Which is better, Singapore or London?

[anon82896043]

Thoughts on which is better for standard of living, quality of live, disposable income and outdoor activities

London Vs Singapore

[Jeannie_Milne]

Singapore's personal tax is low. Disposable income will depend on the standard of apartment you go for (modest or a high end condo) and where you like to eat out (hawker centre or fancy restaurants). Outdoor activities are common: dragon boating teams, bootcamp, beach volleyball at Sentosa, netball...heaps of team sports - both social & competitive.
Life is pretty easy - everything works. Public transport is a breeze. Eating is the national sport - so many places to eat - all price ranges. Bad food joints don't last more than 5 mins so the quality & variety is amazing. There are heaps of really highly rated cocktail bars, with more popping up each week.

[Jon_Tanner]

Much of this is subjective and will depend greatly on your personal circumstance. My personal view is that Singapore would surpass London on most measures of living standards and quality. However, if you love expensive cars, don't like hot, humid weather, and have a lot of school age children your cost of living will be high and you won't like the climate.

1. Rent is high in both places but the tax rates in SG are much lower
2. Standard of education and medical care in SG are very high, but expensive. This may be a consideration if you have a family of school-age children as the public system is not easily accessible unless you are PR or a citizen.
3. The public transport (and taxi) system in Singapore is excellent, cheap, and commutes are relatively short. Getting to and from most popular residential areas to the city typically takes 15-40 minutes door to door.
4. Singapore has been consistently voted as having the best airport in the world which is great if you travel a lot for work or play. It typically takes less than 15 minutes to clear customs from stepping off the plane.
5. If you love cars you will get a shock in Singapore. They are very, very expensive here because of Government tax and registration aimed at minimising cars on the road (starting at circa 60K SGD before the car cost). They also scrap cars when they turn 10 years old - but give you some money back on your "COE" if you are still holding the car at that point. The island is only 50km by 28km so really they are not a necessary item for most. Interestingly SG does appear to have a very high concentration of Ferrari's and Lamborgini's.
6. Singapore is a very green and leafy place and the temperature varies little all year. typically the daily range is between 28 and 32 C during the day and between 23 and 26C overnight all year round. It is very humid so you will also likely spend plenty of time in the pool.
7. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits is that you can get amazing live-in domestic help for your family at a very reasonable cost. Great if you have very young children and you and your partner both work, or one of you has to travel a lot with work.
8. It is an amazing food city and the last five years in particular have seen a massive influx in investments in great bars and restaurants. Scores of rooftop bars, dozens of high-end restaurants.
9. It is officially a fairly conservative place but not without plenty of edge. The general rule is don't do drugs, be racist or hurt other people, or their property and you can pretty much get on with what-ever you want.

Hopefully that is a helpful start. All the main rankings are here although again subjective and based on assumed circumstances: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_Singapore

[Cecilia_Cebada]

Singapore is very very safe, outdoors is possible if you don't mind the heat or if you choose the perfect time of the day to do it - early morning, evenings. It is expensive but I'm not sure compared to UK what the difference would be. People in Singapore are extreamly fiendly and there is a big expat community which makes change very easy. Quality of life is great. If you like traveling SG is a great base to move around Asia

[Nicola_Paolo_Savoia]

Hi Marissa. I have lived for 7 years in London and I am about to approach my 6th in Singapore (and was supposed to be a 12 months assignment). As you can guess, I decided to stay because life here, in my opinion of a much higher standard that London, if you like outdoors activities and tropical climate. You can go to the beach every day of the year, besides wake-boarding and/or travel during the weekends. Here it's all year summer. I got sick 3 times in 6 years. I personally would say there is no comparison specifically compared to the fact you only pay up to a max of 15% of Income Tax (or less), but all comes at a price, and Singapore it can be expensive, if you like to drink and go out. Hence all goes back to what you might earn In Singapore and what is your current life-style in London. FYI, I work in the recruitment Industry, (IT) and the government has put some restrictions on hiring foreigners this year, so before you resign or leave your job make sure you have a work visa approved.

[Jonathan_Yap]

Was expat on both location so I can share my experience. (5 years in London and 3 years and counting in Singapore. 20 in Malaysia before that)

Culture
Nothing beats culture in London when you have the best museums and tourist destination in the world. Although there has been a huge surge of investment in the cultural aspect of Singapore. A lot more investment on the entertainment side and bringing in shows to keep Singapore happy and culturally invested. It's a top destination in Asia, however it will come as a cost. My preferences would still be London on this one. I do miss the weekend to the natural history museum. Huge multi racial community and a mix of nationality makes Singapore diverse, so it's a welcoming place. However it is a conservative country by nature so things like LGBT community is present but suppressed. There are some racism even though people don't admit it, but it's usually not too serious. I give more points to London on this one.

Food and drinks
It's great and one of the most open and easiest to integrate for an expat in South East Asia. Food is affordable and in abundance, you'll find that people here really love their food. Great food can be found at hawker centres (local food court) at a low price but you can also find most international cuisines else where. One thing London has access to its great variety of cheese, wine, European cuisine in the grocery stores (Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, etc) you can still buy them here in Singapore but most of these ingredients do come at a higher cost. Singapore have heavy tax on alcohol so normal beers are comparible to London's even after conversion. Pub crawls are better in London but club scene and raves are pretty insane over here.

Transport
Singapore kill it by a long shot. I don't miss this TFL tube strike and the nightmare commuting to work. In the island (SG), everything is effective and transport time are mostly accurate to the minute. Everywhere is accessible by public transport either by MRT (train) or busses or taxis. Local startup Grab has been waging war with Uber here so lots of great deal for consumers. London has awesome flight and train link to Europe but Singapore has great link to Asia. The latter is usually cheaper as travel destination is great when you're stacking the Singapore dollar against other currencies.

Outdoor activities
I do miss the Hyde Park and Greenwich a lot but not the weather. Singapore being on the equator means you get humidity, rain, and sun. The first is the killer but once you get pass it, it's great. East coast park is comparible to Hyde Park if not better because of the government funding that goes into them. Around the national stadium, the Singapore government invest huge amount of money into it, turning the area into a giant sports hub. You get free access to tons of facility like running track, basketball courts, indoor arenas... some you pay (small amount) there are tons to do outdoor but it just takes a little more effort to find them.

Living and Driving
Same as London, the biggest cost here is property. Space is a much higher commodity in Singapore so don't expect huge living space unless you are prepared to pay for it or travel. The little red dot does have one of the most efficient public transport so the government actively discourage driving. One way to do it is make driving an insanely expensive investment. Think 3-5x the amount you pay for a car as you would in London. Not much reason to drive in both cities anyway unless you're used to life in Greater London and beyond.

Income
I left this last because it really depends what you do. However you do pay way less tax in Singapore. As a citizen outside of the EU (or now U.K.), I don't miss paying national insurance which I don't get access to most benefits other than the limited NHS. Being the financial hub is south east Asia, Singapore has the opportunity to offer the best pay around. More so if you are in the financial sector. Tech and startup community is still growing but lots of investment coming in to the area, if you have stong skill set and experience to back, there's no shortage of jobs in the tech scene. However don't expect it to be as mature as London. I'm in the tech scene and comparing to London, I can actually live off my income while supporting my wife comfortably.

Ask around and do visit Singapore to see it for yourself. Experience may differ but it's really up to you on what you are looking for.