We have had a week in Singapore and really have not travelled beyond the marina and the local shopping centre called Jurong Point (bigger than Bondi Westfield and 70% of it is food). The main focus has been to get the boat into the shipyard to get the shaft removed and the new propeller installed.  The shipyard is adjacent to the marina and unlike Australia where the shipwright will organise all of the tradespeople to repair your boat, you have to contact the tradespeople yourself and coordinate them.  Therefore we haven’t been able to venture very far.  The boat was lifted out of the water on Thursday and is now on the hard stand – so that means we have been staying on the boat with limited power, no fridge or freezer, toilet or shower. (Who said boating was glamorous!) Luckily we can use the marina facilities.  We are hoping that the shaft will be straightened and the propeller installed by Wednesday and we will be back in the water.  We also managed to get another Raymarine chart plotter/radar screen for the deck to replace the one with the damaged LCD screen – it has been a bit of a problem not being able to see the screen while cruising!  We are also getting the engine serviced and installing new batteries, plus a myriad of smaller jobs. Marine suppliers and services are even more expensive than Australia and ironically we thought because of all the shipping in Singapore that here would be the distribution point for South East Asia – but no, everything we need has to come from Oz with a hefty delivery charge.

Here are a few things I have found interesting about Singapore during the week:

·         Two years of compulsory national service for males after they complete school and if they do not do it they must pay the government $75,000 (Sing dollars).  They also have to complete 2 weeks training every year for the next 20 years.

·         In order to purchase and drive a car here you need to apply for a COE (Certificate of Entitlement).  These are super expensive and you must bid for them.  In the paper for November for cars (1600cc and below) there were 540 bids with a quota of 396 and a price of $77,291 each.   For cars (1601cc and above) there were 487 bids, a quota of 351 with a price of $93,004.  Not only do you have to pay for the COE, you then have to purchase a car which is two to three times more expensive than OZ. For eg. Second hand Ford Mondeo 2008 model $74K and new prestige model cars can sell from $500K to $1million.  Certainly an incentive to use their fantastic public transport system.

·         The government is cracking down on expats in Singapore and you can now only stay if you have a uni degree or employ at least 4 Singaporeans.  Our Raymarine supplier has lived here for 17 years (from the UK) and has 2 children born here but he must leave because he is a sole trader and doesn’t have tertiary qualifications.

·         Most wealthy people have maids or helpers and they roughly pay them $500 a month and they also have to pay approx. $300 a month to the government for this service.

·         Superannuation – it is compulsory for employees to pay 20% of their income and the employer contributes 16% (total of 36% which they can access when they are 62). However they can also access all of it when they want to purchase a house.

·         If you are under 35 and are single you cannot purchase a house from the government – there is a queue system that gives priority to newly married people and young families.

·         It is illegal to be gay.

·         The movies seats are allocated – so you are stuck if you have a tall person or a fat person right next to you (I was boxed in during the week while watching Twilight Breaking Dawn – I was hoping to watch Skyfall but sadly it had already finished) But the bonus was that it only costs $8.50 a ticket (about $6AUD).