living in SG vs AU

tmp1aj · July 2018

Hi all,

Alam ko po au thread ito. But would like to know more about AU.

Tanong ko lang lalo na sa mga sg peeps na nag-migrate sa au, in terms of
1. School (hindi kami pr dito sa sg so sabi pahirapan daw school dito, sa au po ba ganun din? Kailangan pa ipila ang bata makaenrol lang)?
2. Security (kasing safe po ba ng sg and au?)
3. Stress level (marami ako nababasa super laid back daw sa au? Totoo po ba ito, as you know sa sg kasi sulitin ka tlaga.)
4. Cost of living (alin po ang mas mahal sg or au in general terms? Food, bahay, transpo)
5. Longterm plans (currently hindi kami pr sa sg, in any case ba win-win samin na mag-au?)

Brief background, i am currently here in SG with my husband and a 2 year old daughter.

Now, my husband is may option na malapit sa melbourne. Now nagbabasa-basa kami and find options na rin na makakatulong sa amin to decide para umok kami sa au.

Thanks in advance.

Marie · July 2018

@tmp1aj,

1. may pamangkin ako sa SG, brother ko is PR, wife on a work visa, and yet they waited for a slot for their kid. Sa AU, education is a right, once you're here, you need to enrol your children. Schools varies per states, other states may bayad ang nasa working visa even in state (public) school, others don't. There's a thread about child's education, look for it.
2. Security to my POV is better in AU, very strict ang law dito.
3. Laid back in specially in regional areas, working days is up to friday only, other than that is already an OT
4. For now, AU$ is much higher than that of SGD, i think mas mahal ang rent sa SG compared to AU, food is cheaper, public utilities (transpo) in major cities are good, regional areas, a vehicle is a necessity.
5. Long term, no comparison, AU is for long term, specially for a family, check the other thread too for this

Given the chance, take it, never passed the opportunity.

adamwarlock · July 2018

Hi @tmp1aj , di pa kami nakapag migrate sa Au, hopefully malapit na. but as in your case, nandito rin kami sa SG with our 2 yr old (been here for almost 7yrs), so here's my 2 cents

In terms of school, even sa playgroup (2-3 yr old), nahirapan na kami ienroll yung anak namin since last priority talaga ang foreigners dito. It only gets harder as the kids get older (assuming foreigner ka pa din and di pa PR or citizen by then).

For some years now, very little to nil ang chance na maapprove ang PR application ng noypi dito, regardless ng salary and tenure mo sa sg. I could be wrong pero there seems to be no indication na currently nagaapprove na sila ng noypi PR applications. EP and S-Pass requirements (and in turn DP) is continuously naghihigpit din, so unless ma PR ka dito, SG is just not a good longterm option for families.

Marie · July 2018

as mentioned, chance of being a PR is almost diminishing 'cause of quota system. Priorities are now shifted to other nationalities, madami na atang Pinoy ang nabigyan ng PR so un na nga. And in the long run that PR were acquired, do u believe that that will be it. There's a family here in where we are, all of them are PR, but chose to migrate to AU, for a fact that his son will somehow need to do military training, which is a requirements in SG if not mistaken.

adamwarlock · July 2018

@Marie yep, not officially announced (since magmumukha silang racist

) but yeah marami ng nagrant na PR sa mga pinoy before. back in 2007, ininvite pa sila to apply for PR kahit bago pa lang sa SG, those days are long gone, now application pa lang may bayad na.

Not just military training actually, they call it national service (NS), mandatory for male 2nd gen PR and citizens na magserve talaga sa military, for 2 yrs I think

GlennM · July 2018

Here's my take, coming from someone who stayed in SG for 6 years then migrated here in AU.

1. School (hindi kami pr dito sa sg so sabi pahirapan daw school dito, sa au po ba ganun din? Kailangan pa ipila ang bata makaenrol lang)?
Too young pa yung daughter ko for school pero nung naghanap kami ng child care madami kami options. Actually mas nahirapan pa kami sa pagpili kasi usually my tour sila for parents para makita mo yung area at how safe yung kid mo pag dun mo siya inenrol.

2. Security (kasing safe po ba ng sg and au?)
For me mas safe and SG compared sa AU, madami din loko dito pero syempre mas may gugulo pa ba sa pinas LOL.

3. Stress level (marami ako nababasa super laid back daw sa au? Totoo po ba ito, as you know sa sg kasi sulitin ka tlaga.)
Eto ang pinakanagustuhan ko dito sa AU. Mas relax ang working environment. Nung nasa SG ako laging more than 40 hours per week akong nasa work at OT-hank you lang parati minsan kung malas ka talaga e mapupunta ka pa sa kupal na boss (haha may pinaghuhugutan). Literally house work house work lang talaga. That's ok if you're single pero kung pamilyado na it's not good IMHO. Anyway dito sa AU never ko naramdaman yan siguro swerte lang pero I've been to different lines of work dito sa AU (hospitality, factory, automotive, IT) at lahat sila never ako na stress tulad ng nasa SG ako hehe. I always managed to come home early at spend time with my family. Specially if you're all eating at the same time pag dinner kahit pagod sa work pero relax yung soul mo cheesy pero yan feeling ko hehe

4. Cost of living (alin po ang mas mahal sg or au in general terms? Food, bahay, transpo)
Bahay - cheaper is AU
Clothes - almost same lang
Food - cheaper is SG
Transpo - public transpo cheaper and way better ang SG, but very affordable ang sasakyan dito.

5. Longterm plans (currently hindi kami pr sa sg, in any case ba win-win samin na mag-au?)
Depende sa plans mo din sa future. If your plan is just to work overseas, save money, and comeback to PH someday then I would suggest SG. But if other way around then I suggest AU.

Hope this helps

tmp1aj · July 2018

@Marie thank you. Yup school #1 reason tlaga namin kaya consider namin na marelocate si husband.

tmp1aj · July 2018

@adamwarlock wow halos sabayan lang pala tayo dito sa sg.

Nagaasikaso na ba kayo ng pr sa au?

Yup un ang worry namin, school ng bata.

Yung pr isa pa sa worry namin. Inisip namin ying 2 yearas na i-stay namin sa AU, mataas ang chance na makapagapply kami ng pr at maapproved. Unlike dito, maka-pagpasa ka man, aabutin ka din ng 1 year bago ka balikan at masaklap pa ay rejected din

tmp1aj · July 2018

@GlennM thanks sa reply

Wow kabaligtaran dito sa sg pila ka pa at least priority ka pa. Jan ba same dito sa sg na may certain distance na allowed from bahay to school bago ka makapag enrol?

I agree wala na yatang mas gugulo pa sa Pinas hehe

Right now sahm ako. Prrviously nagwwork ako at mga kamaganak ang nagbabantay dito sa sg rotation sila. Kaso dumating sa point na narereject na sila kaya no choice ako to resign. Di na rin ako nanghinayang kasi super stress din ako sa work as in. Tama ka ok lang un stress if single ka kaso kapag may anak na, ang hirap.

Jan ba sir kunwari may makuha ako work sa au, pede din magsama ng kamaganak pra pede tumingin sa anak namin? Un tipong tourist lang din?

adamwarlock · July 2018

@tmp1aj yes nagasikaso na kami, maglolodge na kami for 189, check check mo lang dito sa forums and sa website ng home affairs ng australia and makita nyo yung different visa options na pwede sa inyo (189/190/49)

I think medyo similar tayo ng concerns (stability, education, stress sa work, pati yung papalit palit ng bantay sa bata every 1 or 2 mos, stress din yan. haha ) so ang advice ko is check nyo mabuti if ok para sa inyo yung Au, kasi medyo mahaba habang process din and nagtighten na rin si Au ng requirements compared to previous years, right now manageable pa naman.

tmp1aj · July 2018

@adamwarlock actually si husband eye sya for europe relocation sa germany. kaso concern namin hindi naman english main language mahirapan kami pare pareho magadjust.

Now he tried asking sa boss nya if pede sa au na lang marelocate. Pumayag naman. Kaya heto kami nagrerrsearch before we say the go signal.

Oo stress ang papalit palit ng bantay at sobra gastos kaya nagstop na lang din muna ako magwork.

engr_boy · July 2018

Lived in Sg for 6 years, Lived in Perth 3 years, Currently, living in Sydney for over 1 year.

In my experience..

Housing - rent-wise, Sg almost same with Perth, More expensive in Sydney.

Safety - Sg much safer all around. "Great enabler" ang Aus Government. Ang baba ng fines/prison time sa mga crimes, vandalism on buses and trains, may syringe boxes for addicts sa mga toilets, and there are really bad neighborhoods (uso break-ins, assault etc.) in certain pockets of both Perth and Sydney.

Food -Sg lamang dito, across the board. for 4-5 sgd sulit hawker food vs 11-14 aud for generic westernized asian food sa food courts sa mall. both countries varied choices naman.

Transpo - lamang sg being a small city-state (better, efficient bus and trains) dito mahuli ka sa bus eh minsan 30 mins na susunod.. Except sa pagbili ng kotse. you can buy a sh*t car here for 2 days worth ng salary mo. Eh sa Sg, COE pa lang yari ka na.

Stress - hands down, panalo Sg dito. work, school. KNN CCB.

GlennM · July 2018

@tmp1aj di ako sure pero parang wala naman kasi may mga students akong nakakasabay sa train na almost 30 mins travel time pero mostly high school students. Sa primary naman for a parent mas pipiliin mong malapit yung school sa bahay para di mahirapan sa byahe at sakop ng school bus.

Pwede din yung tourist. Only difference lang sa sg e dito kaylangan mo mag apply ng visa at depende sa visa ang length ng stay nila. Sa sg kasi ang tourist automatic pwede mag stay agad ng max of 3 months. Dito naman sa AU depende sa tourist visa na ibibigay pwede kasi multiple entries for a year pero max of 3 months stay lang meron naman single entry pero max of 1 year stay. Tyambahan sa period.

tmp1aj · July 2018

@engr_boy yup sagad sagaran ang stress hehe

tmp1aj · July 2018

@GlennM ah ok. Will readup na lang re: school.

Sabagay depende tlaga sa visa. Jan ba pede sabihin na tourist at parang additional support system na magbantay sa bata while us working? Dito kasi dina sa sg kapag sinabi na touriat eh tlaganh tourist. No need to explain more.

GlennM · July 2018

@tmp1aj what do you mean na additional support, mejo di ko gets, sa pag apply ba ng visa? dito pag tourist visa ka e tourist ka talaga, you're not allowed to work.

tmp1aj · July 2018

@GlennM i mean di pede ideclare na para makahelp sa kamaganak magbantay? :-/

GlennM · July 2018

@tmp1aj sa application wala pero pwede mo iindicate yan sa invitation letter na ibibigay mo sa relatives mo na kukuha ng tourist visa.

supermadi · September 2018

Hello po. To anybody living sa South Australia ngayon na galing SG, how can you compare the safety po? Ok naman po ba ang environment para sa mga bata? Salamat po sa sasagot.

jmban33 · September 2018

@supermadi SG is safer in general to Au

supermadi · September 2018

@jmban33 Ah ganon po? Pero not as bad as safety back home po saten sa pinas?

shrinx29 · September 2018

Magandang topic ito para sa mga nagdadalawang isip or di pa makapag decide kung SG or Oz.

kaaate · September 2018

nakaka aliw basahin, salamat sa mga honest comparisons niyo sa sg and au
mentally preparing myself for my BM this October sobra helpful nito

jmban33 · September 2018

@supermadi yep significant yung difference ng safety sa Au compared saten sa Pinas but SG is on a different level maybe becuase of their kind of government as well as size na madali imamage talaga

supermadi · September 2018

@jmban33 Salamat po. I guess kailangan lang mas vigilant talaga. Sa bagay anywhere naman talaga kailangan careful. Nasanay lang ng konti dito sa sg talagang safe para sa bata. Salamat po ulit.

JLF · September 2018

@supermadi hi. We were in adelaide (20 min from city area) for about 2 months last year and currently living in SG. Most of the locals are very friendly esp yung matatanda. In terms of safety, you don't see much people walking around the neighborhood at night compare to SG. One of the reasons why, could be, limited na yung public transport sa gabi. Also, my Niece is in primary school. There was a reported case na meron daw nasunod na car sa mga estudyante around school vicinity. So pinag iingat ang mga students.

Those were the only concerns esp if nasanay ka na sa SG. And in my opinion it is not even comparable sa safety problems ng pinas. SA for me has very homey and laid back atmosphere which we really like.

supermadi · September 2018

@JLF Thank you so much po. Very exciting at very nerve wracking din po at the same time yung thought ng migration. Mejo major concern din po kasi talaga ang safety sa aten lahat lalo na may bata. Pero kung not even close sa safety ng pinas, kayang kaya naten mga pinoy yan. Hehe! Sanay na tayo sa magulo, wag lang sana sobrang gulo.

How about expenses po? Hindi naman po ba sobrang taas ng cost of living gaya dito sa SG? Any inputs lang po for comparison. Hehe!

Sana nga po ma-grant na kame soon.

Salamat po ulit.

JLF · September 2018

@supermadi local produce and groceries (laging may sale) is more cheaper than SG. esp yung dairy products and beef haha. Nag pa ampon kami sa sister ko for 2 months (me and 2 kids) and kayang kaya nila kami pakainin.. Lol. But eating out is definitely more expensive compare to SG. Kahit fast food will cost you around 10Aud for 1 meal. Almost reverse ang lifestyle pag nag settle ka sa AU. Less shopping and more home cooked food. Well, different countries, iba iba ang kayang i-offer. What matters most is ano ang priorities nyo as family. Godbless!

JLF · September 2018

@supermadi and rental fees for the house is cheaper compared to SG and other OZ states. That's why we love SA pero NSW ang nag bigay samin ng sponsorship. We are still very much grateful.

redph · September 2018

Try to follow sa FB yung SA police and you'll see kung ano yung mga common crimes sa SA. Usually, theft, robbery and missing people but you'll see also na may update yung police sa crimes pag nahuli na nila or nakita na yung missing person.

Ang gusto ko malaman kung anong areas sa SA ang medyo dapat iwasan when choosing a place. Parang sa Sydney, may mga areas na di okay ang neighbourhood.