Hello Folks! I have recently accepted a job offer in Singapore and will be heading over soon. I have a draft plan regarding relocating there and setting myself up before commencing work.

1. Take a direct bus from MY to SG, e.g. Bus from TBS to a location in SG closest to budget hotel (within work location).
2. Get a Grab or Taxi to the budget hotel due to luggage constraints, staying for 1 night or 2.
3. View rental properties that were shortlisted with appointments made with agents prior to leaving MY. Securing a rental property should be priority with rentals near to work location at a maximum rent of 900 SGD or below.
4. Acquire SG number with affordable telco plans, e.g. Simba. Current MY Hotlink number will be on a roaming plan for data use in Singapore (1 month validity) and then be retained with 365 plan.
5. Open a SG bank account for salary purposes, and then having WISE as transfer between MY and SG.
6. Setting up local SG apps and Transport card, e.g. SGQR and EZ-Link.
7. Perform medical checkup at approved clinics for prerequisite to EP being issued.
8. Wander around SG, particularly living/work location to familiarise with the area, e.g. malls, hawkers, etc.
9. Start work.

I'm sure there are Malaysians here that have gone through this process, any advice/recommendations are greatly appreciated, whether it is relocation or living

Is your friend renting a single room for 600 SGD? Aircon inclusive?

Yeah its probably between these three banks OCBC/UOB/DBS since they are mostly the same from what I gather.

I know right? Lol even with family I also struggle. Apart from money, really Singapore is quite a lonely place for migrant unless you go there with friends. Else even night go mall only.
You have to make effort to meet people. Join hw forum. Lol.

Got life if you got money to spend lor but most important got people to go with.

Actually I want to look for a place to watch ppl badminton. But donno where. Lol.

You after 9 go home ok la. I go home 5.30pm then rot at home. Lol.

I think we should form a singapore koptiam group. Lol.

Yes it's a boring place.

Lately I go marina Bay watch fighter jet zoom pass.

Will go batam one of this weekend. Sgd76 ferry and hotel less than sgd50

All the best buddy. I know its not easy...all for money.

Never been to batam ma. Just go there makan makan lor. Forget about JB. take bus 170x arrived at jb immigration basically have to walk one big U-turn from passport check to exit tye building. Everytime I pass by there I curse like hell the design.
Basically this is what I am now. Lol


Anyway ts all the best to you again!!! We are just joking. You will do fine.

Some aircon foodcourt can be pricier, especially if you compare chap fan. A tip would be to sign up for Link or Trust card, then download Fairprice app. You enjoy 10% for all Kopitiam purchases when you pay via app. Get link points and freebies too.

The Trust Cashback Credit Card’s rebates is good  if you hit threshold or travel overseas a lot. You can get up to 15% cashback on stuff like dining or shopping (you pick one each quarter), capped at S$250, but you need to spend S$500–S$2,000 a month to hit 5–15%. Everything else gets 1.5% cashback, dropping to 1% in 2025. So I always target to spend $2K and then switch to OCBC 365. That being said, there are other better cashback cards if you don't hit $2K/mth.

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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 

To hit the S$250 quarterly cap at 15% cashback, you’d need to spend S$1,667 on dining alone per quarter (S$1,667 × 15% = S$250). However, you also need to maintain S$2,000 monthly spend (S$6,000/quarter) across all categories to unlock the 15% rate.

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. 

As long as tagged as 'dining' like Kopitiam, it will be counted towards the spend.

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Most cards allow you to waive annual fee. Only cards that I encountered refuse to waive are AMEX (Platinum), Infinite (except CIMB which is free annual) and perhaps OCBC (Best Denki). The rest are willing to waive once you threaten to cancel. Some cards, like Premier Miles, are willing to wave but they will claw back the free miles provided when you pay annual fee.

No need susah susah la.
Go for Uob One Account. Let your payroll know, you want uob for salary. You can check out their tiered interest on the website. With salary credited, just spend 500 monthly to unlock (the other is 3 giro payment). You just need to fulfill 2/3.

The one card is your atm, visa and paywave, nets flash able.

Before the latest adjustment, with 150k, spend 500 you unlock 500 per month, you see that in your account by the 3rd monthly. Now you get 400++

One Account is a normal account. For payroll purpose, sure can

Old days, they point you to posb. Hahaha
Now, so long your payroll ok, you can open at any. If you renting HDB, just ask owner update, print out the registered tenants listing. Good to go

Still dbs, uob, ocbc the common ones.

Nah, economy in good hands.
You contribute 3 true-blue babies, ai sai liow 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Just pace out (time) nicely. Gov manyak supportive

Thanks for mentioning the UOB One Account. I liked that the minimum amount is 1000 SGD rather than 3000 SGD of the other two (i.e. DBS Multiplier and OCBC360). Interest is not too far off either.

The One Card being the 'UOB One Debit Card' that comes combo with the UOB One Account right? They are promoting the Mastercard version which is not applicable with NETS contactless apparently, will see if can get the Visa version.
Ah I see, so only applicable with those two credit cards. I probably need to wait 6 months before I can apply for any credit card so I'll keep this in mind for now.

I'll probably just link the UOB One Debit Card with the Fairprice app for some points first I guess.
Yeah it seems 6 months working in SG is what I need before applying for any CC. Sorry... 6 months working is enough to apply for PR? Isn't that really quick? LOL
Yeah paywave for CC, need wait 6 months first, will just use debit card for now.

Cancelling and applying for new CC goes in to some sort of record no? I know in Malaysia it is recorded in CCRIS? But I suppose it is not a crime so should be safe.

I'm assuming it's also easier for Malaysians to get PR? LOL

Will figure out down the line whether I want to get PR or not, but seems to me it's mostly upsides if I do so.

Little downside from PR apart from CPF contribution. To be honest, I, personally, have not come across many who willingly stays on EP without trying for PR. It's a career suicide to be held at ransom by employer unless you are on fantastic expat package that Singapore is just a stepping stone before going elsewhere.