CIMB rate is better, but u need cimb my and cimb sg for it work. the good thing is u can open both online without going to any branch.


i never withdraw cash in sg for a year already i think. most accept paynow, paywave but some old hawker still prefer cash only la.


mine is 2.5k for 1 bedroom (another room is locked so we got the whole unit with 1 bedroom only) in marrymount, near to bishan.

it is expensive but the good thing is we can run around naked in the house haha.

This post has been edited by Lescotesco: Jul 28 2025, 03:33 PM

need to compare during working hr. non working hr cimb rate is very low and wise might have charges that is not shown if u didnt login.

yeah paynow work like duitnow. grabpay and paylah is not so commonly use and they will not work with paynow.

another payment type is shopback.

nowadays i just bring my phone only, mrt bus can use paywave (google, apple , samsung pay all are accepted) and paynow & paywave for others.

ur ID (singpass) is in ur phone also.

for malaysian it is much lower, i have a friend that is in 3k+ range also get her EP recently. around 2-3 years ago the EP threshold is also starting from 5k, me and my wife during that time not in that range yet but we still got our EP 2-3 years ago.

i think employer will always try for ep first when applying it for msian (provided if you have degree), else spass/ work permit they got to pay 300-800 for the worker levy every month and they also need to fulfil the quota requirement.

end up they either employ local/pr and pay the 17% cpf or they pay for the levy. if they could employ local/pr to work for them i dont think they will want to employ spass/work permit worker as it is not much cheaper and the hassle to employ 1 (you need to provide banker guarantee to MOM also to employ non msian to work under work permit)

I believe that even for short term, it's still worth applying for PR. You never know when your EP might fail to get renewed and they got no more quota to employ u under the Spass.

The CPF contributions both 17% & 20% can be withdrawn when you give up your PR and this will be a very significant amount when u do that.

i straight away ask my hr to contribute full 17% and 20% CPF the moment i got my PR

This post has been edited by Lescotesco: Jul 29 2025, 11:21 AM

got such rules? where u read it ah?
my ex colleague staying in johor got her full cpf when she renounce her pr last year. she got the full amount in cheque.

haha lucky i did that else every month i will spent it on my hobby (mr bone & Zombie party collection)

The CPF is good for buying house and paying the instalment, now the rental took away a big chunk of my salary.... 2 more years until we can buy a resales hdb.

Bro apply from singsaver or moneysmart to see which welcome gift u prefer. and their welcome gift is awesome.

So far i have 2 switch from citibank (me and my wife)
Ipad9 - OCBC
700 shopee voucher - SC
dyson dry&wet vacuum and dyson hairdyer - hsbc
500 capitaland voucher - posb


after a year i plan to cancel them and reapply to get for a welcome gift next year after 12month cooling off period.


i see, no wonder cause i heard my ex colleague says she got a full withdrawal from a chq.

yeah paynow is accepted almost everywhere, but i still prefer paywave because of the samsung point and credit card rebate / point.

and when u reapply they wont be flag u la, they are happy to get a new customer cause u need to spend 500sgd in the first 30days to get the free gift.

should be can, my wife apply in the 7-8th months and me apply in the 9th month cause i m working in jb for the first 2 months (salary to my wife sg account) so i better play safe and wait for 6 payslip under my name first.

After around 8 months wait we both got our PR.

for malaysian chinese i heard it is much easier our salary didnt even meet the EP criteria for age 23 when we are close to 30 haha.