Since 1958 Singapore American • March 2015
AM ERICAN AS S O CIATION O F S INGAP O RE March 2015
www.aasingapore.com American Association.....2-3 Member Discounts..............3 CRCE & Business.............4-5 Community News..........6-10 SG50.............................11-23 Health & Wellness.......24-25 Food & Dining.............25-26 Arts & Culture..............27-29
Business 4-5
Sports................................30
What to know about paying your American taxes from Singapore
What's Happening............31
Health & Wellness 24-25
The key to staying young
SG50 11-23
Sports 30
Spider fighting, a sport from Singapore’s days gone by
This month’s theme is SG50, Singapore’s Golden Jubilee MCI (P) 178/01/2015
Expat Life Through an Old Timer's Eyes By Rob Faraone
W
henever I tell people I first moved here in 1976, the first thing they say to me is, “I bet you’ve seen some changes.” They’re right. I have. Singapore has evolved over the past four decades and expat life right along with it. Expats now live all over this Red Dot and currently there are about 26,000 Americans who call Singapore home. Back in the ‘70s, things were very different. The population of the entire
city-state was just 2.3 million, with fewer than 5% being foreigners of all nationalities. Most of the Americans here were working in the energy field with the majority being from Texas or Louisiana. The Basics Singapore, Hong Kong and Manila were the most sophisticated cities in Asia, which made them the most desirable regional postings. And it was
good to be an American in Singapore then: the exchange rate was about S$2.25 to US$1.00. Five-and-a-half day work weeks were common and trailing spouses, mostly wives, seldom worked. Expat packages were commonplace and covered cars, clubs, taxes and domestic help. School fees were also fully covered though they weren’t nearly as expensive then. Sam Angrove first traveled to Singapore in the ‘60s and settled here in 1980. “The
expat community was smaller and closer knit. We lived and shopped more centrally. With fewer recreational and entertainment outlets, we might go out alone, but would run into a friend or neighbor.” Exotic Singapore Despite the popularity of Bob Hope's 1940 movie, Road to Singapore, and the Singapore Sling, most Americans in the ‘70s had no idea where Asia's Garden Continued on page 21
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