Life in Singapore as foreign SIA crew: the flat share in the east, the cost of everything, the crew community and the rules that surprised me
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#1 SIA, and Grace wrote about the walk in and the accommodation for foreigners, and I want to write the next part: what living in Singapore on SIA crew pay actually looks like, for the regional applicants who assumed it would be like the Gulf.
The flat
Not company provided beyond the initial arrangement. Most foreign crew share a flat in the east (Bedok, Tampines, Simei, near the airport) with two or three other crew, and the housing allowance covers a portion. A room in a shared flat in the east: a real amount of Singapore dollars a month, more than a Jakarta salary and less than a Sydney rent. The flat share is arranged through the crew groups by nationality, and a new joiner from Malaysia or Indonesia will have a room offered within a week of asking.
The cost of everything
Hawker food: cheap, excellent, the reason the crew do not cook much. Restaurants: expensive. Transport: the MRT is cheap and reliable and the crew bus covers the airport. Alcohol: expensive, taxed, and the crew who drink learn the happy hours. Groceries: mid. Phone: cheap. Healthcare: covered by the airline's scheme for the essentials. Overall: livable on the pay after the first year, tight in the first year, and the saving rate depends entirely on the flat and the restaurants.
The crew community
Large, organised by nationality, and warm. The Malaysian crew, the Indonesian crew, the Filipino crew, the Indian crew, each with a group chat and a set of flat shares and a weekend routine. The Singaporean crew, who live at home with family mostly and who are the bridge to the city. The community is the reason foreign crew stay: nobody is alone in Singapore for long.
The rules that surprised me
The grooming standard applies on the way to and from work, not just on the aircraft: a crew member seen in uniform with hair down on the MRT is a conversation. The work pass ties you to the employer, so leaving SIA means leaving Singapore unless you find another sponsor, which shapes the decision to leave more than the bond does. And the social conservatism of the city, which is real, and which the crew from Jakarta find familiar and the crew from Sydney find restrictive.
The honest verdict
Singapore is safe, clean, efficient, expensive, and small. The crew who love it love the order and the food and the network. The crew who leave usually leave for the size: two years in and you have done every walk. But the pay after year one, the training on the CV, and the flying to everywhere make it a very good place to be crew for five years. Most of my regional batch mates are still here at year four.
Questions from the region welcome.
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#2 Singaporean, and Evelyn's outside view of my city is accurate and slightly painful: safe, clean, small, done every walk in two years. We know. The food is why we stay.
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#3 Jakarta, and 'the crew from Jakarta find the conservatism familiar' is exactly right and is a reassurance, and the flat share offered within a week is the thing I most needed to hear. Thank you.
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#4 Filipino at a different carrier but with friends at SIA, and the work pass tying you to the employer is the rule that surprised every Filipino I know there. It is not the bond that keeps people. It is the pass. Worth knowing before the walk in.
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#5 @danielmnl exactly why I put it in. The bond is the thing people worry about. The pass is the thing that actually shapes the decision.
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#6 Month three of training and living in the east already in a Malaysian flat share arranged in four days through the group. Everything here is right. The hawker centre next to the flat is why I have not cooked once.
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#7 Hong Kong, and the Cathay version of this is the same shape with a smaller flat and a higher rent and the same 'done every walk in two years' problem. The Asian hubs are small cities with big networks. The network is the point.
