Simple question: A bachelor with no liabilities making ~RMB 25k/month in Shanghai should be looking at approximately SGD x/month when located in Singapore to have a similar lifestyle. x=?

DID do a search before but couldn't come up with anything concrete.

25K RMB = 5K SGD , so thats straight conversion. SG is pretty expensive , so to live a similar lifestle , u will need abt 8-9K SGD

An estimate on the typical cost of living in singapore, from what i hear from my gf:

Rental of a flat/apartment: $2500 per month, or subletting of a room: $900 per month
Food: $5 per meal is a safe estimate for your normal lunch/dinner, but if you are inclined to splurge the sky is the limit.
Commuting by MRT usually less than $2 per trip.
Broadband: $80 per month, i think
Mobile phone: $30 per month for low use

It depends, are you a smoker?

thanks ppl. got a starting point now. guess the rest will unfold when i am there. hopefully still_here will no more be here.

to Ah Beng: yup!

^Good luck, cigs cost 60rmb there..can only smoke in designated places marked in yellow boxes...you sure?

Ah Beng wrote:It depends, are you a smoker?

And if you like going out for dinner and having a bottle of wine, get two S$50 notes ready as a rule of thumb.

Taxis are much more expensive than Shanghai, particularly at peak times, where all sorts of surcharges and ERP tolls leave a dent in your wallet. MRT is great if you live close to a station - buses in Singapore for me leave a lot to be desired.

Just like Shanghai you can live quite cheaply or go nuts, particularly if you smoke and like to drink socially.

Was in Sing last week. $15 a beer - WTF??

Be sure to carry a map at all times, you could get lost..

Getting lost in Sing? It's not big enough for that.

Ah Beng wrote:Be sure to carry a map at all times, you could get lost..

Are you joking? Carry a map in Singapore?

You can probably live on the same $ (converted) in Singapore, just that you'll have to live in the outskirts and eat at the cheaper hawker centres. One thing to note though, SG does have lots of mid-ranged Western food which is great (something which I've noticed SHA doesn't seem too good at).

Taxis are about double the price, though public transport is excellent so most people use that. SG restaurants and shops are also VERY frequently doing discounts/offers/etc in conjunction with credit cards - so do check those out, you save a lot of $!

Ain't gonna sugarcoat it, I f0cking hate Singapore. No offense to any Singaporean, they are VERY nice ppl, I just hate the place.
I personally don't see why anyone live comfortably in shanghai would want to relocate. you will be running out of things to do in about 5 days.

Like "fWerrf" and most of the people said, stay here in Shanghai. China's more fun. Singapore is really too small. If you dislike Shanghai's summer you'll probably end up hating the perpetual summer in singapore. Think thrice.

Singapore is good to visit once in a while.

fWerrF wrote:you will be running out of things to do in about 5 days.

Not true, there are plenty to do in SGP, like visiting the zoo, shopping for original branded stuffs, you can dine cheaply (to offset the purchase of branded goods and cigs..), check out the zoo again, visit the beaches one in awhile, zoo, shopping..

Get a GPS, in case you lose your way.

Oh don't forget to flush in the public toilet, heavy fine..No spitting, heavy fine. Smoking in a non-destinated area, heavy fine.

Other than that, it's a fun place..enjoy!

^ OK....Let's restrict opinions on living in Singapore versus Shanghai to non-Singaporeans!

My very qualified opinion...having lived as an ex-pat working for a large American MNC for 3.5 years in Singapore 4.5 years in Shanghai. (I mentione the MNC bit so you realize I am one of those hateful people who does not teach English but drives up the housing prices for all you whingers!)

Singapore. No texture. Boring. Organized. Clean, Calm. Extremely easy to live there.
Shanghai. Food fight, dirty, difficult, exasperating, fun, noisy, exciting.

If you like calm and quiet - Singapore
If you like crazy and nuts and a challenge - Shanghai.

Cost wise....Bar for bar, grocery store for grocery store, night out for night out, apartment cost for apartment cost, taxi for taxi, living expenses for living expenses...

Plenty of puts and takes in comparing all aspects of licing there and all expenses across the board...

But...

I would bet if I actually added it all up...would be within 5% of each other on an annual basis.

Here i was, rejoicing at getting an offer in this crap economy and finally getting out of China. Thanks for doing away with my hard-on!

So,
~ SGD 2500 for an ok place including utilities,
~ SGD 500 for ciggies (hey Bang man, you sure?)
~ SGD 500 for meals,
~ SGD 200 for transportation,
~ SGD 1000 for night-outs (twice a week)
~ SGD 300 misc.
total = SGD 5000

anything else?

Will think of extra-curricular activities later.

^ SGD 500 for ciggies (hey Bang man, you sure?)
No kidding, if you smoke 2 packs a day, that'll be $720...

Besides that, the air quality, cleaniness - priceless!
Weather - Summer forever.
Party scene - thriving gay scene.
Extra-curricular activities - zoo, shopping, beaches...

Ah Beng wrote:Party scene - thriving gay scene.
Extra-curricular activities - zoo, shopping, beaches...

is that a pro or con?

but seriously, would you accept say SGD 6k/ month if you are making RMB 25k/ month here?

And thanks for the replies everybody!

^Seriously, you'll get more bang for your buck in Sh for 25k than 6k in SGP. But it depends what you consider to be high on your priority list..like culture, cleaniness, air, food, etc.

Singapore is clean, civilized, and organised, great variety of food of much better quality and safety, good sailing. You can drive properly there. Nightlife is much better than the rather dull bar scene here. A lot less corruption.
Albeit small it is close to lots of interesting places. Easy to go to Malaysia for the weekend, or fly to Thailand for a long weekend of sailing or golf.

Culture, cleanliness, air, food will probably be the last on my list. Plenty of time left to enjoy a quiet life later.

I forgot Platty's comment. Are you Singaporean?

*directed at Ah Beng*

Andreas wrote:Singapore is clean, civilized, and organised, great variety of food of much better quality and safety, good sailing. You can drive properly there. Nightlife is much better than the rather dull bar scene here. A lot less corruption.
Albeit small it is close to lots of interesting places. Easy to go to Malaysia for the weekend, or fly to Thailand for a long weekend of sailing or golf.

Please elaborate on the highlighted part!

still_here wrote:Culture, cleanliness, air, food will probably be the last on my list. Plenty of time left to enjoy a quiet life later.

I forgot Platty's comment. Are you Singaporean?

*directed at Ah Beng*

And to give up the chaotic traffic here, polluted air, rude taxi drivers, the spitting, cheap cigs and booze, sounds like you're making a big sacrifice...

I've worked and travelled occasionally to singapore, so quite familiar..

p1atl10 wrote:^ OK....Let's restrict opinions on living in Singapore versus Shanghai to non-Singaporeans!

My very qualified opinion...having lived as an ex-pat working for a large American MNC for 3.5 years in Singapore 4.5 years in Shanghai. (I mentione the MNC bit so you realize I am one of those hateful people who does not teach English but drives up the housing prices for all you whingers!)

Singapore. No texture. Boring. Organized. Clean, Calm. Extremely easy to live there.
Shanghai. Food fight, dirty, difficult, exasperating, fun, noisy, exciting.

If you like calm and quiet - Singapore
If you like crazy and nuts and a challenge - Shanghai.

Cost wise....Bar for bar, grocery store for grocery store, night out for night out, apartment cost for apartment cost, taxi for taxi, living expenses for living expenses...

Plenty of puts and takes in comparing all aspects of licing there and all expenses across the board...

But...

I would bet if I actually added it all up...would be within 5% of each other on an annual basis.

who the hell is gonna go to the zoo??
he is single without kids, why on the earth would he want to go to a zoo???

what beach? you meant sentosa?? thats about the gayest thing on earth. man-made beach.

anywayz, i have more opinion on this later. but gotta jet for now

still_here wrote:

Andreas wrote:Singapore is clean, civilized, and organised, great variety of food of much better quality and safety, good sailing. You can drive properly there. Nightlife is much better than the rather dull bar scene here. A lot less corruption.
Albeit small it is close to lots of interesting places. Easy to go to Malaysia for the weekend, or fly to Thailand for a long weekend of sailing or golf.

Please elaborate on the highlighted part!

Well lets face it. There are the bars here that cater to expats, and there's nothing wrong with that, but for me it's the same faces for 12 years, with a few transients every now and then. Fun sometimes, sometimes not. Then there is the so called clubbing scene, with 2nd rank places charging 1st rank prices, filled with local numbnuts and Eurotrash, and run by a bunch of racist degenerates. Then the so called high end places, same Eurotrash, only with more money to burn. What else is there in this city? Singapore is much more interesting, and varied in my opinion. Not as good as Hong Kong, but definitely more interesting.
Shanghai is so boring after a few years.

^ Agreed.

The bars here are 5th rate. Been here 8 years and very little improvement.

The locals are satisfied with it though, but then they would be.

still_here wrote:So,
~ SGD 2500 for an ok place including utilities,

that is when you stay in a condo. Why not rent an HDB (public housing), 3-4 rooms for SGD1500 or so in a good and accessible area. They can be really nice.

mjk wrote:

still_here wrote:So,
~ SGD 2500 for an ok place including utilities,

that is when you stay in a condo. Why not rent an HDB (public housing), 3-4 rooms for SGD1500 or so in a good and accessible area. They can be really nice.

I thought it's illegal to rent an HDB in Singapore.

As a lot of people said, Singapore is clean, calm, polite and boring at the same time. Rent is much more expensive I think. Similar place here would be 15% - 25% cheaper compare to Singapore. I am talking about apt in prime expat area.

Transport is much more expensive there. Taxi is expensive, especially if you passed ERP zone. 5 min ride from Orchard to Clark Quay, starts from S$3 added another S$4.5 = close to S$9.

People are nicer there, no rushing, no cutting lines, no spitting. Food relatively better there, loved the hawker centers there. For some reason food price is comparable to Shanghai. They have good cheaper western food, and generally taste better.

Good luck. You'll enjoy it, at least for short term assignments.

How about the girls in Singapore? My jaw drops when I walk along Orchard Road, even more so that when walking along nanjing xi lu.

Are the girls easy in Singapore? And I'm not talking about Orchard Towers.