Moving to a different country can be daunting. I’ve moved around enough to know! Every country has it’s different nuances so here’s a checklist of what to do when you move to Singapore! This is pretty much everything you’ll need to know before you get to Singapore and to help you settle within your first 2 weeks of landing here. I’ll be updating as I think of more things and feel free to make suggestions.
What bank should you choose:
Generally I recommend getting a bank account with either POSB or DBS as they have the most ATM machines across Singapore. I also got a HSBC account so that I could move money between my other country accounts, but I heard Citi allows you to move USD 10k back to the US monthly without any charges.
Generally when you setup an account, they ask you whether you need a cheque book. I was told by a friend to get one as you never know when you need one. You’ll incur a $2 a month charge for having one, but it has definitely come in handy for me e.g. putting a down payment on an apartment. If you have a friend that can write one for you, that works too! My Standard Chartered bank account came with a free cheque book.
I just opened a DBS Multiplier Account and it’s giving me pretty decent interest every month. It might be something to consider!
What credit card should you get:
There are plenty of blogs on this, but what I love about Singapore is that you can get your debit card, NETS (works like debit), credit card and EZ-link (MRT card) all in one card. Locals will tell you to get a credit card from every bank. Each card gives you discounts/points for different stores. I was too lazy to do this, but if you’re a shrewd person, you should definitely go with this option. I currently use DBS’ Altitude Card which allows you to collect AirMiles and the first year is free. I plan to cancel my credit card once the year is up because there are many AirMiles cards in Singapore that give you the first year free! (updated note: I was told if you call to cancel the card after the first year they’ll usually waive the annual fee. Woohoo!). My housemate spreadsheeted all the AirMiles cards and has told me the UOB PRVI miles card is the best. Yes, there are people that spreadsheet these things! The only drawback is that you need a minimum income of 80k SGD for the UOB PRVI card.
How do I setup my phone?
There are three main telcos in Singapore – StarHub, Singtel and M1. How you choose your telco largely depends on your needs. StarHub and Singtel are generally chosen when you plan on getting Internet and pay-TV together. They have really great bundles where you can save quite a bit of money.
M1 is generally cheaper by a dollar or two if you just want a mobile service. All telcos have good coverage of the city so there isn’t much point of differentiation. The only thing I would recommend is adding the Free IDD function for another SGD 8 a month (018 StarHub/021 M1/019 Singtel). It allows you to call a whole host of countries for free like you’re using your regular talk minutes. Simply dial 018 (if you’re with StarHub) in front of the international number. Remember to check the countries covered beforehand. Canada, Australia (landline only), USA, Hong Kong, Malaysia, UK (landline only) are included.
There are also much cheaper sim-only plans if you have your own phone already. Otherwise, they will lock you in for 2 years.
There’s a new telco in town called Circles. If you don’t need international roaming for your phone I would recommend checking them out – https://www.circles.life. They only just launched May 2016.
Looking for a Place to Live:
My real-estate agent has become my best friend. She sold me my condo and we’ve been hanging out ever since. I used to think that all realtors were slimy until I met Michelle. I would highly recommend her – Michelle Tan +65 8666 6166. I should write another list of things you need to look out for in an apartment, but in the meanwhile, the four biggest things are:
- MRT – 7 minutes should be the maximum time to walk to the closest MRT. Singapore’s gruelling heat in really taxing and every minute feels like eternity. Don’t trust the listings you see online or Google maps. Walk it yourself to see if it really is the 5 minute walk that’s being advertised.
- Covered Walkways – the walk to the MRT should be as covered as possible. My former roommate used to call the tropical rain here the “Singapore Pour”. It rains really hard here and you don’t want to be caught in it.
- Food – if you’re single, eating out is actually cheaper than buying groceries and making your own food. You should have easy access to either a hawker center, mall or food court for those lazy nights when you don’t want to cook anything!
- Are you near a noisy road? I slept in a room next to a noisy road before and it was so hard to sleep at night with all the buses going by. I’ll never make that mistake again!
- In short, every place you look think of the acronym FAM – Food, Amenities, MRT and if you have a family then you’ll need to look at school district too.
I cannot insist on this more, don’t ever rent a ground floor unit. There are so many pests in Singapore and you don’t want to give them easy access to your place. “Them” includes cockroaches, ants, rats, geckos and other creepy crawlies. The higher up you are, the better. For the full list, simply contact Michelle. She’ll never rent out a place that she wouldn’t live in herself.
If you don’t want to go through an agent, you can always check out listings at Property Guru – http://www.propertyguru.com.sg. If you find the listing yourself, you won’t have to pay for an agent. The landlord will need to pay their agent, but you won’t need to. That being said, if you mention you know Carolyn So to Michelle, maybe she’ll give you a discount!
How do I furnish my new place?
There’s always the trusty Ikea, but I also had some good finds at Courts in Tampines. It’s great because Ikea and Courts are right next to each other, which makes it worth the schlep over to the East. For real bargain hunters that don’t mind buying something second hand, download the app Carousell. It’s like a Craigslist, but just for Singapore. For the best deal on new electronics, I’ve found Parasilk in Holland Village the best price-wise. The shopkeepers are willing to give nice customers discounts on certain items on the down low and all their products are genuine and they aren’t there to scam you (unlike Sim Lim which is where most people will recommend you to go).
If you’re using Carousell and the item you have is too big to fit in a taxi, you can normally find people offering their delivery services on Carousell or you can use another handy app called GoGoVan. It’s like an Uber, but for larger moving vehicles. It’s cheap, convenient and easy to use.
If you want something that is a little more stylish than IKEA or Courts (and a little more expensive), I love ordering off http://www.hipvan.com
Getting around Singapore:
Public transport is a dream here compared to most countries. I use Google Maps to find a route to where I want to go and then an app called SG NextBus to figure out the exact time the next bus will come. Google Maps isn’t the most accurate for timings. The MRTs almost never break down (unlike London), so it’s always a reliable bet. You might get squished a little during peak times though!
If you think Uber is the only option, there’s also another great local South East Asian app called Grab (formerly Grab Taxi). Grab allows you to hail taxis and private cars much like how Uber does, except for private car rides, you know the exact fee you pay in advance so you don’t have to worry about any additional charges if you say get stuck in traffic. ERP (road tolls), however, are still extra.
Taxi or Uber/Grab? Taxis charge a surcharge during peak times that range from 25% (7am – 9:30am, 5pm to midnight) to 50% (midnight to 6am). The only non-surcharge times are 10am – 5pm. Anything before or after, Uber/Grab end up generally being cheaper than taking a taxi. If there’s no surcharge, then there isn’t much a difference. Uber and Grab also don’t charge a call or booking fee that cabs do.
Internet and TV:
The pay-TV providers in Singapore are StarHub and Singtel. Most of my friends that go with Singtel because they watch a lot of sports. I have a StarHub subscription, they have more channels to choose from and are stronger for Chinese language content as well as movies (HBO, Fox Movies)
They will most likely try to convince you to sign up for a 2 year package. If you happen to move apartments/houses after a year, you’ll be able to take your pay-TV subscription with you, but if you have fibre Internet, you won’t be able to transfer it. This is something to bear in mind when you’re choosing which package to sign up to.
If you don’t want pay-TV at all. There are Internet only companies in Singapore such as MyRepublic and ViewQwest. They will also provide a US VPN for you for an extra fee. At the moment, VPNs are a grey area in Singapore.
Where do I get my groceries?
There’s a generally understood tier ranked below (most to least expensive):
- Cold Storage
- Fairprice Finest
- Fairprice
- Giant
- Sheng Siong / Wet Markets
I also order heavy groceries off Red Mart http://www.redmart.com. Their customer service is stellar and they’re super convenient because they deliver. Who wants to lug around toilet paper and laundry detergent? Prices fall around the Cold Storage and Fairprice Finest range. These three also tend to stock more internationally consumed things such as cheeses, greek yoghurt and almond milk.
The app that I just discovered and LOVE is HonestBee. You can order your groceries online from a variety of places at the same prices in store. You’ll have a personal shopper buy everything for you and there’s free delivery for orders more than $35. Their service is truly amazing so check it out. You can sign up using my referral link and you’ll get $10 off your first order (full disclosure, I’ll also get $10!) https://honestbee.com/r/CAROLYS6642
For toiletries, a little known secret is – buy them local and not at a grocery chain. There are so many local shops around Singapore like Venus that sell toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste and etc.) at sometimes half the cost of a Guardian, Watsons or grocery chains. I just found out that they sell online too! http://www.venusbeauty.com.sg/e-shop.html/
Getting a Cleaner
One of the awesome things about living in Asia is that you can get a part-time cleaner for your new home! I like to be on the legal side and have only had cleaners who are Permanent Residents of Singapore. They are legally allowed to work in Singapore. Foreign Domestic Helpers are tied to a household and technically cannot offer cleaning services to any other household. The fine if you get caught is SGD 10,000. The current standard rate is SGD 15 per hour, but the really good ones charge SGD 20 per hour. I would rather have someone come in and do a great job cleaning for 2 hours for SGD 40 than a crap job for 3 hours at $45. Ask your foreign friends and colleagues, they will be your best source for finding a good part-time cleaner.
Any other cards I should get?
- Passion card – sign up online, it’s something like $15 for 5 years membership and you can collect points at Cold Storage, Guardian and Giant.
- Kopitiam card – a charge card that gives you 10% off all Kopitiams
- Singapore is all about membership cards. They love a good discount (and so do I)! Depending on how long you stay in Singapore you might end up with an extra wallet entirely dedicated to membership/discount cards!
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