Long term expats?

Posted by nygirl (79 days ago)

Hi We are moving to Singapore next year from HONg KOng. We have loved living here and will miss it alot. I have a couple of questions: are there many long term expats or is it alot more transient than Hong KOng. We have been here for many years and so have most of our friends. I have children who are early teens and a bit younger and they will complete their schooling in Singapore. The times I have visited Singapore I noticed alot of families with younger children but never really saw any expat teens around. What are your opinions on having teenagers at school in Singapore? Is there anyone who has moved from Hong KOng who thinks Singapore is a great place to live. If so, I would love to hear from you so I can start feeling positive about this move.
Thanks so much for reading this long winded email.

Find what you are after in our Singapore A-Z Directory
Need a Moving Quote? Click Here

Posted by cheeky (75 days ago)

Hi NYgirl

We moved to Singapore just over a year ago from Hong Kong after many years there.

We still miss Hong Kong immensely, however Singapore does have some upsides (and without every getting into a debate about my comments!) such as lots of greenery, clean air, lots of outdoor activities (we have bought bikes since arriving and cycle regularly) better shopping than HK (ie, choice - however slightly more expensive due to GST) some fantastic restaurants, and something which i think is really lovely, great preservation of some of the old houses/buildings which you can experience through them being shops/restaurants.

We miss the junks and the ease of meeting people in HK, but if you're due a move here I think you need to look at the positives. It is still a considerably safe place for teenages to grow up in. My other half has 2 teens who live and go to school here - i'm not sure how different they will find it to HK in their world. We tend to mix more with locals as there is less of a language barrier, and we certainly have more space at home and around us then we ever had in HK.

Hard not to compare the 2 places, but there are pluses and minuses for both!

We would also find it hard to consider life without our 2 dogs which we have adopted since arriving - something I may not have considered in HK.

Good Luck!