- An Indian software engineer shared four cultural shocks after moving to Singapore from India
- He highlighted Singapore's costly car ownership making public transport widely used by all
- Eating out is more practical in Singapore due to high grocery costs and cooking time
An Indian man in Singapore shared four cultural and lifestyle "shocks" he faced after moving from India, sparking online discussion. The video was posted on Instagram by Aman, a senior software engineer in Singapore who often documents his life and experiences abroad. He described the move as a "logic change" rather than just a location change.
He captioned the video as "4 Shocks I faced moving from India to Singapore." Hi, I'm a senior software engineer in Singapore. Moving here wasn't just a location change; it was a logic change." The video also showed snippets of his daily life.
Watch the video here:
The four cultural shocks shared in the video include:
- The Wealth Paradox: Aman was surprised by the exorbitant cost of car ownership in Singapore due to the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system. This makes public transport a "great equalizer" where even millionaires regularly use public transport.
- Food Economics: Unlike in India, where eating out is often a luxury, Aman found it to be a practical necessity in Singapore. He noted that the cost of groceries and the time spent cooking often exceed the price of meals at local hawker centres.
- Digital Governance: He praised the efficiency of Singapore's digital infrastructure, specifically the Singpass app, which integrates services like banking, healthcare, and taxes. He remarked that he had "genuinely forgotten what a Xerox machine looks like" because of this digitalisation.
- Social Privacy: Aman observed that Singaporeans strictly "mind their own business," with no unsolicited check-ins from neighbours. While this initially felt lonely compared to India's more social culture, he eventually came to view this privacy as a luxury.
Aman summed up his experience, acknowledging Singapore's high cost but saying it comes with benefits. "You are paying for a bug-free operating system," he wrote, comparing the country's systems to smooth-running software.
The post gained traction among professionals and expats, who called it an honest reflection of the cultural adjustment needed when moving from India to Singapore.
One user wrote, "I have travelled to Singapore recently! I fell in love with the country the moment I landed. You have just mentioned all the reasons! The 5th point can be the cleanliness."
Another commented, "I worked there at Changi Business Park and stayed at Melville Park, Simie Street 1, for 1 year. Fantastic experience and a developed country."
A third said, "Also, I loved how femininity is not treated as a weakness in workplace. All the female senior managers I met in Singapore were dressed in cute attire - Pink and colourful and everyone in the room took them seriously. In India, to be taken seriously, you need to act like you have no personality."
"And I am female and can walk alone at night without fear," a fourth added.
