‘Everything is competitive and hard’: American expat asks locals to reveal what foreigners misunderstand about Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore has long been a popular destination for foreigners, thanks to its tropical climate, diverse food culture, efficient public transport, futuristic skyline, lush greenery, and, perhaps most importantly, its reputation for being incredibly safe.

Sure, the cost of living can make anyone wince, but for many expats, the perks of living here still outweigh the downsides.

Recently, an American expat living in Singapore took to an online forum to ask what foreigners tend to get wrong about the city-state.

He said that before moving here, he had the typical outsider’s impression of Singapore: a remarkably clean, safe, and efficient place where everything seemed to run like clockwork.

“And to be fair, a lot of that turned out to be true,” he said.

However, after spending more time here, he began to realise that there is a big difference between admiring Singapore as a foreigner and actually understanding what it is like to grow up here.

According to him, whenever he mentions something he loves about Singapore, one of his local friends will often respond with a knowing “you have no idea” look.

“What do Americans and other foreigners tend to romanticise or completely misunderstand about Singapore? And what takes living here for a while before you finally understand it?” he asked.

‘Everything in Singapore is competitive and hard’

The post received more than 300 responses. 

One Redditor offered his take on why expats and locals can have such different perspectives.

He explained that expats may experience Singapore from a more comfortable position, while Singaporeans who grew up here have had to navigate the country’s highly competitive meritocratic system from a young age.

He said: “Americans come to Singapore on an expat term so they see things in a greater way; however, Singaporeans who grow up here and have gone through the meritocracy system will see things differently.”

For him, simply living in Singapore does not necessarily mean understanding what it is like to grow up here. To really get the local experience, he argued, you would have to go through the same milestones and pressures, from the education system and National Service to eventually entering the workforce.

Others echoed the sentiment, saying that Singapore can look pretty impressive from the outside, but the experience can feel quite different once you have to deal with the costs and pressures of everyday life.

One user shared, “It’s great as an American making a large salary. But clearly not sustainable for normal citizens. Something is deeply, deeply wrong here with the cost of living against wages.”

Another wrote, “I was born and raised in SG by an abusive family, so I’ve been on my own since I was 20 with no family at all here and stuck renting on the open market. If you take a look at rent prices here, you’ll know something is deeply off. My rent for public housing went up by 50% in 2022 and then 20% in 2023.”

A third added, “The high cost of living is a problem. The relentless pace of work. The expectations at work to maintain an orderly and efficient society. The thought that you could never slow down in case you would be left behind.”

Complaint culture

Another point that came up in the discussion was Singapore’s well-known “complaint culture.”

One American Redditor, who said they had also lived in other Asian countries for more than 15 years, admitted that they were caught off guard by just how much people complain in Singapore.

“I was genuinely surprised by the amount of complaining here. It seems like every Google review exists just for sh****ng on local businesses,” he wrote. 

“And the complaints are so trivial—’soup not big enough, soup not hot enough’ = 1 star lol. Complaining and queuing are definitely world-class here!”

However, another Redditor pushed back against the idea that the complaint culture is necessarily a bad thing.

“We complain because it works. I want to promote that as a pro and not a con. Our government agencies respond and act.” 

“If you lived abroad, people don’t complain because it does not work (they still complain, but less or to friends and not to authorities). That should be how things work to serve the people. Complaining is a byproduct of a system that acts on feedback.”

‘Everything you romanticise about Singapore is true’

Despite the less glamorous realities raised by some Redditors, others said Singapore still lives up to its reputation and remains a great place to live.

One user commented, “Singaporean here. Born and bred. I have no idea what you are talking about. Everything you romanticise about Singapore is true.”

Another remarked, “It’s less of foreigners romanticising the country and more of locals trying to find something to complain about.”

An expat who had lived in Switzerland, the UK, the US, and Hong Kong before settling in Singapore also weighed in, likening the city-state to a “garden.”

“One way I’ve come to think about cities is that there are basically jungles or gardens. Some places are more like jungles. They’re unpredictable, messy, sometimes grimy, and you never quite know what’s lurking around the corner.”

“Other places are more like gardens. Everything has its place. They’re orderly, maintained, and carefully planned. There are designated spaces for different activities, clearer rules and boundaries, and generally you know what to expect. Singapore is probably the best example of a garden city I’ve experienced. and I don’t just mean the literal greenery.”/TISG

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