Korean Job Discussion Forums

[thepeel]

Right.

Yes, I think that you would likely be able to find yourself well paying and interesting work. It would really depend on what you wanted to do, of course, but the Singaporean economy is quite good right now. Housing is an issue for many.

What kinda work are you thinking of?

[jaganath69]

[thepeel]

I had a long talk with a mixed race Japanese-Caucasian girl on Thursday night. Poor girl had a tough time in NYC and a, according to her, 5 year nightmare in high school in Japan. She said she knows of no place more accepting of mixed race individuals that Singapore. She is not the first to tell me so.

Control Risks is expanding here, and has an HR office in Hitachi Tower. I know that some of the other PSC's are active in Singapore. I have a friend who does consulting work for hotels (how not to get blown up etc etc). As I understand, many NGO's do avoid Singapore due to the PAP's, uh, slight dislike of criticism. That said, there are many NGO's here.

I think it might take you a while but you would likely be able to find a darn nice job. You might want to start by taking a short course at NTU/NUS/SMU to start networking and such.

Check out RSIS at NTU. I believe they offer a "certificate in terrorism studies" or some such. Apparently Stanford in Cali has an online one that is deeply respected in industry as well.

[jaganath69]

[rocklee]

Having lived in Singapore for a few years,

The good :

- Singapore is a fantastic place if you plan to stay for a couple of days or just transiting. It is a small island that takes barely an hour to go from one end to the other, as for places to visit and sightseeing it is limited.

- It has perhaps the best transport system I've ever seen (small place), MRT that runs on time, air conditioned, buses everywhere and of course taxis.

- Orchard road is a great shopping street.

- Most people speak English since its the business language.

- Food is relatively cheap, save for the foreign stuff like Vegemite.

- Plenty of eateries to choose from, from indian, chinese, malay to western stuff. I really miss the curries and malaysian stuff.

- Very clean, most if not all apartments have these rubbish chutes in every apartment that is conveniently picked up by the garbage men every morning.

- I don't know too many places that offers competitive airfare prices like Singapore. Given the weak dollar, you could fly to Singapore from here on a one way ticket and buy a return ticket there and still pay less than if you had bought a return ticket from Incheon. Malaysia though it even better with their local airfares to neighbouring countries. Flights to Johor Bharu (which is right next to Singapore) from KL is only 2 Malaysian dollar (520won!!!!!).

The bad :

- The country is about the size of Incheon, expect to feel bored looking up and down the place after only a few days.

- You'll be earning a lot less than Korea (even China has a better exchange rate), average cost for a HDB room was $400 when I was there, I paid for a condo flat for $700 so it wasn't too bad.

- Orchard road is the only shopping street. It isn't bad, but if you shop a lot then expect to head to Orchard just about every weekend since there is no where else to go.

- Only locals can qualify for a HDB flat (cheaper apartments subsidised by the government), which means that all foreigners married to a local Singaporean can only buy a resale HDB or a condo flat. The rules might have changed but I know that it is very hard for foreigners to own their own HDB flats.

- Singaporeans, especially the middle class, can be quite rough and arrogant. You hear of woman bashers here in Korea, in Singapore expect stories of foreign maids from Indonesia, Philippines being beaten, boiled or even killed.

- They are also very materialistic, if a neighbour has a BMW 525i everybody else must get something better. It took me a while to get used to this somewhat messed up mentality called "kiasu" meaning "scared to lose". You either do what the romans do or mingle with other foreigners (such as Malaysians) who are most definitely more relaxed.

- Singapore actually tried to run a program to improve courtesy and social manners with little success. Seriously, it can be a first world country with 3rd world mentality sometimes.

- Its funny how someone here posted how Singapore welcomes mixed raced people. There are in fact quite a lot of them but they tend to be on the rich side living in Condos and going to private schools (probably pilots or those working in the entertainment industry). Singapore is around 70% chinese, 20% malay and 10% indian, the chinese rarely want to mix with the malays and especially the indians (they smell so they say!). I think Malaysia does a better job of racial harmony.

I guess if one had to compare Singapore to Malaysia, Singapore is a like a well kept fish tank with all the amenities any goldfish could want, while Malaysia is like a big wild pond full of life but with the main stuff all happening in the one place (KL). I felt like a goldfish in Singapore with a lot of money (at the time before the financial meltdown) but nowhere to go. Good thing JB was nearby and KL was only 3 hours away. Holidaying in Malaysia is 10 minutes away making it a much more fun place to be. It has better beaches, better food and arguably friendlier people.

In terms of career and earning potentials, Singapore would be better. They are after all trying to be a business hub for Asia. Malaysia is a lot more laid back as a country but KL has more than enough for anyone to pursue a promising career.

[thepeel]

Needless to say, Rocklee and I have had very different experiences in Singapore.