Let's say if I want to stop working here in Singapore and therefore my permit
will be canceled. And how do I get it back?

If your basis for conversion is on monetary grounds, I strongly suggest you to reconsider. IF you arrive at the same conclusion, then re-consider.

No worries bro, I had the same dilemma when making the switch... But all I can say is raising a kid is a big pain to financials... I think you will already start feeling the pain when bringing your wife to obstetrician for the visits right. Later on have to pay for jabs and also paeditrician and notwithstanding the adhoc medical bills if there are complications. And of course milk, diapers, toys to buy, (< hohoho u think they are cheap?) etc... And maybe a home helper and later on infant care fees, childcare fees, etc.. What I'm trying to say is you have to watch out your costs otherwise if there is no saving then it also doesn't work towards your target of retirement in Malaysia yup

The process takes about 6 months. 2 to 3 months for approval and few more months to complete formalities and receive red nric...

How many years have u been in Sg? If already many many years and you are still undecided then think twice about converting. If only a few years and you are ok so far then I can more so dare to instigate u to take the plunge.. Haha but pls forgive me for my one-sided view as I am already on the other side while >80% Malaysians seem to disagree for some reason

Why is that? Doesn't money make the world go round?

But seriously let's hear your views so I can prepare also

One of the reason why my head spinning hahaha
Each visit to the gynae costs me around SGD200-300 currently ($300 for the blood test + normal visit etc). I am starting to sweat lol. Hmm, 6 months, that's just in time that my baby pops out. Need to expedite this already, hmmm....

On years in SG? I think it is 6-7 years now, but I only applied PR last year cause I was lazy (yeah, stupid of me, sigh). Quite undecided cause I just do not want to go through the hassle of conversion and to ended up regretting it Still, appreciate the advice and haha, gonna try to think and talk through this with my wife tonight. Gotta make up my mind before it blows up from unnecessary pressure lol.

Personally, I wouldn't retire in Singapore. It's just too high cost to stay here when you have no more active income. It costs at least S$1000-1500 a month to live like a outcast here in Singapore, assuming you've paid off your flat, have no car and no other significant liabilities. With an equivalent RM2500-3750 in Ipoh, I can drive (even pay the instalment on a new car) and enjoy eating/spending much more. And if I sell the flat in SG, the proceeds will buy me a pretty nice place in Ipoh. Same if I rent out in SG, and rent in Ipoh. The excess will double my spending power in Ipoh. So I wouldn't give up my Malaysian citizenship. About MM2U... don't assume you can definitely get it if you gave up your citizenship, especially in recent years, in this political climate. And even if you get it, it just takes a stroke of a pen from some bureaucratic ayatollah to take it away overnight.

Anyway, the deal breaker for me is driving. I cannot imagine getting older, more frail, and have to chase public transport! For me, the older I get, the more comfortable my car has to be. If I live another 30 years after I retire, I'd have to pay another 3 COEs. No way.

As for those couples where one converts to SG citizenship, and the spouse remains Malaysian... I would say best for the wife to convert. Husband remains Malaysian. The reason is that a lot of laws (nationality, immigration, inheritance etc) follow the line of the father, not the mother.

This post has been edited by seantang: Jan 3 2014, 06:50 PM

Thank you. Hopefully I will know the outcome after the 3rd interview on next Monday.

Happy new year to everybody~

I asked my agent, she said 2x PR can buy resale HDB as long as one of you > 3 years.

apply again..

I want to go back to Malaysia. Can I still get it back?

been through the same
depending on your location you from, i use two gynae, one here in sg and one in kl
in kl with the conversion etc u get bang for bucks like single room...

if i am not wrong, most child benefit is tied to the mother, so if your wife convert u get those benefit already
if u decided sg is the way to go then do fast also, cause it also tied to income, when hit certain salary lesser benefit

Thanks for sharing bro, my wife is currently checking with the Kelantan lawyers now, need to see what we should do with her props in there. I personally don't want to retire in SG too (unless I hit the lottery or something). However with a kid on the way, I have to decide a lot of things in a short time period, especially if I want a place to raise the kid here in SG. Education, raising him/her up, and even the lifestyle... Hmm, really can't decide easily enough.

Citizenship application wise, I think it should be a decent chance with my wife's SPR expiring this year, I would imagine they might prefer my wife to convert but however if worst case scenario, I guess it helps me to make up my mind easier too. No need to think, just tahan and work to make ends meet
Bro, confirm? I called HDB council and they said no this morning, that's why I am like so stressed up over the house. You mind sharing your agent contact details with me to chat further? Appreciate it a lot man!
Haha, what did you do in the end man? Stay in SG or? I am hoping for my wife to convert to be frank. She will get to take 4 months paid leave and a lot of other benefits also, however as she have props in Kelantan, she will have to do something bout it which I worry might drag the overall citizenship application. Worst case scenario, don't convert and we just tough it out.

recently heard from a fren whole convert, it took him more than a year for the whole process
meanwhile i manage to tough it, give birth in kl, now whole family relocate to sg
the first 1 plus year travel to and flow kl on weekend, taken care by in law

when things settling down here, bring him over
we move an inch at a time, when he here, he din even have a pr, he was on ltp
finally as thing progress, we move another inch
get his PR

so we waiting for another progress, then move him to citizen with my wife


This post has been edited by ivanswk: Jan 4 2014, 10:21 AM

Its confirmed that both have to be pr for 3 years. Even if 1 have pr for 5 years and another 1 for 2 years, cannot transfer the time period and hence cannot buy until the other Got 3 yrs pr.

Don't listen to agent's bullshit. It is common trick for agent that if unsure then act like knowing by simply give you any answer that you like to hear. Well, just verbal statement and you can't sue him/her if is false. Too many such cases.

You have to consider your case based on your situation, and the most important thing is discuss with your wife thoroughly as this decision will affect your family greatly, good or bad. Once you convert, it look like a one way street with no turning back with the government now.

The locals here have their fair share of problem. You need to look into these and see that is acceptable to you or not. Staying here for more than a decade, it feel so different when I first come here in 2002. As PR already feel frustrated with the change, the locals should be more furious.
1) Too crowded, with population of very different culture staying together, got to have more tolerance to cultural behaviour different from yours. White paper
2) Housing getting expensive too fast, salary hardly catch up. Cooling measures never work. Go up 50% and come down 10% is not useful for middle class. Say bye bye to landed where children can enjoy their time in the garden, hit solo ang pao ToTo also can't buy one now.
3) Influx of foreigners, with nothing much done to help the locals. When you convert you become one of the locals, you get rusty with age, some higher mountains outside with replace you one day and the foreigners will tell you, you become less competent you get replaced (sound like people here or not hehe).

And when you go back next time, one of you have to apply for MY PR/LTVP? If cannot get for some reason then come back to SG? Also check with your lawyer about the properties you own in MY, some properties especially land got limitation to MY citizen only. But you will be buying HDB so all those MY properties have to go also.

Good luck in your decision

Didn't give much thought to my statement but any decision that was made to exploit monetary opportunities typically backfired.

Renunciation is a big step in life. Prior to asking for opinion, I believe the decision has been made with all exogenous factors considered. Most probably, we are looking for confirmation bias to support our "yet to execute" decision.

And if you think you can outwit the SG government, think again. We are not European Union and unlikely to form one within ASEAN for the next N years. If one is thinking of conversion, it should be on a family unit, not piecemeal.
Specifically for MY-SG, the choice is made easier when MY is in the equation. Especially for you who had converted, whenever you are in doubt of the choices that you'd made for your loved ones, just log on to malaysianinsider to find comfort.

This post has been edited by keelim: Jan 4 2014, 01:47 PM

Nope, you won't be able to get your 15% back. The rule is very clear. If you have physical presence in SG (working/visiting etc.) for more than 183 days in a calendar year, you get to claim your 15% back as a resident. 1 day lesser, Singapore says thank you for your contribution.

Good luck.

Sorry if I didn't add this, yes, I'll work more than 183 days for sure and if I leave Singapore I can claim it back right?

Hi all,
Newbie here...
I would like to know about the income tax / any other deductions in salary.
Lets say my monthly salary 3k, what will be deducted from it?
Or is the tax only payable one lump sum to IRAS before end of April?