SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old expat planning to move to Singapore clashed with a Singaporean online after seeking a detailed breakdown of living costs in the city-state.
The expat has since deleted her entire account, which means her post and comments are no longer available online, but the conversation stirred enough interest that screenshots are still circulating online.
“I’m 25F planning on moving to Singapore in a few years and wanted to understand what the actual monthly cost of living would be?” she wrote. She listed categories like utilities, groceries, Wi-Fi, house maintenance, transport, medical insurance, self-care, and personal wants.
She noted that while she was frugal in some areas, she was willing to spend on things like food and fitness classes. Hoping for answers, she added, “I would very much appreciate your insights and experiences.”
However, her post was met with a sharp response from a Singaporean. She said, “Can’t imagine who is going to spend 2-3 hours of their time doing this research for you. Maybe Google first, then ask specific questions,” adding that rental listings and costs for services like Netflix are publicly available.
“No need to be rude,” the expat replied, clarifying that she was seeking insights from those with “lived experience.” She argued that while Google might provide basic figures, “lived experience is wildly different.”
She retorted, saying, “you did waste probably 1 minute of your precious time replying to this, hope you get it back soon enough.”
The conversation quickly escalated. The Singaporean insisted that “lived experiences are the same as what Google will tell you.” She noted that rents, like Netflix costs, are available online as all transactions are publicly published.
She added, “I’m not being rude, I’m being helpful, that’s why I spent a minute replying. I will help you in other aspects of life as well. If you did basic research first, it would help get you answers more specific to your situation. Rude would be downvoting and moving on. Warm regards.”
The expat, undeterred, fired back, telling the Singaporean “You’re (not) being helpful but you ARE being rude.” She mentioned that she had already done extensive research: “Not that I need to justify anything to you, I posted this after a month of research and countless Excel sheets, down to tax deductions and CPF contributions.”
“You know what would help you in other aspects of life? Not commenting on things you don’t know about. Better just downvote and move on. Get a life,” she concluded, clearly irritated.
The Singaporean, however, wasn’t ready to back down. She sarcastically insisted on helping because she was “awesome,” and pointed out that showing prior effort in research would have garnered more specific and helpful responses.
“If you have done a month of research, it certainly doesn’t show in the question. So it’s a bit pointless. Show your effort and people might actually help you,” she replied.
“20k is needed for a high-maintenance special person like you,” another commenter added. /TISG
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