Singapore City

Singapore is a diamond-shaped island with surrounding smaller islands. There are two connections from Singapore to the Malaysian state of Johor — a man-made causeway known as the Johor-Singapore Causeway to the north, crossing the Tebrau Straits, and Tuas Second Link, a bridge in the western part of Singapore that connects to Johor. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's many smaller islands. The highest point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, with a height of 166 metres (538 ft).

Singapore has a highly developed market-based economy, and is often considered to be a developed nation. It ranks 25th on the Human Development Index which measures standard of living, and second in the Index of Economic Freedom.[21] Although Singapore has one of the highest per capita gross domestic products (GDP) in the world, domestic demand is relatively low due to a small population

Climate

The island lies less than 2 degrees north of the equator and the climate can be described as hot and humid with ‘2 seasons’, hot and moist (summer) and warm and wet (winter). Temperatures range from the low twenties on a winter night to the high thirties on a summer day in the shade. This may sound reasonable if you have lived in the Middle-East but the high humidity levels make a big difference. Unless you are arriving from a similar country be prepared to perspire a bit.

It may also be interesting to know that because of the 'Urban Heat Island' phenomenon temperatures in the build-up areas (where you work) can be up to 4.5 degrees higher than in 'rural' areas. So if you are looking for a house and can afford it we suggest you look for a place in a green area.

People and culture

Singapore is in many ways an interesting place to be, not in the least due to its multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population.

You will find followers of all major religions here and also quite a few from some minor ones. In many places Mosques, Temples and Churches are to be found at a stones throw from each other.

Singaporeans are a mix of mainly Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian people. Beside them you will find Thai, Pilipino, Indonesian, Japanese, European and many more ‘temporary residents’ as will as Chinese from the PRC.
 
Some of these groups have been living in Singapore and Malaysia for generations, others have just immigrated. All in all this makes Singapore a very interesting place! One of the things you will note is the diversity of public holidays from the major groups which are generally celebrated elaborately and are National Holidays.

Language

Because of Singapore’s cultural and ethnic diversity many languages are used. There are 4 ‘official’ languages in use; English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil and beside these many other Chinese and Indian languages are spoken. English however is the ‘common language’ for all Singaporeans, though some of the older generations have never learned it.

For most ‘Westerners’ as well as Indians there should therefore not be too much of a language barrier. Having said that there are (at least) 2 things you will have to get used to: accents and ‘Singlish’ and being a native English speaker may not be an advantage understanding or being understood (probably because you’re less used to hearing and using uhm .. different English).

Transport

Singapore Changi Airport has a network of 81 airlines connecting Singapore to 179 cities in 57 countries (2005). It is one of the top five airports in Asia in terms of passengers handled, with 30 million passengers passing through in 2004. It has been consistently rated as one of the best international airports by numerous international travel magazines. It was also rated as the world's best airport in year 2006 by Skytrax, defeating its long time rival, Hong Kong International Airport.[41] A low-cost terminal, the Budget Terminal, which started operation in March 2006[42] and a third passenger terminal now under construction will increase the airport's total annual capacity to 66.7 million passengers by 2008. The national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) is internationally renowned for its service and will be the first airline in the world to fly the new Airbus A380 commercially.

The backbone of domestic transport infrastructure is the road transport system which includes a network of expressways that form the arteries between distinct towns and regional centres as laid out in Singapore's urban planning. Following a government study assisted by the United Nations Development Programme which foresaw problems with private transport such as traffic congestion and air pollution as the city grew, [43] the Land Transport Authority began a series of measures to develop the use of the public transport system such as improving the nation's bus service and liberalising the hired vehicle market to allow for more taxi operators. Since 1987, the heavy rail passenger Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) metro system has been in operation. MRT was later augmented by and linked to the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) light rail system, which provides service to several expanses of housing estates. The EZ-Link system allows contactless smartcards to serve as stored value tickets for use in the public transport systems. More than 2.8 million people use the bus network daily, while more than 1.3 million people use either the LRT or MRT as part of their daily routine. [1] Private vehicle use in the Central Area is discouraged by tolls implemented through an Electronic Road Pricing system which operates during hours of heavy road traffic.


Moving around Singapore by public transport is very easy and convenient, once you have figured it out. There is a dense network of busses and MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) also known as Metro or Subway.

MRT 

The MRT network covers most of Singapore, from the airport in the East to the Industrial zones in the West. Three main lines are in operation with a fourth under construction. The lines are underground in the city centre where all three run close together and cross-over’s can be made at several interchanges. Outside the city area the MRT mostly runs on viaducts. Most trips near the centre cost around a dollar, going across the island costs you less than three. Trains drive very frequently but stop during the (late) night.

The MRT is really very convenient and easy to figure out, the lines and stops are shown on all maps and the information in the stations is very clear. The only disadvantage is maybe that it can get rather crowded.

LRT

In several areas there are connections between the MRT and an unmanned Light Rail system too. These LRT's are mainly in the more outlying residential areas.

Busses

The bus network is very dense too; there is practically no place where there is no regular bus stop in eyesight. Those places which do not have a regular bus service, or no ‘direct’ one such as some business parks usually operate shuttle services themselves. Practically

all busses are air conditioned and prices are low, you’ll really have to go around the island to spend more than S$2. The only trouble is figuring out which bus you need to take, the directories and indexes are not always that clear and especially if you need to change service somewhere it may not be that easy to find-out. The easiest way? Ask a neighbor or colleague.

Taxis

Taxi prices in Singapore are going to be a pleasant surprise to almost all of you, they are comparatively low (see below). There are a number of companies operating taxis and the total number of taxis are well over 20,000. There are numerous taxi stands at office buildings, shopping centers etc. and you can ‘hail’ them anywhere on the street or call for one. All taxis have clear taxi signs on the roof and all taxis are metered! Their low price makes the taxi very popular and therefore you may have to Q-up a little while during peak hours or heavy rain despite the large number, it does however remain convenient.
Going around by taxi and MRT is in fact maybe more economical than buying a car for many of you though a car of course has its own conveniences

Education

Childcare / Pre-Nursery

If you want to send your child to a daycare centre or pre-nursery there are a lot of choices from local church-run centers to International schools and from regular to Montesori. All of these need to be listed with the Ministry of Education of Singapore to guarantee standards.

Which one you want your kid(s) to attend may depend on where you live, whether transport is provided and not unimportantly; what the costs are. Walk around your neighborhood .

Primary / Secondary Education

There are a large number of 'foreign' or International schools in Singapore offering an education based on the 'home-country' principles such as the French and American schools. Apart from these there are 'International Schools' which either are local or foreign and there are many excellent local schools. Which school you want to enroll your child in is highly dependent on their age, former educational background and intended length of stay. Below a list of foreign schools with their address so you can consider this when you are looking at where to live.