Life as a UK expat living in Singapore

Imagine having the freedom to live, work, and thrive anywhere in the world.

At Progeny, many of our colleagues live and work abroad, having relocated to places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium and Dubai. In this series, they share their personal experiences, from the initial planning involved in making the move, to building new communities and adapting to cultural differences. Their stories highlight both the challenges and opportunities of global mobility, and the unique perspective that comes with becoming a true global citizen. 

In this interview, we spoke to Emily Jackson, Paraplanner, who relocated to Singapore earlier this year. 

What is your story before leaving the UK? 

I’m Emily and I’ve been working at Progeny for just over three years. When I originally started, I was based in the Nottingham office in a SASS pension’s admin role. I then moved into paraplanning, which involved me relocating to Leeds. I worked there for a year and then moved back to Nottingham for another year in the same role. Following that, I made the move to Singapore.  

What was your motivation for relocating to Singapore?  

For me it was mostly lifestyle, I’d already tried relocating from Nottingham to Leeds just because I wanted a change of scenery and I wanted to meet new people, to experience new things. Life brought me back to Nottingham and I wondered what was next for me. I really wanted to live overseas for a while and the opportunity came up for an international position. It wasn’t necessarily just for Singapore; it was more advertised as an international position that could be based in a few different offices. I really wanted to try it because I wanted to experience a new way of life that I probably couldn’t get in the UK. 

Did you have short or long-term aspirations to stay?  

When I was moving, it was quite important to me that I did commit for a minimum amount of time. This isn’t the case luckily, but if I’d have moved here and didn’t like it, I wanted to make sure that I gave it a fair chance regardless. I didn’t want to come out for just six months because there are a lot of things to organise before you move. As a baseline, I’ve said two years is a minimum as that is also the length of my work permit. In my mind’s eye, I’m seeing that when it gets to that two-year mark, I’ll have another think and decide if I want to stay or relocate. 

What were some of the biggest financial/legal considerations before making the move?

Initially it was relocation costs. I was renting at the time with a friend so I could quite easily leave that behind, but I needed to be sure that I could afford to physically move. Relocating involves spending time in a hotel at first which adds up. Finding an apartment before I moved would have been difficult because it’s hard to consider things that you don’t really know about yet such as bills and location. I spoke to a few people that already work in the office here to get a bit of a better idea of the cost of living and how much my financial outgoings could be. 

How did the move affect your tax position, and did you need to take any specific steps to stay compliant with the UK?

The only tax consideration for me was Income Tax. I moved to an internal Progeny position which is treated as continuous service. As I was paying my Income Tax via pay in the UK, I didn’t need to let any authority know personally – it’s all managed by the employer. When I moved over here, I became a tax resident for Singapore. 

For the first year in Singapore, I don’t need to pay tax because it’s paid in arrears. So that is something I’ve had to think about – calculating how much my tax will be and putting money aside so that when the bill comes up, I can pay it in one go if I want to. There is the option to pay in instalments, but I think for me personally I’d rather just get it paid in one.  

Did you seek any financial advice before relocating, or did you figure things out as you went? 

I was able to navigate it myself. Now that I’ve left the UK and I don’t have any UK based income, it’s been quite easy for me. For other people that may own properties in the UK, advice would be something that’s more important for them. I did seek a lot of general advice from people that lived here to find out how much things were, was I doing the right thing, and ensuring I wasn’t missing anything.  

I had a colleague in the office who went with me to appointments and supported with things I needed to do for my work permit, which really helped as well. 

How did you settle in initially in terms of finding accommodation, setting up essentials, schooling, healthcare and other systems? 

When I first got here, I lived in a hotel for three months. I had sold my car, sold a lot of my belongings and moved straight into a hotel with minimum possessions so that I could easily manoeuvre between places because I didn’t know exactly what I’d be doing. In the three months living in a hotel I used that time to find myself an apartment, which was fairly easy. The only thing is that the tenancies tend to be quite long here, normally a minimum of two years, so it was really important for me to take that time when I got here to assess where I’d want to be. In hindsight, I’m glad that I didn’t do all this before moving over because I could have ended up living in an area I didn’t want to live in.  

In Singapore, expats tend to live in Holland Village, River Valley, Robertson Quay or Clark Quay. They have private condos, flats or apartments with gyms, swimming pools, parking and access to other shared amenities. There are also HBD properties, which is the Housing and Development Board responsible for public housing. I believe expats can also rent those properties but there are some restrictions to this. 

I’m currently living in a Shophouse, which is a historic building that has been converted into individual flats with some shared facilities. We have a shared living room, kitchen and bathroom downstairs, but all apartments do have their own kitchen and bathrooms as well, so you get the best of both worlds there. I’ve not seen a single person in the house since I’ve moved in – everyone tends to stay in their own apartments, but it’s still pleasant. 

Singapore makes things very easy when you move, it’s very hard to stray from the process of how you’re meant to do things. It’s very clear cut how you move.  
Banking was fairly easy, although if you want to set up a bank account before you’ve had your work permits issued, it can be a little difficult with getting all the documentation together to take to your bank. It was manageable, but you do have to jump through a few hoops without the work permit. Phone contracts were also easy and I did that when I got here. Initially I used a tourist SIM card – it’s a bit more expensive but I did that for a month while I looked for a provider and set that up properly.  

In terms of healthcare, it’s incredibly easy here. I was shocked by the fact that you don’t need a GP – if I want to go to the doctors or dentist now, I can walk into any surgery without an appointment and see a doctor there and then. When I arrived, I had a full health check.  

Exercise is popular here – if you walk around the popular tourist spots, you always see people out running. There seems to be quite an emphasis on living a healthier lifestyle here. There are a lot of gyms to choose from and there are personal trainers in the area where you work too. You can throw a stone and you’ll hit a gym but be mindful the costs are quite high – it is more expensive than in the UK I would say. A good option that I explored when I first got here is a Class Pass that you pay for which enables you to go to fitness classes in the area at any gym, so you can try out lots of different places and see what’s best suited for you. I’ve got a couple now that I’m going to for different things. 

How does everyday life in Singapore compare financially to what you were used to in the UK? 

Rent is considerably higher than what I paid in Nottingham and Leeds for what you get. You could be looking at paying a lot of money for rent if you’re not happy to share. If you wanted to live alone in a condo that’s close by to everything, it will be expensive. I think you have to compromise and live a bit further out if you want more space. Space is a premium here, if you want to live in the centre of Singapore, it’s probably going to be quite a small place unless you’re happy spending a small fortune to match.

In terms of socialising, buying alcohol is more expensive compared to the UK, but the public transport is a lot cheaper and taxis are slightly cheaper than at home too. The public transport is very reliable and quick; it’s not a big place to travel through anyway. Even if you live far away, you can get to most places within an hour. I find there is quite a big variance in restaurant prices. A lot of people tend to get takeaway or eat out rather than cook at home because there are so many cheap options. Hawker Centres are open air food markets – they have so much choice and you can get a very affordable meal there, probably cheaper than what you could make at home if you bought the ingredients. I just have to consider the health implications of eating a lot of takeaways, because a lot of the choices aren’t the healthiest!

I would say that if I removed rent from the equation, then it’s almost cheaper for me personally to live here.  

What were the biggest cultural or lifestyle differences you had to adapt to? 

Culturally, Singapore is a very diverse place so it has been an easy transition. There are a lot of people living here from a many different cultures so there are lots of different foods, languages and religions. The biggest challenge for me has been the weather which has had a big impact to my life. During the middle of the day, it’s too hot and isn’t necessarily the nicest time to go out for a walk, so you need to plan your day around that. I’m not great at being in the sun, so I do avoid being outdoors in the hours between 11am and 3pm.  

Another thing that I love here is that they have these city links that run underneath the city as well as the MRT. If you’re walking around the city, a lot of the time, you can walk in a tunnel underground that’s air conditioned with shops, so if you’re out in the middle of the day, you don’t always have to be out in the blazing sun, which is really helpful. 

I love the food – the variation and what you can get. I also really like going out here, going out for meals and drinks. There are quite a lot of rules here and there’s some things that I guess people will call restrictions, but to me it is quite nice because you go out and it feels incredibly safe. I feel that I can go out any time of day or night walking on my own. I’ve not felt unsafe once here, so whilst there are some restrictions that are in place, I think the reward is that you’re in a very safe country and I love that. I love the fact that, I can just come home at midnight and walk home and not feel on edge. That’s something that I’ve really been enjoying. 

When you’re looking for somewhere to live, everywhere is a safe place to be here. It’s a great place for a woman to come. As I’ve come here alone, it was important that I found somewhere that I felt safe.  

Did your employer help with the relocation, did you find a new job? 

When I was moving here, I moved with the same company from one Progeny office to another. There were people in the UK supporting me with the initial stages like sorting out my contract, and then when it was set in stone that I was going to be moving I got put in touch with a people at the office in Singapore. 

I felt very comfortable to ask them any questions I had, and it’s nice to have someone to go to directly with any queries. There is a colleague here who has assisted with relocations many times; she’s helped people move here and helped people relocate back to the UK. She really knows her stuff and I felt like I could rely on her.

How different is the work culture in Singapore compared to the UK?

Work culture wise, largely it’s felt quite similar. The workday does tend to start a later here and end a bit later too. Due to the time zone differences of working with different offices, and Singapore being a much later time zone than in the UK, people do work later into the day.  

 As Progeny is mainly UK based, you do have to line up with what’s going on in the UK, which sometimes can be difficult. If you need to speak to someone in the UK, you have an hour window at the end of your day where you can, so trying to fit everything into that hour can be quite challenging. It just takes a bit more forward planning I’d say, and you do get used to it. You can’t just speak to someone in the UK at a drop of a hat, but I mostly work with people that are based here who are on the same time zone. 

How easy was it to build a network with expat groups? 

I have found it a lot easier than I thought to build a network and find friendships. When I got here, work was great and the people that I work with here have been really welcoming. We have a lot of social events and I think a lot of colleagues know I’m out here alone and make an effort to make sure I’m included in things which is great. It was also important for me to build a network outside of work as well, which I’ve started to do.

I have used an app called Bumble Bff where you can meet other people that are of a similar age looking to make friendships. I’ve used that and made quite a few friends – I just went to Bali with a friend that I’ve made here. Most of the people that I’ve met and spent time with outside of work are Singaporean, which has been really nice as well because they’ve been able to show me the ropes. I’ve people here to be very welcoming, but you do have to put yourself out of your comfort zone, people aren’t just going to come and find you and befriend you. You must go to events and things like that, which I have been doing. 

Where are the key travel destinations in Singapore? 

Singapore is a great city. There are lots of places to go out, eat and drink. The restaurants are amazing. I personally have been wanting to do lots of travelling and there’s lots of places you can go within a couple of hours flight from here. I’m also trying to save some of the most touristy things for when people come out to visit me. 

At the weekends I’m going to different places, planning lots of trips like Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. If you’ve not got anything to do at the weekend, you can just hop on a ferry and go to an Indonesian island for a change of scenery. I’m going to go to Australia over Christmas, which is still a 6-7 hour flight, but it’s a lot less than it was before. We’re right in the middle here. There’s lots to do in Singapore as well. There’s lots of open spaces, lots of places to go for walks. I’m just trying to see as many places as I can at the moment. 

 
Is Singapore a good place to bring up a family, and if so, what makes it a great place for kids?  

From what I’ve seen, it seems like a great place to bring kids up. I visited Tanglin School recently and that’s just incredible. It’s of such a high calibre and everyone is so welcoming. I think it’d be a good to come with a family, with lots of activities and events geared towards that lifestyle. 

Is there anything you wish you had known before making the move?

I think I wouldn’t have got rid of all my winter clothes, which I did before I moved here. I just have summer clothes and nothing for colder climates – I want to go to Japan but have nothing to wear for the climate there so will have to buy all new things. 

I would really emphasise that it was so beneficial for me not to choose where I was renting before I moved here. I think the time in a hotel, as annoying as it was at times, really benefited me in the long run. I think if I’d committed to living somewhere when I hadn’t been here, I would have made a very different decision than the one I’ve made now, which I’m really happy with.  

What advice would you give to someone thinking of relocating like you did? 

I would advise, especially if you’re on your own, to be prepared to put yourself out there if you want to meet people. It’s not necessarily like some other countries that you go to where there might be loads of events; you do have to go and seek it out and you will have to put your best foot forward to try and meet people.  

Would you consider relocating to a different part of the world again, or is that you settled, maybe thinking about returning to the UK? 
I definitely would, I don’t think everywhere would be as easy as Singapore. I think I took a small step because some countries I think you would need to be a more prepared than what I’ve had to be. But 100% yes, I would consider it and I feel much better equipped now and a bit more confident if I’m honest than before I moved. I wasn’t sure how hard it would feel, but it’s going well. It’s going better than I thought it would three months in, so I would certainly do it again.