 9am.....it is crowded and people still rush and squeeze in at door....often with no elbow space.you decide to wait like me for the next train in 7 mins time.

then after a hard day at werk,u decide to take the train back at 7pm .to your horror u get the same story as when goin to work.

u decide

its relative.....seriously i don't think there are much different these days what it means to live in a city and what it means to live in a mega city. over crowding of urban cities are everywhere........Peak time the traffic jam start at 5:00a.m. on a freeway. It takes easily 1- 2 hours pra-time on the road.

dalim1966sg SG

Crater, nobody know the real reason u are cosidering to move over here.

We dont welcome you !! Go back to your homeland and contribute to your society!!

viciouskitty74 SG

Stay in USA. Get your green card. Then consider moving to Asia to start your family.

If you finally settled in USA and dont want to move. Then import your wife and start your family.

Singapore is a good stepping stone, but not a good final destination.

Beachgal SG

Dade: If you feel Cali is stressful, I don't think Spore would be any better (tho I haven't worked in the States before). In general, life in Singapore is stressful, and looks like you are in accounting/finance, that means it will be even be more stressful than other industries. Most people in finance work late. You will always see job ads saying things like "meeting tight deadlines, working under pressure". It's a given to have these requirements. When you go for interviews, you must convince your employer you are able and willing to work long hours, cos there are many other candidates who are willing to do so. (unless you apply for sme - small medium enterprise) Someone mentioned going back at 7 pm is late, In most finance jobs, during monthly/quarterly closing, going back at 8-10pm is normal. Most finance HODs are not pro-worklife balance. At the moment, a lot of companies are retrenching, so it may not be a good time to come over. Most finance jobs also prefer locals and PRs.

There you go.. any helpful soul out there who wants to give advice, please do so.

Not sure how easy to get PR? But you definitely need that to look for jobs in SIngapore, esp for accounting sector. It is highly unlikely you will get a job via internet while based overseas, esp in this climate. If not, the best for you is to join an US MNC with presence in Singapore to send you over. Or join one of those big 4 accounting firms like PWC etc but be prepared to work very very late if you are in auditing. Peak periods will see you working till midnight daily easily. Weekends will be gone too.

anything.. property purchase, loans, living expense, job search, immigration issues, tax issues, life issues, starting a family... whatever this forum can talk about..

Property: Foreigners can only buy private properties or resale HDB flats(?). Anyway, property prices are expected to fall further. Maybe end of the year or next year will be a better time to buy. A lot of rich Indonesian chinese are still the majority buyers of private property in town. Average Sporean can't afford private property in town. No capital gains tax in Spore.

Tax in Singapore is very low, so not an issue to worry.

Job search: You can try www.michaelpage.com.sg (To suss out your chances working here)

Good luck and hope the information helps. :)