It depends on your priorities and everything is a double edge sword point and case:

1) Car , dream on not easy unless earning more than SGD 15K per month however public transport super reliable and you need to have your children school/day care nearby or a bus away. Also , routine is key , meaning children sleep and wake schedules and all.

2) Education much better in SG compared to MY, yes you pay 3.5 times more but quality you get is 10X more plus kids will learn earlier on how to cope.

3) Long term future for kids, SG better but cost of living is only going to go up in SG hence you need to be ambitious to ensure salary grows in tandem.

Hence , you need to look at your set of priorities and will be your prerogative on whether to move or stay put.

MOE link
Yeah $500-600 for primary school. But the bigger issue is getting a spot in a convenient school. Each school has limited spots for non-citizens, if you don't get in you'll have to try something further away (or not get in at all). Which is why many "expats" just go for international schools.

If you're still considering, the strategy is usually to sacrifice a bit for a few years, apply to become a PR then things will be much better.
Provided you don't mind your son going to NS

Lack of car is fine if you stay at a convenient place, which isn't that hard to find in SG. I have 2 very young kids and live fine without a car.

Btw with SGD 13k you'll likely still live a comfortable life, just without the ability to save much.

This post has been edited by KilJim: Mar 18 2024, 03:10 PM

Job Title : Digital Design Verification Engineer (DV)
Job Desciption : R&D; Networking IC; RTL/Formal Verification.
Age : 27
Years spent in company : 1
Company : Taiwanese MNC
Industry : IC design / semicon front-end
Tenure : Permanent
Employment Level : Junior Engineer
Experience before joining (years) : 0
Highest paper qualification/ education background : Master
Location : Taiwan
Average Working Hours Per Week (incl lunch hours): around 50 hours

Monetary Payout
Basic Salary + Fixed Allowance : around RM12k (depends on exchange rate)
Contractual Bonus (months): 1 mths
Performance, Variable Bonus & Commissions (months) : ranging from 4-12 mths or more

Work Flexibility (where relevant) : flexi hours, occasional OT depends on project phase
Work From Home Availability: No
Annual Leaves: 10 days
Flexi Working Hours : Partial. Fixed working day with flexi starting time.

Benefits (where relevant) :
Health Benefits : medical insurance, annual health checkup, mental counseling
Transport Benefits : -
Mobile / Internet / Gadget Benefits : -
Other Benefits : around RM1.5k welfare fund per annum (for education/sports/insurance), legal consultation

Others:
- no epf since working overseas
- pay less tax compared to Malaysia for this salary range (but may pay more when salary grows)

Future Prospects (personal outlook) :
Current salary against peers in industry : Above Average
Growth prospects : From what I heard, pay raise above average but promotion is pretty difficult.
Where I will go from here : Either continue working overseas in Taiwan/other countries and jump to other MNC or relocate back to MY/SG.
How's the pay/benefits of similar role in Malaysia (Intel/Oppstar/Infinecs?) ? What about similar opportunity in Singapore?
My parents would prefer me to work closer to home but at this career stage, I would priorities career building. What's your thoughts?

For those who want to work in Singapore please check this link it will give the insight what will be the salary range for company and job title.

https://www.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/search?s...elevancy&page=0

Woa the salary is quite high compared to malaysia

I came to SG way before covid, rental was much cheaper and managed to get my PR and bought a flat before prices skyrocketted due to covid. My job doesnt require me to go to office and there are cheap food places near my house. I dont own a car and public transport is very convenient. It's much cheaper to just grab/rent a duration based electric car. Monthly mortage is fully covered by my CPF (EPF equivalent in Malaysia). My income is pretty high (non property agent nor insurance jobs but high base sales job with a good commission payout working in an MNC) and I save 70% of my income (after expenses, insurance and misc stuff). Get to splurge on travel and good stuff occassionally.

The situation is no doubt different post covid- high rental/property prices/much slower PR approval time- I have some Malaysian friends who have opted to rent in JB while waiting for their PR/chance to get a flat/accumulate enough savings. Long term wise IMHO benefits of moving here definitely outweighs working in Malaysia. I agree that you live very comfortably owning a car and a landed big house with an income of 10-15k RM, but that's pretty much it. If your income doesnt grow in tandem with rising inflation and weakening RM, you will feel the pinch sooner or later and travelling overseas is just going to be more expensive over time. While in SG, after living here for a number of years- I have the option to move back to Malaysia or elsewhere without much restrictions.

Agree with you there. I came to SG as a single man too, so I understand what you mean.

But you have to understand that he has a family with kids. Sacrificing current quality of life for the potential (not guarantee) of a better future may or may not be the right move.
A lot more things to consider when you have dependents.

Forgot to mention- I have 2 kids as well =).

Ah I see, how did you find schooling for them when you first got here? Before your PR.
That's one of the tough things from what I heard.

Do take note this is with reference to 'Government and Government-Aided schools'. For independent schools, where my girls are, the fees are already at the range of $300~$600/mth since they are SCs. Independent schools are the big name schools such as Nanyang Girls High, Hwa Chong, Raffles Girls, MGS etc. If you are PR, range is $600~$1,400/mth while Foreign (ASEAN) is $1,000 ~ $3,200/mth. You can get details from here: https://www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder

Unfortunately, I have come across situations where kids who did well and got into such schools, have to change to others cause the fees are simply unbearable. Such is life.

As for SG international schools, you may have to pay $2K/mth but sorry to say, unlike M'sia, their education syllabus sux at primary-level but less sux at secondary level. In short, even the lowest-ranked government aided school in SG, will perform better than any international schools.

This post has been edited by gnc88: Mar 30 2024, 11:10 AM

You are stationed in Taiwan and they pay you in Ringgit?

Performance bonus looks very good... 4-12months!!!

Annual Leaves so little....

When you say no EPF... does taiwan not have any form of retirement fund???

RM12k equal in Taiwan should be quite nice I think since their cost of living is almost similar to Malaysia...

Paid in Taiwan dollar.

Retirement Fund only available for permanent residents.
Employer contribute 6% and employee can choose to contribute another 6% max.
I'm still 3.5 years away from qualifying for PR application.

Cost of living overall maybe like > 10-15% EXCEPT housing prices
Rental is okayish about 2k for studio.
But a studio unit can cost > million ringgit in certain locations.

So... no PR means zero contribution by both employee and employer??

How many years in total require to qualify for PR??

You living in Taipei city center??

After 3.5 years.... it's like Annual increment + another 6%

What's the annual increment % for you??

Correct. If I had known earlier I would try to ask for higher pay for compensation .

5 years of legal stay. (with > 183 days each)
If you got your Master/Doctoral degree in Taiwan then it can be reduced by 1/2 years.
I studied Master here so 4 years for me.

There are some other (not that easy) conditions that can reduce the requirement further.

I work at Hsinchu. All the big players in semicon are based in Hsinchu Science Park.

I heard the increment is about 3%-6% normally, so nothing crazy.

Can't compare 1st world, developed economy with Malaysia's.

Thanks for sharing, and for your honest opinion!

Would be interesting to see how long you are able to retain your ‘option’ and at what cost…

I hope to shine light on a fairly secretive industry... and hope to inspire more M'sians to explore... I am also happy to answer any questions...
Caveat:
- Where I live, income tax etc. is close to 50%, and cost of living is insane too, so I actually do not feel rich...

Job Title : Private Equity Associate
Job Desciption : Investment
Age : 30
Years spent in company : 2
Company : XXX
Industry : Private Equity
Tenure : 6
Employment Level : Junior
Experience before joining (years) : 4
Highest paper qualification/ education background : Undergrad
Location : US / UK
Average Working Hours Per Week (incl lunch hours): 80

Monetary Payout (total yearly converted to RM)
Basic Salary: RM1,200,000 (before tax)
Performance, Variable Bonus & Commissions (carried interest): RM1,200,000 - 1,600,000 (based on last 2 years' bonus, this is uncapped and based on the fund's performance)

Work Flexibility (where relevant) :
Work From Home Availability: No one really cares as long as you get the job done...
Annual Leaves: 25 days
Flexi Working Hours : No

Benefits (where relevant) :
Health Benefits : Yes
Transport Benefits : Taxi home
Mobile / Internet / Gadget Benefits : Yes
Other Benefits : All meals covered during weekdays

Future Prospects (personal outlook) :
Current salary against peers in industry : Underpaid for a large cap fund... I have peers getting paid 2x vs. mine in the same region...
Growth prospects : Very good corporate prospects, with unlimited cap for salaries within the industry...
Where I will go from here : I don't think I will stay in the corporate world for long...

This post has been edited by Consultant92: Apr 25 2024, 11:14 PM

Congratulations and very well done at your age! Number may look crazyyyyy if converted to MYR but yeah, after reverse conversion back to USD / GBP it really is not much considering the taxation and cost of living (especially rental) on that part of the world.

Do you intend to naturalise there over the long term, or eventually return to Malaysia after grinding enough moolah?

I asked the same question of him, when he posted his profile under the "what's your net worth" thread, and he (like many others in his shoes, myself included) indicated that it would be hard for him to return to Malaysia unless it's for retirement, given that the role he plays isn't readily available in Malaysia.