About this site
Settled in SG is a practical guide to living in Singapore, written by a permanent resident for professionals, students and anyone thinking of moving here. Everything here comes from having done it — the passes, the rentals, the paperwork — not from a brochure. The same questions come up every time: which pass, which neighbourhood, how much, is it really that strict. We answer them once, properly.
Everything here is personal experience and opinion. It is not official guidance and this site is not connected to or endorsed by any government agency. Where a guide mentions a rule or a figure, we note when we last checked it and point you to the official source so you can verify it yourself. We are not an immigration agency or a property agency, and we do not take referral fees from either.
The site is free to read and supported by ads. If a guide saved you money or a headache, sharing it with the next person moving here is the best thanks.
I came to Singapore in 2003 to study. I was young, a long way from home, and I knew almost nothing about the place. There was no guide for someone like me. I worked it out by asking people who had been here longer, and by getting things wrong first.
My first job was as a software engineer. The S Pass minimum back then was S$1,800. Today it is S$3,300 and still climbing. The numbers have changed, but a newcomer is still deciding about a job, a room and a budget without knowing what they don't know yet.
I became a permanent resident in 2007, and I'm grateful for it. But that is not why I write. Most of you will arrive on a Work Permit, an S Pass or a student pass, the way I did, and this site is for you. I know what it is to live on a pass, with your plans resting on a letter you can't control.
More than twenty years on, Singapore is home. I still learn something new about it every year. I wrote this site because I wish someone had told me these things before I landed. If it saves you one bad week or one wrong decision, it was worth writing.
Spotted an out-of-date figure, or have a question a guide didn't answer? Email hello@settledinsg.com.