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R-Seoul
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Location: your place
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 Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:52 pm Post subject: What's Singapore & Kuala Lumpur like to live in? |
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I'm considering moving to one of these two at the end of the year, do any of you have any experiences you can share on the pro's/con's of the cities?
Also any links to good expat boards would be appreciated.
Oh, I'm not planning on teaching ESL but will be working in Marketing... |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:18 am Post subject: |
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Go. Definitely go. Leave the this mockery of ESL behind.
I've been to both for a few days. I'd choose Singapore myself. Hurts the pocket, but. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:38 am Post subject: |
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www.singaporeexpats.com
I live in Singapore now.. What would you like to know?
It is a fantastic place to live. KL, not so much. |
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R-Seoul
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Location: your place
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 6:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the link BJWD, care to expand on why Singapore is so much better than KL? |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Been to both, I'd choose Singapore for sure. It would be my #1 place to live in Asia. Shopping, food, the cleanliness of the place, the public transport, the beauty of the city (historical areas and GREENERY). KL, well still, its would be a cool place to be. And it would be cheaper too. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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| R-Seoul wrote: |
| Thanks for the link BJWD, care to expand on why Singapore is so much better than KL? |
Well, it really depends on what you want, right?
Singapore is nearly crime free. In addition, it is as clean as you have heard, and more orderly than you can imagine. The buses and MRT�s run on time, quickly and are cheap. The government is very friendly to �foreign talent� and the immigration laws are very, very liberal.
Everything is efficient. The government is very effective in nearly all that it does.
It is not a free country.
Singapore has a nice nightlife. At first I found it pretentious but as any other city of 4 million people, there is quite a lot of diversity under the surface.
Housing can be expensive, and you have to look hard. I have a nice one bedroom apartment near the downtown core (only 4 stops the city center via MRT) and I pay about 630$/month USD. Expect to pay more than this.
Wages are reasonable, but this is a very competitive economy. If you do not offer a special skill (ie. only an n undergrad) expect a Singaporean wage. For fresh grads, they earn about 2.5k SGD/month. This is a very diverse city, and you aren�t special just for being Western (I don�t say that to be rude, but just because it is true).
The food is simply amazing.
Singaporeans are very nice people. The culture is MUCH more family oriented than Korea, or even Canada. This is a family town. But if you are younger and single, or without kids, you can still have a great time.
Phuket is 60$ round-trip. Hong Kong, Manila, KL, Jakarta and others are very cheap to get to. Very cheap. I went to Cambodia for less than 60$USD round trip. You can take a taxi to Johor in Malaysia if the crowds, dirt, scams and crime are more your bag. I prefer to stay closer to home. Singapore has an island resort called Sentosa that is nice enough. There are lovely Islands only a short ferry ride away (Bin Tan, for example).
The bad� Smokes and booze are expensive, if that is your thing. Clubs are expensive to get in (25$). The people thrive on rules. They really go nuts if you cut in line etc etc. Sometimes they walk really slowly. (I�m pulling at strings here�)
Ah, and there are some neat areas. I like Little India to get exotic fruit (and there are some great clubs there too) and the Arab area has amazing restaurants. One of my favorite things to do is get a hookah and chill for an afternoon in the sun. Every kind of food you could ever want is here (except Peru, for some reason) and groceries are quite cheap.
KL is a nothing city. It isn�t even close to the Hong Kong�s, Tokyo�s, Seoul�s and NYC�s of this world. Singapore is a world class city. KL is a third tier city, at best. And race relations in Malaysia are horrible. The economy isn�t open to foreigners (unless they are Malay) and you might not even have a chance at a visa... You might want to ask around about that, though. KL is crime ridden. Johor is even worse.
If you like KL, you can weekend there. The bus takes 4 hours and leaves every hour. Honestly, I don�t know why you would want to. It just isn�t a nice place. Malaysia has some nice tourist areas but to live, as the Koreans say, �maybe not so much�. |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
KL is a nothing city. It isn’t even close to the Hong Kong’s, Tokyo’s, Seoul’s and NYC’s of this world. Singapore is a world class city. KL is a third tier city, at best. And race relations in Malaysia are horrible. The economy isn’t open to foreigners (unless they are Malay) and you might not even have a chance at a visa... You might want to ask around about that, though. KL is crime ridden. Johor is even worse.
If you like KL, you can weekend there. The bus takes 4 hours and leaves every hour. Honestly, I don’t know why you would want to. It just isn’t a nice place. Malaysia has some nice tourist areas but to live, as the Koreans say, “maybe not so much”. |
I have never met anyone that expressed anything similar to this when talking about KL. Everybody I know that has been there has liked it. Crime Ridden??? Really? |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:16 am Post subject: |
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| ajgeddes wrote: |
| BJWD wrote: |
KL is a nothing city. It isn�t even close to the Hong Kong�s, Tokyo�s, Seoul�s and NYC�s of this world. Singapore is a world class city. KL is a third tier city, at best. And race relations in Malaysia are horrible. The economy isn�t open to foreigners (unless they are Malay) and you might not even have a chance at a visa... You might want to ask around about that, though. KL is crime ridden. Johor is even worse.
If you like KL, you can weekend there. The bus takes 4 hours and leaves every hour. Honestly, I don�t know why you would want to. It just isn�t a nice place. Malaysia has some nice tourist areas but to live, as the Koreans say, �maybe not so much�. |
I have never met anyone that expressed anything similar to this when talking about KL. Everybody I know that has been there has liked it. Crime Ridden??? Really? |
I have been several times now, and each time I like it less. Plus, going from Singapore to anywhere makes the destination look like a garbage dump.
KL has serious crime issues. This year has been particularly bad too. Apparently in KL, crime is up 40% this year over last.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/182154print.asp
Even if she liked it there, the government would not give her a working visa to do anything other than esl, unless she is a Harvard grad or similar. |
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Saxiif
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:00 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD: What's a good way of getting from Singapore to Phuket? I'm thinking of going to both for Chuseok... |
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coldcrush
Joined: 02 Apr 2004
Location: melbourne.... Posts: 1
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:03 am Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
| I'd choose Singapore myself. Hurts the pocket, but. |
And the lower back. |
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Xian
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:17 am Post subject: |
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Singapore easily!
I can only speak for KL as far as Malaysia is concerned. KL is cheaper and the food is great also, but its a dirty place with ugly, uncleaned buildings (I would soon get sick of looking at those ugly buildings / Singapore maintain them much better). I found it less friendly than Singapore and while I didn't have any problems, I felt much safer in Singapore.
Transport was awful. No good train system and buses stuck in peak hour traffic for ages.
I did enjoy KL, but that is because of the company I kept.
Singapore has great food, clean, excellent transport, cheaper than western countries (from my experiences).
Singapore is way better and as someone said, its easy and not too expensive to visit KL or Johor if you want to get away. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| Saxiif wrote: |
| BJWD: What's a good way of getting from Singapore to Phuket? I'm thinking of going to both for Chuseok... |
Fly!
The flight will be $9-30sgd each way +tax (usually 70$sgd or so). 1sgd = .65 usd
It is a 40 min flight. Can't be beat!
By the by, if you want to stay near Kata or Karong beach, check out www.diversinn.com . That is where we stay, and it is a very nice location/price. Perfectly clean too. |
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Saxiif
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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Damn that's nice. I hope that travel agents in Korea will be able to give me those prices.
That way I can spend some time in Singapore coming and/or going without having to pay for a hotel... |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| I had a dream last night that I was in Singapore and it was quite nice except that all the floors were made out of pillows just placed on the top of a wooden framework so you always had to be careful that you didn't knock one out of the way and fall through the gaping holes in the wooden frame. Seems like a rather silly city to me if that's really the case. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Saxiif wrote: |
Damn that's nice. I hope that travel agents in Korea will be able to give me those prices.
That way I can spend some time in Singapore coming and/or going without having to pay for a hotel... |
Singapore doesn't suffer under the 'travel agent cartel' as does Korea. Just book online! Best price.
http://www.tigerairways.com/home/ |
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