(Updated: Jan 12, 1994) CONTENTS: ========= 0. Disclaimer and notes 1. General information on Singapore 2. Singapore's Internet connection 3. Visiting Singapore 4. Working in Singapore - Information sources 5. Working and living in Singapore - Requirements and realities 6. Driving licences, Passports, exit permits and national service * 7. Electrical and electronic equipment in Singapore * 8. Getting in touch with Singaporeans electronically 0. DISCLAIMER AND NOTES ======================== This file can be obtained from the anonymous ftp site at ntuix.ntu.ac.sg (155.69.1.5) in the ntu directory (sporefaq.txt). The information provided in this article should be used at your own discretion and risk. No claims are made as to its validity or accuracy. However, whenever applicable, I have indicated the original source of information. If I have missed acknowledging any source, please let me know. Items extracted verbatim from other sources are demarcated using ------. All references to $ in this article are in Singapore $ unless otherwise indicated. The current (Jan 1994) exchange rate for the Singapore dollar is approximately US$1 == S$1.6. Topics marked with an asterisk * are "under development" and inputs from anyone who can provide more information would be very welcome. Thanks to all who have responded to the draft version of the FAQ circulated more than half a year ago, and who have contributed to this version. Comments, suggestions are welcome. I can be reached at mhkho@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore). 1. GENERAL INFORMATION ON SINGAPORE ==================================== (a) In a nutshell ----------------- Small, crowded equatorial island (26 miles by 16 miles, 3 million people), racially and culturally diverse (78% Chinese, 14% Malays, 7% Indians), hot and humid (always above 80 F, and 90% humidity in the daytime), politically stable (perhaps overly so), meritocratic, proud, "kiasu" (literally - afraid to lose), law-abiding, safe, friendly, hardworking and efficient, clean and green, global-city (we're trying), "fine" country (fines for everything from littering to non-flushing of public toilets), yummy food, good shopping (used-to-be), developed (for a developing country). (b) Singapore Online Guide -------------------------- Probably the best guide to Singapore available electronically is on the NCB Web server (see Section on Singapore's Internet Connection). The following is a (text) extract from the Singapore Online Guide available on that server. (URL : http://king.ncb.gov.sg/ ) ------ The Singapore Online Guide Welcome to the Singapore Online Guide, presented to you in hypertext! This is an electronic version of the Singapore Official Guide, a publication issued by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB), and is offered free to all tourists and travellers. This edition is an experimental prototype being developed by the Digital Media Centre (DMC) of the National Computer Board. We are pleased to invite everyone to visit our little island via cyberspace. (Note: This document is still under construction) Contents Introduction Surprising Singapore, the main guide 1 What To Expect in Singapore 2 Multi-Cultural Traditions 3 Things to See and Do 4 Year-Round Sports 5 Celebrations and Festivities 6 Shopping in Singapore 7 Feasting in Singapore 8 Fun On The Town 9 Home Away From Home 10 Getting Around 11 Touring The Region 12 Formalities Facts and Figures Singapore Today History Location Climate People Language and Religion Listings Attractions Entertainment Festivals & Events Food Shopping Sports Standard Hotels Budget Hotels Tours Travellers' Essentials Miscellaneous About this Guide STPB DMC Index ------ (c) Other sources of information -------------------------------- Any decent bookstore should have books on Singapore. If you do visit us, be sure to pick up guidebooks (some free) published by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, and very affordable official publications such as the Singapore Yearbook (published every year). For a more independent (and interesting?) read, two recent magazine articles presenting useful and up-to-date summaries of the socio-economic-political situation in the country (albeit still from a basically "Western" perspective) are:- "A Nation of Contradictions" by Stan Sesser, New Yorker, January 13, 1992. (Contributed by Boon Chye Lee@wampyr.cc.uow.edu.au) * Time magazine article - anybody know the source? The WIRED (electronic) magazine (widely available on Internet) featured two articles on Singapore in Issue 1.4: "Disneyland with a death penalty", by William Gibson, and "The intelligent island", by Sandy Sandfort The CIA Fact book on Singapore is also available on-line from several gopher sites,including the main gopher site at the University of Minnesota (where gopher was created), and the Singapore Technet gopher. (Contributed by mgqluo@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg (Max Lu)) Most gopher sites can be reached without a gopher client? by telnetting to a corresponding site. Once inside a gopher server, it is usually possible to move on to other gopher servers around the world. For example, telnet info.rutgers.edu or telnet 128.6.26.25 to get into the gopher at info.rutgers.edu Once in this server, you can burrow your way to the gopher server/topic that you want. (Contributed by: Kuo Chiang (d) Usenet newsgroups --------------------- The soc.culture.singapore newsgroup is THE newsgroup on Singapore-related matters. Local Technet users can also access several other newsgroups in the sg.* hierachy such as sg.technet.announce sg.technet.talk sg.technet.help sg.general (e) Useful Addresses --------------------- More information on the following organisations and information sources can be obtained by burrowing deeper into the Technet gopher: ------ Student Advisors & Useful Addresses 1. Singapore Student Advisors. 2. Singapore Economic Development Board Offices Worldwide. 3. Singapore Tourist Promotion Board Offices Worldwide. 4. Singapore Trade Development Board Offices Worldwide. --> 5. Singapore Missions Overseas. 6. Singapore Department/Agencies. ------ 2. SINGAPORE'S INTERNET CONNECTION ==================================== (a) Technet ---------- The best source of information on Singapore's Technet is the gopher server on solomon.technet.sg. If your machine runs gopher, try gopher solomon.technet.sg 70 Much of the information presented here has been extracted from that server. Other Singapore-based gophers being set up are located at the National Computer Board, National University of Singapore, and Gintic Institute of Manufacturing Technology (in Nanyang Technological University). Anonymous ftp sites are also maintained at Technet (solomon.technet.sg), NUS (ftp.nus.sg), NTU (ntuix.ntu.ac.sg). These mainly act as local mirror sites for major archives at Simtel, Sumex, Wuarchive, Oakland etc for DOS and Mac related software and information. WWW access (e.g. via Mosaic) has also been developed, but with the current low network bandwidth between Singapore and the rest of the world, will probably be slow from outside Singapore. Some Document URLs to try include http://solomon.technet.sg:8000/, http://nuscc.nus.sg, gopher://ntuix.ntu.ac.sg, http://king.ncb.gov.sg/ http://www.iss.nus.sg etc. From the Technet gopher: ------ Information about Technet --> 1. What is Technet, Singapore. 2. List of Connected Networks. 3. List of Dialup Users . 4. Contacting Technet Staff / 5. JvNCnet - acceptable use policy. 6. NSFnet - acceptable use policy. 7. Technet Team (37K).jpg (Wilson, Tommi, Michelle, Milton) What is the main purpose of setting up Technet ? ------------------------------------------------- Technet is Singapore's network set up by National Science & Technology Board (NSTB) to serve the R&D community. It is managed by the Computer Centre at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Technet is the first project of the National Technology Plan implemented by NSTB to boost Singapore's technological prowess. The establishment of Technet is part of the government's commitment towards developing the infrastructure necessary for R&D in Singapore. Technet membership ------------------ Technet membership is currently restricted to : (a) Tertiary education institutions (b) Public research institutions (c) Government organizations with R&D interests (d) Bona fide R&D organizations from the private sector Interested organizations are most welcome to contact the Technet Unit at the following address for application. Technet Unit c/o Computer Centre National University of Singapore 10 Kent Ridge Crescent Singapore 0511 Republic of Singapore Administrative contact : admin@solomon.technet.sg Technical contact : help@solomon.technet.sg There are plans to "open up" Technet to accommodate the non R&D organizations. As and when this plan be implemented will be subjected to Singapore Telecom's approval. Current Technet Members ----------------------- Directly connected organisations -------------------------------- Date: 2 Nov 1993 -------------------------------------------------- National University of Singapore Nanyang Technological University National Institute of Education Ngee Ann Polytechnic Temasek Polytechnic Defense Science Organisation National Computer Board of Singapore Information Technology Institute Gintic Institute of Manufacturing Technology Institute of Systems Science Institute of Micro-electronics Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology National Supercomputing Research Centre Asia Matsushita Electric(S) Pte Ltd Reuters Singapore Pte Ltd Singapore Computer Systems ------ There is also a (long) list of dialup users available from the Technet gopher. There seems to be hope for public access to Technet as lim@solomon.technet.sg, Lim Hock Koon at TECHNET reported on 06 Jan 1994 on soc.culture.singapore: ------ Singapore Telecom has the monopoly for the telecommunication business in Singapore for another 14 to 15 years. Telecom Authority of Singapore view Internet operation as basic telecomunication services which only ST has the licence. Therefore, ST/TAS is the one who are controling who can have access to Internet. Technet is operated under a special arrangement with ST/TAS. If everything go well, there will be a public access Internet services in Singapore within six months. ------ (b) Other means of connecting to Internet ----------------------------------------- In the meantime, there is : * Compuserve, Fidonet, private companies, Internet service providers etc. (c) IT 2000 - Singapore's Information Technology Masterplan ----------------------------------------------------------- Information on IT2000 can be obtained from the NCB gopher or WWW server. Some extracted information from the NCB WWW server: ------ IT2000 - A Vision Of An Intelligent Island These documents outline the IT2000 masterplan for developing Information Technology in Singapore into the 21st century. Also included are pointers to documents on the US NII Policy, Comparisons and Independent Reviews. The IT2000 Vision An introduction to IT2000 The NII Framework A look at how IT2000 will be implemented through the National Information Infrastructure framework strategy The NII Testbed Brief description of the National Information Infrastructure Broadband Network Testbed US National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action The Clinton/Gore administration's NII policy is now online as hypermedia at UNC. Read the Executive Summary, information on benefits and applications of the NII, details on the Information Infrastructure Task Force, and more. Designing Technopolis A Look at the Clinton-Gore Technology Policy, by Dale Dougherty, GNN Magazine Comparing the NIIs Summarising the similarities and differences between the US NII Act and Singapore's IT2000 IT2000: From Dream to Reality An independent review of IT2000 from IT Focus magazine The Intelligent Island? Another look at IT2000 from Wired magazine ------ 3. VISITING SINGAPORE ====================== (a) Visitor's Pass ------------------ Partially extracted From NCB's WWW server: ------ Entry Formalities Generally, visas are not required for social visits not exceeding 14 days and visitors arriving as tourists will he given a 14-day social visit pass upon arrival. You should have all onward/return ticket and sufficient funds for your stay. If you require a longer stay, you may apply to the Immigration Department after your arrival. Visas currently are required for social visits of less than 14 days from nationals of Afghanistan, India, Kampuchea, Laos, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation and Vietnam. Stateless persons residing ill these seven, countries, persons holding Refugee travel documents issued by the Middle East countries to Palestinian refugees and persons holding Hong Kong documents of identity issued in Hong Kong also require visas for social visits. Since regulations may change from time to time, you should check with your nearest Singapore overseas mission before your departure. ------ Note that it is NOT (normally) possible for tourists entering on a Visitor's Pass to subsequently apply for an Employment Pass or Work Permit once they are in Singapore. The exception to this is when your Singaporean employer has already initiated the process of applying for a Work Permit/ Employment Pass. (b) What to do and see in Singapore? -------------------------------- A recent travel article available by anonymous ftp from ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca (130.179.16.8) in the directory /pub/rec-travel/singapore is a good, up-to-date summary of travel experiences in Singapore from an American tourist's point of view. ------ ::Title: Guide to Singapore (1993 February) ::Author: Dave Rabinowitz ::Filename: asia/singapore/singapore-guide :: This document, and other travel information, is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca in the directory rec-travel. For general info about the rec.travel archive, contact Brian Lucas . For comments, questions, or additions to this document, please contact the author/editor, whose address is given above. ------ Tourism is very important to Singapore, and Singapore also serves as base for visits to neighbouring countries, particularly the ASEAN countries. The Singapore Tourist Promotion Board maintains offices in many countries: Addresses of these offices are available from the Technet gopher. 4. WORKING IN SINGAPORE - INFORMATION SOURCES ============================================== (a) PIPS -------- The role of PIPS (Professionals Information Programmes Management Services) is to facilitate the entry or re-entry of graduates and professionals into Singapore. It works closely with Singapore Student Advisers based in London, Washington, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Canberra and Perth. PIPS publishes a small 15 page booklet called "Working in Singapore", which contains very useful information under the following contents: Overview of the Singapore Economy Working in Singapore Central Provident Fund (CPF) and Income Tax Professional Registration Student Advisors PIPS' address is : 8 Shenton Way, #13-02, Treasury Building, Singapore 0106. Tel: +65 3209271 Fax: +65 2262095 PIPS also contributes to an extremely informative (but perhaps overly upbeat) section on living and working in Singapore which is available on the Technet Gopher under the following topics:- ------ Living and Working in Singapore (PIPS) --> 1. About PIPS. 2. Living in Singapore/ 3. Economic Overview/ 4. Working in Singapore/ 5. Professional Registration/ 6. Student Advisors & Useful Addresses/ Living in Singapore --> 1. Singapore, Its People, Language & Society. 2. Housing in Singapore. 3. Cost of Living in Singapore/ 4. Central Provident Fund & Taxation in Singapore. 5. Transport. 6. Education & Healthcare. 7. Immigration. 8. Recreation & Leisure. ------ Extracted from the Technet gopher: ------ How to Seek a Job/Job Interview in Singapore ------------------------------------------- While You Are Overseas ---------------------- From the feedback we have, many people (Singaporeans and non- Singaporeans) have obtained jobs/job interviews in Singapore while they are still overseas. The following pointers will help you in your search for a LONG TERM career in Singapore. (In other words, they may not apply if you are merely interested in a sojourn, a short stint or summer internship in Singapore.) Please note that some companies get many unsolicited job applications. So generally, DO NOT expect a reply to your job application, especially if the company is not interested in you. The following are some means that you can try : 1 Write directly to companies in Singapore. Find out about the companies from : - directories. An example is the Graduate Opportunities which PIPS sends to major universities or universities where there are substantial numbers of Singaporean students. Such materials are usually sent to the Careers Office or the International Students' Office, and also to the Singapore Students' Association in the university. (The Graduate Opportunities is produced by a private publisher in Singapore. It lists many big companies in Singapore by occupation and field of study.) - the Singapore Student Advisors' Offices. If possible, visit these offices. They are located in London, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Canberra and Perth. All are welcome. Check out the addresses from the section on "Student Advisors and other Useful Addresses" under Living & Working in Singapore. You will be AMAZED at the relevant materials, information, data, company reports, videos, directories, etc they have there! - A LISTING OF MAJOR EMPLOYERS in Singapore. (Company names and addresses according to industry/business sectors.) This listing, compiled by PIPS, will be uploaded onto INTERNET in a few months' time (in early 1994). Over 500 companies will be listed! The list will also contain profiles of some of the companies. Watch out for it! Burrow your way through gopher into "Singapore : Island, City, State" and find out more. 2 Look out for job advertisements in the Straits Times (the Saturday edition contains the most ads) and the Straits Times Weekly (some ads, not many). Many university libraries have copies of the latter. PIPS also subscribes the Straits Times Weekly for the Singapore Students' Associations in various universities overseas. 3 Send your detailed TYPEWRITTEN resume to the International Manpower Division of the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore. The EDB has a job placement service. Check out the address in the section on "Student Advisors and other Useful Addresses" under Living & Working in Singapore. (The job placement service is FREE to prospective employees. But it operates on a fairly passive mode in response to demand by employers. There are certain limitations because of timing, etc. Do not just bank on this job placement!) 4 Look up the newsgroups in INTERNET : soc.culture.Singapore and sg.jobs.offer. Occasionally, you may find some jobs there. 5 Ask your friends in Singapore or your Singaporean friends overseas to help you. Those in Singapore can provide useful job advertisements, contacts, etc. 6 Depending on demand by employers in Singapore, the EDB (occasionally with the assistance of PIPS and the Singapore Student Advisors) sometimes organises recruitment missions to a few countries (usually the US, UK and Australia). Advertisements on the missions are made through the Careers Office or International Students' Office of various universities, the Straits Times Weekly and the Singapore Student Advisors. (Note : The companies on such recruitment missions are usually looking for those in engineering or computer science. This does not mean that there is no demand for other disciplines in Singapore. It's just that individual companies usually need engineering graduates & computer science graduates in larger numbers. It is therefore worth their while to send someone senior to recruit overseas. To put it simply : While every company needs an accountant (or any other graduate/professional); not every company needs an engineer. But some companies need many engineers/computer professionals.) ------ (b) Embassies and High Commissions ---------------------------------- Singapore's Embassies and High Commissions (for Commonwealth countries) operate under the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They can also be useful sources of information on Singapore. A complete list of addresses can be obtained from the Technet gopher. (c) Economic Development Board (EDB) ------------------------------------ Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB), a particularly high-powered statutory body under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has branches in many of the developed countries, and their role includes attracting investors, entrepreneurs and talented people to Singapore. The EDB's International Manpower Division (IMD) acts as a facilitator for employers and their potential employees. From a Usenet post: ------ From: ssammy@cs.strath.ac.uk (Paul Sammy 4th Year iE/CES) Newsgroups: soc.culture.singapore Subject: Re: Job in Singapore Date: 27 Apr 93 16:53:26 Organization: Computer And Electronic Systems Heres my contribution: For all those people who were asking about finding employment in Singapore, I went to a seminar on this about November last year. This was run by the International Manpower Divison (IMD) of the Economic Development Board (EDB). Heres a quote from one of their flyers: " The EDB's IMD is looking for talented and skilled people from overseas to work in Singapore. You can be a technical person, researcher, professional or manager, fresh, experienced or post-graduate scholar interested in starting or continuing a career in Singapore. The IMD is a one-stop service centre that helps you to find jobs in Singapore by matching job seekers and employers. With our own database of employers and individuals, we are able to provide you with information on companies, literature on recent developments in Singapore and advise you on immigration requirements. We will be pleased to be of service to you. Simply send your resume to the EDB office nearest to you. " Be forewarned that they need the resume/CV in a particular format, since it is automatically computerized and electronically stored on file. I'd advise you to contact the IMD for details before sending in your resume/CV. ------ From the Technet gopher: ------ SINGAPORE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD WORLDWIDE OFFICES EDB HEAD OFFICE 250 North Bridge Road #24-00 Raffles City Tower Singapore 0617 Republic of Singapore Tel: 3362288 Fax: 3396077 EDB NORTH AMERICA OFFICES New York 55 East 59th Street New York, New York 10022-1112 USA Tel: (212) 4212200 Fax: (212) 4212206 Washington, DC 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 504 Washington DC 20036-1701 USA Tel: (202) 2232571/70 Fax: (202) 2232572 Boston, Massachusetts 8th Floor One International Place Boston, MA 02110-2600 USA Tel: (617) 2619981 Fax: (617) 2619983 Los Angeles, California 2049 Century Park East Suite 400 Los Angeles, CA 90067-3105 USA Tel: (310) 5530199 Fax: (310) 5571044 Chicago, Illinois Two Prudential Plaza 180 North Stetson Avenue Suite 970 Chicago, Illinois 60601-6712 USA Tel: (312) 5651100 Fax: (312) 5651994 San Francisco, California 210 Twin Dolphin Drive Redwood City California 94065-1402 USA Tel: (415) 5919102 Fax: (415) 5911328 EDB EUROPEAN OFFICES London, United Kingdom Norfolk House 30 Charles II Street London SW1Y 4AE United Kingdom Tel: (071) 8396688 Fax: (071) 8396162 Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany Untermainanlage 7 60329 Frankfurt/Main 1 Federal Republic of Germany Tel: (069) 233838 Fax: (069) 252882 Paris, France 22 Avenue Victor Hugo 75116 Paris France Tel: (01) 45001183 Fax: (01) 45006137 Milan, Italy Via S Pietro all'Orto, 17 20121 Milano Italy Tel: (02) 799277 Fax: (02) 780023 Stockholm, Sweden Storgatan 42 114 55 Stockholm Sweden Tel: (08) 6637488 Fax: (08) 7823951 EDB ASIAN OFFICES Tokyo, Japan The Imperial Tower 8th Floor 1-1 Uchisaiwai-cho 1-chome Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 Japan Tel: (03) 35016041 Fax: (03) 35016060 Jakarta c/o Embassy of the Republic of Singapore Block X/4 Kav No 2 Jalan H R Rasuna Said Kuningan Jakarta 12950 Indonesia Tel: (21) 5201477/89 Fax: (21) 5201486 Osaka, Japan c/o Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore 14th Floor Osaka Kokusai Building 3-13 Azuchimachi 2-chome Chuo-ku, Osaka 541 Japan Tel: (06) 2615131/2 Fax: (06) 2610338 Taipei, Taiwan c/o Singapore Trade Office in Taipei 10th Floor, TFIT Tower 85 Jen Ai Road Sec 4, Taipei Taiwan Tel: 7785759/61 Fax: 7781910 Hong Kong 3010-3012 One Pacific Place 88 Queensway Hong Kong Tel: 8100036 Fax: 5215732 (d) Singapore International Foundation (SIF) -------------------------------------------- The Singapore International Foundation (SIF), a non-profit organisation, was established to further Singapore's efforts to go global. The SIF maintains links with Singaporeans abroad and cultivate the goodwill of friends of Singapore. It will build a network of contacts for Singapore and will be the carrier of Singapore's global spirit. SIF organises talks, seminars etc. for Singaporeans planning to go abroad for studies and work. It recently started a satellite TV broadcast service to help Singaporeans abroad keep in touch with Singapore, and to enable non-Singaporeans to find out more about Singapore. This broadcast reaches only a regional audience at the moment. The SIF has recently begun operating on Internet through SIFLASH. Summaries of current events (including business news) in Singapore are circulated in the form of a LISTSERV-based mailing list, and through the gopher server at solomon.technet.sg. It is also posted on the soc.culture.singapore newsgroup.If you do not have access to gohper, or Usenet, application to be placed on the mailing list can be made. milton@solomon.technet.sg describes the procedure for subscribing as follows:- ------ To subscribe, send mail to listserv@solomon.technet.sg and have only one line in the content. subscribe siflash-list YOURNAME replace YOURNAME with your REAL NAME, if the REAL NAME means anything to you;-) and no funny signature, it will be cough out by the listserver;-) Your email address will be extracted automatically from the headers of your subscription request. If you have any problems using listserv, you can try sending in your content this one liner help sub siflash-list ------- (e) Other Singapore contact points ----------------------------------- Lists of other overseas Contact Points (including lists of Singapore Student organisations, overseas Singapore clubs, students advisors etc.) are also available on the gopher server at solomon.technet.sg. SINGAPORE STUDENT ADVISORS -------------------------- Ms Rosalind Chan Swee Imm First Secretary (Education) Singapore High Commission in Canberra 17 Forster Crescent, Yarralumla ACT 2600, Canberra AUSTRALIA Tel: 61-6-273-3944 Fax: 61-6-273-3260 Mr Vincent Tan Poh Pin Office of the Singapore Student Advisor 9th Floor, Griffin Center 28 The Esplanade Perth, WA 6000 Western Australia AUSTRALIA Tel: 321-5033 Fax: 321-4864 Ms Ng Yun Sian Office of the Singapore Student Advisor Suite 405, 4th Floor Metropointe 4603 Kingsway Burnaby, British Columbia V5H 4M4 CANADA Tel: 604-439-3340 Fax: 604-439-3329 Ms Debra Saw Student Advisor in London Singapore High Commission in London 9 Wilton Crescent London SW1X 8SA UNITED KINGDOM Tel: 44-71-235-8315 44-71-235-8316 44-71-235-8317 Fax: 44-71-245-6583 Ms Lim Siong Fun First Secretary (Education) Singapore Embassy in Washington DC 1824 R Street NW Washington DC 20009-1691 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Tel: 1-202-667-7555 Fax: 1-202-265-7915 Mr Puvan Ariaratnam (ariaratn@mizar.usc.edu) Office of the Singapore Student Advisor 199 South Los Robles Avenue, Suite 280 Pasadena California 91101 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Tel: 818-793-0920 Fax: 818-793-6092 (f) Project ASPIRE ------------------ Project ASPIRE (APEC Student Professional Integration and Re-entry Education) is funded by the US Agency for International Development, and the US Information Agency, through a cooperative agreement with NAFSA: Association of International Educators. They organise activites to help students from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and the Pacific Islands in returning to and seeking employment in their home country. They maintain an electronic mailing list which can be subscribed to by sending an email message to listserv@iubvm.ucs.indiana.edu with the following contents in your message: sub aspire-l Project ASPIRE Regional Centers ------------------------------- Project ASPIRE Eastern Regional Center Metro International, 285 W Broadway, #450, New York, NY 10013 Tel: (212) 431-1195 Project ASPIRE Central? Regional Center Ball State University, Career Services, 2000 West University Ave, Muncie, IN 47306. Tel: (317) 285-5634 Project ASPIRE Western REgional Center University of Southern California, Office for International Students and Scholars, Student Union 300, Los Angeles, CA 90089. Tel: (213) 740-5627 5. WORKING IN SINGAPORE - REQUIREMENTS AND REALITIES ===================================================== A very comprehensive (and official) set of documents related to working and living in Singapore is available at the Technet gopher and the NCB WWW. (See previous section). A short and informal assessment is given in this FAQ: Singapore takes pride in and pays a great deal of attention to the development of its primary resource - its workforce, which is rated among the best in the world (well, at least by BERI). One of the key strategies in Singapore's development is the retention and import of talent into Singapore. Besides "looking West", recent efforts by the government have involved attracting talent from Hong Kong and China, the Indian sub-continent, and the former Soviet republics. Employment Pass --------------- An Employment Pass (for those earning more than $2000/mth) or a Work Permit (for those earning less than $2000/mth) is required for any foreign national who wishes to work in Singapore. Consultants, lecturers and entertainers who wish to work in Singapore on a short-term basis must apply for a Professional Visit Pass. Dependents of a person on an Employment Pass can apply for a Dependent Pass. All students are required to obtain a Student Pass (in addition to the Dependent Pass they may possess). Salaries and CPF contributions in Singapore ------------------------------------------- Although many foreigners (other than Malaysians) are employed under special expatriate contracts and conditions, (with perks such as housing, home leave, education allowances for children etc.) it is also becoming common for foreigners to work in Singapore under "local" conditions. Recent salary surveys indicate that the average monthly basic salary of new university graduates joining the workforce is around $1800, with new engineers typically earning around $2000. People in senior engineering and middle management positions (say after ten years of working experience) would typically earn in the region of $4000-$7000) a month. Employees in the Civil Service and other government organisations (including universities and statutory boards) clear a major salary hurdle if they cross what is called the "Superscale" bar. The basic salary for such a person is around $5650 (equivalent gross salary of about $7500). The basic salary is subjected to a compulsory CPF (Central Provident Fund) contribution of about 18%. This is matched by the employer's contribution of 22%, which is over and above the employee's salary (for a total of 40% CPF contribution). There are caps on the actual contributions to CPF, and persons earning a basic salary of more than around $5400 would begin to have less than a total of 40% of their salaries put into the CPF. CPF contributions earn tax-free interest which is pegged to the savings interest rates of major local banks. For local workers, CPF contributions can only be withdrawn when they reach the age of 55. In the meantime, their use is limited to several approved schemes including the purchase of property, payment for health care, and investment in certain stockmarket options. For expatriates on short term contracts, they can choose to withdraw their CPF savings when they leave the country. In addition to the basic salary and CPF contributions, many companies pay an annual wage supplement (often called the 13th month allowance), as well as other variable bonuses (ranging typically from 0 - 3 months pay depending on the performance of the company and/or the Singapore economy). Taxes ----- The tax structure in Singapore is currently undergoing a major change, which will see lower Income taxes, and the introduction of a consumption tax called GST (Goods and Services Tax) from 4/94. Under the old system, a fresh graduate typically pays about 9% tax on his taxable income (which is his gross earnings less CPF contributions and other allowances). Standard and Cost of Living in Singapore ---------------------------------------- In article <1993Apr20.104846.19938@news.lrz-muenchen.de> someone wrote: ------- There exists a booklet named "Expatriate Living Costs in Singapore" which is supposed to give informations about living expenses in Singapore. It can be ordered from the Singapore CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Adress: Ms. Hsung Bee Hwa Singapore International Chamber of Commerce 6 Raffles Quay #10-01 John Hancock Tower ------ The per-capita GNP in Singapore in Singapore was $20,000 in 1991. This may does not reflect the cost of living in Singapore for visitors and expatriates. For example, private transport and housing are two important items which are extremely expensive in Singapore. Tranportation ------------- Very tight control is exercised on vehicle ownership resulting in what are probably the highest prices for private cars in the world. For example, a new 2.0 l Honda Accord in Singapore would cost in the region of $140,000 or more (including taxes and the cost of a COE (Certificate of Eligibility) to own a vehicle) which hit a all time high of $60000 for cars with engines of more than 1.6 l, and about $40000 for those below 1.6 l in Dec 1993. The COE itself fluctuates depending on bids submitted by potential car owners. There are long-term plans for electronic road pricing (ERP) as a means of controlling vehicle usage rather than ownership. Public transport is cheap and good (compared to most other cities and countries) especially if you happen to live and work near an MRT station. Singapore's MRT is one of the best and most modern in the world. Buses are somewhat less efficient as a means of getting around particularly with "rationalisation" of services (in other words, scrapping of uneconomic routes). Taxis are relatively cheap, but can be difficult to find during certain peak hours, especially if it rains. Housing ------- Although housing for the majority (90%) of Singaporeans is affordable because of the availability of low-cost public housing, visitors and expatriates have to content with very high housing prices and rents. For example, a new private apartment or house on freehold land typically costs between $400 to $600 per sq foot (i.e a 2 bedroom apartment of 1200 sq ft for example, would cost at least $0.5 million, and much more in some exclusive developments). Rental of private apartments (1 - 3 bedrooms) range typically from $2000 to $5000. Subletting (of rooms) in public housing apartments is permitted under certain conditions, and offer a much cheaper alternative to private apartments (approx. $300-$500/room/month). Food ---- Food is cheap in Singapore if you cook it yourself or eat in hawker centres and local "coffee shops". Restaurants in hotels and the city area is as expensive as in any of the major cities in the world. Education --------- The highly subsidised public education system in Singapore serves the general education needs of almost all Singaporeans and some expatriates. Almost all children in Singapore stay in school up to the age of 16 years. Beyond that age, there is increasing competition for places at Junior Colleges, Polytechnics, and the Universities. Relatively expensive, private schools are available for expatriate children, and there are schools catering for the UK, American, French, German, Dutch, Japanese and Swiss expatriate communities. Health Care ----------- Singapore's health care system is probably the best in the Southeast Asian region. Both government-owned (but large privatised) and privately-owned hospitals have well-trained medical practioners and modern facilities. The average cost per visit to a private general practitioner ranges from $25 to $100. Daily ward charges in hospitals range from $100 to $400. Many companies (including government bodies) provide limited health benefits to employees and their immediate family and health insurance is becoming more common. Part of the CPF contribution (put into a Medisave account) can be used for the payment of certain types of medical bills. Social life and entertainment ----------------------------- Other than eating, shopping and watching TV, many Singaporeans do participate in fitness and sports programs, and enjoy discos, music and the movies. Activites range from very affordable programs in community centres, to expensive outings at exclusive lounges in uppity downtown hotels, to membership of very expensive country clubs. The entertainment and arts scene in Singapore receives a lot of support (but some say lip-service support) from the government which takes the stand that having fun is serious business! 6. DRIVING LICENCES, PASSPORTS, EXIT PERMITS, AND NATIONAL SERVICE ===================================================================== (a) Driving licences -------------------- From the Technet Gopher: ------ Non-Singapore citizens can apply to convert their foreign driving licence to a Singapore driving licence at the Traffic Police. Applicants must produce the relevant supporting documents: . foreign driving licence which is issued at least 6 months before applicant comes to Singapore; . extract of driving record; . passport, employment pass or work permit; and may be subject to passing a proficiency driving test. Singapore citizens who want to convert their foreign driving licence to a Singapore driving licence must produce supporting documents: . as proof that from the date of obtaining the foreign driving licence, there was a period of 6 months' continuous stay in the country where the licence was issued; . extract of driving record; . transcript of their course of study; or . income tax documents as proof of employment for those working overseas ------ A warning from powhwee@iti.gov.sg ------ Be aware that your foreign driver's license may not have the date of issue printed on it, like mine. :-(. If so, get the proof before you come back! ------ (b) Passports, Exit permits for National Servicemen --------------------------------------------------- If you are abroad, passport applications and renewals can be performed at the various Singapore embassies and high commissions listed earlier. In response to the feedback from frustrated Operationally Ready NSmen (the official name for 'Reservists'), Mindef has relaxed its requirements on exit permits and passports. Exit permits are no longer required if you are travelling abroad for less than 6 months, and passports can now be renewed for 10 years at a time. Note on National Service: All male Singaporeans and the children of Singapore permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 40? are obliged to perform National Service. This takes the form of 2 1/2 years of full-time military service and annual (in-camp) training of up to 40 days per year (the average is closer to 20 days). *7. Electrical and electronic equipment in Singapore =================================================== Singapore uses 240V, 50 Hz electrical power supply, which will be the main source of incompatibility with electrical equipment made for the US and Japanese market, for example. In some cases, a $20 transformer would enable small electrical appliances on a different voltage to be used. (I use that for my external modem). Our TV signals are also based on PAL rather than NTSC, and we use NICAM for stereo transimissions. With the increase in popularity of (largely NTSC-based) laser discs and karaoke systems, multi-system VCRs and TVs are becoming quite common in Singapore. The cheapest multi-system stereo VCR and 29" TV I've come across are in the region of $700 and $1500 respectively. * Phone and handphones - any contributions? It's possible to buy a handphone overseas and use it in Singapore. It needs to be type-approved by Singapore Telecom (or is it TAS), and "tuned" by a qualified person to the correct frequency ranges for use in Singapore. *8. Getting in touch with Singaporeans electronically ==================================================== (a) Non-Internet links ---------------------- Subscribers to Singapore's Teleview system can send email to each other. But the last time I checked, the email facilities are nothing like a real email system. In theory, the potential for these (50000?) subscribers to have some access to Internet-type facilities should be high since Teleview is very much in the same category as services such as Compuserve, America Online etc., which are already providing some Internet capabilities. There must be hundreds of private and business based BBSs in Singapore. (Anyone has a compilation of the better ones?). Certainly the Singapore Microcomputer Society operates a decent BBS. The more popular ones should have toll-free numbers to access them. Singapore Telecom also provides Telebox and Gateway 400 services which provides email, file transfer etc. (I have no information on how these can be linked to Internet accounts, help!) (b) Internet links ------------------ General ------- General information on Internet access and email addresses can be obtained from the following FAQs and articles which are posted regularly on the news.answers newsgroup: FAQ: International E-mail accessibility FAQ: How to find people's E-mail addresses Updated Inter-Network Mail Guide These articles are also ftpable from a number of sites including: rtfm.mit.edu (18.70.0.209) directory: /pub/usenet/news.answers/mail lth.se (130.235.20.3) directory: /pub/archive2/netnews/news.answers/mail ftp.uu.net (192.48.96.9) directory: /usenet/news.answers/mail unix.hensa.ac.uk (129.12.21.7) directory: /pub/uunet/usenet/news.answers/mail grasp.insa-lyon.fr directory: /pub/faq/mail Extracted from the ' FAQ: International E-mail accessibility' document: ------ gopher.psg.com This gopher system, maintained by the Network Startup Resource Center and PSGnet/RAINet contains perhaps the most comprehensive collection of information about country connectivity. It may be accessed as "gopher gopher.psg.com". For the gopher client impaired, one can telnet to gopher.psg.com and login as gopher. An important feature is an E-mail interface to access the information in the gopher system. Send E-mail to: server@gopher.psg.com any subject, and in the body of the message: send country/ Example: if you want further information about Brazil (country code BR) send country/BR Many thanks to Randy Bush and to John Klensin for setting-up this site and this collaborative effort. ------ Netfind ------- Netfind is a very useful utility for finding the address/accounts of Internet users. If it does not run on your computer, you can telnet to a number of netfind servers (listed below), login as 'netfind', and use the service to search databases based on name, site, country, etc. From the netfind help facility: ------ Given the name of a person on the Internet and a rough description of where the person works, Netfind attempts to locate information about the person. When prompted, enter a name followed by a set of keywords, such as schwartz boulder colorado university The name can be a first, last, or login name, but only one name can be specified. The keys describe where the person works, by the name of the institution and/or the city/state/country. If you know the institution's domain name (e.g., "cs.colorado.edu", where there are host names like "brazil.cs.colorado.edu") you can specify it as keys without the dots (e.g., "cs colorado edu"). The host parts of domain names ("brazil") cannot be used as keywords. Keys are case insensitive and may be specified in any order. Using more than one key implies the logical AND of the keys. Specifying too many keys may cause searches to fail. If this happens, try specifying fewer keys, e.g., schwartz boulder ------ Some 'telnettable' netfind servers are: archie.au AARNet, Melbourne, Australia bruno.cs.colorado.edu University of Colorado, Boulder dino.conicit.ve Nat. Council for Techn. & Scien. Research Venezuela ds.internic.net InterNIC Directory and DB Services, S. Plainfield, NJ lincoln.technet.sg Technet Unit, Singapore ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ macs.ee.mcgill.ca McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada malloco.ing.puc.cl Catholic University of Chile, Santiago monolith.cc.ic.ac.uk Imperial College, London, England mudhoney.micro.umn.edu University of Minnesota, Minneapolis netfind.oc.com OpenConnect Systems, Dallas, Texas netfind.vslib.cz Liberec University of Technology, Czech Republic nic.nm.kr Korea Network Information Center, Taejon, Korea Netfind currently only searches as far as it is permitted to do so by the network setup at each particular site. For example, at NTU, Singapore, only accounts on the main Internet gateway (ntuix.ntu.ac.sg, alias ntu.ac.sg) will be searched rather than hosts such as ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg (where most of the student accounts reside). Local whois/gopher sites ------------------------ The gopher at NUS (gopher.nus.sg) includes a facility for searching for Names and E-mail userids, which should be useful for searching email accounts of NUS staff members. Finger and talk --------------- The good old finger and talk utilities work to some extent for contacting Internet users in Singapore, but again, it depends on the network setup at a particular organisation (i.e. level of "firewalling" and other security measures employed by the administrators) Some notes on personal experiences with fingering (courtesy of Kuo Chiang ): ------ Hmm... for NUS, the problem with fingering people with nusunix account (I don't know about other accounts) is the fingering program checks for a name match before it checks for a user-id match. Thus it only works for certain people. For example : you can finger art (or science) faculty people by typing: %finger artxxxxx@nusunix1.nus.sg This will work perfectly. However, if you want to finger engineering/law students, you will run into trouble 'cos Engineering nusunix accounts begin with "eng" (Law begins with "law") and there are many people in NUS with first/last name "Eng". The program will return one long list of people with "Eng"s. The best way to find somebody's e-mail address in NUS is to use the least common part of their name, so that the list will not be too long to search. For example : To finger a person named "Au Eng Tan" It will be advisable to use %finger au@nusunix1.nus.sg instead of %finger tan@nusunix1.nus.sg ('cos there are many TANs around!) For ntuvax accounts, I doubt if there's a way to finger them. Englighten me if I'm wrong. However, I have no problems fingering people with ntuix account. (BUT most students don't have ntuix accounts!) I haven't got any success fingering those with gov.sg accounts. But those with solomon.technet.sg accounts work perfectly. ------- .