We arrived here on January 2, 2004, full of hope to find two interesting jobs (one each) in this "hub" (that's how they call it...) of computer technology and high tech industries.
Our optimism was at its peak when we arrived in the splendid Raffles Marina with an amazing swimming pool and perfect showers, a dream come true for the "yachties" who can no longer enjoy bathing in the sea (forget about it in the Malacca Strait).
We first met the French "expat" community. They wanted to help and promoted us "candidates of the month" in their "Joblink" newsletter sent to all French companies based in Singapore.

One month and dozens of phone calls later, it was a fact: there was no opening anywhere!
The belgian community is far too small (just one representative per company) to welcome anyone and the American community kindly advised us not to pay the membership fee to become registered as a job seeker with them since there was no opening. We got the message!

We made new friends but the outlook was grim.
We met dozens of consultants of recruitment companies, advertising and PR agencies, contacted computer vendors, replied to dozens of job ads but, hard luck we only found a lousy underpaid job in a Singaporean company and the Employment Pass was rejected.
Singapore didn't want us to stay!
Well, after 3 and a half months we are also sure that we don't want to stay.

To tell you the truth, it's one of the rare islands that we don't recommend.
Over-industrialized and with one of the busiest harbours in the world, Singapore is far too polluted.
Looking at "Minuit"'s hull after 15 minutes of rain is a proof: the black leaks are everywhere.
Singaporeans will probably tell you that they are due to the fumes of the forest of Indonesia or the industries in Malaysia but having gone round Singapore by sailing boat from west to east, and south to north, we are sure that the pollution is right here!
After having left Singapore for a short sailing trip up the east coast of Malaysia, just 100 miles up, we found the air to be pure, the rain was absent and the water was clear again.
In Singapore, the smell at sea is awful especially where all the oil refineries are.
The sea looks "dirty" with thousands of plastic bags, Fast Food boxes, bottles, shoes, etc, etc, floating all over the place. Really not a nice sight!

A Singaporean even admitted to me that the sea is the most corrosive in the world. Yamaha sampled it and decided that Singapore is the best place to check the corrosive aspects of engines here... What a shame!

Should you want to visit Singapore once, 2 to 3 days will do except if you are a shopping fan then, you'll love it. There are hundreds of shopping centres in Singapore, all air-con. They even have the longest shopping mall in the world. The motto of the Singaporeans is easy "Shop till you drop!". They are all stressed out, they work all week until saturday noon with one and only objective: go shopping!

Singapore is losing ground in South East Asia: rents are too high, workers are too expensive and not overly qualified. Foreign companies have started to relocate, mainly to China. Even worth, the younsters' dream is to leave Singapore, to leave this over-disciplined town (there is no liberty of press in Singapore). They want some freedom. They want to drive their own cars (here the tax adds up 120% to the value of any car). They want to enjoy an evening out (impossible with public transport closing at 11:30PM). They want to find some creativity, some life!
Even the movies are chopped in pieces, leaving out even the softest sex scene. Internet is scrutinized and Singaporeans are severely fined to surfing on "non-recommended" websites.
Surveillance cameras are everywhere. Singapore is a city without a hart, without a soul and this bad image is there to stay, unfortunately.

On the positive note, Singapore is clean and safe. There are not cars parked along the streets, car parks being mandatory. The subway, called the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is fast, cheap and air-con, even fully computerized on some of the new lines (without a driver). Last but not least, Singapore is one of the 5 least corrupted countries in the world.