http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parks_in_Singapore
http://sg.asia-city.com/city-living/article/top-10-parks-and-gardens-singapore
My first trip to Singapore was in 1967 with my parents. I stayed at a friend’s house for a couple of nights and since I never shower with cold water, I would have remembered. I don’t know what kind of housing your friends stayed in.
We also have relatives who live in Singapore, and they really like it. DD has visited there twice, and liked it.
I say…go for it. Nothing is forever, and it will be good experience!
Does the company pay for expats to fly home annually? That would be worth asking.
My husband lived in Singapore for a few years just before we got married and he loved it. No worries about the rules and he was a young bachelor at the time. I say absolutely go for it.
@thumper, OP indicated no home leave flights.
GMT…too bad! But if the salary is right, it’s one expensive plane ticket a year. I think it’s a great opportunity.
“Expat” includes a wide range of circumstances:
An amusing quiz from the WSJ
http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/expatquiz/?standalone=1
My daughter lived in Singapore for 2 years. She loved it, except that it was far from home. We lived on the East Coast, and it was exactly 12 hours difference in time zones. She is my adventurous one, and did lots and lots of traveling while there. She has friends around the world now. We went for about 10 days. It is very hot, but she loved that part of it. It is lucky that your son is a boy. It is frowned upon for a single woman to live alone there.
It is very safe. Besides the gum thing, he can’t spit either, at least outside.
Don’t worry. I felt she was safer there than when she was living in NYC. She did get trip home a year. That helped. She also flew home on her nickel at least once. She grumbled, but it wasn’t too bad to fly. IF he goes, you must visit him. We also spent a few days in Thailand while we were there.
My daughter met lots of young people from all over the world. Many started as work friends, but they would go to a bar, then meet other Americans, and other expats. She was always doing something.
She did a lot of traveling while there. Thailand several times, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia.
While she was there, we skyped a lot. Both she and my husband had Blackberries, and were able to message back and forth for free. We would message her while at breakfast Sunday morning, and it would be Sunday evening there. I also joined Facebook when she moved there. She posted pictures of her many trips.
Singapore is a fabulous country. I am so very glad that she had the time that she did there. He will be fine, I promise you.
He may have business opportunities there too.
It would be hard to take an assignment in Singapore without help with housing. When we lived overseas I had company paid apartment and they also covered utilities, which was not something everybody got automatically. Electric bills were pretty huge.
The drug warning is worth repeating. Definitely something to be avoided entirely. No “small amounts for personal use” type stuff. Many people don’t appreciate how different it is in Singapore vs the U.S. My friends called it, “Disneyland with the death penalty.”
In general, I think working and living overseas is a fantastic opportunity for a young person. (or old person 
)
Yes. Take the drug warning seriously. It’s not only in Singapore but also in the neighboring countries.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/indonesia-executes-six-drug-convicts-most-foreigners/6023518
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-10/bali-nine-lawyer-court-challenge-will-not-delay-execution/6382368
He would probably do what others do in expensive cities, shared housing.
OP, I know my kids would jump at the chance to live in Singapore. They love the varieties of street food (very clean)one can get cheaply.
DS spend last spring semester in Singapore. He liked the experience and took advantage of the location to tour other parts of Asia (Vietnam, Bali, Taiwan). The hot/humid weather was a challenge. I don’t think he’ll ever complain about Boston summers again. Housing was pricey - luckily he got into the dorms. Food was reasonably priced, and he enjoyed it.
My experience is from 30+ years ago and this may or may not apply any more - I used to work at the corporate HQ in MA and then transferred to Hong Kong, and subsequently had assignments in other countries including Singapore. One of the benefits we had was “expat housing” where I (and other US expats) were provided apartments at a modest percent of our salary, which was a bargain. This got us much better apartments than we would have gone for if we had to pay fully out of pocket. (We also had some lesser benefits like free maid service). In Singapore, I only stayed for a few months and my housing was covered, but even there, the permanent expats got a break. So you may want your son to find out about expat benefits in general, and housing in particular, and see if he can tap those benefits.
My brother lived in Singapore for a time, and enjoyed it, especially the food and access to other parts of Asia. His wife had the job, and he worked before their D was born, then stayed home to care for her. He did tire of the rules, as apparently there are a lot of rules about various things. But it makes for a safe, clean living environment.
He is beginning to think that housing may be the deal killer. He will not be eligible for any kind of expat housing benefit. It seems common to rent a bedroom, with or without private bath, from a family or landlord who lives in the other rooms. It’s not clear to us if kitchen privileges are common or not. He would not be interested in this type of situation - been there, done that in all those college years. He has simple tastes and a simple lifestyle, but he values his privacy. It is hard to determine how many of the self-contained apartments and condos in his price range might actually be available. He’s working on getting an agent contact for expert general housing info. We will see…
I don’t think the OP’s son is hired as an expat,see post #5,thus not entitled to any expat’s regular benefits.
Very few companies can afford the old expat packages now and most multi-national companies hire ‘locals’ because they can find enough people with high education levels and experience in the local population. Many of them have been educated in the US or Europe and gone back to their home countries.
A friend who works as a headhunter in Hong Kong said many expats go to her and say “My company is transferring me back home, can you find me another job here?” If they are hired, it’s usually without any expats’ benefits or their benefits are much reduced.
The US government, on the other hand has a lot of expat staff in foreign embassies and their benefits are excellent. Housing, utilities, cars with drivers,private club dues, private international schools for their children are all paid for. Many want to remain overseas because they can live more lavishly and save much more disposable income than when they come home.
Singapore is a fine city…
http://www.jaunted.com/files/97904/singaporefine.jpg
There are various web sites listing things that are illegal there but may not be in other countries:
http://www.goabroad.com/articles/study-abroad/singapore-laws-to-know-before-you-go
http://www.hotelclub.com/blog/singapore-weird-laws/
http://asiaexpatguides.com/singapore-the-fine-city/
If he is gay, Singapore is not very friendly:
Yes you can’t break out your durian fruit at the bus stop after flicking your cigarette butt into the street. Not that difficult for most people and it isn’t as if they are looking for reasons to arrest people. (Or as if the cops are shooting people in cold blood on a weekly basis, ahem.) That said like everywhere else there are two levels of justice, one for the ultra wealthy and one for everybody else. If you’re everybody else, along with many other places in Asia, you do not want to flout the drug laws as has been stared earlier.
Even by Asian standards, Singapore’s laws are extremely stringent. My D will be in Japan for two weeks next month, and she has been advised to check whether she will be allowed to enter the country with her doctor prescribed medications. She only has two, but those which she does are extremely important to her ability to function well (the daily Zyrtec she takes for dust mite allergy and the idiopathic hives stemming from that, for instance). So far, she’s having a bit of a problem obtaining a complete and definitive list of banned pharmaceuticals.
The consequences of going against social order in Singapore are legendary. I would certainly make sure I had memorized every law and statute warned against before going, because they don’t mess around. Clean and safe are good (extremely good!), but I wonder what costs Singapore exacts (in terms of individual liberty) in order to maintain the common good. Would we Americans be willing to pay such costs in order to live so cleanly and safely?
I am in and out of both Japan & Singapore often, getting my passport stamped at SIN, NRT/HND nearly monthly. You have nothing to worry about regarding prescription drugs; there’s no antihistamine police. If it’s a “scheduled” drug, then make sure it has the label on the bottle.
Citizens of Singapore are entirely free to vote with their feet, but they seem happy enough. I actually saw 2 cigarette butts on the sidewalk in Singapore last month. I was so surprised that I posted a photo on FB.
Japan is scary clean. It makes even Singapore look dirty.
