Once again, Singapore No.2 in Global survey

[No.2]

Once again, Singapore narrowly misses out on top spot, and *gasp* its to the dreaded foe down south: Australia!   

Australia best for kids: expat survey March 11, 2010 - 5:09PM
With its beaches, outdoor lifestyle and friendly schools, Australia has been voted the world's best country to bring up children by expatriates parents working there, an HSBC bank survey shows.

Australia provided the best environment for healthy and active children, with more than three quarters of expat kids spending more time outdoors than in their home country, the survey said.

Expat children living Down Under also found it easier to make friends and ease into new school environments, while schools in the United States and Britain were the least child-friendly for foreigners, the study found.

The survey looked at more than 3,100 expatriates from 50 countries, now living and working in expatriate hubs including six major ones: Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, United Arab Emirates and Australia.

Respondents rated their adopted homes on quality of childcare, education, ease of integration, costs of raising children and time spent on outdoor activities.

Australia had the largest proportion of expat parents who reported an improvement in the quality of family life compared with their original homes, while almost half (45 percent) said moving to the UK could have a negative effect.

Singapore ranked second overall behind Australia in the top six, followed by Hong Kong, the UAE, the United States and Britain. But Singapore ranked first for safety, while Australia was marked down slightly on childcare quality. Parents saw Britain and the U.S. as generally less healthy places to live, with children in both countries more likely to spend more time watching TV and playing computer games.

Children in the United States were also more likely to frequently eat junk food compared with where they used to live, with 47 percent of expats eating more junk food, HSBC said.

Overall, expat parents believed their children benefited by moving to a foreign country, with an average 48 percent of expat kids adapting well to a new culture, half making new friends easily and 49 percent adapting well to new schooling.

The UK ranked top on cultural adaptation, while cultural differences saw the UAE ranked last.

[hey....]

nothing wrong with winning silver lah!

[$Pripps]

this sounded a tad odd:

Overall, expat parents believed their children benefited by moving to a foreign country, with an average 48 percent of expat kids adapting well to a new culture, half making new friends easily and 49 percent adapting well to new schooling.

One could also write it as

Overall, expat parents believed their children benefited by moving to a foreign country, however on an average 52 percent of expat kids did not adapt well to a new culture, half having difficulty making new friends and 51 percent not adapting well to new schooling.

 

[Aussie Singapore]

If the above is a genuine question and not an attempt to imflame, then this answer may help.

Australia is indeed a lovely place to be. Lots of space, clean air (compared to many countries), individual freedom- speech, movement etc, political stability, social security and medical safety net for all.

But:

1. The MNC's prefer a white person at the helm and so transfer Aussies to Singapore.

2. Australian tax is high while Singapore's is low. (I heard a 27yo Singaporean complain once she was pissed off because she had to pay tax. When I asked her how much, she answered: "$50". Oh the poor dear)

3. Job opportunities.

4. Friendliness of the Singaporean people.

5. Opportunities to travel.

6. Some of the "Australian's" are actually Aussie Born Asians, who want to live in an Asian country and have chosen Singapore.

7. The novelty of living abroad for a few years.


I admit one of the above is tongue in cheek.

[$Pripps]

I admit one of the above is tongue in cheek.

#4 ?   

[JR8]

Yah oso say #4 hor

[Kubes.SG]

Interesting that SG made it to #2 since many aspects of schooling seem to make up a big part of the survey.  The big difference between the top two countries is that Singapore has a very wide range of International schools catering many different curricula, languages, cultures etc.  Whereas the Australian schooling system has no international schools that target expats though there are schools based on religion and a few that specialize on particular languages (usually Euro).

So expats to AU send their kids into the normal schooling systems. 

By comparison, just imagine how many expats would come to SG if our only option was to have our kiddies go into the local school system.  No way would we have the Kublettes go through the torture of having their EQ removed in the local schools. 

Just last week I had to deal with an expat mum in my org who was freaking out about her 2.5yo picking up all sorts of unsavory habits and language from the local pre-school she had him in before he qualifies for big school.

[Aussie Singapore]

Just last week I had to deal with an expat mum in my org who was freaking out about her 2.5yo picking up all sorts of unsavory habits and language from the local pre-school she had him in before he qualifies for big school.

Just curious Kubes- what sort of unsavory habits can a 2.5 year old have??? Singlish I understand. But habits? Already not saying thank you and opening doors for others?

[wordtwist]

this sounded a tad odd:

Overall, expat parents believed their children benefited by moving to a foreign country, with an average 48 percent of expat kids adapting well to a new culture, half making new friends easily and 49 percent adapting well to new schooling.

One could also write it as

Overall, expat parents believed their children benefited by moving to a foreign country, however on an average 52 percent of expat kids did not adapt well to a new culture, half having difficulty making new friends and 51 percent not adapting well to new schooling.

 

yes, very true and well spotted.

I must have read this in a different newspaper because the one I read said that expats said the UK ranked worst for childcare which I found a bit strange given that I've never found much childcare here which doesn't involve a school environment or a maid.  When we lived in the UK there were nurseries everywhere and all schools in our area did after school clubs until about 6.30-7pm, so I'm assuming they mean low in childcare because of the lack of live in maids or something.  They also said the UK ranked low in schooling which again, I found to be good when we were there.  I'm wondering if all the expats they spoke to were living in the London area where the schools can be very oversubscribed.

[Maid fan]

Re:  The childcare comment from PP. As a working mum who's done the UK childcare and Singapore I can say the Singapore childcare wins handsdown if you can find a good maid.  In the UK I paid a fortune for a childminder who was very good, but I had to pick up before a set time, fit in with her schedule and my children had to eat whatever was on her menu for the day.
In Singapore I have a maid so can stay later if I have extra meetings, I can plan a menu for my children, get the maid to pick up the kids from school if they are doing activities and she costs about half what a UK childminder charges.

I was never a fan of 'nursery' type setting for babies but can see why other people might prefer them.  I just prefer a home environment.  I couldn't afford a Nanny in the UK so  a childminder was the next best option for me.  Here in Singapore I've found a maid who provides just the type of care I'm looking for. 

Before people start flaming me with"How could you leave your child with  a maid" - my oldest child is now 17 and was left with a maid from the age of 2. (The same maid we have now)  He's off to Cambridge University next year so I guess either the stimulating activities she did with him as a baby paid off - or sitting in front of the TV for hours on end didn't do any harm in the long run.  Either way, he did ok.

[wordtwist]

I wasn't knocking maids, I just found it odd that they said the childcare in the UK was bad.  I think it is very good although it is expensive I admit.  I assume they said it was bad because they too prefer the maid route, it can't have been lack of choice.

[Agent007]

In Oz your kids can learn how to circulate videos on the internet and win two weeks free accomodation

[marriedguy]

I would be more concerned if Singapore was # 157.

[UK Childcare]

I agree with a PP.  I personally much prefer the UK nurseries to the preschools here.  I can remember being quite depressed looking for a nursery that could even come close to the one my son was in in London.  They all seem to be run like mini schools here.

As for the maid thing, that would be comparable to a child minder except that you know more about your maid and you can tell her how to look after your child.  Never got that whole leave your child with a stranger in their house while they do their housework, look after their own kids thing.  Weird.

So i think that the survey is comparing apples with oranges.  Sure, it's great for expats here if you want to shell out $20k + for Year 1 / Grade 1 whatever you call it, but in the UK you could easily find a nice little primary school that's free.  True they're over subscribed but my son was on the waitlist at Tanglin for two years???

[mellmell]

I thought the bit comparing settling in Aud compared to the UK for an expat very odd... the vast majority of "expats" going to Australia are still British and Irish (with lots of Americans, Kiwis and South Africans too) so the settling in part is easy - especially with the language and the political system etc (all  based on the UK's). I am sure that the mix of expats going to the UK has higher proportions of people from different cultures (yes, I know Aus has that but still the largest immigration and temp worker pool is from English speaking countries). This could explain why it's harder to "settle".

Having spent 8 years in Sydney I agree it's a great place to live, but primarily because the natural environment is so fantastic and because the economy has held up so well. There is no paid maternity leave, no free nursery places and no free prescriptions or dentistry for kids unlike most places in Europe. Also public transport is woeful and as has already been mentioned, taxes are very high.