Food here was one of the major draws for expats. -myp
Tue, Dec 15, 2009
my paper
By Sia Ling Xin
SINGAPORE has been rated the third-best country in the Asia-Pacific region - and fourth-best among 50 countries in the world - for expatriates to live in, a survey has found.
The online survey, commissioned by HSBC International, polled 3,146 expats from 50 countries across four continents, including 192 from Singapore. They were asked about the quality of life and their experience of integrating into the host society.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore ranked behind Australia and Thailand. It lost out to Canada, Australia and Thailand in the global ranking.
Food here was one of the major draws for expats, the survey found.
Four in 10 respondents preferred Singaporean food to their native cuisine, higher than the average of 36 per cent across the 50 countries who preferred the food of their new home.
American Holly Anderson, 32, a pharmaceutical scientist who came here four years ago, said: "I really love the food and the people here. My Singaporean neighbours often cook curry for my housemate and me. They know we can't take food that is too spicy and they actually take the effort to tone it down for us."
Singapore also emerged tops among the 50 countries in the ease of applying for and setting up of utilities.
Eight in 10 of those polled found the experience fuss-free, and four in 10 felt that the standard of utilities here was higher than what they had back home.
Seven in 10 found transportation here better than in their home country, and more than half said that the quality of their accommodation had improved too.
Mr Sebastian Arcuri, head of personal financial services at HSBC Singapore, said that he was not surprised that Singapore performed well in the survey.
The bank's clients have "shared with us many anecdotes praising the efficiency of Singapore's infrastructure and the high standard of living here", he said.
But when it comes to socialising, Singapore seems to be lagging behind.
It was ranked second-last out of the 26 countries with enough responses for this aspect, in the number of expats who joined any local interest groups.
