Migrating down under? Come share your experiences

[Genie47]

Why abt aust neighbor, NZ? Any feedback on this country?

 

This country's citizen's IQ is better than those in Oz. That is why the Oz government allow them to come in and out w/o a visa to boost their IQ.

 

Don't play play. NZ got WETA which accounted for more than 1/2 the special effects for Avatar. SG? got what?

 

Then you can't fault the Aussies. They are a more EQ oriented people. All the best short films I've seen from them exude much genuine emotion and empathy.

 

I always have this motto. Want to know how the country is like, watch their movies or short films.

 

NZ movies. About technology, progress and the need to hold to tradition. Take for example Whale Rider. Damn good movie, book is pretty good too.

 

Aussie movies. A lot about reaching out and connecting. Very drama. Can cry when watching.

 

American movies? See the brainless Transformers. Enough said. Then again, you can't take them seriously. Just look at GI Joe. Pure entertainment. Nothing serious.

 

Singapore movies? All about scared of ghost, scared of govt and scared of being poor and dreams of migrating to Perth or Melbourne.

[Genie47]

I feel that our taxes r equally high, there r many funny funny taxes here, i also regard CPF as a form of tax. Money that dun belong to u

 

CPF money is ours. Really I believe it is true. It belongs to us. But what these higher ups are doing is making into some kind of tax. I wouldn't say daylight robbery as this will incur lawsuits.

[Trex101]

Eh bro, must be fair to the govt la.. This CPF thing is actually a brilliant system. It's still your money at the end of the day.

 

Friend, don't worry. Just place an application with a migration agent, see if you are qualify/enough points in the 1st place. If yes, just pay the fee and get a PR first.

 

i don't denial there is no racism here but it all depends on where you stay(suburb) mostly and how street smart you are. I have stay here for 1 over year and i still haven't meet a racist Aussie yet, in fact don't say they racist against chinese, i also racist against the "China Chinese" here, the way they act and drive here, they think they are in China!!! those chinese are rich but no class... WTF, do what the roman do when in rome man. Drive with courtesy and don't rush.... like hurry want to go die like that....

[Hiphiphoray]

This happen to my aunt.

 

About 10 years older than me. What they did is uproot the whole family, 3kids and mama + daddy to Perth. Sell house, sell car and bring everything over.

 

Dad was a tour agency manager earning quite good money here. Can even afford to pay 100k reno in cash. Mommy is a secretary.

 

If what i heard is correct, they were granted a quick OZ citizenship base on the guaratnee that they do not accept welfare funds(how they get this special arrangement i duno). A relative manage to get a close friend working for the Oz Immigration dept to be the guarantor. In the end, daddy cant find job and money soon ran out and he proceed to sign up for the welfare assitance funds. That guarantor was sack as a result of this! And also cause big ho-ha and unhappiness among the relatives. Till date, daddy is still on welfare funding to feed his family. The eldest daughter(18yrs old) ran off with angmo man , the 2 other boys mixing with bad company.

 

Very sad outcome.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Hiphiphoray

[Ladykillerz]

Thanks bro

 

The highlighted points are all I want in life..

 

I understand that I do have to cope with the negatives.. just need to find out how intense these can get.

 

Frankly speaking.

Got hands, got legs, willing to work hard.

Regardless where you stay, you can survive!~

Happy playing with the kangeroos~~

[Ichibawa]

CPF money is ours. Really I believe it is true. It belongs to us. But what these higher ups are doing is making into some kind of tax. I wouldn't say daylight robbery as this will incur lawsuits.

 

CPF is your money no doubt about it but it become a form of tax when its hard to get them into your pocket. They are always in the liability column on the balance sheet cos its always payment until the day you see it in your bank account. Until that day comes, $1 paid today will no longer be the same value due to inflation or depreciation of the currency.

[Carndablues]

Do they mind? I don't think they do. Look at what all that tax money is doing for them.

 

I have come to conclude that citizens don't mind paying taxes. What citizens find abhorrent is tax dollars that are not well spent for the benefit of citizens.

 

Absolute rubbish, I don't know any of my Aussie friends or family who enjoys paying taxes in Australia.

 

Being middle class, you receive absolutely zero benefits, you don't get the dole, you don't receive free medical, you don't get squat.

 

The tax dollars goes to paying for the lazy bums who can't get their arses off the couch to work, the "de facto" mums who's only job is to open their legs to pop out kids cos the government pays per head!

 

Who enjoys paying for that?

Edited December 21, 2009 by Carndablues

[Trex101]

Absolute rubbish, I don't know any of my Aussie friends or family who enjoys paying taxes in Australia.

 

Being middle class, you receive absolutely zero benefits, you don't get the dole, you don't receive free medical, you don't get squat.

 

The tax dollars goes to paying for the lazy bums who can't get their arses off the couch to work, the "de facto" mums who's only job is to open their legs to pop out kids cos the government pays per head!

 

Who enjoys paying for that?

 

I think you misunderstood.

 

Medicare - Every Aussie & PR are entitled to medicare, be it you poor or rich. Ppl buy private insurance because they don't want to go public hospital(aka SGH, KK or TTS) but prefer private hospital(aka Mount A & Mount E).

 

Dole - are like insurance, every Aussie is entitled(PR after 2yr). if you are jobless the gov will pay you some "allowance", not much but enough for you to get by or till you get a job.

 

Family Assistance - Also depends on total family income, the gov will pay you $ based on number of children you have, to help supplement your children upbringing expenses. That is why you see most family here, only the husband is working while wife stay at home looking after children because if they make too much then they are not entitled.

 

Most Aussie are ok with this form of taxation & benefits, it is those who make 150-200k(the top 20%) a year that feel they are worst off, most middle income Aussie family makes 60-70k a year(60%). So yes, Genie are right, most Aussie are happy with this type of arrangement. Tax the rich, help the middle and poor while opposite is true with Spore.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Trex101

[Vinceyeo]

Most Aussie are ok with this form of taxation & benefits, it is those who make 150-200k(the top 20%) a year that feel they are worst off, most middle income Aussie family makes 60-70k a year(60%). So yes, Genie are right, most Aussie are happy with this type of arrangement. Tax the rich, help the middle and poor while opposite is true with Spore.

 

Erm I am no expert in tax and other matters related to Australia but for Singapore are you sure the rich is not tax heavily enough? I remember reading a taxation chart before and those earning 100k and above here get tax pretty heavily man... I dont think its that bad or unbalance here but that is just me.

 

As for whether our Gahmen is not helping the middle and low income I think its subjected to case by case basis... True there are people who deserve assistance and did not get it which needs to be addressed but there are others who dont deserve it because they are simply lazy and unwanted parasites.

[Tjkbeluga]

Just came back from Perth for a short holiday with my whole family.... In my opinion, the pro and con of migrating

 

Pro

1) Medical care. From what I understand, so long as you are in the their medicare system, expenses are taken care of with minimal payment required. Imagine if you have chronic illnesses in SG such as kidny failure and you are not qualified for assistance. You'll be sucked dry in no time. Also, even with medishield in place, with all the mins testing, excess, etc, you still need to pay a substantial sum.

2) Easier to change career and wider scope of jobs. It's much easier to survive there with the minimum wage regulation in place. Minimum wage is AUD14+ per hour. So, in case you found that your profession is not having good prospect, you can retrain yourself in fast-track courses in TAFE. Still can't find job? Go pluck fruits or do odd-hour jobs, can still bring you at least 14 bucks per hours (minus 25% tax). Here in SG, don't you feel it's much tougher to switch career if you find your career in sunset?

3) Guaranteed loan to university (If the children is converted to OZ citizenship). Children's education to university is guaranteed if they are OZ citizenship as they can take loan from government. They can repay back in form of higher taxes later on.

4) Retirement. From what I understand, very worse case you still get a small sum of monthly payment from the gov (something like a 300 bucks or so I heard). In SG, still depend on what you have in your own CPF. No handouts from gov.

5) More relax education for the children. Education on the primary level is more focused on language and confidence building rather than drilling. In primary level, they brush up the English, do public speeches and dramas. They do hone the student's skills later on of they are discovered to have special talents in some areas. It's only on secondary level onwards they focus deeper in academic.

 

Con

1) Everything have to DIY as labour cost is expensive. Maid is not possible. Well, one trick is getting maid is to register your maid as student and sign up a course there for her plus deposit of money into bank to prove that she can survive throughout the course. Prohibisively expensive.

2) Lonely life. After 5, only some supermarket is open. After 8, dead town. No going to hawker center for a plate of chai tau kuay.

3) Discrimination.

4) Harsher weather and higher possibility of natural disaster.

5) Home loan is expensive. 7% and above. So, if go over with little money, it's better to rent, though it's not cheap to rent either, especially in Sydney.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Tjkbeluga

[Trex101]

Just came back from Perth for a short holiday with my whole family.... In my opinion, the pro and con of migrating

 

Pro

1) Medical care. From what I understand, so long as you are in the their medicare system, expenses are taken care of with minimal payment required. Imagine if you have chronic illnesses in SG such as kidny failure and you are not qualified for assistance. You'll be sucked dry in no time. Also, even with medishield in place, with all the mins testing, excess, etc, you still need to pay a substantial sum.

2) Easier to change career and wider scope of jobs. It's much easier to survive there with the minimum wage regulation in place. Minimum wage is AUD14+ per hour. So, in case you found that your profession is not having good prospect, you can retrain yourself in fast-track courses in TAFE. Still can't find job? Go pluck fruits or do odd-hour jobs, can still bring you at least 14 bucks per hours (minus 25% tax). Here in SG, don't you feel it's much tougher to switch career if you find your career in sunset?

3) Guaranteed loan to university (If the children is converted to OZ citizenship). Children's education to university is guaranteed if they are OZ citizenship as they can take loan from government. They can repay back in form of higher taxes later on.

4) Retirement. From what I understand, very worse case you still get a small sum of monthly payment from the gov (something like a 300 bucks or so I heard). In SG, still depend on what you have in your own CPF. No handouts from gov.

5) More relax education for the children. Education on the primary level is more focused on language and confidence building rather than drilling. In primary level, they brush up the English, do public speeches and dramas. They do hone the student's skills later on of they are discovered to have special talents in some areas. It's only on secondary level onwards they focus deeper in academic.

 

Con

1) Everything have to DIY as labour cost is expensive. Maid is not possible. Well, one trick is getting maid is to register your maid as student and sign up a course there for her plus deposit of money into bank to prove that she can survive throughout the course. Prohibisively expensive.

2) Lonely life. After 5, only some supermarket is open. After 8, dead town. No going to hawker center for a plate of chai tau kuay.

3) Discrimination.

4) Harsher weather and higher possibility of natural disaster.

5) Home loan is expensive. 7% and above. So, if go over with little money, it's better to rent, though it's not cheap to rent either, especially in Sydney.

 

One good thing about being Sporean is your valuable HDB, if you can sell your HDB + saving maybe around S$500k, converted to A$ around A$400k. Put it into the bank earning currently 6% pa or around A$2k per mth. This 2k can goes into your house rental & other stuffs. This backup income will go a long way getting you assimilated into Australia.

 

Of course, if you have 1mil then you can retired liao. why work?

 

 

 

[Solar]

here's the url from their taxation office..

 

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content....ntent/12333.htm

 

those earning 80k are getting taxed 22.5%, earn higher, and you get taxed more.. imo, ridiculously high. robin-hood style.

 

there are deductibles, but i don't think there is that much such that you can reduce to 15% or below (though i've heard people saying this is possible). perhaps you got to find a good tax accountant for advice.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Solar

[Tjkbeluga]

here's the url from their taxation office..

 

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content....ntent/12333.htm

 

those earning 80k are getting taxed over 30%, earn higher, and you get taxed more.. imo, ridiculously high. robin-hood style.

 

there are deductibles, but i don't think there is that much such that you can reduce to 20% or below (though i've heard people saying this is possible). perhaps you got to find a good tax accountant for advice.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Tjkbeluga

[Tjkbeluga]

One good thing about being Sporean is your valuable HDB, if you can sell your HDB + saving maybe around S$500k, converted to A$ around A$400k. Put it into the bank earning currently 6% pa or around A$2k per mth. This 2k can goes into your house rental & other stuffs. This backup income will go a long way getting you assimilated into Australia.

 

Of course, if you have 1mil then you can retired liao. why work?

Well, you can touch those money only if you give up the citizenship here, which I think most will try not to do....

[Trex101]

here's the url from their taxation office..

 

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content....ntent/12333.htm

 

those earning 80k are getting taxed over 30%, earn higher, and you get taxed more.. imo, ridiculously high. robin-hood style.

 

there are deductibles, but i don't think there is that much such that you can reduce to 20% or below (though i've heard people saying this is possible). perhaps you got to find a good tax accountant for advice.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Trex101

[Spoony]

it takes really gd planning goin over to down under.

 

 

the guys there once told me...tourist come we always welcome them with open arms..if u're coming over to stay gd and fighting a job with us...then it's a diff stories again.

 

 

my aunt and uncle went over to perth with really careful planning....sold away spore entire properties.

 

with those money ... they manage to secure a franchise business...and started to settle quickly.

 

 

over the last 2 years they manage to expand the business to another 2 more shops.

 

 

but all these were due to hard work and carefully planning.

 

 

they told me going to migrate was never easy...you better have lots of money.

 

many sporeans were there...thinking of using retirement there in the end most money were lost due to scams...lavish lifestyle...etc.without any base business to keep the money rolling.

 

 

the point i am saying is that pls do consider and plan ahead before moving over.

 

 

dun get yourself into poverty stage like what some singaporeans has become over there.

[Trex101]

it takes really gd planning goin over to down under.

 

 

the guys there once told me...tourist come we always welcome them with open arms..if u're coming over to stay gd and fighting a job with us...then it's a diff stories again.

 

 

my aunt and uncle went over to perth with really careful planning....sold away spore entire properties.

 

with those money ... they manage to secure a franchise business...and started to settle quickly.

 

 

over the last 2 years they manage to expand the business to another 2 more shops.

 

 

but all these were due to hard work and carefully planning.

 

 

they told me going to migrate was never easy...you better have lots of money.

 

many sporeans were there...thinking of using retirement there in the end most money were lost due to scams...lavish lifestyle...etc.without any base business to keep the money rolling.

 

 

the point i am saying is that pls do consider and plan ahead before moving over.

 

 

dun get yourself into poverty stage like what some singaporeans has become over there.

 

You are 100% right, migrating over here is never easy. It takes lots of planning & research, not like just planning for a holiday trip.

 

If anyone who is seriously thinking about migrating down under, pls come alone first without the family in tow. Get everything ready swee swee liao then ask the wife and kids come over, if not, the wife sure complain and want to go back within 3mth.

[Jolie888]

Tax the rich, help the middle and poor while opposite is true with Spore.

 

Err ... I don't think that I can agree with you on this.

 

I pay in excess of $1,500 income tax every month, which is ~$20,000 or thereabouts in taxation per year.

Not to mention property, 3x road tax and other taxes. Yes, its painful alright!

 

So together with the rest of the top 10% in SG, all paying higher taxes, if that's not helping the poor and even some middle (who don't get to pay any, or minimal income tax), then tell me, what is?