A Singaporean In Australia

Today I found a job!

Eugene had everything to do with it. I didn't know what he did but he managed to make the interview this morning a mere formality. What I needed to do was turn up and I would be offered the job. I did and I was. Whatever he did behind the scenes, I'm really really grateful to him. I will be starting work on Monday.

After Uncle Lai introduced Eugene to me last week, a lot of things have changed since. Who is Eugene? Eugene was a Singaporean in his early 40s, his wife is Chinese . They have 2 kids, an elder daughter and a younger son.

Eugene had nothing good to say about Singapore. Each time Singapore came into the topic, he could only spit venom. And I thought I have a lot of opinions about Singapore, until I met this guy! I found myself putting nice words for Singapore several times during conversations with him. But of course, he didn't buy it.

After the interview I went to Eugene's premises, 4km away. Sandy (his wife) was at home with the kids. I stood outside to peer over the fence to observe the children. They were real fine kids, smart, cheerful and genuinely happy. They enjoyed the sand pit constructed by Eugene as well as their garden. "They reminded me of my childhood," I thought. I used to run around a lot barefoot around Holland Village, played with sand, rolled around on greens, played with insects. These days in Singapore, children of their age plays Ipads.

Sandy finally appeared and invited us in. In no time, Erwin the 3 year old boy proudly displayed a big container with about 12 tiny black beetles and introduced them as Bao Bao.  "I caught them!" he beamed.

We took lunch and I played with the children in the garden for a while. Then we went to the neighbour's house to pick berries, with permission of course. We had a lot of laughs with the kids about the stain the berries made. The kids were a mess but they really enjoyed it. Soon they were put to bed for a short afternoon nap.

During our chat, Sandy shared many interesting things about their experience with Australia.

1) Family insurance covers all medical costs. Parents and kids can have free medical all year round - great news! We gotta get that soon.

2) Childcare is around AUD$80 a day for 1 kid. BUT;

If the family income is less than AUD$100,000 per annum, the government subsidies 50% of it.

If the family income is less than AUD$80,000, the government subsidies another 50% of the remaining amount.

On top of that, if the mother is unemployed, the government subsidies another 50% of it.

If the mother is a single mum, childcare fees are waived.

The childcare provides free milk powder for all clients.

So it works out to be around $10-12 a day for Jen and I should we need to put our daughter in childcare in future, before Jen finds a job. Quite affordable, a relief to us.

3) If a mother is unemployed with kids, the government will provide the family allowances until the kids are 18 years old. The figure she told us was around AUD$500+ per week for an unemployed mother with 3 kids. That's more than AUD$2,000 a month! I was amazed.

4) Baby bonus per child is AUD$879.77 and thereafter 12 fortnightly installments of approximately $379.77.

5) Sandy had her first child at Thomson Medical Centre in Singapore. The total fees worked out to be around SGD$10,000. Her second child was born in Australia. She pointed that the medical care she received during and after her delivery was so detailed and meticulous that she felt paiseh. She didn't paid a single cent.

6) I was told I could claim my safety boots and work clothes (which I am buying soon) back as tax rebates.

7) Fruit trees grown by residences are seldom harvested and most of the fruits are eaten by birds. Means you can be dead poor in Australia but you will never die of hunger by feeding on fruits.

8) I can claim my work clothes and boots which I am buying in the next few days as tax rebates in the coming year end.

9) Their latest electric bill of 3 months for their 550 sqm house which comes with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, was -AUD$43.00. You read it correctly, negative forty three dollars.

Did Eugene over paid his last bill? Not a chance.

What happened was sometimes back the government subsidies 50% of their solar panels installation on their roof. Eugene forked out AUD$3,000 for the installation but has been reaping benefits ever since. His electric bills would be around AUD$40-50 per 3 months during winter. From Spring to Summer, the solar cells generates more electricity than his usage, the excess power will be sold back to the power grid. Thus these months, he actually earns money from the power supplier!  What the..

Before we left, Sandy smiled and asked me, "After this conversation, did your opinion about staying in Australia change a little?"

Hmm....

Erwin eager to help his mummy with watering

Spraying away

 A play house in the garden for the children. Beside the house, a shed with a fully equipped and function workshop inside for the man of the house.

Jie jie was pleased with her sand pit and the beetles container

Jen was delighted with the size of the berry

Erwin with stained lips and an unripe berry

Crazy amount of wasted berries on the ground

Pick, pick and pick

A bottle of happiness

Stained tongue, mine was too

The outstanding chap with stained feet

Erwin trying out the punching bag