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My dad was an expat who used to live and work in Singapore so I lived there with my siblings when we were young. I visited Singapore later in 1979 for a 2 month vacation after graduating from university and then 6 months later I moved there after getting a job in London. My company transferred me there to their regional office where I lived and it became a base for me to work throughout the Asia region.

My first impression was great. There weather was great, people friendly, shopping was brilliant and the food amazing.

Since I worked for an international company that employed mostly foreigners, lots of Brits, Americans and people from around Asia, every was easy. Also I was on full expat terms. There were no problems at all. No support groups were necessary.

I had many friends in Singapore both local (mostly women) and expat friends that I either worked with or people that I had gone to university with. During that time I waterskied, played squash, joined Yamaha music school, jammed at music studios with friends, went to curry parties, discos and bars, dated a lot, and had so many friends. It was an amazing time.

Singapore was very welcoming because 45 years ago it was free and easy. I remember once driving my bike really fast on the East Coast Highway and being chased by a policeman in a motorbike. Eventually I stopped on the side of the road and he just smiled and thanked me for a great race and let me off. I think also that Singapore is a good place for expats because there were so many other expats living there and it was very easy to make friends. Often I would visit Thailand or Bali for short holidays with friends while living there.

@wyngrove60 Much has changed since your experiences 45 yers ago. My last experience living in the country is 14 years ago - and even I did not dare to reply to this thread, because it could be obsolete by now. Asian societies change at a far greater rate than in the West!

Yes it's very different now. In 2003 I actually considered where it would be better to live in Singapore, Malaysia or Taiwan, and Malaysia came out on top because it was still a little wild and my money went further than it would have gone in Singapore. Still visit it pretty much every year as it's a short flight from Indonesia. My sister has lived and worked there on two or three contracts but she left last year. Still like it though. Should have bought some properties back in 1980 but I was young and naive.... Apparently a lot of English teachers there bought properties a long time ago and are very rich now.

Apparently a lot of English teachers there bought properties a long time ago and are very rich now. - @wyngrove60

That, too, has changed: Whoever wants to buy a property in Singapore now, will feel very poor when seeing the prices ...