So I got The Call.

I will soon be moving up. But I was asked if I can move to Singapore. I said I did the math and there is no way in this world I would be able to afford to send my children to school there on a single income. Housing costs are way above my head too. I told my boss I can travel to Singapore every other week but I can’t leave my kids here and be fulltime in Singapore. I would lose custody of them because the court may decide that they will be better off living with their dad, who remains unemployed and still sponging off his 89-year-old dad.

My colleague in Singapore and I did the math. It’s like the tuition is USD 2k a month per child (minimum) then housing is shared (and I don’t know what quality of life we’ll have sharing a house with another family) at USD 2k = USD 6k already just for tuition and housing. This does not include utilities, transportation, food, healthcare and miscellaneous items (clothing, school materials etc). I won’t be saving anything. We won’t even qualify for public school admittance there. Private schools are about an average of SGD 40,000 (USD 30,000) per child a year.

Singapore makes no bones about the fact that it puts its own people first — as such, school placements are offered initially to citizens, then to PRs, and finally to non-PR foreigners. Furthermore, unlike citizens and PRs, foreigners cannot request a particular school — essentially, you’ll take what you’re given (if you’re lucky enough to be offered a place at all). And if you’re not happy with the offer made? Or you feel that there was a mistake made somewhere along the way? Too bad. There is no review or appeals process available. As we might say to our own children, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset…”

All applications are made through the Ministry of Education (MOE) which is somewhat tight-lipped on what proportion of its annual submissions are successful. According to the most recent figures, between 3000–3500 foreigners applied in 2016 and, while the numbers aren’t official, the available information indicates that about one third of applicants are given places.

SchoolViews

Local school fees for foreigners range from $6,000 to nearly $10,000 annually.

“I understand if schools have no vacancies for foreigners. But it would have been better if they stated the criteria more clearly,” she said...

Since 2014, International Education Placement and Services has even stopped trying to help clients enrol in local schools. Instead, it diverts them to international schools. “We are getting more frustrated parents, usually from China and the Philippines, who cannot afford international schools,” said its director Kenneth Choo.

Singapore Straits Times

Why even bother move there? What I’m receiving now is minuscule to whatever my boss is probably getting but I still manage to save a lot.

My colleague said, why do you even need to be here anyway? I said, boss said they need to someone to watch over the bureau. Then my colleague said, “Watch over what? Coverage? Employees? I’m the only one here!”

Exactly, I said. I don’t even have to be there everyday.

She said, “XXX the editor of XXX is actually in KL the whole year…He’s under SG contract and got PR (permanent resident) last year).”

I said, I will cite that example to management. There is little reason for me to be there. I can pack all the meetings and housekeeping duties and coverage during the weeks I’m in Singapore and the rest of the work I can do remotely here in Manila. Besides, my coverage is no longer just Singapore–it’s all over Southeast Asia and I’ve been doing it remotely since the beginning of time. It requires more travel outside Singapore. The reason why we are required to station ourselves in Singapore is because the regional offices of banks and law firms are there. The private equity offices are there. But the people from these firms don’t even stay in Singapore all the time. They travel a lot.

If push comes to shove, they should get another manager who is single, willing to relocate to Singapore, and suffer the high cost of living without the expat package. Plus willing to bear the regular stress of having your employment pass rejected by the Ministry of Manpower. My colleague’s E-Pass renewal application this year got rejected and we had to appeal. Good thing she’s already a CFA, which is a plus point for her, and finally she was able to renew her E-Pass. But it was a stressful time for everybody.

And I can run the bureau from my office here. As I always have.