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  • #61
    Originally posted by scooby5 View Post
    Singlish is the main language, and as a newcomer it can take a bit of getting used to though as an English native speaker is certainly far easier. My wife, whose second language is English, does tend to find the language and accent a little tricky.

    How close is it though between Mandarin and Cantonese for 2nd spot? I hear as much Cantonese as just about anything else.
    If you speak with me, I can do it in good English, Singlish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien or Malay.... no Tamil or Hindi please..... can try Thai too...
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    This is a computer generated message, no signature required....

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    • #62
      Originally posted by phaleesy View Post
      I'm a Singaporean and I've been living and working in the UK since 1998. Except for family and food, I'm not exactly missing Singapore much.
      Ha..I left UK in 1998 after graduation and head back to Singapore !

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      • #63
        Originally posted by SQtraveller View Post
        I have been given an opportunity to move Singapore from London for work at the end of the year.
        Do you think Singapore is a good place to base myself in Asia? I am so desperate to leave the UK that I may be looking for all the good in Singapore and all the bad in the UK.

        Okay you probably heard a lot of good things about Singapore..but somethings a European probably would not like (besides the hot weather):

        1. Death Penalty by hanging
        - we still practise the death penalty for drug trafficking and murder

        2. Lack of opposition member of parliment
        - Only 2 opposition MPs in parliment (out of 72 I think)

        3. The accused are not given much rights
        - If you are arrested by the police, you do not have the right to have a lawyer next to you when being interrogated by the police.
        - Do not have the right to remain silent
        - Internal security act can be used to detain someone without trial (terrorists and hardcore gang members) - difficult to find witness to testify against them.

        cheers
        Acey

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        • #64
          Originally posted by hybridace101 View Post
          In case I plan to move-in here for a relatively long stay, would I need to learn Mandarin? Is it the main language in the island as far as daily conversations are concerned?
          It would help you immensely to brush up on your mandarin speaking skills as an increasing amount of service staff in SIN are coming from China. Their conversational skills in the English language leaves much to be desired. Going to some department stores and listening in to some of these conversations between the locals and the PRC staff seems like listening to a re-run of " Mind Your Language "

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          • #65
            Yeap, English. All Singaporeans learn English as their first language in school.

            English is the only language you'd need here.

            Singaporeans are largely native English speakers since most speak English at home too though there is a sizeable minority that speak their ethic languages instead- Mandarin, Mandarin dialects, Malay, and a few others.

            As Scooby5 correctly pointed out, we speak a heavily accented English, Singlish. Its pretty much English with some exclamations from Malay, Mandarin dialects and a slang. May take some getting used to but after a day or two usually, my friends from abroad can understand it just fine


            Originally posted by boing View Post
            It would help you immensely to brush up on your mandarin speaking skills as an increasing amount of service staff in SIN are coming from China. Their conversational skills in the English language leaves much to be desired. Going to some department stores and listening in to some of these conversations between the locals and the PRC staff seems like listening to a re-run of " Mind Your Language "
            Yes, and we fine that really annoying. I mean sure, come work in Singapore but you've got to learn English if you want to work here! Fortunately the government is finally starting to mandate that they have to have some basic English proficiency to work here.

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            • #66
              Originally posted by scooby5 View Post
              Unlikely to be technically fully correct......

              A company shipping over personnel, and in this case so far, will likely state in their contract a minimum "pay-back" time of anywhere between 2-5yrs. Though difficult to fully enforce be mindful that there could be a penalty for going home "early" into a contract that could include repayment of moving fees and visa fees etc.

              Just something to look out for SQTr.
              That's true... I guess even if it is 2 years it should not be a problem... Back to the language thing, actually the biggest dialect Chinese group is Hokkien...
              God must have been a ship owner, he placed the raw materials far from where they are needed and covered two-thirds of the earth with water...

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              • #67
                I was just asking because I read an excrept where Chinese Singaporeans speak Mandarin to each other, even among those who already received a high education degree.

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                • #68
                  Originally posted by hybridace101 View Post
                  I was just asking because I read an excrept where Chinese Singaporeans speak Mandarin to each other, even among those who already received a high education degree.
                  really?

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                  • #69
                    Originally posted by hybridace101 View Post
                    I was just asking because I read an excrept where Chinese Singaporeans speak Mandarin to each other, even among those who already received a high education degree.
                    Where was that from? O.o

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                    • #70
                      Originally posted by Nick C View Post
                      really?
                      I actually asked the same question a year ago: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9065814AAdL1Dd

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                      • #71
                        Plain odd. Got knows how they got the stats lol.

                        Well all my friends speak English at home (ethnic Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, Malay and some mixed). But they speak their ethnic languages with their grandparents who don't speak English.

                        And I dare say Mandarin is uncommon here. As Pinkfloyd pointed out, its th Hokkien dialect that is common here and it sounds very different from Mandarin.

                        I guessa lot of foreigners, its hard to imagine a country right smack in Asia can be native-English speaking. I sometimes get this when I travel.

                        .. And you need to pass First Language, English to make it up the grades in school. You no longer need to pass Second Language/Mother Tongue beyond Primary 6.
                        Last edited by concept|infinit; 20 March 2010, 09:32 PM.

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                        • #72
                          Yeah well a lot of Chinese do speak Mandarin with one another, but I guess it's more common to hear a mix of Mandarin, English and some Malay words all in one conversation... Singlish in a way (although there are a few "forms" of Singlish, but I will not dwell into that). Most people do speak English in one form or another, especially with the younger generation (those in their 40's included ), the only problem is that a lot of foreigners, especially Westerners, find it difficult to follow due to accents and the speed of which we speak...
                          God must have been a ship owner, he placed the raw materials far from where they are needed and covered two-thirds of the earth with water...

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                          • #73
                            Originally posted by acey View Post
                            Okay you probably heard a lot of good things about Singapore..but somethings a European probably would not like (besides the hot weather):

                            1. Death Penalty by hanging
                            - we still practise the death penalty for drug trafficking and murder

                            2. Lack of opposition member of parliment
                            - Only 2 opposition MPs in parliment (out of 72 I think)

                            3. The accused are not given much rights
                            - If you are arrested by the police, you do not have the right to have a lawyer next to you when being interrogated by the police.
                            - Do not have the right to remain silent
                            - Internal security act can be used to detain someone without trial (terrorists and hardcore gang members) - difficult to find witness to testify against them.

                            cheers
                            Acey
                            I'd say 1 and 3 although may seem harsh (especially 3) but its a good thing if you ask me. The human rights act in European has diluted the penalties received by criminals to the point of pointlessness and there are so many loop holes people can get out of crimes now due to legislation.

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                            • #74
                              Originally posted by scooby5 View Post
                              Singlish is the main language, and as a newcomer it can take a bit of getting used to though as an English native speaker is certainly far easier. My wife, whose second language is English, does tend to find the language and accent a little tricky.

                              How close is it though between Mandarin and Cantonese for 2nd spot? I hear as much Cantonese as just about anything else.
                              Cantonese is pretty far down the pecking order IMO. We should have more Hokkien speakers around
                              Life's A Bitch,
                              Love It

                              If GOD created me for only 1 reason. That reason would be to the love of my wife. If there was any other reasons involved, that would be for the love of Singapore Airlines

                              Flown with me? - http://my.flightmemory.com/inix

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                              • #75
                                SQTraveler,

                                In a nutshell, if your employers pay for your home, pays for your commute, you'll be in good steed. SG's taxes are extremely low, so most money you earn will end up going to your own pockets.

                                If you're going to earn anything about GBP$5K converted to SGD (say around SGD$10K), with housing and commute thrown in, life will get really good, unless of cause, you wanna settle down in this country than you would start to think about buying homes, vehicles, medical, etc etc, all of which isn't really applicable if you're here for the short term as your employer would have covered it anyway. Otherwise, if you're on a short-term 3-4 year round trip, I don't think you would have too much issues.

                                Anyway, I've observed that some of my well educated Asian friends are having difficulties applying new Work Permits / Employment Passes, reflecting the political reality on the ground that there is a groundswell of anti lower-mid tier immigration. I haven't seen it affect any Europeans (i'm assuming you are), so it might be different.

                                But you might want to actually consider insuring yourself against it and have a backdoor in the event that your employment is not approved by the country's ministry.
                                Life's A Bitch,
                                Love It

                                If GOD created me for only 1 reason. That reason would be to the love of my wife. If there was any other reasons involved, that would be for the love of Singapore Airlines

                                Flown with me? - http://my.flightmemory.com/inix

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