Geylang Serai, if I'm not mistaken.

I don't think Sg customs will check the contents of everybody's laptop. Not even the Americans and Aussies do that (and they seem to be the ones doing it the most). If they did that, they'd be clearing very few people each day since you'd have to wait for boot up, open file manager, low battery look for power socket etc.

But if somebody tipped them off that you have something-something in your laptop, they'll definitely check you.

Having said that, I have encrypted my laptop and all my memory cards, and removed all the something-somethings from my mobile phones.

I created a large encrypted file on my hdd and store my personal stuff in there. Same thing for my memory cards which are full of mp3s.

Anyway, American or Aussie customs can probably crack the encryption if they want to employ the resources, but my concern is not US or Aust customs. It's the Singaporean authorities. They are pretty hands off about contrabrand like mp3s, movies etc AS LONG AS you don't make it a problem for them. ie. Leave the evidence in plain sight, so much so that if they don't take action when they can plainly see it, they are neglecting their duties.

For eg. the police don't investigate to find out who downloads mp3 or movies. The rights owner has to take the trouble to find out who they are and report their addresses to the police.

They don't go looking for people who piggyback personal LAN, but when someone did it in the void deck and people walking past reported him - they had to take action.

So for me, my thinking is that if someone needs to look at my hdd or memory cards for some reason, all they see is one big page file or archive file, and not lots and lots of mp3 files staring at them in the face.

Do other people often delete files from your computer?

If nobody wants to offer more money to employ you... then how can you be underpaid?

You're going for multiple interviews right now and getting actual (multiple?) offers.., in the flesh. How much more 'market price' and 'actual' can it get? You're right in the middle of the actual market.

If someone keeps telling you 3000 is actual market price, but nobody actually offers you anything close to 3000... is that really the market price?

Yes, it is. The environment is extremely pressurising. Most people in Singapore start work at about 8am and usually work until 10pm at least. The earliest I went home this year is 8pm. Usually 10pm. Even at 11pm, the trains are full of people going home from work. I have headache every day. Some times cannot eat, cannot sleep, feel like want to die. My heart so pain.

Yes, alot ppl are correct. Everybody here is damn kiasu. Non-kiasu people like you and me always get bullied by them. Very frustrating. Everybody play politics, that's true. Everyday I go to work, someone always stab me in the back. My heart so pain.

Honestly, we Malaysians cannot survive here. Too much pressure, get bullied all the time and always kena back stab because we are useless at politics. My heart so pain.

My strong advice to you is to stay in Malaysia. Don't come to Singapore. Trust me, the kiasu Singaporeans will BBQ you for tea break.

One category only... lousy company. They bluff me when they hire me, then pay me less than Singaporean and when new Singaporean join the company, they always make him my boss even though I have more experience and skills. My heart so pain.

Hope this helps confirm all your true suspicion about Singapore.

This post has been edited by seantang: Sep 6 2009, 07:48 PM

Thanks, you're a very sympathetic soul indeed. But like the rest mentioned, a very heavy mood of sarcasm overtook me when I wrote that.

At the end of the day, I really don't find Singapore and Malaysia (private sector) very different. You need to work hard, work smart and be aware of the politics around you to succeed in Singapore. And it's the same thing in Malaysia (unless it's the public sector, then it's mainly politics). People should stop idealising worklife in Malaysia (it's damn far from ideal, to tell the truth) and stop demonising the worklife in Singapore.

There are so many comments that Singaporeans are kiasu (which they are, btw) from Malaysians who have never been to Singapore for more than a short holiday, have no Singaporean friends and colleagues. And when you ask them what kiasu actually means... they have no answer.

Some of you guys really need to learn how to google.

If you are a bona fide traveller, other than a person who is a holder of a work permit, employment pass, student pass, dependent pass or long-term pass issued by the Singapore Government, you will be given GST relief on new articles, souvenirs, gifts and food preparations (excluding intoxicating liquors and tobacco) up to the following values, depending on your age and the number of hours you have spent outside of Singapore immediately before your arrival, as specified in the table below: If you are a bona fide traveller not below 18 years of age, have arrived from countries other than Malaysia and have spent 48 hours or more outside Singapore immediately before your arrival, you will be given the following duty-free concessions for liquors: 1 litre spirits (brandy, whisky, gin, rum, vodka, etc.) 1 litre wine, and 1 litre beer or stout or ale or porter. There is NO GST RELIEF AND DUTY-FREE CONCESSION ON CIGARETTES AND OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS.

This reads to me that anyone's who not a tourist has to pay GST for anything that he imports into Singapore.

The trick is therefore, not to import anything, but to simply transport your existing possessions from wherever you are into Singapore.

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Added on September 8, 2009, 12:31 amPretty good website by Hays. But the real draw for me is the pdf download of the fortnightly issue of "Headhunt" classifieds - which compiles jobs from various recruitment agencies like Hays (of course), Robert Walters, Reed, Recruitplus etc. Definitely worth a download.

www.headhunt.com.sg

This post has been edited by seantang: Sep 8 2009, 12:33 AM

Put your name in where?

What does the list do? Or who does what with the list?

Of course not. The same job in Malaysia will typically pay RM1:S$1 or slightly more. My company's payline in Malaysia and Singapore are RM1.2:S$1.

Not sure how an industry that insists on calling a junior manager an Assistant Vice President or calling a middle manager a Senior Vice President... can be considered the 'upper echelons' of Singapore's corporate world. A self perception perhaps?

We routinely have analysts leaving us (my company) to go to Citibank or UBS as AVPs. They weren't even managers yet, but now carry business cards with a job title that's longer than their names.

There's a shuttle bus from JB Kotaraya bus terminal. RM6 a trip, but this was more than 3 years ago.

Israel's army can hold back and actually defeat all the Arab states if it wants to. Singapore's army was designed by and initially trained by Israel. By now, it's probably the 3rd most heavily equipped army in the world after the US and Israel. The only difference is that Singapore's army is not battle tested and also unable to field test their troops with real live fire, live target situations.

So, I actually think the Singaporeans will actually appreciate it very much if "all the adult in jb take 1stick and walk into singapore whack all"... it'll be end of story alright, but for those JB folks unfortunately. And the incursion will probably give Singapore the excuse to invade Malaysia and create the no-fire, no-fly security zone comprising the protectorate of Greater North Woodlands, with its borders extending to Negeri Sembilan and Pahang.

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Added on September 12, 2009, 11:41 pmIf you are looking for a room, like crappo mentioned, a master bedroom in a condo or executive/BTO HDB flat is within your range. If you're looking for an entire flat, 1K might be a bit tight. Increase it to 1.3-1.5, then 2 bedroom HDB flats are within your range.

For websites, look at the first page of this thread.

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Added on September 12, 2009, 11:45 pmIf there is another employer is willing to pay you more than 2K, then 2K is too low.

If nobody else wants to pay you 2K... then it doesn't matter whether we say it's too high or too low. You are not going to get anything more than 2K.

This post has been edited by seantang: Sep 12 2009, 11:46 PM

There are 2 ways to look at a move like this.

1. Do you get to save more by moving? ie. after all expenses etc.. do you end up with more in the bank at the end of the day, if you move? To make the alternatives comparable, use a common currency eg. convert the S$ savings to RM. This is especially if you plan to come back permanently to Malaysia.

2. Are you getting the salary you deserve in Singapore? ie. if you earn RM6K, is S$4.5 a fair salary? If it is, move. If not, don't move.

For me... personally, I used #1 to make my decision. My thinking is that after all's said & done, it's the RM balance in my bank account that matters. It doesn't matter if the S$ salary is fair or unfair etc. You can stay back in Malaysia, in a more senior job - but if it doesn't give you a bigger balance in your bank account in the end.., what's the point?

An additional offset consideration if you're particular about job seniority & fair/unfair salary... is whether Singapore holds more opportunities for you, in your industry, with your experience & skills and with your skin colour. After 5 or 10 years, you can end up in a much higher position & salary in Singapore than would have been possible had you remained in Malaysia.

This post has been edited by seantang: Sep 14 2009, 04:02 PM

I'm not quite so pessimistic.

Shanghai ie. China basically needs to either kick out the communists BUT somehow magically make all their minority tribes... Kurds, Uighurs, Mongols, Tibetans, Manchurians, Xinkiang etc disappear - OR - keep the communists BUT have to deal with corruption and lowered competitiveness.

Bangkok... once it loses its advantages of cheap labour and govt investment breaks... it'll simply go back to a country with little oil and ore, where the people don't speak much English and the political situation is too finely hinged on a dying monarch (leaving behind a less respected heir) and an intrusive military.

Singapore's main advantage are English & Mandarin, the Chinese & Indian populations that tap on China & India, the ease of doing business, low corruption, low tax & entreport regime and also the flexibility the govt has to move the entire country in this or that direction. But it's essential that the PAP keep a tight rein on running the country. If it becomes a free for all Democracy, Singapore's independent critical mass of citizenry is too small (unlike the US for example) to keep things running while the politicians sort things out.

... and?...

Operative word there is "CAN". Sometimes might be CANNOT.