Are you coming here on a fixed assignment of x years and will you then move on or back? Are you here for an undetermined amount of time, maybe even considering ‘settling’ here? Whether you are here as a bachelor(ette) or with your family will probably influence your attitude too.

Singapore has a large ‘temporary’ population and the government actively supports the recruitment of ‘foreign talent’. With it’s lack of recourses Singapore has basically 2 things going for it; 1- geography (the port) and. 2- people, a skilled professional population with competitive salaries.

To maintain it’s competitiveness in the human resource field, foreigners are welcomed but though there is definitely no xenophobia here, not all Singaporeans may be as open to the idea as their government is.

In 2001 two National University of Singapore associate professors conducted a study, the results of which have been (partially) released in February 2004. They sent questionnaires to 400 Singaporeans and 501 foreigners who lived here for at least 1 year. The following quotes on some of the findings are from the ‘Straits Times’ of 19 February 2004:

“Interaction in the office: There is mutual respect and general acceptance. Almost all foreigners (95 percent) said their local colleagues made them feel welcome and did not view them as unwelcome competition. But there are underlying tensions. About 40% of Singaporeans said that they expected their foreign colleagues to perform better in the office because of their foreign talent status. Half the foreigners felt the pressure of these higher expectations, and this was more so with the non-Asians (75 percent) than the Asians (47 percent). Although more than half the foreigners interviewed (58 percent) considered themselves buddies with Singaporeans, their positive view of the friendship was not widely shared by Singaporeans. Only 18.8 percent of the Singaporeans considered colleagues among their closest circle of friends at the workplace.”

“Social interaction: Not much interaction here. Foreigners prefer to live in areas where other expatriates live. They also do not do their marketing in wet markets. About three in five foreigners said they interact frequently with Singaporeans. In contrast, two in five Singaporeans said they have not interacted informally with foreigners.”

Now; what does the above tell you? Of course it depends on you, your job, your future plans. The writer of this is an expatriate married with a Singaporean and can get along decently with her family, but there is no way you will be able to replace a common cultural or historical background such as the Singaporeans have, with each other.

(Social) interaction can not be a one-way street but if you are serious about your life here, whether short or long-term, you will have to make an effort. You’re ‘the new kid on the block’ after all.

Do you need more info? Leave a message on our expat message board!