Can't Keep My Mouth Shut - 7 Years of Singapore: Pros & Cons of Expat Life

Episode Date: October 16, 2023

It was a life I was absolutely not prepared for.  And I'm so glad! ​For more awesome content to read including beauty, fashion or dating & love features, please do head over to my digital platform www.nixalina.com. Don't be shy, come say hai! Head over to my Instagram or Tiktok to slide into my DMs.  

This podcast contains strong language and discussions about relationships, sex and love. It may not be suitable for younger listeners. This is the Can't Keep My Mouth Shut podcast and I am Nixalina. Hi, it's Nixalina and I've been thinking about doing this episode for ages and I don't know why I've left it so long. But here we are, finally. It is called Seven Years of Singapore, Pros and Cons of Expat Life. Now, the reason I've chosen now to do it is actually because I was listening to the radio not so long ago, and I heard about this TikTok video that went viral, and it was titled Best Thing About Singapore. It was uploaded by an account called BrandonDuel1. And basically,

a Singaporean girl said, I don't like anything about my country. He's interviewing her and she basically responds like, go there for a holiday. But like, nah, don't move there. And, you know, it's now gone viral. It's now in like the media. I think it's in Mothership and it's been talked about on the radio. And now I'm like, do you know what? Now is a good time to discuss my experience living here because she definitely says very clearly holidays fine don't move there she said I just don't like anything about my country which is quite a strong statement girl like you know United Kingdom we got our faults but I still love Britain I love you guys I like being English um I like a pint I like our pubs I like our countryside I just feel like saying I don't

like anything about my country it's such a strong strong hard hateful thought process and I wanted to now share with Singapore and the expat community the pros and cons I felt um living here as an expat so let's start with should we do cons or pros what do we reckon let's start with cons shall we let's get the shit out of the way first okay first major con leaving your family this has nothing to do with singapore this is expat life in general when you emigrate you go and you leave your family it's sad it sucks i'm 7 000 miles away from my loved ones and my best friends who i grew up with my niece is now six i haven't been able to get to one of her birthdays not one my nephew is now two i didn't see her birth i didn't see his

berth. I wasn't around because I'm 7,000 miles away. I don't have the money to fly back eight, nine times a year. Those flights ain't fun. Even Christmas flights, oh, they are expensive. So leaving your family, it just fucking sucks. Nothing to do with Singapore, just expat life in general. Obviously, if I moved somewhere closer, like, I don't know, Barcelona or Copenhagen, it would be much, much, much easier, much cheaper to go back and see my family. But of course, I flew across the world, didn't I? YOLO. The next major point for the con here is cost of living. But actually not. See, the issue, my main issue is the rent. But we've all been hit with the rent inflation um in the last what year and a half maybe just before year and a half the rent is

through the roof and we all know it's um but the actual cost of living it's I mean I went back to the UK this summer and I was like fuck me like Singapore is kind of cheaper like honestly I'm not like eating out, drinking. I'm so shocked. Cabs. I got one cab home from my girlfriend's house to my parents' house. And I was staying there this summer, 20 pound for a 10 minute journey. And it wasn't even early hours. It was 10pm. I was like, what? And everything I now mentally convert back into Singapore dollars. So I was like, what the hell? So, and also, of course it depends where you go right if you eat at certain places if you take a cab everywhere if you buy your groceries from special places yeah that the actual cost of living is high

if you take the MRT if you go enjoy the like oh that multitude of incredible hawkers here fucking love I love chicken rice oh I love it so much I wish it wasn't so full of calories if I'm honest but bloody love it so yeah if you go if you walk everywhere I walk to work every day and I walk home so that's that kind of cost of living is low but generally that maybe the rent that's kind of it's not fun at the moment it never used to be this way and now it's like survival mode current but that's a con that's currently it's not been like a generic con of Singapore. Another issue I'd say is the cost of healthcare, but that's only because I'm personally used to the NHS. Of course, the NHS, if you don't know, in the United Kingdom is free.

We get free healthcare. Here, you don't, right? So unless you have your medical insurance as a package in your job, I have to personally get private healthcare insurance, so it's expensive. And I'm just not used to it. But also, that's not a Singapore thing. Loads of countries have it, right? That's just an expat from United Kingdom having to actually pay for her healthcare. Hi, it's me. I'm the problem. Singapore, another con I'd say, Singapore is quite small in size. The small in size means, of course, it's like a very small community. I seem to be going to the same places, see the same faces. It's the same expats, the same locals, and it just feels very small. Also, just logistically as an island, we're small. We are small. I do prefer a place that's

more bustling, that's in and out just to meet more people, but that's just how I am. There's lots of people that love that small community vibe and it makes you feel that you belong somewhere. Another con is your friends leaving. Once again, not a Singapore issue. It's an expat issue. When you're an expat, if you make friends with people, they come and go, they leave, they immigrate back, they move to another country. It's just part of the fluidity and the aspect of being an expat. also as we all know expats here we work on employment passes if you lose your job or the employment pass is revoked or whatever you you can't stay here lots of people leave because they have to because they can't legally work here so when your friends come and go it is it's very

difficult to feel settled and secure and stable if people are leaving your life you have to really really get used to saying goodbye which is something I really struggle with um I don't like change I really don't like change I hate it it unsettles me and I know the only thing that we can guarantee in life is things change I get it but I don't like it all right please don't leave anyone um I would say one of the main issues here um the biggest con is dating dating fucking sucks but you know what once again not really a Singapore issue it just so happens that the fucking men here are like 80% nobs. Not a Singapore issue. It's not like Singapore said we'll only cultivate morons. No, no, no. It's just, I don't know why it happens, but it

does. And I hear horror stories upon horror stories upon horror stories. The dating men is it's just awful here let me just take a moment example when I used to live in London I could not go out without being chatted up anywhere any bar any place like loads all night long just was how it was here it just doesn't happen this is not in the same way it's very strange and because Singapore is so small like lots of the single men you'll find out there's like two degrees of separation they slept with someone you know or they started to date someone you know or oh heaven forbid like what I've experienced they really really like Orchard Towers I should I should say did like Orchard Towers because it doesn't exist anymore

so yeah dating not a vibe I'm sorry it's not a vibe it's not a vibe but then if you go online and you do a little like you know research which is what I always do before episodes you'll realize lots of people say the same so there's New York women leaving New York because they say the dating's fucking terrible they actually they're emigrating away and the same we say Sydney they're like dating here is diabolical I'd never date an Australian guy from Sydney no I'm looking elsewhere so is it actually that we all just struggle with this idea that there's better elsewhere is that the issue or is it there are certain cities globally that are you know the major cities that are renowned for this this and this which also brings in the

kind of dickhead that means dating's bad you see what I mean it's a complex issue another con and i'd say my final con and it's once again not really related to singapore is this just an underlying niggling feeling that like when you're an expat do i is there a shelf life to this am i here for life or is it gonna at some point come to the end i did think when i moved it i'd be here for about 12 months and I'd go. 2024 would be my eighth year. So jokes on me because Nick Selina came. No, that would be a nice 12 months. No, not leaving ever. And on that point, it's a good move to the pros of living here, of which there's loads. Firstly, the weather. Oh my God, I love the weather. I know loads of, every time I get a cab, uncle will say to me, ah, so hot, so hot.

And I'm like, yeah, but I love it. Oh no, it's too hot. No, no, no. I love it. We Brits, we don't like our freezing cold winter. And once again, it's an idolization of what you don't have. I know loads of Singaporeans are like, I would love winter. Oh my God, snow. All of my friends were like, oh, I wish I had snow. Yeah. But you've also got to contend with five months of miserable, grey, wet, freezing cold weather. You wake up, it's dark. You go to bed, it's dark. Like, I used to wake up five, six in the morning. It's just dark. By the time you get to work, work of nine to five, you leave at 5pm, it's already dark. Right? Obviously here, sunset and sunrise never changes. And you have a glorious, beautiful, sunny weather. Oh,

love it. Love, love, love, love, love. Another pro is the finances. As we're all aware, it's a very low tax space here. And yeah, I can't pretend that that's not a plus. It's bloody good. And it also, I mean, yes, we do need an EP and that is getting harder and harder, I think, for people to get EPs. But if you do manage to get one, and yeah, it's such a great perk. I mean, you're looking at what tax in the UK, if you go over a certain salary, it's like 40%. I think Australia, 50%. That's half of your wage, just gone. So yeah, it's such a huge plus point to live here and the other big big one is the safety you can't underestimate how important the safety aspects of living here is I love it and I go back to the UK and I'm like

so on edge because I realize I live in this incredible safe environment and it's just not normal especially not in like the heart of London here you just I can leave my bag leave my phone go out chat to people I I can walk home at any hour of the night and I have such a low anxiety chilled life living you you just can't underestimate it because when I lived in London and if I walked home at like eight nine o'clock at night I am clutching onto that bag and I'm looking around me every two seconds if I hear footsteps or seeing someone walk behind me I'm thinking am I being followed it it's very stressful it's very stressful so yeah safety love it can't I just I can't say how great it is enough to have that inner peace where you feel safe and I know

crimes happen here I'm not an idiot but what I'm saying is just in comparison to where I used to live, this is just another world. And it really, really is a game changer for your day-to-day living. Another aspect that I love is how multicultural it is. I remember when I moved here and I was just mesmerized and I marveled at everything. I went to Chinatown, I went into Little India, I went to all the hawkers I could, I was exploring anywhere I could go, taking MRTs to random places and just I just adore how multicultural it is I think it's absolutely beautiful I love to go in all of the temples and just yeah I just get to know I love to get to know people love to talk to people and backgrounds fascinate me and the fact that Singapore has

managed to create this incredible space where we can all live in harmony together I love it I love love, love it. And it also means you get to try loads of different yummy foods, which is another plus point. The food is incredible. It's a bit spicy because I'm obviously a little wallflower when it comes to spice. Like even if they put too many chilies in a Thai green curry, I'm like crying. And my body will hate me for it the next day. I love the taste of it I just can't handle it but yeah the multicultural side love I'm not saying like you know other places don't have that I know London's very multicultural now and all that jazz but I for me it's just a beautiful perk of Singapore um the other major one of course is travel

Singapore is so conveniently located um two hours at Bali hour Vietnam um, uh, our, it's so incredibly close to all of these other awesome cities. So you can just experience and travel loads, which is fantastic. I know as well in the UK, you can like Eurostar to Paris. I used to love doing that. You can two hours flight, two hours flight from the UK. You're in Rome. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. But it's just, Singapore just seems to be such an, like a great melting pot where you just can move freely in between and experience all of these cool places like for weekends you know I love that like Friday night off I go Bali hi or Phuket hi back Sunday ready for work Monday done. My other final pro is how convenient everything is because

obviously I was thinking about traveling and how convenient traveling is and actually everything here is convenient you know Changi airport is my favorite airport in the world I you just everything so quick you turn up the like especially obviously having my passport with my EP I can just go for automated service bags usually there every minute it's like one or two times I've waited half hour for my bag but everything is so efficient and so convenient and but living here is so convenient everywhere seems to be pretty close in comparison to like you know getting cabs or getting the MRT the MRT is so convenient so easy to use yeah you get very spoiled living here as a human that's how I feel and me yeah it makes it very hard to ever want to leave and you know why should we want to

leave. And on that note, that is my very, very loose pros and cons list. There's so much I've not included, but mainly because I'm aware that this would be an hour long episode. There's also lots of pros and cons that are personal to me that I know aren't applicable to like majority of expats kind of vibe but yeah I like there is so much more happiness and pros and cons that pros and there are cons to being here and I like yeah there is a reason that I am now moving into my eighth year and the pull and the sadness of being away from my family is high strong it's high and especially during COVID it was really high but it's obviously not overridden all of the pros of me of how I feel living in Singapore and how lucky I feel it makes me feel very lucky

and happy and privileged to be here and I wake up every day and I'm like oh look at my I'm just blessed. I mean, one final personal pro is Gizmo. My second non-born cat is Singaporean. I adopted her from Yishun. She was found under a car, abandoned, covered in fleas and mites with a broken towel. And she's the best thing that ever happened to me ever. So yeah, she's my huge pro. My little Singaporean fur baby. I love her so much. Anyway, I digress. We are done with this episode. I would love to hear your thoughts on the below. Do you agree? Do you not agree? Have you got any feedback for me? Is there any places you want me to go and explore? Yeah, I'm up. I'm all ears. I'm all ears. I've done the night safari, I think about 20 billion

times I love it so much happy to go back anyone wants to do the night safari with me holla okay it's one of my favorite places or a McRitchie Reservoir nature walk oh if I could move to McRitchie Reservoir and just live with the monkeys with my cats I would I think I would have made it I would have won at life hopefully it's lower rent than what I'm paying now and on that note thank you so much for listening and I will see you guys next week thanks for listening to the can't keep my mouth shut podcast produced and hosted by me nick selena i'm recorded in the splice car studios in singapore i'm available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and all major podcast listening apps. Do subscribe to

enjoy a new episode every Monday evening. Please do give me a five-star review. It helps other people also find my podcast. For more content and features to read, you can check out my website, nixalina.com that's nixalina.com i'm also on social media simply search at nixalina n-i-x-a-l-i-m-a to find me don't be shy come say hi