Moving to Singapore was an easy decision. My then-boyfriend (now husband) was assigned in Singapore to oversee the company’s operations in the country for an initial contract of two years. At that time, we were at the midst of preparing for our wedding and since I had been to Singapore a number of times, I thought to myself adjusting to life in the ‘little red dot’ would be a breeze. Besides, it’s only two years and before I know it, we’ll be back in our home country in no time at all.
Applying for Spouse Visa
My husband brought me to Singapore right after our wedding in Dec 2004. I was on a social visit pass for two months while we were applying for my dependant’s pass (the equivalent of spouse visa in most countries). It was an easy process, Singapore’s efficient system made it all easy. What is challenging though is to get approval from my husband’s company since the company’s stamp and the MD’s signature is needed in the form. Since my hubby’s main office is located overseas, we had to wait for the signatories to attend to my hubby’s request plus the fact that his case was the first in his company — nobody has ever been allowed to bring his spouse for overseas posting before. But since my husband has the ‘bargaining power’, they finally agreed much to our delight.
Dependant’s Pass is the only visa option I had. Since my husband was on an employment pass that was allowed only a dependant’s pass to qualified dependants, we decided to go for it. I could have opted to apply for an employment pass myself but since rejections for employment passes were high in 2004 plus the added difficulty of looking for a job and companies which easily accept foreigners, my options were very limited. Waiting for the approval of the pass was a bit nerve wracking because we hear a lot of rejected applications at that time. Luckily, my pass was granted in February 2005 after only 2 weeks of processing.
A dependant’s pass has its merits. It allows the holder to work legally in Singapore as with any employment pass holder provided a company is willing to sponsor. In fact, at that time, a company pays a levy for every employment pass or S pass holder but none for a dependant’s pass holder. in 2005, not too many companies are aware of that. Luckily, two years after, the Singapore government eased the granting of such passes as well as the permanent residency to encourage foreigners to work and live in Singapore for the much needed boost to its population.
An expat’s wife
I was blessed to be an expat’s wife when we moved to Singapore. Hubby was on expatriate status and so despite the sky-rocket house rental in Singapore which eats up a big chunk of most migrants’ budget, ours — in a very nice fully-furnished flat in the West — was paid for by my hubby’s company along with the utility bills and his transportation. So, in essence, we were just paying for our food which wasn’t much thanks to the reasonably priced food items in Singapore.
Taking care of a husband and our flat kept me busy although I was also in the middle of finishing my thesis for my master’s degree when I moved to Singapore. Luckily, my thesis adviser was ever supportive and she let me finish it in Singapore, far from her prying eyes! I went home to defend my thesis and processed my requirements for my graduation. I was granted my master’s degree in April of 2005. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend our commencement exercises. I had to go back to Singapore at that time.
Getting Pregnant
Getting pregnant was second in my list (first was finishing my master’s degree). And so when I finally got my master’s degree, my hubby and I focused on getting pregant. I could say we enjoyed trying and oh, we tried hard! But the end of 20o5 came and loads of home pregnancy kits after, we weren’t still pregnant. We came home for Christmas vacation and we dreaded the unavoidable questions from family and friends “Are you pregnant?” Of course, I just had to shake my head and smile. Finally, we decided to stop trying and let the heavens decide when to give us our little bundle of joy.
It proved to be a wise decision. Came February 2006, the stork finally visited! Oh we were so elated! But, unfortunately, it was short-lived. Tenth week into my pregnancy, we found out the foetus had no heartbeat. My heart sank.
Coping with our Loss
For the first time in my life, I felt so low. I’m not an ambitious woman and my needs are simple. But getting pregnant was something I badly wanted. It was given to me but it was taken back too soon. But I had to be strong and I know things happen for a reason. Our faith kept us strong.
Family and friends told me to go back to work to keep my mind off our loss. I stopped working a year before we got married to focus on my studies as well as on our wedding. And since we thought we’d be staying in Singapore for only two years, I didn’t bother to look for a full time job. Sure, I accepted part-time work to cover, for instance, for an employee who went for a maternity leave but getting a full time job wasn’t a consideration because we were focusing on getting pregnant.
So when it happened, I decided to go back to work. Heaven is indeed looking after me because I easily found a company which gave me a good package, agreed to sponsor my dependant’s pass with a job that required me to travel (a lot!), thus, letting my mind off my loss.
Two years and beyond
My husband’s first contract and our initial plans to stay in Singapore for only two years became three, then four. Hubby renewed his contract for another two years and since we were already comfortable here in the ‘little red dot’, we decided to apply for permanent residency and was granted PR-ship last 2007.
Here’s my ‘short’ account of our move to Singapore’. Will post more related stuff on getting pregnant and having a kid in the ‘Fine City’. Hope to hear your story too.
