Pinoy in Singapore

Today is Singapore’s National Day.
Here is an article from Yahoo on Key notes of PM Lee’s speech.  One of which is the bumpy road ahead due to effects of the problems in the US economy.
For me, it basically signals the end of my long extended sabbatical.  Huhu.  Back to corporate slavery.

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I’ve been tracking Singapore’s rank (versus Manila’s) in the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey done by Mercer since the start of this blog.
In 2006,  Singapore ranked 17th in the world in the list of most expensive cities to live in, while Manila ranked 141st.
In 2007, Singapore ranked 14th, while Manila ranked 137th.
Now for 2008, the [...]

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Here’s a site I came across recently.  It’s a Guide to Working and Living in Singapore. 

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Redd left a comment asking about tuition fees in Singapore for his son.
For foreigners wanting to study in Singapore,  the website of the Ministry of Education and this FAQ are very informative.
Here are a few things to note:

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Here’s something quite helpful for those who are currently or planning to look for employment in Singapore.
The Ministry of Manpower just released its Reports on Wages in Singapore for 2007 and the Manpower Statistics for 2008.  Now there’s a lot of information right there (and I mean a LOT), but I think most people will [...]

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Today, we completed the formalities for our Singapore Permanent Residence at the ICA building on Lavender St.
We first had to go for an X-ray and blood exam to check for Tuberculosis and HIV.  We had the exam done at the Raffles Hospital near Bugis Station a few days before. That took us about half a [...]

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We still have to go through the formalities - like a personal interview and medical check ups but we got our approval letter already.
It took about 3 months since we filed the application and between those 3 months we were asked to submit CVs of Mr. Tsiken’s entire family and mine.  How their CVs affect [...]

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This is a sequel to my previous entry about getting yourself condo cultured. It’s another really serious circular from our beloved estate managers that I find kinda funny because of the way it’s stated.
Here’s an excerpt:

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I must say Mr. Tsiken and I are very lucky to have found the unit we’re renting now. At the time we were looking for a place to stay, the demand for places to stay was so high they get snatched up in a day. So even though the usual procedure when going [...]

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Yesterday was my 10th year anniversary with Mr. Tsiken but instead of celebrating, we were a little depressed because Mr. Tsiken lost his wallet.  In it was 2 credit cards, his driver’s license, employment pass and S$300.00. 
We didn’t really know what to do, so after much research and asking around,

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Before living in Singapore, my whole life I’ve been living in a house with no elevator.  So, I dunno, it might be common in other places too. 
But when we first came to Singapore,  I tried to watch movies and documentaries that would more or less give me a sense of what it’s like to live [...]

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While doing my own research on the pros and cons of applying for PR status, I came across this flyer from KPMG.  I think a lot of Pinoys who, like us, are considering whether to apply for PR or not will find this informative. 
One of the important things to consider but is probably not given much thought [...]

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Since we’ve been here in Singapore last Jan 2007, the property sector has experienced a great boom.  The going rate for the same unit we are renting is now double what we are paying for currently.  What’s unfortunate is that the condo building is going for en-bloc sale and our landlord is one of those [...]

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It’s a question most Pinoy expats will eventually face.  It’s the question Mr. Tsiken and I are currently looking into. 
So what are the pros and cons of sticking to your employment pass vs going for the permanent resident status?  Here’s what I gathered so far:

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Effective today, GST will be 7% from 5%.  It was a good excuse to go shopping yesterday. 

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The Immigration and Checkpoints authority usually sends you a letter if you are eligible for applying for PR status.  Mr. Tsiken got his letter less than 5 months since we’ve moved here.  I guess he was fortunate enough to meet the requirements.  But we still haven’t decided whether to proceed with the application because we want to make sure we completely [...]

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Singapore has 4 official languages namely English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.  Communicating with the locals may prove to be one of the more challenging tasks.  Though, Singaporeans can speak English, Singapore has its own version of English - Singlish, much like Taglish is to Filipinos.  What complicates it for me

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Singapore is a very multiracial country.  There are the Chinese, Malaysians, Indonesians, Filipinos, South Asians - Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshi, the Caucasians… you name it.  All of them exist in harmony in this little country at the southern tip of continental Asia. 
But because there’s a lot of different cultures,

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It would be wise to know what the cost of living is in Singapore before taking the big leap.  Singapore is definitely a more expensive city to live in compared to Manila.  Based on the Cost of Living Survey - Worldwide Rankings 2006 by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Singapore is ranked 17th (from 2005’s 34th) [...]

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