S$200k with additional housing allowance is reasonable considering your relatively young age.

13th month is quite unheard of in the private sector here (large firms).

I would disagree with the suggestion to stay in public housing. Condos in city area are the best. If you want to experience local stuff, you can always explore the outskirts (and you will realize it's not as good as it sounds).

3k per month for housing allowance is extremely low. Decent condos in the city area usually go for 5K and above.

Japanese and Korean expats working for banks at only the senior manager level already draw a housing allowance of S$7,500 p.m and usually stay in the robertson quay, orchard, novena area!

I would think a MD would be paid at least $20k p.m.

Personal experience
 

Hi OP,

I am a 36 yr old Australian born Vietnamese/Italian "FT" (as locals call us).

I am also a Managing Director of Sales & Marketing in a medium sized company (by my standards) that has a global reach, 500+ people across 11 countries. Singapore is the Asian HQ. My role is a regional one encompassing Oceania + Far East.

I am getting a $5000/month housing allowance. I am single, no kids, and even though at the final interview there was another candidate who was slightly better qualified than me (small industry circle - we know everyone of MD calibre), I suspect I got the job because his package probably required to cover school/education for his 3 kids & wife (and the bigger house for a family of 5). After being here for 8 months, I hear from other expats that each kid will cost the company about $2000-2500 per month per child. I am staying at Fraser Place at Robertson walk, a 2+1 which is about $5250/month including the realtor's fees.

To summarize, I am getting:
- SGD 185,000/annum paid over 13 months
- No bonus for senior exec level unless company's profit exceeds a certain %age (impossible target)
- SGD 5,000/month housing allowance
- SGD 500/month transportation allowance
- No "hardship compensation" (what hardship? better life here than in Melbourne!)
- SGD 3,000/month no questions asked entertainment expense account on company credit card provided min.2 pax on receipts (works great when I go out on dates)
- Additional USD 100/per diem when I am overseas at our other offices in Asia
- 2 return business class seats per calendar year back to Australia on SQ/Quantas
- Full medical/dental
- Only 16 days of annual leave (my staff get 21-27 days)

My cost to the company rounds up at about SGD300,000/year all inclusive (housing, employer's contribution/expected incidentals, etc).

Mr German MD-to-be, I would ask you to consider that companies hiring expatriates will look at a total package. If you insist on a higher housing allowance p.m they will decrease your maximum salary accordingly or take away privileges - it's that simple.

SGD 5000/month is more than enough for a single guy, ask for higher annual salary or additional benefits such as SOL allowances or entertainment allowances or transportation allowances.

Seems reasonable but somewhat lower than I'd imagine. I reckon a Deputy Director at a Ministry or Stat board would already make 180k p.a. on average.

Ha.. Possible that dd in stat board will get that . With sg mom tightening rules on "ft" I m suspecting that any jobs like poster will attract attention n probably be asked why it is not given to sg ..

Wonder if mom looks at total compensation or just annual ?

My husband is Deputy Director at a Stat Board in his late 30's. How I wish you were right... More like SGD 150k per annum including the civil service bonus of 2 to 3 months each year. Increment is slow too. He has been getting guaranteed increment but it is so small... +4-6k/year.
Close to SGD200k is what we need for me to stop working and look after the kids fulltime.

He is a gov't scholar and was on Dean's List in NUS. Unfortunately he is not well connected. He says only "white horse" gets SGD 180k.

I never really understood what it means, can someone tell me what "white horse" means in this context?

First of all, when you say your husband is a government scholar, what exactly does that mean? I realise these days a lot of people are claiming to be government scholars the moment they get some sort of sponsorship or monetary support for their studies from the government. What is important is not whether you are scholar, but whether you belong to the elite talent management program.

The traditional sense of the word “scholar” in civil service actually refers to Administrative Officers and its counterpart in the uniformed services - an elite group of people that the government look after their entire career needs including sponsoring them for further studies in ivy schools.

These elites generally work in the policy space of the civil service, hold senior command positions in the uniformed services and/or take up roles for stints within various stat boards in preparation to groom them into Permanent Secretaries, Ministers of State and Cabinet Ministers. Of course in real life there are not enough senior positions to satisfy everyone, so a lot of them end up as either Senior Directors/Dy Secretaries in Ministries, Stat Board Chief Executives or C-level positions in many GLCs.

Judging from your husband’s career progression so far, he seems to be following a typical “farmer” track, i.e. he isn’t on the fast track program nor is he a scholar in the true sense of the word in public sector. He might have gotten a scholarship or monetary support for his studies, but the powers on top do not see him any different from a normal degree educated Div 1 officer.

Dy Director is the default career end point for a degree educated average performer in the civil service. Your husband reaching this level in late 30s with an all-in package of 150k is probably slightly faster than average. The salary scale for DD is very wide to cater for most civil servants who will retire at this level.

If your husband is a consistent good performer (i.e. B+ and above), he might have a shot at making Director in his early 50s, otherwise DD is his career end just like most of us. Some stat boards are creating a fake level of SDD to recognize long service, but other than that, the job remains the same.

As for increments and bonus being too low, you should be grateful with what you have. A civil servant / stat board employee is funded by the tax payer and exists to serve the greater good of the society.

Sure, we don’t pay them shabbily and recognise that they need to maintain a decent lifestyle, but expecting to pay an average civil servant 200K+ so that his wife can retire early and the whole family can maintain an upper middle class on just 1 iron rice bowl income is just too greedy at a time when the government is pushing dual income earners to work until 67.

Chill... the poster may not necessary mean 200k salary from civil service/stat board. I think she'd welcome it all the same if the husband make a jump elsewhere for a higher package closer to 200K p.a.

Back to the point... my info was from a good friend in a Stat Board (I'm from private). He's an avg performer and he gets 180K p.a. on average. Perhaps some Ministry/ Stat Board pays better? Keep in mind that a Dy Director is not a department head, so an MD making 185K p.a. Is seriously on the low side....

u just sound like a lazy fat lady who doesnt wanna work. 200k is what you need?
seriously? i know households that run on single income of south of 50k.

200k is what u need? LOL

Your husband smoking you lar, either he lie about salary to keep secret stash or he was never on the scholar scheme.