Mustafa Centre - Everything under 1 roof

I had heard about this place from many people. But you got to see it to believe it. You can get everything in this store at the best rates in Singapore - literally. If you ask me a question - "Where can I buy ____ ?" My answer would be Mustafa.

This is a 6 floor store at 3 min walking distance from Farrer Park MRT on purple line. There are various store sections that include - Cosmetics, Electronics, Home Appliances, Grocery, Pharmacy, Clothing, Jewelry, Vegetables, Foreign exchange, Tours and Travels, Air tickets, Food joint and whatever you name. And what more would you want when you can get all the Indian brands too. Be it Indian spices, garam masala, parachute hair oil or even pressure cooker. So people coming from India can drop the idea of getting the pressure cooker if you are running out of space in your luggage. You can literally find every Indian stuff here in stock, which sometimes you might not find even in India ;)

There are various chain of supermarkets in Singapore, but you will get the same stuff at Mustafa cheaper than any other place. Frankly there is no competition to this superstore. If you have not found something here, I d guess you will really have to hunt for that thing in whole of Singapore. This is not only a superstore but also a tourist attraction. Every tourist shops atleast once here. Moreover its open 24 hours.

Tips

- Don't go on weekend evenings to Mustafa - it is extremely crowded. Buying the same stuff will take you double the time. In my opinion shopping here at midnight is a good idea :)

- Finding a cab or standing in long queue will take lot of time. So it is best to call up and book a taxi.

- Buy a month's worth stuff from here. It is probably not worth an effort to enter this place for buying 1 or 2 things unless you live very close to this place or you only get that at Mustafa.

More info - http://www.mustafa.com.sg

MRT - Singapore's Lifeline

MRT stands for Mass Rapid Transit. Like most metro cities, Singapore's Subway or Metro Rail is popularly known as MRT. Truly it is one of the most important system in Singapore.

MRT connects majority of Singapore with a 2 min difference between 2 stations. You will just need to google for a map and you can see the well connected network. Undoubtedly the fastest and cheapest way to reach a destination in the city from any corner of Singapore. For instance, it takes me 20 SGD (12SGD tariff + 35% of tariff - peak hour extra + 3 SGD surcharge for taking taxi from city area)  to reach home from my office compared to about 1.6 SGD in train). Also it takes exact same time by either mode of transport.

There are 3 major functional lines. North-South (Red), North-East(Purple) and East-West(Green) line. The other lines shown in map are under construction. While most of us would have our offices in the city area (Stations like - Dhoby Ghaut, City Hall, Raffles Quay, Orchard, Somerset, Outram Park), some would have at Changi Business Park (Near Changi Airport) so MRT would be the most convenient way to reach office. During peak hours its probably half as crowded as local trains in Mumbai :) However travel is smooth in the spacious air conditioned compartments.

Stations

Most stations are underground with exception of few on green line. They are 2 floors above the ground. Underground stations have doors on the platform which open only when train a train approaches. All stations are equipped with plasma screens for train details and speakers for announcements. Once you are in station premises you are strictly not allowed to eat/drink or smoke. If you are caught, you can be fined from 200 - 1000 SGD. Dhoby Ghaut, City Hall and Outram Park are interchanges where you can shift between lines.

EZLink Card

To use the MRT, you can either purchase a daily ticket or buy an EZLink card for 15 SGD. 5 SGD is the deposit and you get 10 SGD for initial travel. You can top up the card with amount you wish. It can be purchased on any of the stations and can be used in buses, taxis and even food joints like McDonalds. A pretty important card in your wallet. Minimum MRT fare is 80 Cents.

Singapore - First Impressions!

Excitement grew in me as it clock stuck 5:00 AM on Feb 1st, 2009. It was 15 minutes left for the Singapore Airlines flight to land. 5 hours of flight were spent in watching movie, eating and catching some sleep.

It was bright and sunny as we neared Singapore! I took a chance and clicked snap of my first glimpse of the country. Adjusting my watch to the local time... I got out of the flight started making impressions of this place.

Temperature

As all airports feel similar, this the first thing that you notice when you come out of the flight. Well its as hot as any tropical city. I didn't feel the difference in temperatures from Mumbai.

Changi Airport

This airport is huge!! Now when I got out, I had least clue where to go. So I started following the majority. After walking for 20 mins on various escalators and speed walks I finally reached immigration checkpoint. After completing the process I picked my bag from the baggage belt and came out to see 1 man standing with my name tag! Wow... I felt royal :) He quickly picked my luggage and I started following him towards out 'Mercedes' taxi!

Drive to my next home

We got into this luxurious Mercedes Van and came on the beautiful and extremely inviting roads of Singapore. Mannnnn... The roads here are really tempting to ride on (may be I feel this as I come from a place where you hardly see the tarmac carpet... its mostly rugged :) The driver showed me all the places with lot of interest and very soon he became the first face of Singapore for me.

We took a freeway while reaching the city. Freeway - No traffic lights, specific exit points and at least 4 lanes each side. After entering the city, there are traffic lights every 100 mts

I reached my service apartment (Central Square, Havelock Road) in about 30 mins. The staff was very friendly and my room was kept ready for me. Service Apartment stay by the company is the honeymoon time! Enjoy this time to its fullest.

Planned and Organised City

The city is very very well planned and organised. If you see from the flight, its like someone has taken chalk drawn straight lines and fit in things between them. High rise and beautiful buildings are civil marvel. Road junctions are perpendicular and markings are properly painted. Traffic lights always work and there is no honking on roads. Pedestrians are top priority. As a pedestrian if you dont follow traffic rules, you can be fined upto 100$ :) So be careful while trespassing.

High Quality Infrastructure

The city has great infrastructure. Infact I can confidently say, you can find as much Singapore under the ground level as much you see over. This country is known to make maximum utilisation of sea water. Pipelines, Electric Lines, Subways, Metro Rail, Malls and lot other things you might find if you dig the ground ;) Every part of the country is well connected and you can reach the centre of city from any corner within 45 mins.

Courtesy

People are extremely courteous. No offence, but this is unlike India. Let the other person pass first is followed. Letting pedestrians pass, opening the door and holding it back are just some minor examples. And living here, you tend to become one like them.

It's Expensive

No doubt, when you convert INR to SGD and buy stuff its expensive. And it hits you hard on the first purchase. On the very first day, I purchased bread for 2$ (65 Rs) and 1 Ltr Milk for 2.5$ (80Rs)! And I was like, shit how am I going to manage till my salary is credited... ehhh.. But well, thats the first impression, wait till you get your salary and you will realise that you can have a lavish living out of it

Small things, felt big:-

- There are no fans in most of the rooms! Neither my service apartment has nor my rented house. The live on Aircons which are found like bulbs in the house. Every room has one.

- There are no wash basins in food courts or small restaurants. Well what do you do - Eat with spoon, fork and dont dirty your hands. At the end of the meal wipe on tissue and get up. I still make it a point to gargle my mouth once in office or at home.

- In most places, dry area and wet area in bathroom are well separated. So inconsequentially, toilet seat is a dry area.... Well what I mean is you better learn to use toilet paper :)

Final Checklist

You will be relocating long term and more likely away from your comfort zone of being with family and friendly environment. There are certain things that you would like to keep in mind before you leave India. I have put down some from my personal experience.

Renting out your house
If someone is moving to Singapore with their family, they might want to find a tenant. However this can also be done while you are overseas. But this is the longest task, so start as soon as you have started the countdown to fly.

Collection of income statements and tax settlement.

Before relocating to Singapore with Barclays Capital, I worked with Lehman Brothers and Bank of America in financial year 2008-09. So I had collect my income statements and tax sheets from 2 places.

It is recommended that before you move out, you complete these formalities or else you will have to have someone run around the city for this. All you have to do is collect the following and calculate tax by using the taxation tables .

- Tax Statements (Tax calculation sheet) from your employers. This will contain the salary paid and the TDS cut by the employer. It will also contain your PF (Provident Fund) details.

- FNF Sheet (Full and Final Settlement). Most employers do not cut any income tax (profession tax is cut) in your final payout. Complete salary is given and PF is contributed on a pro-rata basis.

- Other income statements like demat account statements, bank account statements.

- Investment proofs for getting tax benefits.

Calculate your total income for the year and pay the tax at any of the banks like State Bank of India. If you dont want all this hassle then pass these sheets to a CA and let him do the rest while you enjoy the trance of goin to Singapore :)

For more details on tax calculation and filing return refer:- http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in

Provident Fund Account

Since you will be earning in Singapore, you might want to close provident fund account. If you have multiple accounts, you can get it transferred and have just 1. I would not recommend closing the account as it gives you 8% tax free interest and the money is secure for your future. I would strongly advice everyone to keep their PF accounts operational.

In Singapore, the analogous version is Pension Fund Account. Most employers contribute about 10% of your basic salary to your Pension Fund. More details on this in forthcoming posts.

Servicing of your car/bike

I would recommend everyone to have their vehicle serviced atleast 10 days prior to flying. This will give you some time to test after the service and problems if any. If your vehicle will be used by someone else (family member or friend), make sure you give all the documents - RC Book, Insuarance and PUC. However, make sure you carry your driving licence with you. This will be helpful while making a licence in Singapore.

Mobile connection

You can either surrender your number or take it on international roaming. Check post with subject "What to do with our mobile phone and connec

tion in India?" for more details.

Filling your laptop or external harddisk

You might want to carry your personal documents, photos, music collection, movie collection, game packs, softwares and N number of items on you PC to your laptop or USB HDD. Just for information, I purchased a 250 GB Maxtor USB HDD for INR 3,300 from Lamington road, Mumbai. Price will keep going down and Capacity will keep going up :)

Visa and EP Documents

Make extra copies of these important documents. For most people the Visa and EP processing will be handled from the employer's end.

Forex

Convert some INR to USD and SGD 2 or 3 days prior to your flight. For more details refer to post with subject "Forex"

Meet Relatives and Friends

This is a very important and essential part. It will take a lot of time and most of your other things will have to find time around this. Make sure you meet all your close friends and relatives before you go. Its always good to take blessings and good wishes :)

Family

I think this is the most important "to-do" in the checklist. I remember a day before I left - Dad, Mom, Brother and me had gone for lunch at Cafe Leopold, then to Gateway of India and then to Dad's Office as it falls on our way. It is one of the most memorable days of my life. Do not forget to spend lot of time with your family as it does hurtto seperate.... even if it is for time being.

Meeting God
Do it or not, upto you. I went to my granny's house in Pune where we have a temple in our compound. Having this on checklist is important for some people and waste of time for some. It's one's belief. I believe in the divine powers and hence it was a must do on my checklist.

Travel Checklist

Above is the list of items that I carried to Singapore on my first journey. This is a checklist just for reference. Everything... Just everything mentioned below is available in Singapore, however its a good idea to have initial setup so that you wont have to spend right away as you land.

The Travel Day

This is the first time I ever boarded an International Flight. I have been in domestic flights a lot times before so I am not unfamiliar with airport environment. My mom, dad, brother and a friend had come to drop me on 31st Jan. I said goodbye to them and went in at 9.45 PM.

Below is a series of events a person will go thourgh on an International Airport
Step 1: Go to an xray machine which will scan your check-in luggage. They will tag the bag and put a strap around it so you cant open it again.
Step 2: Go to the specific airline counter to make your boarding pass. They will check your passport and visa and allot you a seat. (Once experienced, you can always do internet or tele checkin) You will need to give your check-in baggage at this counter. If your bags are heavier than 20KG, you will need to pay around US$12/ per kg extra :) A lot of times they dont mind a few KGs extra though.
The person at counter will also give you an immigration form to be filled. Make sure you get tags for all your cabin baggages and write your name on them.
Step 3: Fill the immigration form and you will need to stand in a queue to have the immigration formality done. The person on the counter will check your visa and stamp your passport. It indicates that you are leaving India.
My VISA: This was actually an "In principal application for Employement Pass (EP)". There was a 10 page document which mentioned that I have applied for EP and said that it was a 1 way entry VISA to Singapore. The whole EP process was handled by PWC, so I dont really know how to go about it from scratch.
Step 4: Board the flight and relax on our seat. The whole process takes about 2 hours depending on the queues, but I will recommend 1st timers to come 3 hours in advance.
Step 5: In India where you got the form for immigration, you will get a 2nd form which is for immigration check at Singapore. So fill this form while in flight. Incase you havent got it at airport in India, you can also ask for this fom in the flight itself.
Step 6: Once you get down from the flight, just follow the exit routes... most people will be heading in that direction. Singapore airport is biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig.... I had to walk atleast 1 KM to get to the immigration check counter.
Step 7: You will need to show your passport and visa, then someone will take you to immigration officers, where they will give you a white embarkation sheet. This is actually a tear-of from the form that you filled in flight. It is very very important for getting your EP. They will then stamp your passport which indicates you have landed in singapore.
Step 8: Now you can take your check-in luggage from the conveyer belt and move out to find a taxi :) I travelledin Singapore Airlines. The flight is good, they are punctual but the food is below average.

Just somethings you need to remember:-
1. Most flights allow just 20-25 KG per person in economy class. I came in Singapore Airlies where only 20KG was allowed. You can have upto 7KG of cabin luggage + a laptop. When the flights are empty, they dont charge if you are exceeding 4-5 KGs... But not always the case. For referance, a 26 inch suitcase filled with clothes would weigh around 16-18 KGs.
I was provided shipping by my company so I could carry all that mentioned in the list. I have Crown Relocations ( http://www.crownrelo.com/ ) transporting my stuff. I will give them 5Stars! They are really really good. They provide Air and Sea Cargo. Professionals in packing and managing stuff.
2. Do not forget to carry a pen with you on the flight. Thats the last thing you want to hunt for on the busy airport.

3. You can make forex transactions at the airports, however I will recommend it to be done before hand as you will already have long queues to stand in at the airports. Check for a seperate blog on Forex.

Forex

Now you will move out from Indian Rupees to Singapore Dollars!

There are various places where you can exchange INR for other foreign currencies like banks, currency dealers or travel companies. Banks - State Bank of India, ICICI, HDFC. Currency Dealers - You will have to go looking for these on streets or have a contact from a friend. Travel Companies - Thomas Cook.


Procedure
1. Check the latest conversion rate in the newspaper or on a site.
2. Check the conversion rate for Singapore $ with various banks or dealers or travel companies. When you want to buy SGD - the rate will be higher than the market rate. If you want to sell SGD - the rate will be lower than market. Eg: Market Rate - INR 33. Rate for buying - INR 33.8. Rate for selling - 32.1.
3. Compare the rates given by all your sources and go for the one which is as close to the market rate. Yes - there is a difference in between the offers made by various sources.
4. Exchange the money and get legitimate receipt for the same. This can be done through cash/cheque/draft etc. I would recommend cash/draft as it is the fastest way. However if the amount is greater than INR 50,000 then you will compulsarily have to give a cheque. You can collect the money only once the cheque is cleared. Get a copy of your Flight ticket and carry your passport with you. They will take a photocopy of your passport and return it to you.

I will recommend not to exchange currency with the dealers who do not provide receipts. Below are the some alarms that I see -
1. You don't know if the source of money is black or white. Just owning this currency might land you up in trouble.
2. Since you will be travelling for the first time, incase you are questioned for the source of SGD, you will not be able to escape the questioning easily.
3. There is difference of hardly INR 0.2. So if you exchange INR 10,000 it makes a difference of only INR 200 = SGD 5.5, which is not significant at all.
At the end when you are travelling the first time, why not travel clean and free of all tensions. Its going to be a dream come true... and you dont want anyone to keep disturbing this fantasy like dream :)

Some observations
1. In banks, SBI is the cheapest followed by ICICI and HDFC being the most expensive. Lot of local dealers will have better rates than ICICI, comparitive to SBI. Thomas Cook rates are slightl expensive than SBI and local dealers.
2. You can check out the rates online of their respective sites. However I will recommend calling and talkin to someone directly. 90% of the time, banks or travel companies give some discount on their published rate.
But overall the rates are in the order of:
SBI - Best Rate
Thomas Cook, Local Dealers - As good
ICICI - Not that great
HDFC - Worst rate
3. SGD is a minor currency. The availability is a problem. So you can change INR to USD which is very very easily convertable to SGD in Singapore. However, if you want SGD then its better to tell the agencies 1 day in advance so that they can manage the currency.

I personally exchanged about 300 SGD and rest in USD fom Thomas Cook, Thane. Again the above information is based on my experience and just to help in your research. Personal opinion - Its better to spend least time on Forex, as lot research gets you profit of maximum SGD 5.5 per SGD 300 which is wiped off in matter of 2 days when currencies fluctuate.

What to do with your mobile phone and connection in India?

Mobile Connection
I have a connection with Vodafone, Mumbai. So the procedure/rates I am mentioning are of the same. I am pretty sure it should be similar in most other services. Now, you are going to be staying at Singapore for long term. For those who are on contract and know the term that they will stay here can also note the suggestions. I will mention 3 solutions.

Solution I
Put your connection on International Roaming(IR)... Yes, I have done this:- Well yeah sounds absurd, but read through this.

Converting to pre-paid
Convert your connection to pre-paid if you have a post-paid connection and if you want to keep you number. Else you can buy a new connection. There is no difference. Now, if you have to activate IR with post-paid number, you need to pay heavy deposits in range of 5000 to 10,000 INR. This is obvious as it is possible that you might run away without paying the bills. Also the IR charge is 149/month in post-paid compared to 99/month in pre-paid.

Procedure
For converting your number, first clear the unbilled usage then you will need to submit photo-id and residence proof again. There are no transfer charges. You need to pay 99 INR for new sim (Post-paid sim cards cant be used for pre-paid connections) and make a minimum recharge for activation (I chose 10 INR). This 10 INR balance is with validity of 24 hours. Now even if you start with 200 INR, the validity would be 24 hours. So now you need to buy another recharge depending on you usage. First I purchased a recharge of 199 INR with lifetime validity. You get talktime of about 10-25 INR in this. Then I purchased a recharge for 200 INR (now the validity of this is lifelong). Your conversion is complete here. This whole process takes about 1 working day. Once your number is on pre-paid connection, your previous simcard will not work. Now you can also put a claim for your initial deposits with the post-paid account.
Catch: Even though the number has lifelon validity, you need to recharge atleast 200 INR in 6 months, failing to do which your number will go into recyling and will get alloted to someone else. But since you are going on IR, 200 INR would be over in 2 month's rental :)

Activating IR
You can send SMS 'ACT IR' to 144 and get the IR activated. I would recommend doing this on the last day as it will cut 99 INR at that time. Vodafone says that IR is pre-activated and once you land in another country just restartin your phone will give the network and deduct 99 INR. I didn't want to take a risk so I manually activated it.

In Singapore
I have been getting network from Singtel and Starhub which are major players here. There is no problem with recieving the network here.

Rates on IR in Singapore
You can get roaming rates by sending 'ROAM SINGAPORE' to 144. Below I have mentioned approx rates:
Making a call in Singapore - 16 INR / min
Making a call to India - 95 INR / min
Recieving a call - 64 INR / min
Sending an SMS - 13 INR / min
Recieving an SMS - FREE
Right and this is what you can use your number for! Just keep recieving SMS from friends and call them back as needed ! !

Solution II
Put our number in safe custody. I am not sure if all service providers have this fascility.

Why?
If you do not use your number for 6 months continiously, it is sent to recycle and will be alloted to someone else. To avoid this the number can can be put in safe custody with nominal charges and you can resume using it with our existing plan when you come back to India. In this conditon, one cannot call/recieve phone calls or SMS. So it is like a dormant state.

Procedure
You will just need to submit a written application to Vodafone for activating this. To deactivate, you will need to give the written application again.

Rates
It costs about 100 INR to kep your number in safe custody for 3 months. This can be extended as per needs. The also have plans for of 1 month to 1 year. Rates can be confirmed with Vodafone gallery.

Solution III
Surrender your connection. This is as simple as it sounds. Clear your bill and submit the number and put in a claim for your deposit.

My reason for using Solution I
I have an iPhone and I can send SMS free through internet (by using WiFi which is easily available) to any number in India :) You can converse frequently by using SMS as it is a local SMS for your friends in India. But yeah at the end, choice is yours.

Mobile Phone
Well, you dont need to change your mobile phones while reocating to Singapore. The GSM services in Singapore have the same frequency bands as India. So all you would need to do is buy a connection in Singapore, put the sim card in your current phone and start talking.
But obviously if you fancy a new phone, I will suggest you to buy it in Singapore for price adavantage.

iPhone users
Yes, I have an iPhone which was purchased from Vodafone which is not available in Singapore. I was very dissappointed as I would have had to give it to someone in India to use it as this was locked with Vodafone India. But thankfully the unlock is available for iPhone 3G 2.2 Fimware now :) For more details you can mail me or just search for 'yellowsn0w unlock' in google. But since I would have 2 connections (1 India number on IR and 1 Local Singapore Number) I am carrying my good old Nokia N-Gage with me!

If you want to ask question,

Please remember the following when you are asking questions:-

1. Search the blog if your question is already answered.

2. Do not ask personal questions. For eg:- questions regarding my salary, kind of work etc.

3. You may ask generaly questions. For eg:- How much is a bachelor's monthly expenditure? What are the rents in a particular area?

I will try to answer all the questions at the best of my knowledge. Do not take my answer as the ultimate word and do your own research. The blog is to help you in the process and is not a complete solution of migrating from India to Singapore.

Why am I moving to Singapore?

Offcourse, this is where it will start for you. There will be a reason why you are leaving your home country to go to Singapore (or anywhere for that matter). Some may like to share the reason, some may not. Some would have reasons for going to Singapore at the same time some might have reasons to not stay at India.

Mine is not a secret, so I would like to share it in the first post of my blog.

I have got an offer from Barclays Capital at Singapore. Just for a brief background - I am a software engineer passed out in June 2006. I worked with Lehman Brothers and couple of months with Bank of America. Now I have this offer from Barclays Capital which is exciting and hence taking the opportunity to move to Singapore.

Most probably this would be the reason for 90% of the people married/unmarried, to move to Singapore - JOB. Currently I am single and residing at Mumbai, and hence most of my posts in future would relate more to a bachelor from a middle class family staying in a metro city. However I will be more than happy to answer anybody's question.