SINGAPORE: A Reddit user who was offered a salary of $2,000 a month with housing allowance of $500 as a nurse in Singapore took to the platform on Thursday (Apr 11) to ask whether this amount would be sufficient.
Fortunately, many commenters chimed in with advice.
“Offered to work as a nurse in Singapore government hospital for 3 years with salary of $2,000 a month with housing allowance of $500,” wrote u/shideden.
“Will I be able to survive with that compensation? And to HCWs in Singapore, how’s the hospital there?” she also asked.
Other Reddit users told her that though she might be able to “scrape by” or “survive” on the salary, she would have be able to save or send home very little.
Many commented that the housing allowance of $500 would not be nearly enough for finding a decent place to live on her own, though she might be able to find a place to rent that she could share with several other tenants.
One commenter was less than optimistic, writing that “2500 is kinda impossible to survive. With rent and food and transportation, you are left with nothing to send home/save.”
However, there may be hidden bonuses that she’s eligible for, and he added that she should “Check if shift/OT pay is inclusive of the 2k.”
Another pointed out that there are additional ward and shift allowances that could add as much as $600 per month to her salary.
A healthcare professional with eight years of experience wrote that while healthcare in Singapore is “not that fantastic,” the appreciation for nurses has gotten “slightlyyy better” since the Covid-19 pandemic, but added that “only the wages (are) still not the best.”
She also added that government hospitals are a good place for learning opportunities and faster promotions even if “the learning curve is much steeper.”
“Some of my foreign colleagues – they’re actually landlords back in their hometowns – having condos, lands that they built for farms as businesses for passive income, unlike us sgreans – we are tied down to expensive, small houses with lease…
“So yes, be discipline enough to work towards your goals… sad to say that society doesn’t really values nurses, but it is what it is, make sure you don’t let negative comments affect your self esteem, because your self worth is so, so much more than those comments/ or others’ perceptions of you,” she added.
The government’s My Careers Future website shows that staff nurses earn a minimum of $2500 per month, with nurses in more senior roles receiving a corresponding uptick in pay based on years of service and additional qualifications. In private healthcare, a staff nurse’s salary starts at $3,000. /TISG
Read also: MOH: S$100,000 payout for nurses in retention scheme