Moving to Singapore

Greetings

I have been transferred from UAE to Singapore and expected to travel shortly. I am looking for some advice on certain important aspects.

1. How different is the life overall in Singapore compared to UAE? (if anyone has any idea about UAE or Middle East)

2. How convenient is it to find halal food in Singapore?

3. What are the major social activities to get involved into in Singapore?

4. What are the best accommodation options available to live in Singapore?

5. Any other major matters which one should consider before moving in Singapore.


Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Hi dude, regarding accomodation go for " gumtree" website to know vacancies

Hi Zubairi,

Welcome to Expat.com! :)

I hope other members will be able to advise you. In the meantime, you could have a look at the other threads on the Singapore forum and also life in Singapore guide.

I wish you good luck.

All the best,
Christine

I can help you with some of the issues because I'm a local in Singapore.

It is pretty easy to find Halal food here because we have a large Muslim community. Don't worry about this at all!!

What do you mean by "major social activities"? It depends on what you are into! The nightlife (bars and clubs) is quite active here, you can go to Clarke Quay which has lines of bars around. If you're talking about meeting other expats, you could check out some of the meet-ups or even organise one?

Not sure what you mean by the "best" accomodation options, but in Singapore you can either live in an apartment - HDB (public, cheaper), or private ones (condominiums, i.e. more expensive, but with more facilities) - or in landed property, which comprises different types too: bungalows, semi-detached houses, etc.
How long will you be here? There are of course hotels and hostels available here too, but if you're here for, say, only a month or two it will be good to RENT an apartment or just a room in an apartment. Buying housing here in Singapore is very expensive and only for Singapore citizens and PRs, if I'm not wrong.

You can rent landed property too of course, but since you're coming here alone I assume you'd want to find a single room or a small apartment for yourself. Go to websites like Gumtree or FlatsDB or Property Hub (google them!)

Hope this is helpful. :)

Oh yeah and I'm not sure what your current situation is, but you need to decide on what mode of transport you'll be using. We have public transport - bus, train, taxi - or you can drive (using a rented car, I suppose). Taking the bus or train is pretty cheap here but you'll need a transit card which you can easily get at transit ticketing offices..

Also read up on the LAWS in Singapore. A lot of things here carry heavy fines, and you sure don't want to incur them. E.g. there are a lot of no-smoking areas, you'll be fined heavily if you eat on public transport, or for spitting, and you are not allowed to chew gum.

Feel free to ask more questions :)