If you had a choice: HK or Singapore ?

freeier · 28-10-2006, 01:07 AM

talking about healthcare, that is somethign i'd rather trust singapore again. cost aside, at least i don't feel too threatened when i bring my baby to a sg hospital.

the thing that's bad about singapore and i can't stand is the control of the media, and the passiveness of people...

z754103 · 28-10-2006, 01:13 AM

Originally Posted by expat sam:

7 days in a row?? HK required law?? This is the first i've heard of this! Maybe it differs from divisions - but in IBD, you're lucky to get 5 days in a row before being called back to duty... however, you can roll over your remaining leave and it gets paid out if and when you do leave.

Not a HK legal requirement, but many financial regulators around the world regulate that staff in specific sectors need to take a full working week's vacation out of the office each year, as they believe that this will help uncover any fraudalent practices more easily (as in it's hard to keep something covered up if you're not there for 5 working days).

z754103 · 28-10-2006, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by freeier:

talking about healthcare, that is somethign i'd rather trust singapore again. cost aside, at least i don't feel too threatened when i bring my baby to a sg hospital.

..

Threatened in what way? And are you comparing like with like, in generalization about the health systems, as the underlying approaches of both are very different?

freeier · 28-10-2006, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by z754103:

Not a HK legal requirement, but many financial regulators around the world regulate that staff in specific sectors need to take a full working week's vacation out of the office each year, as they believe that this will help uncover any fraudalent practices more easily (as in it's hard to keep something covered up if you're not there for 5 working days).

i'm not too sure about this.
my company just circulated something that took off our previous requirement of 10 continuous days of leave (company policy) and said that as long as we follow the hk labour department's requirement of 7 days consecutive leave its fine.

i am surprised by this. i agree with 754103 that its usually the company with the internal requirement.

freeier · 28-10-2006, 10:38 AM

as in the overall state of hospital ? not that i been to many of them...
but experience so far hasn't been too good. and that's at a pte hospital. heard more horror stories on public hospitals though

disclaimer : other than 1 own visit the rest are heard information.

NickN · 28-10-2006, 01:41 PM

Seems unlikely you can get a valuable answer to your question asking a group of Hong Kongers! The sample ensures a bias!

JonnyC · 28-10-2006, 03:09 PM

I had this choice to make at the end of March and I chose HK. I was really geared up for a move to Singapore as I'd visited a couple of times and a position came up with my company. However, the HR people in Singapore spent so long putting an offer together that I applied for a job in HK and here I am.

I should say though, the HK job paid a lot more than the Singapore one (the company offered me a transfer to Sin but after I told them I was quitting to go to HK they made me an offer but wanted me to take a significant pay-cut and work on a local salary, yeah that's really going to convince me to stay!!) so that was the big deciding factor. I'd never been to HK before and had been to Singapore so all things being equal I probably would have chosen Singapore simply because it was familiar and I do like it there.

Looking back now I've been in HK a while, and disregarding the money factor, I think I made the right choice. The weather here will definately suit me more in the winter than it would in singapore as I'm from the land without sun.

The one good thing about Singapore or HK is that they're both very accessible to SE Asia which was a big reason I wanted to work in either. Plenty of cheap airlines from singapore or HK (or macau) can get you all over Asia and if you're a traveller like me that's really good.

Oh, and go to cuisine cuisine restaurant in IFC if you want good dim sum

Sino Defender · 30-10-2006, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by freeier:

talking about healthcare, that is somethign i'd rather trust singapore again. cost aside, at least i don't feel too threatened when i bring my baby to a sg hospital.

the thing that's bad about singapore and i can't stand is the control of the media, and the passiveness of people...

are you originally from singapore? forgive me if i am wrong. i am just making a guess, but u do talk like you are from singapore.

in hk, public hospitals are actually better than their private counterparts because they get more funding from the government. plus, you get free service.

i dun have problems with hk's medical services, and to me, they are excellent and are not much different from the us.

freeier · 30-10-2006, 12:26 PM

yes i am from singapore but i do think i view more from a strict merit than with nationalistic bias.

free medical is not available to foreigners btw, so say all you want.
most of the foreign employees are provided with medical coverage anyway...

anyway, the few doctors that i brought my baby to see in hk, listed by people in the forum as being good, are just not up to my definition of good standard. the level of communication between doctor and patience is just not there.

Sino Defender · 30-10-2006, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by freeier:

yes i am from singapore but i do think i view more from a strict merit than with nationalistic bias.

free medical is not available to foreigners btw, so say all you want.
most of the foreign employees are provided with medical coverage anyway...

anyway, the few doctors that i brought my baby to see in hk, listed by people in the forum as being good, are just not up to my definition of good standard. the level of communication between doctor and patience is just not there.

what do you mean level of communication? dude, it's hong kong, and english is not most people's first language. i am sure u'll have a much harder time communicating with a japanese doctor than a hk one. that being said, it has nothing to do with the quality of MEDICAL service they provide tho.

just so u know, a lot of doctors recommended by insurance companies have contracts with them that prevent them from using expensive drugs or costly medical examinations. these things were brought up on news a month or so ago.

u might be better off going to a public hospital or a doctor on your own expense if you are looking for the best service.