If you are not in the running to be partner, then there are equivalent jobs in commercial that pay better than Ms and SMs, even EDs but with less stress, better conditions and shorter hours.

However, if your dream is to stay in the Big4, then live your dream lor For me, once I travelled on biz class on biz, don't have to share room or taxi pool, 5 star hotels as company policy... I wondered how I put up with those years in the kiamsap Big4. Never again.


The Sg recruiters there are pretty active. Worth putting in a bit of effort into your profile. 1/3 of my connections are Sg recruiters. Through them, I get roughly 1 new job lead every couple of weeks. Good way to keep up with the job market.

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Added on January 16, 2010, 7:18 pm
Ya, I felt like that last time. I didn't want to lose my friends and family by moving away. Then what happened was that they moved away from me instead, to take opportunities elsewhere. Or got married, wife don't let them come out etc. That's when I realised, it's a constantly changing world out there. Nothing stays the same forever.


Doesn't mean you can't own one. Sacrifice a bit of savings, get a car. The remaining savings will still be more than you could ever save back in KL.


2 months is not the standard in Malaysia either, right?


Mamaks not very popular. But you have all the sports bars, F1 pubs, al fresco cafes along the riverbanks, quays etc. To me... don't seek to transplant KL to Sg. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The Romans definitely have fun too.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 16 2010, 09:36 PM

Foreign worker?

In a commercial environment, whether you're an expat or not is dictated by the compensation terms of foreign service, not by the fact that you are working away from your home country.

Typically an expat gets:

- higher of local or foreign salary at same salary level, some companies have an international salary level for all expats
- tax protection to ensure you do not pay more tax that you would have, if you remained in your home country
- either cost of living allowance or hardship allowance (depending on whether you go from 1st world to 3rd world or vice versa)
- home leave (airfare and accomodation)
- full accomodation and transport
- family benefits (children's international school, entertainment allowance for spouse & children, housekeeping)

If someone gets that, then he's an expat. Otherwise, he's a foreign worker.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 17 2010, 11:59 AM

In terms of accommodation... hotel or serviced apartment? If you're leasing a place yourself, is housekeeping provided?

Transport... are you getting a car? If you're going to 3rd world countries like Indonesia, Phillipines and Thailand where driving is unsafe, they should be providing you with a driver as well.

Allowance doubles your pay... no offense, but what's your pay in the first place? The typical expat cost of living or hardship allowance in my company is ~US$3-5K for non managers. But not many non managers are expatriated. The managers and directors usually draw US$10-15K for allowances, including a lifestyle allowance.

No home leave? How long is your assignment anyway? Generally expat assignments are 3 to 5 years in duration.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 17 2010, 01:36 PM

2 wks Sg, 2 wks India means you're a frequent traveller lah, not expat.

Remember those job advertisements that say 50% travel... well, you're it. You're going to spend a LOT of time in airports, especially on the Indian side.

Since you're travelling on biz, accommodation and transport of course taken care of. The 2K allowance is a nice extra though.

Having said that, if my company wanted to pay me an extra 2K to spend 50% of my time in India... I wouldn't want to. India's really one of the worse places to work in, if you're not from India. Water's dirty, food's spicy... and dirty, diarrhea's a constant companion, driving is impossible, public transport is impossible, the slums, the cleanliness, the security... good luck, man. Sucks to be you

If China's going to be a permanent posting after India... better make sure to get all the offers of accommodation, transport, allowances and tax equalisation in writing. From my experience, full expat packages are simply not given to people who only earn 2.6K a month. The rental alone in ZJG itself will be more than your salary already. They can simply offer a higher salary there and get a local to do the same thing.

That's the thing... I'm not home. I'm just like you... working in a country that's not my home country. Only difference is, Singapore's my India.

Anyway, good luck to you. You're going to need it in Mumbai.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 17 2010, 08:31 PM

What you asking?

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 18 2010, 10:53 PM

Sentosa Cove?

Ummm... there's actually no exception for Sentosa Cove... ie therefore, there's no exception for any Sg landed property. Sentosa Cove is just so expensive that the govt announced that approvals for foreigners will be fast tracked to 48hrs or less. For some of the pricier units, it has practically been pre-approved... assuming the foreign buyer passes the security background check, of course.

My boss stays in a 9000sq foot bungalow on Treasure Island and his rental is 36K per month. Assuming a 3% rental return, the property value works out to be 14million bucks... so, it's not really that "u can buy landed properties... u just have to know where..." It's not kangtow thing lah. It's more like a how rich are you thing.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 19 2010, 12:43 AM

It's actually very good because luxury condos are only 1500-2500sqft. They get a good per sqft price because the total amount paid is still restricted by the limited area.

However, to get luxury condo type per sqft prices for property with large areas is exceptional.

I think right now, it's somewhere between 3-5%. Rental yield is higher for HDB because of the price controls. Lower for freehold property because the tenant will not distinguish between FH and leasehold.

In any case, FD in Sg is less than 1%. Savings is practically zero.

No RPGT or CGT if you're not in the business of buying & selling property.

Comparing all sales job in Singapore with all sales job outside Singapore, I think it's fine. Not difficult unless the sales job is not in Singapore and also not outside Singapore. I don't think you should take it because your qualification and experience is more for sales job outside Singapore, not in Singapore. Hope that helps

If you just got your PR, what are you applying for?

Are you talking about learning to speak the language from zero, or are you talking about academic or linguistic studies of the language? If it is the former, then you are talking about normal language classes... ie. Mr Brown's class in Mind Your Language. No uni gives you a degree just for learning to speak the language, or else I would hold degrees in English, Malay, Cantonese and 4 Letter Words.

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Added on January 21, 2010, 9:53 pmif you have no experience, the pay is the same as for a fresh bachelors' degree holder. But you'll stand a better chance of getting noticed because you have something extra.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 21 2010, 09:53 PM

Nope.. I'm cool My flight to-from Ipoh all booked, and I'll be home for 2 weeks. Have to work from home quite a few of those days though.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 21 2010, 11:35 PM

What so scary about travelling on CNY eve?

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 22 2010, 12:00 AM

No need to have Msia "reserve funds" lah. Just buy some good dividend shares, and everytime you go home, there's a dividend cheque waiting for you in the mail.

If you're not comfortable with shares, get principal guaranteed investments like Amanah Wawasan 2020. 6-8 percent return each year. Btw, the Dow Jones suffered another big drop last night. next Monday might be a good time to buy as people have a kneejerk reaction and sell. But buy a bit at a time. Don't use up all your bullets at one go. The correction might turn out to see quite severe and prolonged.

As long as I get my 8 hours beauty sleep, I'm good already. Don't really need to sleep in, unless I go to bed really late.

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Added on January 23, 2010, 9:13 am
Long term the MYR and SGD will move against each other relative to how they have moved against the USD, EUR and JPY. The long term trend will reflect their comparative strength.

But short term rates will be influenced by the demand and supply of MYR and SGD by Singaporeans and Malaysians. There are many more Malaysians and Singaporeans earning SGD who want to buy MYR during CNY, than there are Singaporeans and Malaysian earning MYR who want to buy SGD.


This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 23 2010, 09:13 AM

I'm saying that for a lot of markets are affected by the CNY phenomenon because it introduces a very large swing into the demand supply balance. Not only currency.

Holiday seasons are typically not the best times to make assessments about the movement trend of any market.

I've been fortunate enough to work in Melbourne and Singapore.

If I wanted to save money (ie. buy stuff, property, invest etc), then no brainer that Singapore (or HK) is the best choice. The pay levels are roughly the same for professionals, but the tax rate in Sg is much lower (even lower in HK). At the end of the day (after tax), you get to save a lot more in Singapore. Having said that, cars are much more affordable in Australia.

If you want to stay after you retire, then Australia's the only choice. The life is much more relaxed, lots of facilities for old folks, free services & entertainment, fresh air and open spaces, lots of things/places to see and most importantly, you don't get the feeling that it costs money to do everything and anything, unlike Singapore.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 23 2010, 11:11 AM

Take a trip down to Golden Mile in the evening and just observe how many buses and passengers go to KL, vs going elsewhere to other destinations.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 24 2010, 01:27 AM