A Singaporean In Australia

First thing I did upon my arrival was to get sick. They say "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." You know like the manner Goku gets back much stronger after each time he gets beaten up like a pulp.

I could count the number of times I went down to a common illness in my 3.5 years in Perth with one hand. That is really underwhelmig as compared to my track record in Singapore, I am beginning to umderstand why they keep saying that life in Australia is "slack," since I get stronger in Perth at a much, much slower rate. No wonder my friends will only consider an Australian lifestyle for retirement, as retirees do not really care about getting stronger anymore. Meanwhile the pathetic pace of life in Perth continues to irk them, as I continue to get poorly concealed snides about my decision to move, to which I reply "cos i cannot-make-it in Singapore lah!" In all honesty. I may be pathetically weak ...... but I found myself a place to survive, which is what any living organism will do. There is nothing to be ashamed about.

My good friend Tucky warned me last week that I "will know what is hot" when I return to Singapore in a few days. I nearly peed in my pants because Tucky is not the type who makes empty threats. Fortunately the Gods have been merciful enough to bless me with some light showers. Tucky was quick to remind me I was lucky to escape the hell mode but I am to survive the rest of the week in nightmare mode. Not surprisingly I went down to a sore throat, bad nose and a running temperature within my first 12 hours here.

Luckily my dear neighbors had good advice for me. Angie mama told me to see a doc to salvage, if I may say so, an already ruined holiday. I am likely to be spending the first few working days in Perth recovering from my supposed holiday next week. If I keep spending my annual leave to get sick, when will I really get a holiday? If you want an honest account, that is a major disadvantage of a half fuck migration arrangement. In case you don't realise, I have always see myself as working overseas instead of having emigrated somewhere else until I come to find out what my own people think of people like me as; migrated, quitter or traitor. I still address myself as working overseas when local service providers ask about me during small talks.

Only those who are able to make a clean break with the country and bring the village along with them are considered the truly migrated, at least in my book.

Eventually, I may have to be back for a few years, to tend to my elderly folks. At the moment I can't envisage how it is going to work out. I still have to work if I return, probably committing the same, if not longer hours to work as previously. Will my presence in Singapore makes a difference in such a situation? 

This is an admin trip because there are plenty of tasks of this nature to do. It is starting to get a little sad when my returns are becoming increasingly business-like. With the possibiity of an expansion of family, such trips will have to be infrequent in the future. This kind of decision is never easy to make. None of the options is ideal and no situation is win-win.

Albany is to become a Singaporean by the end of the week. I insist on doing this because it is her birthright and I shall not deny her so. She shall hold a dual citizenship until she is 21 years old, when she shall have to choose to forfeit one of her citizenships if Singapore still does not recognises dual citizenship by then. My responsibilty ends with providing Albany her legitimate privileges. I shall not be involved in her decision making when the time comes.

As an ex cancer patient, I do not and can not expect my medical status to remain past tense. There is always a possibility of a relapse. Call me anything you want to, but it will not stop me from leaving my family the best situation to my best ability should I die prematurely one day. Albany's citizenship will make sure that we will hold on to our rightful assets that authorities have no qualms in taking away or suspending when the conditions allow them to do so.

Meanwhile, I found my CDP statement. The first thing I will do once I return to Perth to to sell a big part of my shares. There are 2 reasons doing so. One, I can clear both the profitable and cancerous stocks at the same time and start off to a clean slate. Secondly, some sort of financial crisis is looming. I have absolutely no data to back myself up, just pure gut feel. That's how I make decisions, including my decision to move to Perth. Whether my gut feel is right or wrong, I will eventually find out. The cheek of the broker actually told me he did not know how much the number of shares I am holding and I need to refer to my CDP account instead. Sure, that is the last time he will be getting a commission off my brokerage fees. I don't think he cares, since I am such a small fry. That suits me fine because I certainly don't too. Finally, a win-win scenario.

It seems like Mindef is pissed off with me because I returned later than what exit permit, permitted. I would be apologetic if their portal does not give me issues such as this

I called up the NS hotline on Sunday and was surprised that someone was manning the phone. I told them of bugs as well as the message telling me I was not eligible to apply for exit permits. I cannot help but ask the personnel if Mindef is going to have me arrested when I try to leave the country with or without an exit permit. Well you never know. Since Amos Yee can be locked up for insulting some folks, who says I cannot be arrested for failure to debug an NS portal 4000 kms from home? You can be arrested for eating your cai png while surfing the internet one day, if they don't like your face. So never be too sure. Some say there are 4 types of climates in Singapore. Sunny, fucking sunny, rainy and fear.

Fortunately the friendly admins in Mindef sent me an email by Monday to inform me my account has been "cleared" (from?) and told me to try applying for an exit permit again. I did, and the new one allows me to work outside Singapore till next April till I become a fugitive with offences again. I hope I do not get betrayed by my memory or a buggy NS portal by then. At least I have a reason to forget my wife's birthday now. Sleeping in a tent by the verandah is surely better than the possibility of an arrest at the airport.

Let me share with you what someone who works as a waiting staff once told me, "If you want a job which makes you hate humanity, be a waiter." I'm sure this resonates with you, at least as a joke. Now, do you know why a Singaporean waiter cannot smile as well as his Pinoy counterpart? This is probably what goes through their minds when they work;

Pinoy: I'll build 3 houses and live on rental income back home when I'm done with these assholes.

Singaporean: Either the paramount task of becoming one of these assholes or spend the rest of my life serving them.

Not very much for the Singaporean waitress, to smile about, if you ask me. I will hardly be surprised if most do not agree with my views about the ugliness of Singaporeans in general, as this isn't probable as a proposition  before putting ourselves in a contraposition to discern.

Bear with me, I am coming to your question,  "If any of our leaders have to live a life that you described, will they still think Singapore is the they want to be?"

My answer is yes.

The reason for my answer is very simple. We have been indoctrinated to believe that Singapore is a paradise. We are convinced that the countries beyond our shores are a little worse at best and right next door to hell at worst. Just imagine being a waiter in a restaurant built on an active volcano with customers loaded with racists remarks ready to fire at you while that hailstorm shatters the windscreen of your parked car outside. All these would be avoided if you accept the dearer option of using the ERP, EPS, COE, HDB and the PAP. With this mentality in mind, workers within the lower social fabric do not think about where else they want to be. They work towards where they will rather be in our Singaporean society. When all hopes seem to fade, there is always the lottery to look forward to. It is far more comforting to hope to be a lottery winner than to think about the possibility of settling down in another country being happier, freeier, than before.

If our Ministers were to live vicariously of a peasant for a stint, the answer will be the same. If anything, it will fortify their beliefs that the Singapore system provides sufficient avenues for people who want to upgrade themselves and take themselves out of their current mire. The constant feeding of inspirational stories to the public, such as the $7000 taxi driver, the $1000 hdb family man and evergreen rags to riches accounts of Singaporeans, does its part to convince every Singaporean that we have an equal chance to be what we want and if we fail, we have ourselves to blame because we are not hungry enough to succeed. Their vicarious adventure will end with them convinced that they deserved their million dollar roles because they are men above men.

I love this article because it provided us quite a few insights about a struggling migrant in Australia. For those lazy bums who don't like reading, let me do you a service by highlighting the important points and what you can learn from the information the Straits Times painstakingly paid a foreign journalist to provide you with.

Still unwilling to get out of bed to prepare for work, I squinted to the illuminated phone to read the mentioned article to see what was the fuss about.

Ah, article from The Shitty Times. What else could make people worry unnecessarily? Bear with the smell while I expand the stuff for you to read.

Some think cooking involves the laying out of chic bites of intricacies or carving up a melon for hours. 

"It sounds too difficult, so let's not start learning cooking altogether."

"I only know how to eat, don't know how to cook."

"I will burn the kitchen down." 

"I am not gifted."

Do we really need to be gifted to learn how to cook a good meal? If that is a mental deterrent that stops you from learning how to cook, it will be as foolish as not learning how to drive a car because drifting a car looks too dangerous to execute.

The only excuse I can accept from Singaporeans is the lack of time. I am fully aware many of us are chained to the wheel of life such that we have too little time left to choose cooking over higher priorities such as our children or our own well being. 

That is a pity.

For despite the availability of great tasting food at low price and the emergence of a seemingly unlimited range of "instant foods", nothing beats cooking your own food. The pace of Singapore life makes it near impossible to calm a mind enough on regular basis to appreciate how empowering it is to cook and enjoy the refinement of your life skill day by day. Certainly not when the stomach is growling, your kids have not taken their baths and you are dead beat from work. That is fine. We have a system that works for Singaporeans. Pop downstairs, buy zi char, feed the family. Cheaper, better, faster and best of all, no mess to clear up.

Only for those who are contemplating emigration, cooking becomes relevant again. Unless of course, you are moving to a country where street food is as affordable as Singapore, if not more affordable. Such as what these Singaporean bloggers did here and here. However if you are moving to a location like Australia, the significance of your ability to cooking changes from a lifestyle indulgent to a survival skill.

Take for example, Agent YY read the blog post [link] published the day before and confessed to me that she would not be able to survive based on a $70k per annum salary in Sydney. She is currently "surviving" on a $90k per annum gross. The key reason she offered was that she never cooks and eat every single meal out. Neither does she drives to work, own a car or have a spouse that drives her to work everyday. Agent YY existence is one who defies what I have been advocating in the blog, that it is of paramount importance to know how to cook and drive a car in Australia. 

However, not everyone has the ability (or fortune) to land a job that pays $90k per annum. I can feed a family of four with my wife as a stay-at-home-mum if I am on such a salary scale. See the difference? So if you believe cooking is a skill of the gifted and refuse to learn cooking, you will be limited only to the jobs that pay you enough to fund your folly. Without a doubt, that reduces your chances to surviving on limited funds while your search for your first job, eliminating lower paying jobs in the process.

Things could be much easier - if you bothered to learn how to cook.

So is cooking that difficult to learn? Not if you have the patience to start from the bottom. That is nothing to be ashamed about. For every time you cook, you are clocking mileage to be faster and better the next time. You improve. Paying $10 to that hawker doesn't. Over the years in Perth, I have observed Singaporean women who never cooked a thing in their life before, gradually sharpening their cooking abilities from scratch. For example, our family friend Grace, who had to learn to fend for herself for the first time after moving out to her own home some 2 years ago. I could remember how she panicked and asked for some tips. Not that I am a good cook myself, far from it in fact but I have no problem fixing up some edible food for the family anytime with limited ingredients. 

The first advice I gave Grace was to focus on learning how to make the simplest meals, at least to get by the early stages. I highly recommend anyone to start out the same way and that is a soup + rice meal. There isn't many cleaner, easier methods that require the least equipment and washing up afterwards than the boiling method. 

Some basic soups is really a matter of washing and cutting up ingredients, dumping them in water and boil. How difficult is it to boil an egg, peel it, smash it up and add onto thinly sliced raw lettuce with your choice compliments such as raisins or nuts before topping off with a sauce to make your very own version of a egg salad? How difficult is it to boil pandan leaves and washed red beans in sugared water for a no-frills desert? All cooking done in a single pot. It can even be done passively in a slow cooker, without you watching the stove. Heck, you don't even need a stove with an electrical slow cooker. And hardly any mess to handle. 

The result is always a nourishing, healthy and low cost meal. Is that a feat that only the gifted can perform? Certainly not. It is for anyone who runs out of excuses not to attempt.

I like it on rare occasions when Singaporeans call a spade a spade. Yes the Navy recruitment advertisement uses a hiring bait. I don't think the Navy will deny that. But what to do? Put lao encik with big moustache fucking wayang soldiers running around in their ship yielded terrible recruitment rates. Put chiobu in the advertisement lah! What are Singaporeans so worked up?

My friend Gintai [link] said that our defence is no joking matter. He said,

Look. The force said they needed a new generation of thinking soldiers. They didn't specify which head should be doing the thinking. You can't fault them.

However, Gintai had a point. When I watched the Navy advertisement, I learnt next to nothing about the Navy as well as the engine room that ME1 Clarie Teo was supposed to look after. I caught a few glimpses of a couple of Navy boys calefare wayanging around and the rest of the video showed a make up artist touching up the chiobu during her pre-shoot leading to her interview. After a few shots of her posing charmingly, Clarie was asked why she chose to join the navy, in which she replied she was looking for an adventurous job, the sea, the sun and to travel around the world. Lastly they got her to sing a tune to showcase her talent. It looked like an introductory clip before Miss Universe Singapore appeared on stage.

Yeah, I'll rather watch a pretty girl singing a tune than, say, a clip of ex-Chief of Navy Lui Tuck Yew explaining how great the Navy was and expressing his deep regrets of leaving Navy only to be arrowed to fix broken-down trains.

"At least a ship still moves with the tide when the engine breaks down," I can imagine Tuck Yew lament. "Now let me get to the engine room to fix things up." Previously, every man who aspire to join the Navy wants to be a diver or at least man the gun. Now, most just want to go to the engine room.

From a hiring point of view, the Navy's decision to put up such an advertisement was a puzzling one, considering that the fact employers usually design advertisement to attract the right people that align with the goals of the organisations, such as more of the willingness to defend Singapore's coastline in the this case and less about traveling the world enjoying the sun and the sea with a lovely lass. Instead, Navy's advertisement covertly or overtly portray these messages,

Skirt chasers and wussy vagabonds are welcomed

If you think it is a chilling thought to have a wuss such as Chan Chun Sing as one of our ex Chief-of-Army, think of a scenario where the majority of our "regulars" (full time defenders) are gentle sensitive-new-age-guys. Look, I don't have a problem against nice gentlemen but they belong to the working society, not the military. Just look at how the Little India riot went. The commander peed in his plain clothes in his safety zone, unable to control the situation with theory. In the defence force, we need the thugs. Smart and disciplined thugs who can take on real problems, not simulated scenarios. 

We are training for peace not war

In my personal opinion, the last thing a defence force need is a white-knight environment. I have the highest doubt if male personnel are able to stick to their roles instead of turning white knights to save their damsels in need during an emergency. This issue will not be relevant during peacetime. However if we are building a force to prepare for peace, it will not justify our phenomenal defence budget.

The job doesn't necessarily require a male to perform

But I say, the women should stay in the kitchen. I am not sexist. I have full confidence that any competent Singaporean daughter can perform a role such as what ME1 Teo is undertaking for the Navy. The question is not about competency but whether we are ready for a paradigm shift in terms of gender equality in our defence force. If we are ready to give our Singaporean daughters the full recognition that they can contribute as much, if not more than our Singaporean sons, then they should go through a full conscription like the men instead of skipping the fire ring and climb straight onto the podium.

To conclude, if I were in charge of marketing the Navy, I'll rather keep a good woman like ME1 Teo in the engine room instead of making her the face of the Navy. It is also counter-productive to try to attract men to rejoin the Navy after they completed their National Service and become part of the working society. Ideally, the National Service experience should be fulfilling enough to convince an adequate number of men why it is the right choice to sign on and defend our country at the end of their NS. Unfortunately it isn't so at the moment, hardly surprising in an environment where much thinking is being preferably done with the smaller head.

Hi,

Nice blog you got there, and with reference to your flowchart whether one should migrate, I cannot put it better. It is kind of true.

Now I happen to be one of those that goes through the flow chart, skipping a layer and ending up in Australia. I moved with my career in mind, having an overseas exposure. But I am highly concerned with the cost of living, especially in the recent few years it seems that it has gone up.

I will be moving to Sydney, perhaps you could help me decipher whether for a single male, 75k AUD before tax (not including super and bonuses - which is another portion) suffices. I am finding it very difficult to find a place to rent, most are 500+ aud/wk upwards.

Regards,

ZY

Hi ZY,

With an annual gross salary of AUD$75k, a quick estimate of your tax is $15,922. [link] So after tax, you will have about AUD$59k to live. That is $1,136 a week.

According to my informant Agent YY, a pretty and hot chick living in Sydney, if you are willing to rent a Shared Apartment, here are some figures;

Suburb: Mascot

Type: Master bed room w ensuite bath/toilet, shared kitchen

Cost: $320, excluding utilities

If you are willing to live in a shared apartment, there will be units in suburbs such as Mascot and Erskineville going from $250 to $400 a week, scaling based on the condition of the place.

Say if you take a mid range one and spend about $350 per week, including utilities, I'll leave you to decide if about $780 a week is enough for you to get by for your other needs and wants. 

Hi Nix,

Thank you for getting my name right and your many thumbs up and sorry to put you through the ordeal of reading my blog daily. 

First, please double check if you will be able to accumulate enough points if you go for Visa 489. There will be some who will still fall short despite the extra points from a State Sponsorship. I believe much lies in your Vetassess results. If you are able to get full points from that, the points from State Sponsorship will make up for the points you lost at the Age Category. If your points are sufficient, you will be invited to launch your EOI.

The end of the year time frame is a tough call though. What's the hurry? It must be for the little boy. If that is the case, don't let this stress you out. It is ok to let your son start school halfway through. Don't be afraid that your kid is "losing out" a few months of education. It won't hurt him as much as we think. If that is an utmost concern for parents, I'll advise them to let their son finish National Service before moving to Australia. 

Regarding where to move to, I believe this is too early to worry about at this stage, since nothing has been finalised. When you receive your State Sponsorship, it will be the appropriate time to focus on your destination. I have 2 contacts in Darwin, Satki Yoda and Chiobu Kopimaid and 1 contact in Adelaide, Mistress Sei. These trust aides will be able to give you sound advice about which suburb to shortlist in accordance to your needs. With this, I solve concern 1), 2), 3a) and 3b).

Jobs is the trickiest business for any newly migrant to fret about due to the unpredictable nature of getting it done quickly, as it varies from industry to industry and much also depends on being at the right place at the right time or knowing the right person. A few common approaches I've learnt from fellow migrants so far are;

1) Moving the whole family over (waiting for your daughters to finish schools in your case) and renting out the HDB flat (if it is paid up) to supplement your jobless days in Australia. I understand that it is unlikely that you will favour this option because I just noted your son is at a strategic age and could be part of your urgency to move. Nonetheless, an option.

2) Moving with your son first as the advance party with husband providing income for the family in Singapore. I've seen at least 3 of such cases personally. Whether it could work or not depends much on how independent you are as well as your capabilities of running (half of) your family respectively in both countries.

3) Moving together (without daughters as planned). The success rate of this commando approach relies on lucky you are to find a job first before your money runs our and how willing you are to pick up ANY job to pay the bills before you do. Yes, there are jobs that locals are not willing to do, just like in Singapore and these jobs pay bills.

I used to approach the nature of your last question ("Can this last us 3 months of basic needs?") with ease but after meeting too many Singaporean migrants here I am not so confident of answering that anymore. The fundamental problem, I realised only later, is that my basic needs are very different from the basic needs from many (if not most)(if not all) Singaporeans. 

Let me give you an example. I had a friend who stopped communicating with me since our last conversation 2 years back. Our last topic was a debate which he couldn't accept my refusal to agree with his stand that an air conditioner is an absolute need in Singapore living. On a lesser extent, I observe friends in Singapore get unusually defensive whenever I rebut the need of owning (the 10 year lease of) a car in Singapore. While we are at the topic of cars,  just to share with you my circumstances further, I had met Singaporeans who slapped down $5,000 to $24,000 for a car among the first things after their feet land on the airport here, even before their shelter is established. It confused the hell out of me because I was taught that shelter, food and sex are basic human needs. I supposed some Singaporeans have sex with their cars. 

So let's face it, it is a question impossible to address unless we define what is your basic needs. A good rule of thumb is to let me know what are your monthly expenses (including all usual indulges) in Singapore. With that, I will be able to do a safe forecast for you.

I will be waiting for your updates.

My name is A, and i'm an 18 year old student who just finished her A levels. I didn't perform very well, but by a stroke of luck, I was allowed to enter the University of Tasmania to read Law. 

I'm currently very vexed as to whether or not I should accept UTAS' offer, firstly because of cost. Even with a partial scholarship that I was given, Im estimating a ballpark of SGD$200grand to cover tuition and living costs for me for 4 years. What makes matters worse is that I don't have a father, and my mother's 60 this year, so I'll probably have to bring her along. This effectively raises my costs to roughly around SGD$250grand for 4 years, a sum which is very difficult for me to manage. 

Based on our savings, we currently have around SGD$140grand in cash, with a 5 room flat in the central district of Singapore fully paid for. The idea is to roll by 2 years with the cash we have now, and accumulate around SGD60 grand within those 2 years to tide us by the 3rd and 4th year through rent, or to borrow a small pocket of funds from the bank to tide us through the last few years. 

I am, however, extremely worried that even if I managed decent grades, I would not be able to find employment within Australia either as a lawyer or as a law consultant, because I am, afterall, a 3rd tier foreign citizen. Part of the reason why I applied overseas was because I wished to be able to work in a foreign country after graduation, due to the glut of lawyers in Singapore as well as family issues. 

But given the state of my predicament, what would you suggest to me as my best course of action? Should I take the plunge?  

I appreciate you looking through my query, and I apologise for the length of this email. Please share with me your thoughts, it really would help me alot. 

Ultimately the decision is Amanda's, but i'll try to keep the advice factual and then you can add in whatever wisdom you have Mr. Nix -

First of all, u must understand UTAS positioning as a uni. Within Australia, UTAS is probably not so bad, still passable if you getting a job in Australia. However what works against you is that you want to do law, which is not on the skilled list (which means you probably can't apply for PR or a position in Australia as a foreigner). In fact, there is actually a large oversupply of law grads even for the locals. If u do a quick google, some of the prominent news organizations like ABC and AFR have featured the oversupply in law grads. So even local law grads from the prestigious law schools are finding it hard to get a job, let alone from a "not-so-atas" uni. To make things worse, Tasmania is one of the states that is doing the worst in terms of economic opportunities, so don't expect too much from graduate recruiting in other areas either.

Not being able to apply PR means that you are most likely going to have to return to Singapore after graduation unless you force yourself to do a degree on the skilled list like accounting, and then take your chances and apply for the permanent graduate visa, after which you can pursue your interest in law - but again, this is a huge gamble, and it also depends on whether you really want to do law. if you do, i'd suggest, don't give up the subject and force yourself to do something you dislike for 2-3 years because you end up not excelling in it. It might be better to take the chances and do something you excel in, and stand out so much that you get noticed, etc. This one, is really up to you.

Personally, i know people who did law, but these are mostly locals who can afford to bum around if they can't find a job. Most of them couldn't get law clerkships, only the really outstanding ones or the rich ones whose parents are well-connected, so most of the above average law students end up doing something in between like working for the government or doing tax law - but then they have to fight with graduates from all other disciplines like arts, humanities, economics, commerce etc. Just note that the market here for graduate lawyers is really saturated and flooded. But again, Your interest is important, like i said, if you enjoy it you will excel in it.

Considering that if you probably have to go back to Singapore, you have to consider how status conscious singapore is with degrees - to be perfectly honest, UTAS is going to struggle with prestige. If in the end you see yourself working in Singapore, you will get a lot more bang for your buck going to the UK or Canada to a better / slightly more prestigious uni than UTAS.

Also, another issue, which i may not have that much experience to provide advice on, is how you are going to bring and provide your mum; what is she going to do, and will she even be able to get a visa to come to australia?

What i know is all here, the decision in the end is yours. If you do choose to go, just know it will be damn hell competitive and the odds will be stacked against you. Good luck.

It will be very hard for you to get employment in Australia after you graduate as you does not have PR. You need to check with Uni of Tassie if you will be a lawyer upon graduation or need to do additional training like articles or college of law to become a lawyer. Else, as a law graduate, you will not be able to get PR as you are not a lawyer. By the time you are a lawyer, your time limit of 6 months to apply for PR from graduation would have expired. If PR is what you want I suggest another course like accountancy. But again check with a migration agent or with dept of immigration.

There is also a glut of lawyers in Australia. In Perth only 20% of law graduates get jobs in law firms and go on to be lawyers. Decent grades help but law is still a old boys or girls game. It is who you know. Plus as you do not have PR you are unlikely to get work experience during the holiday and this makes it even harder when you graduate.

I doubt tassie (Tasmania) is better as tassie has the highest youth unemployment in aust.

I would suggest taking a commerce course as not only is it shorter but better PR chance than law.

---

asingaporeanson

I've been reading your blog on and off over the past couple of years, ever since I got married to an Australian lady.

We're both currently residing in Singapore, she is a PR here but we've talked about moving to Australia for good. In other words, for me to migrate there.

It sounds promising, the opportunity to start life fresh but I won't lie to you that I feel there's a huge hurdle to cross. Buy hey, if you can make it, why can't I right? :)

I guess the main reason why I feel stuck is because we bought a resale HDB flat last year, and we can't sell it off till couple of years later. It's also difficult for me to simply hop over to Australia without having a job waiting for me (I'm in shipping industry by the way).

In any case, we're starting to apply for the Partnership Visa now, which means once I get it I don't need to apply for the short-term visit visa anymore, and that I am able to work there? The plan is to stay there on the partnership visa and wait till I'm able to then apply for the PR status, and subsequently for citizenship. Pls correct me if I'm wrong in my plan here.

How easy is it to get a job in Australia, especially if you have to really switch industries? And how realistic is it for me to be living and working in Australia while renting out the HDB flat in Singapore? Am I going to have to pay for income tax in both countries?

I've been going back to visit the wife's side of the family every year (they live in Rockhampton, Queensland) and from what I've seen, there's quite a limited opportunity for me to continue doing what I'm doing at the moment, so there's that big question mark as to whether I can land a job that will provide for my family in Australia and maintain the mortgage of the HDB at the same time.

Any advise is very much appreciated.

Rgds,

Shafiq

Hi Shafiq,

In a hurry bro?

You did not state how long you have been married. I'm not nosy. If you have gone through my Spouse Visa Guide [link] you will know why I asked.  It is harder (not impossible) to complete a spouse visa application properly if you are newly weds, unless you knew each other for a few years prior to your marriage and kept proper records that the immigration department will be expecting to see. If not, it is time to start accumulate your documents from today. In such a situation, by the time you are ready to lodge an application, plus the waiting period before your visa is approved, you should be eligible to sell your HDB flat and move on. No mortgage to worry about. Perfect timing.

In my opinion, you have no need to rush. Unlike most other Singaporeans who get their Permanent Visa through a skill select scheme, there is a reason to hurry because of the Age criteria in the scheme. Basically, the younger the applicant, the more points he gains from this criteria. You are not affected by that. Your  only challenge is to convince the immigration department that you are in a genuine relationship with your wife. So unless your wife is unwilling to stay in Singapore for a few more years, there is no reason you should be in a hurry. In the meantime, you can use the waiting period to decide what you want to work as when you move, as well as building up your war chest.

If you think about it, your wife is a better person to look for answers when it comes to the ease of finding a job of your choice. If an Australian couldn't give you an answer, a Singaporean is unlikely to. Besides, you have been visiting the country to get a feel, you should be able to gauge this by yourself. Let's assume it is counter-productive to find a similar job in your current industry, you can consider re-training when you move to Australia and enter your new industry when you are done. That goes back to my previous suggestion, in the meantime, think of what you want to work as in Australia. Once you have a shortlist, you can talk to the training schools about job prospects of your respective choices. Another possible way to gauge the demand of your profession is to look at jobs websites or talk to the locals. Don't limit yourselves to what I mentioned and check out whichever way you can think of until you are confident about your knowledge of the potential industries. You have a lot of opportunities to do so since you visit Australia regularly. When the time comes, make your choice.

2) Spouse visa grants you Temporary Residency for 1 year. If you spend 1 year in Australia, you will be eligible for a PR. The eligibility requirements to be a citizenship are as follows;

4 years lawful residence in Australia. This period must include 12 months as a permanent resident immediately before making an application for Australian citizenship and absences from Australia of no more than 12 months in total in the 4 years prior to application, including not more than 90 days in the 12 months immediately prior to application.

Lawful residence means residence in Australia on a temporary or permanent visa.

3) Sure, you can apply to rent our your house after your MOP is up. But be prepared for any new rules coming our way that makes it extremely inconvenient, financially unfeasible or even illegal to do so. Much will depend on the results of the coming GE, I suppose.

asingaporeanson

Hi Daniel,

Congratulations on your job offer.

I am not sure what you hope to hear from me. Since you did not reveal some details about your work, I'll have to assume your accommodation in Singapore is either provided for, like what many expats in Singapore enjoy, or included in a fatter remuneration package. In that case, there is your reason #1 to work in Singapore.

Reason #1 - Fatten your pocket

If you are not receiving more money than your current job in Australia, save yourself the trouble. Else, buy a bigger wallet and bring it along with you. Just take note that if you are being taxed by the Singapore government, you can apply for a foreign income tax offset. Make sure you keep all the relevant documents (your SG tax statements) to show it to the ATO to claim their relief.

Reason #2 - Have a taste of the Singapore pace

Since you are born Singaporean, you should be born with the genes to grasp the concepts of being "Cheaper, better and faster." Whether you like it or not is another thing altogether. If it isn't your cup of tea, there is always home to return to. If you enjoy the dynamism of Singapore, consider giving up your Australian citizenship for a Singapore one. After all, we clear our rubbish everyday, not once a week. Isn't that great?

Reason #3 - You reap without sowing

Unlike Singaporean sons like me, you get to enjoy and benefit from our vibrant economy without the need to do National Service. How you should feel about that? Great. So go with a smile.

Reason #4 - You will be treated as a "Firster Class" citizen

Many Singaporeans do not like the idea of moving to Australia because we feel that we will be treated like "2nd class" citizens. However, it is a fact that we treat our expats firster than our first class citizens. Hard truth for us, happy days for you.

Reason #5 - Singapore is damn safe

Our country is so safe that unlike the undesirable suburbs in Australia, you will feel at ease to walk through our streets naked without getting your manhood snipped off or robbed more naked than you already are. Just for your information, the lady in the picture is a Singaporean. She was heavily ostracized by our media and people for days but little was mentioned about her nice foreign friend who apparently, was also reported to be "morally supported" by the Swedish embassy in Singapore. [link]

Never forget these two rules:

1) Do whatever you want but don't get caught (we learnt it in NS and you didn't so there, your crash course)

2) You can get away with insulting anyone in social media as long as the General Election is not looming. (It is at the moment, so please take it easy mate)

Reason #6 - Shop till you drop

This may or may not be relevant to your lifestyle, depending which Australian state you come from. However, you can always change your living habits because we have late night shopping. According to the locals, this is God's gift to Singapore and one of the prime reasons why Singapore kicks everyone's ass. Despite Singapore being ranked the World Most Expensive City 2 years running, everything is supposed to be cheaper, including hookers. You'll find out.

Reason #7 - Eat till you are round

My elders are of Chinese ethnics. They used to tell me, “一个人一生吃多少是注定的” (the amount of food you can eat for a lifetime is a preset), it is a phrase commonly used to describe the limitations of a man's effort to surpass his fate. Many people swear that cooked food in Singapore is much cheaper than in Australia. I firmly reject this notion and I will prove it one day, when I have nothing better to do.  It is much more convenient to get cooked food within anywhere you live. That, I agree, no doubt about it. You also get access to restaurant set up by Michelin stared chefs. Anyway, you are in full control to pig yourself out everyday if you work in Singapore. Your destiny is in your own hands this time.

Reason #8 - No natural disaster

You may have never experienced a cyclone in your lifetime in Australia, or faced a bush fire that directly threatened your life, but never forget you grow up in the most dangerous country in the world, where everything is created to kill you - to outsiders at least. Singapore, on the other side of this aspect, is paradise. Just don't assume you can take a dip in any water you see , unless you relish a visit to the dermatologist. Take note that it is not recommended to take deep breaths during the months when our friendly southern neighbour hold their large scale BBQ festivals. Also, get yourself some ear plugs and a eye mask if you are a light sleeper because noise is harmlessly loud and our rooms are illuminated by street lights throughout the nights. Sure you can draw the blinds, then you have to be contented sleeping under an air conditioned environment every night. It's alright if you don't sleep or breathe well because there is no natural disasters in Singapore to harm you, unlike fucking Australia.

Reason #9 - Singapore is an equal society

Singapore is a fair and equal society that respects each and every individual, be it the gifted or the handicapped. That is despite the fact that our late founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew never believed in equality. 

“The human being is an unequal creature. That is a fact. And we start off with the proposition. All the great religions, all the great movements, all the great political ideology, say let us make the human being as equal as possible. In fact, he is not equal, never will be.”

– Lee Kuan Yew, from a speech during the 1960s, Success Stories

Yet we are equal.

“I am an educated, independent woman of a minority race, in a country that embraces and respects each of its citizens equally. Such is the country that Mr Lee built. How could I ever leave this place?”

This is just one of the miracles left behind by our Father as his legacy. As a foreigner, you can be assured that you will receive lots of equality.