I see. That is fine if this is your plan. IT range is huge from different skillset, so I can't commend much, my personal view is slightly low (but acceptable range).
I am not sure how is your financial planning but RM7.7k is actually okay pay.
Coming to SG, there is nothing much except work work and work. If u like to hangout with friends, its a big no to come over unless u have same type friends here.
If u are married (and with kids), u should plan how much and frequent that u plan to go back (each trip by flight usually about SGD100 to 200 normal period, while peak period around 300).
U will also lose out EPF part (or CPF in SG) as EP/S pass holder.
A decent lifestyle in SG cost around SGD2k. Rental, mobile, public transportation, tax and meals are the main expense, some time u need to buy present for colleagues, farewell meals etc surely will spend more money.
Take home about SGD3k is doable.

I would personally advise not to come to SG. What do u expect from a little dot? Everywhere is full of people around central area.
Indeed safer than MY. Ladies here can happily carry branded handbag everywhere they like.
On the other comment regarding to renting a room, SGD1k is sufficient for a condo room near to MRT.

Yes I read this yesterday too after saw the discussion. I guess they get to hold dual citizenship until age of 22 right.


Happy Holiday everyone! Haha a very rare occasion that we have a holiday that is not in Malaysia's public holiday list

At MOM discretion - I believe certain pass and nationality require that. My EP last time no med checks at all.


Tiong Bahru is very good location, but doubt anything at $700 for single room (unless shared common room).


If u are referring to those $500 at ibilik then I strongly suggest u to do more research and becareful. There are bunch of scammers there and posting "too good to be true" kind of rooms. Any room that is near to central will not be priced at $500 unless they are your family or relative lol

Salary range recommended is too low.
Personal view, don't bother to take up anything below SGD5k. Don't believe everything headhunter said or whatever reference, and that is a lousy headhunter.

Lastly, u will lose out EPF/CPF part when coming over until u got your PR.

That is the price that u have to pay when deciding to come over SG.

Just imagine if u are local SG and all kind of people just come flooding into your country, granted PR and bought houses here. These new PR/citizens ended up renting out their rooms to local SG and treat as investment. How is that fair to the local SG, I mean look it from their perspective. Personally, I felt the local SG themselves are having difficulty to buy their own house (not all of them are doing well as u know) and often u will see they get sponsored some fund from their parents to buy a house.

It's your pick, either quality of life or money (even better for those can have both or at least more balanced).

It is possible to buy a condo 500k in KV area with 5k after deductions. But again, lifestyle and financial planning is depending on individual. I bought my condo at 550+k two years back after about 4 years after my graduation.

Someone work in SG can possibly fully / advance paid their mortgage in MY in about 7 years time (Assuming by he/she is 35 years old) for 500k condo and continue to invest their portfolio over the years.
The same person work in KL will need at about 15 years time repay the same mortgage. The base and liquidity of portfolio is not much to be invest and multiplied over the years. Unless, kena TOTO, MLM, sales and scam/con people business haha.
The property market in KL is also not doing very well which is not a good time for flipper or those plan to rent and cover their loan. Holding longer eats up your capital gain from bank's interest.

I am sure many people working here invest in properties back in KV. By the age of 40 they probably own 3 condos and more in KV and maybe plan to retire soon haha.

It's give and take. Personal view and I am not some market or financial expert

Congratz Heart Pirates!

Good to have u sharing these details

Just to add to everyone based on what I heard / learn from others.

Point #1, if they found that u own properties overseas, they will recall the HDB unit. I am not sure if they pay back or not, but definitely not market rate.

Point #4, yes renewal REP is 5 years now.

To everyone that is applying PR here, please be polite and nice to ICA officer. Respect the terms and conditions and all docs required. There are people that complaining long wait and rejected but never try to fulfill their requirement e.g. submitting complete docs, at least a proper documentation.
My personal experience, as long as u have good profile (e.g. income, education, skillset) and proper documentation, u will get your PR within 6 months after submitting docs.
There is no "how long" to wait for apply PR, but rather how strong your profile is.. Of course, 1-2 years exp is better than less than 6 months

Other than kevin613 said..
Its also depending on age of your son, and profile of yourself and spouse. That's my personal view anyway, not that I know what ICA officer/checklist.
It can varies from income level, employment type/industry, age of your son and spouse status. It can be hybrid combination.

On a side note, based on my observation SG is commercialized and realistic. As long as your family/kids can contribute to economic & workforce growth, they will surely approve it. But if u are nearly retirement age, withdrawing huge income, they will still consider and highly chance of rejection. They do see outlook of your contribution to nation haha.

No idea on this though. Anyone here can share some insight?



SPR IC can be collected next business day. However, need to make e-app though.



Basic banking account = POSB & DBS..
If u have huge lum sum, then OCBC.



Agree with what other mentioned.
1) SGD4k vs. MYR7.5k = Too huge cut, not worth coming SG & always think it is not always 'greener' outside
2) Married with 1 baby = SGD4k is "very challenging", SGD5k is still challenging but manageable. But then again u give up comfort life in MY earning RM7.5k, but coming to SG probably live like "foreigner" (I won't say expat because expat income bracket is higher e.g. 120k p.a.) - Assuming that your wife is homemaker no income.
3) Consider your tax, EPF/CPF (EP doesn't have CPF contribution in SG), job security etc.

When was it rejected? Just recently after 1 year?
How long have u been in SG when u got appointment to submit doc?

If re-apply again, yes whole process again from start.
Maybe your profile is not strong enough.


Haha I like your comment, but I wonder how many PR can sing the song.. hmm


They no more sending xyz months letter? I thought that is standard process, last time (one year ago I think) one of my friend received the letter. Letter stated xyz months to re-apply again.

I landed on T4 by AA on few days ago. More or less the same to me compared to other terminal, sort of standardized look but more spacious. I think there is no skytrain directly to T4, so all passengers was directed to queue up to take bus to T2.


Depends on your profile, no formula everyone is unique and different from others. If your profile is strong can apply already by 5-6 months. Some time depending on luck also because every year they have quota, like clearance sales (higher chance when quota balance is high and vice versa). No idea when is their cut-off though, some said Feb some said Dec.


If u have not started to work (physically) on new company A, and there is still time before your first day, then drop them an email and a call to inform them that u are officially declining their offer. There is no need to serve out probation if u have not started working because u have not entered the employment with them.
Since there is no penalty and contractual binding terms, u should formally notify company A that u have accepted another offer.
There should not be any issue with MOM especially that u are PR and it is free market.
But first, ONLY do the above once u have receive offer letter from company B.

If Kallang is still okay as long as after Payar Lebar, many passengers will interchange to circle (yellow) line. If u are taking from Eunos/Kembangan/Bedok then most of the time u need to squeeze like compact sardine and wait for about 3-5 turns.

To whoever working around CBD area, try not to stay around Eunos/Kembangan/Bedok area.
Speaking based on my own experience, I ended up pay little extra and move place after 1.5 years.

First, if u have a number in mind u simply can share it out and ask for an opinion.
Second, oldbirdsong's benchmark looks okay to me. And no, he is no kidding.
Lastly, u try ask around how many of ppl here earning min 5k with 3 years experience. Everyone can think how well or 'elite' they are, wait until u come here u will see there are many people are more 'elite' than others.
A neutral non-judgmental view, 3 years 5k definitely doable..
- U have strong heavy connection.
- Top 10% uni grads / 3 main local uni grads.
- U have proven track in your field e.g. factsheet of your achievement.
- Maybe some other talents (who knows, they just need to close a talent gap in their team)
- Luck (anything and everything, from desperate hiring, diversity, etc..)

Else, I don't know why someone hire some normal grads with that price.. Might as well hiring local grads or UK,US,Japan,EU grads..

Actually it is not what field u are in, but how good u are.
Comparing different field is another wrong way of benchmarking because u can think how good is your field but surely there is another field is better than yours.
Position and title mean nothing, it is all about how much u are paid for the job.
Even I am not expert in your field, but sorry to say this "talent" u mentioned can be found in most part of the street on this tiny island.
I have seen fresh grads earn close to 120k p.a. and it is no surprise to me. Some can even earn more than 250k p.a. with bonus included with 2 years experience. Am I bluffing? No.. these are very common in IB..


Lol yea no need to show us.. U dont have to prove how much u earn but if u are coming, well congrats on your new job..

Yes, me too lol!


If I am not wrong, they are paid allowance capped at some amount for the number of days that they serve NS.



It depends on what you want in your career and your lifestyle.
SGD5.4k vs. MYR7.6k is quite big trade-off..
U can live comfortably with SGD5.4k, but house and car is a big cost in SG. If this is not your top list then u will be fine.
With MYR7.6k u can easily afford to buy one unit of condo (middle tier) and one local car that u can drive around anytime u want.
SGD5.4k, u wont able to afford private condo, buying HDB will take some time to save money and fulfill the requirement. U definitely not afford to own a car in SG.
Other than that, expenses are not that far off from KL. Again, above is purely on income/expenses. U also have to consider the role offered in both sides.
At least, in SG u have a competitive platform and people are treated fairly (less differential treatment) and a safer place to settle down..

I am curious so will look out for your update. Personally, I don't think it is worth it if more than 8 hours..


It happened to me once as well! I was newbie that time and thought not a big deal 7-8 hours during some holiday period.. I ended up spent about 11 hours to reach destination (forgot KL-SG or SG-KL). And I tell myself I will never take bus anymore (especially holiday/long weekend timing).

I saw some discussion on salary and cost of living in Singapore.
On salary part, please don't use or ask people whether it is 1:1 or whatever. This is very bias comparison. Not everyone are paid the same in Msia, especially different locations where some have come from KL, Penang, Melaka and JB. U can definitely use 1:1 for your own comparison to gauge your risk and financial planning.
Same uni, same field, same specialization, same years of working experience doesn't mean each individual are getting paid about the same. Considering nature of biz, size of company, line manager/management and location (KL, Penang or JB) make huge different to individual's salary.
One Accountant in KL that earns RM8k doesn't mean every Accountant with same profile earn RM8k, and different locations with lower cost of living contributed to lower salary compared to KL.
U can earn RM8k in KL and offered SGD9k and telling people that u get salary increases even coming to SG. Maybe someone at your peers level or same profile as u are already earning RM10k and come to SG being offered SGD9k.

So please use salary benchmark to compare or use available market data to make comparison, Glassdoor is one of source u can go to. If u are too lazy to do your homework, then u should consider to stay put until u have the motivation to do your homework to come SG for work.

Cost of living in SG is definitely higher than KL/MY (This is assuming that u plan to settle down in SG, buy house, have kids and so on)
If u plan to live in JB or short term in SG then cost of living is not an issue for u. Work hard, save hard and go back.
Why I said SG is more expensive,
1) House (U can argue it is same price in KL or JB, but do u get same salary paid in SG?) U can buy new private unit condo 1000sqft in KL with RM650k, but can u buy private condo in SG with SGD650k?
2) Transport (If u are single, sure no problem. If u are married with small kids, then without car can be really troublesome) Kids need to go to school, emergency to clinic/hospital, grocers for family etc.
3) Insurance and medical (self-explanatory)

But if u plan to stay JB and work in SG for few years then go back to Malaysia, why do u want to make comparison? U already making 3 times more then your peers/friends in Malaysia (Assuming u get same salary in SG, and when the time u go back FX is still the same lol).

This is true. I know a colleague that got PR for his wife and apparently his wife is working & resides in KL during PR application.

Please read some salary discussion from previous pages, there has been some comparison between 1:1 SGD vs MYR etc.
Responding to your questions.
1) Are u the majority of Singaporeans? If not, defeat the purpose of this discussion.
2) As mentioned, there has been some comparison on salary in MY as compared to SG, whether 1:1 or paycut and even some with salary increases. My views are purely for Malaysian who wanting/working in SG and taking into consideration on salary comparison and cost of living.

We have each different views of how lifestyle and cost of living in MY and SG.
1) Yes u don't need to be Singaporean to own HDB, but can u buy if u are PR with Single status? Can u buy BTO? How is that skewed then.
In Malaysia, u can buy PRIMA and WIP without such constraint.
2) So how many % Malaysian/PR do u think earning 1:1 in SG? RM3k to SGD3k is common, RM10k to SGD10k maybe some, RM15k to SGD15k I don't know maybe 2 of 10? If earning is 1:1 there is no such comparison and discussion already. What's the point u already earning 3 times more.

An individual earn RM8k in KL can easily afford a private condo, decent car and live comfortably. Forget about car.
The same person come to SG probably earn SGD8k or lower. Even at SGD8k can the person afford to buy private condo? How long he/she need to save?
Have to consider wife and kids too?
Why do he/she want to buy govt housing if already earning RM8k?
The person have a choice to buy private or HDB even earning SGD8k?

U have your view, I have my view, that is fine. Ultimately, let's be transparent the land size of SG and MY is not the same.
Peace