I've HAD IT with Hong Kong... Advice? Wanna move to Singapore.

[LaowaiLulu]

Let's get one thing straight, the people of Singapore speak a bastardized version of English, many will refer to it as Singlish. My nephew grew up there, yes is currently finishing his national service, and went to some of the more elite schools over there, and even in those schools you are taught to pronounce 'three' as 'tree' and will pull you up for it if you insist it is incorrect. Learning Mandarin can be difficult as they mix it a lot with other dialects of China.

Climate-wise, this is down to the individual. For me, and for many Singaporeans, it's too hot and you remain indoors. One thing I really do not like about Singapore, like about HK, is that they openly discriminate against people they deem as a lower class. A lot of their manual labour is outsourced to people from Malaysia, who they deem as inferior, which has lead to decades of tradition of trying to keep a pale complexion and not letting their children play in the sun.


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The English CAN'T be worse than the southern US English... Which, unfortunately for my daughter, is the one used at home

Here discrimination is bad too... The flight attendants from the Mainland get paid LESS than their Hongkonese counterparts... My apartment has a tiny closet with a half inch mattress, a light bulb and a little fan (no AC), where you are supposed to store your helper at night (of course we would never give it that use). I've seen plenty of women here with umbrellas during sunny days....

And I'd much rather put up with heat than pollution....

[snoopy1234]

Learning Mandarin in Singapore is a joke, most Chinese cannot speak Mandarin

[bookblogger]

Learning Mandarin in Hong Kong is a joke too, it's not the native language!

[Mat]

The English CAN'T be worse than the southern US English... Which, unfortunately for my daughter, is the one used at home

Here discrimination is bad too... The flight attendants from the Mainland get paid LESS than their Hongkonese counterparts... My apartment has a tiny closet with a half inch mattress, a light bulb and a little fan (no AC), where you are supposed to store your helper at night (of course we would never give it that use). I've seen plenty of women here with umbrellas during sunny days....

And I'd much rather put up with heat than pollution....

I don't quite care abt the HK SIN debate since I could live in both and I can see the appeal (and issues) of both but what's the issue w women and umbrella on sunny days? It is to protect from the sun....while I found it a bit odd at first, have to admit...better that than skin cancer. As for sunscreen, some use, some don't.

Ps my recommendation is IF you go to SIN go with open mind and don't expect miracles. If you put too much hopes into the move and finally it ain't quite what you expected....u may be in for a bad surprise.

On a side note if you think HK treats its helpers badly, you will be in for a surprise in Singapore (sadly).




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[East_coast]

Original Post Deleted

Perhaps the OP should move to Tin Shui Wai as Mandarin seems to be the lingua franca in that part of Hong Kong

Perhaps the aversion to suntans is the reason the President Xi so detests umbrellas as it goes against his proletariat view of the world.

Anyway a pretty picture of a woman with a parasol. Hope not to offend

[Elegiaque]

Have you considered Taipei? Perhaps that might have more of the benefits you're looking for and might be easier. You could easily work, if you became interested, as a part time teacher, too.

But, I actually gather that I'm a bit older than you, and even if you move if you feel it's necessary, you should really keep in mind that everywhere has it's drawbacks and upsides (like HK_Katherine pointed out). You can go to really nice, well developed, wealthy countries, but you'll still get sick of one thing or another after a few years. There's no utopia.

In the mean time, take full advantage of your close proximity to South Lantau and go have a drink at High Tide on the beach. Kick back and forget about pollution for a bit and just soak in that amazing scenery!

[Dankleness]

Taipei (and Taiwan's) Mandarin is closest to Northern China, Beijing's / Harbin's Mandarin, regarded as most standard. I found it all coming back to me in Taipei, where as I certainly didn't feel that in Singapore. But yes you can certainly learn it there. Why not just check it out for a month or so in Singapore (if affordable), do you have to make a big go decision all at once? Could try to find some Airbnb spot or something. Have you made any good friends here that you wouldn't want to miss if you left? Do you really plan to settle in Singapore as well? I cant see settling in either of these two cities for life...

[HK_Katherine]

Maybe you should just change your name to "Singapore Hater".. Lol

SIN is a LOT like HK (see all reasons above), but with nicer environment and SIGNIFICANTLY less pollution, and they speak English AND Mandarin. Cost is not the reason for moving out, but the cheaper housing is still an advantage.
Also IT IS CLOSE enough to HK that my husband can keep his work here and not alter his schedule that much (he had a similar commute in the US).

Tell me of a better place and I'll consider it. To me, it sounds like you keep trying to make Singapore sound like a bad choice no matter what I say.

Singapore is NOTHING like HK. Chalk and Cheese. Scary if you think they are similar!

[Cho-man]

Seriously, don't bother replying to him. This sad fella has a long, storied and completely pathetic history of inventing arguments with anyone in order to get attention on this forum. His last user account was banned when he finally went off the deep end... it's just a matter of time before it happens again.

Uh-eh, I was merely pointing out some inaccuracies in the OP's statements and that makes me argue on and on? Um...I don't recall making personal remarks against you, but you don't seem to have a problem making insults against me? Guess I will have to have a chat with the mod about you then (as well the post from TB too)....

[Liked]

I am a bloke, and I often use umbrellas in summer. It's not to protect my skin, but to lower the temperature. It makes a very big difference. You should try it.

The problem in HK is that trees seem to be the enemy no. 1, and all trees are cut whenever possible. This of course increases the temperature, as the sun bounces off the pavement. Using an umbrella is the most obvious thing to do, and if I look funny or ridiculous, so be it.