Upside/Downside: Shayshay in Singapore

Hitting Town

TRAIN, bus, boat or by air, Singapore is one of the easiest countries to get into, only you had better keep your eyes open in case you miss it as your bus/train/boat or plane passes it! The country is about a third the size of our national capital, and the city itself can fit quite easily into Delhi zoo, yet it has more visitors than the whole of India and her neighbours put together! The city-state boasts of more high quality hotel rooms than our entire country offers. It's a great place to visit, you can shop till you drop and then continue on your hands and knees! The first thing that strikes you if you come by any of the ways mentioned above is the incredible efficiency of the immigration authorities. You are whisked through customs by a whirlwind of politeness, rushed through immigration and deposited on the pavement in front of Changi airport before you can count your baggage! This is as a tourist. If you come to work here, be certain you have a job or are employable! If you intend to work in Singapore and are earning a basic monthly salary of $2,500 or less, you must apply for a Work Permit. Prospective employers must also furnish a $5,000 security deposit for foreign workers. If you earn more than that you are entitled to an Employment pass. The Singapore government assumes that the employment pass holder is better educated and of higher calibre so you can get your family over with almost no problem and change jobs more easily. If you come in on a short-term assignment say for six months or a year or so you will need a Professional Visit Pass.

It takes a speedy half hour from Changi to town and unless you are dribbling with dollars, I'd suggest you take a shuttle taxi, which will cost you $7 a seat with loads of space for your luggage. If you need to fill in time waiting to be picked up, the airport is one of the worlds best and has enough entertainment to keep you occupied. Shopping there too is great and they say that if you can get anything cheaper in town they'll refund you twice the difference! How's that for great CRM?

Jobbing for Work

If you have been offered a job in Singapore, try and make sure your housing needs are taken care of by your employer. They may need to shell out anything from S$ 4-6,000. It is possible to get a modest flat at a Housing Board Colony for S$1500, but the neighbourhood may not fit in with your lifestyle. The company generally picks up electricity and water bills. If you come from one of the hot dry places in the country, be sure that the air conditioning is working well in your flat, as you will need it if you need sleep and rest to live! If you end up paying for yourself then budget for S$600 per month! Make certain your employer gives you full medical coverage and makes an allowance for transport.

You can't drive too far in Singapore without falling off the side of the island! As its only 22miles across, the Singapore government likes to give residents the feeling that the place is as large as a normal country. To do this they have arranged a series of one-way roads that necessitates a drive of about 30 miles to go to your neighbour's house for dinner! Parts of town are no drive areas for cars with less than four people inside unless you pay for a special permit. Parking cost the earth so its better not to buy a car. In fact it's the intention of the government to keep the numbers of vehicles down!

Regulated Rules

It is interesting to note that Singapore has one of the strictest police codes in the world. The most enjoyable things in life are Not Allowed or Illegal. Chewing gum is a crime and import of it into the country is smuggling. Littering attracts a hefty fine and being trapped in a yellow box when the lights change at a crossroad is an invitation to a crucifixion! In case you thought that you could celebrate Deepawali in the way you do at home and pack your baggage with crackers, expect to be returning on the next flight! Crackers are banned! If you have a pocket monopoly game, replace all the toy money with real money because import of toy money is a crime!

I suspect that Singapore is such a clean, well-ordered city because the government fines almost everything! Half the books in circulation are banned on grounds of religion, politics, obscenity, sedulousness, and large fines are levied if they are found on your person or among your effects. If solvency is important to you, try to be as law abiding as possible.

Costing Life

Living in Singapore is expensive for rentals and cars (which cost about twice as much as neighbouring countries). For other things, like food and things that sustain life, costs are reasonable. Remember that everything has to be imported so it costs. Very little fresh milk is available; most of it is reconstituted stuff in cartons or tins. Vegetables are imported too though you can get (really) fresh stuff at the open markets. Nothing is cheap but on the other hand, Singapore has one of the lowest rates of inflation in the world, often going into the negative numbers! Still, its nice if you negotiate a good salary of about S$6000 per month with your transport, housing, utilities and medicals taken care of by your company to start with. To get an idea,a simple, no-frills outing on a Sunday will set you back by at least $100 for two of you using public transport and eating at a food court. Try and do all your shopping at Hypermarts where everything is available at fabulous discounts. Advice? Stock up and sit out the week!

Homing away from home

Indians will never feel out of place in Singapore. One of the national languages is Tamil and Serangoon is called 'little India' (I can't imagine why, since it's so clean as to be unlike any Indian town!) Temples and mosques are available everywhere, and there is even a fire temple where Parsis can worship. There are various cultural associations so if you go to work there you will never feel homesick. You can get born, married and give up your ghost much as you would at your own native village and not know the difference! Do not feel disconcerted if a Chinese policeman addresses you in chaste Tamil,since many can speak the language, and there are a large number of Chinese Hindus as well!

Singapore is great, everything is available, bribery is unheard of, and things get done in no time at all. One essential ingredient to the wonderful time you plan for yourself is money. Loads of it. The upside is that if you work well, you get paid well and you'll have that good time you are thinking of! Eating Indian food of every description is easy and a lot cheaper than indulging in haute cuisine. Entertainment of the Indian variety is available, though the flavour is largely Southern. Movies are ruthlessly censored so be warned! The weather is hot and wet for ten months in the year. The remaining two months are hotter and wetter! Light cottons are the best to wear except in offices where the air is conditioned to a little below zero Celsius! As busses and the subways are air-conditioned you can live in a cool cocoon!

People do find Singapore restrictive, but hey, it works!

S.RAMANUJACHARYA

professor1@sify.com