The "Ugly Truth" of Singapore

After my previous entry about things that I do miss from Singapore, I feel compelled to tell you the ugly side of Singapore that not so many foreigners would notice, and absolutely no Singaporean will ever admit.

Especially for those who is thinking to move to Singapore merely just because of the dollars, I suggest you read this.

Things I DON’T (and will never will!) miss about Singapore:

1. My damn f***king kiassu ex-landlord
Be very careful and plan your move when it comes to pay rental deposit / bond money to your landlord. They will try as hard as they can to find any kind of reason to confiscate the bond money. Don't even think that the property agent will help you, as they will all disappear once they got the commission money.























2. Throat chocking property agent commission
In Singapore, you must pay commission fee (different from bond money) to the property agent and the rates normally is 1 month rent for 1 year rental contract. And right after you pay the money, they vanish into thin air and you must deal every damn problem directly with your landlord!

With such easy money and so many foreigners looking for a place in Singapore, maybe the Singapore government is trying to convert its entire citizen to be a blood sucking property agent!

3. Train / MRT culture
The smell, shameless, pushy, shitty look you got even before the train door open are priceless. The moment the train door opens, you can experience the tsunami force hit you.


















4. The non stop, all year long, hot & humid weather
Singapore only has 2 seasons; Dry/hot (not summer) and wet/rain seasons. During the dry season, top temperate is about 33’C to 35’C. During the rainy season, temperature is not that different, just add a lot of water from the sky. Tropical rain in Singapore can be compared to light storm in US or Australia.

5. Sky rocketing property price
2009 price is about S$ 600,000 for 2 bed room government flat and about $S 1 million for 2 bedroom private apartment.























6. Poor Customer service
The most popular reply I got from them is “There’s nothing I can do” and on the second place is “We’ll get back to you soon, and the worst was "So what do you want me to do?" And the worst part is, it was a bloody doctor in the hospital who asked me what do I want the him to do. Shit! Who's the doctor here?

7. “You can speak or understand Chinese” assumption
So your appearance look just a bit like Asian, do you think they will politely try to speak in English to you first? Nothing will stop them not speak to you in Chinese.

















8. “5 C” attitude from the Singaporean women
They want: Cash, Credit card, Condominium (not apartment), Car, Country club membership. I did hear about this before I moved to Singapore, and I thought maybe only the super pretty / rich girls behave like this. Reality: Even the super ugly one has this attitude!

















9. Car Prices
No matter what kind of car or what year is the car, you need to purchase a “license to buy a car”. I’m not joking nor my English is poor when I wrote that sentence. Summary: Just like you need a driving license to drive, in Singapore, you need a license to buy a car.

10. Lack of variety of meat options at the supermarket
Unless you go to “Expat” or “Foreigner” supermarket which charges 75% more expensive, most supermarkets stock 95% of their shelves with pork, chicken, and seafood. Then the 5% is beef with very limited choice.