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[amarieh5]

Anyone here teach at a university in Singapore?  What is it like?  How does it compare to the universities in the US (R1 and SLAC)?  What are the students like?

What is it like to live in Singapore in general?  Is it really difficult to find a decent sized apartment and be able to afford it on a temporary faculty member salary?  Is it easy to travel around Singapore and to nearby countries?

Did you find that you went through a big adjustment when you first moved there?  Culture shock?

Are the laws as strict as they say they are?

[bacardiandlime]

I have lived there, it was great. I was already familiar with the place though, so it wasn't such a culture shock. Some laws are strict, but I never got a sense of a heavy police presence - I have felt far more controlled in Europe, having to register my address with the cops, etc. I didn't have to do anything like that in Singapore. Singapore gets a rough ride among those who call it a "police state", it really isn't.

Housing is expensive. Like, more expensive than London or Manhattan, if you can't get an HDB (govt housing) apartment. However, your university may have housing or give you additional funds for it.

I was researching, not teaching, so I can't really speak to the student body. But the impression I get is that they are well-prepared, and at NUS as good as at any R1.

[amarieh5]

Thanks for your response.  How difficult is it to get HDB housing if you are only in Singapore temporarily?

SUTD is the school I'm looking at, if I get hired.  It starts its first class this year.

[bacardiandlime]

If you're there for less than a year, you won't get HDB. It's possible you could sublet, but that's a bit of a legal grey area. I suggest asking the university what they can offer.

[oldfullprof]

I heard academics may work 5.5 day weeks, with daily reporting expected.

[crkens]

I'd be careful, it's always 1984 in Singapore.

[jenin]

I am also considering a position in Singapore at a school affiliated with NUS. Could anyone comment on the quality of cultural life (as compared to research universities in the US)? Also I would be grateful for book recommendations about Singapore, past and present.

[bacardiandlime]

You could try Notes from an Even Smaller Island. It will give you some details about what students are like in the classroom (the author worked teaching English I think), and life there as an expat.
Mary Turnbull's History of Modern Singapore is the canonical work, but it's a bit of a dry read. Nigel Barley's In The Footsteps of Stamford Raffles is good, it's not just about Singapore but Southeast Asia, and can give a quick overview for someone unfamiliar with the region.

I don't know what you mean exactly by cultural life. I haven't worked at NUS, but every time I visited the campus there seemed to be something going on, concerts, etc. In Singapore itself, there's a wealth of theatre, art, etc - as in any big city.

[pablo4ever]

I'm trying to figure out Singapore's academic nomenclature. I have been told that lecturers in Singapore are equivalent to assistant professors in the US. But this is confusing, in part because there are also many academics in Singapore with the title of assistant professor. Is it standard there to move along the tenure line beginning at the rank of lecturer?

[crkens]

Lets see, culture, you mean like no minimum wage and discrimination of any type is legal?

[mingus]

I'm trying to figure out Singapore's academic nomenclature. I have been told that lecturers in Singapore are equivalent to assistant professors in the US. But this is confusing, in part because there are also many academics in Singapore with the title of assistant professor. Is it standard there to move along the tenure line beginning at the rank of lecturer?

That was true when Singapore used the UK nomenclature.   Now it is the US style, i.e. Asst Prof, Assoc Prof, and Full Prof.   Lecturers are now rare in Singapore, and the term would mean the same as in the US, i.e. the equivalent of an Instructor.   A lecturer in Singapore would be outside the tenure stream with almost no chance of moving into it.

Note, however, in the above I have in mind a Singaporean university.  If you are working for an Australian or UK university in Singapore, then Lecturer will indeed mean Asst Prof; but these places are likely to put you on contract, i.e. no tenure issues.

To the OP: Ignore the comments, by people whose knowledge of Singapore appears to be about 20 years old and have probably never been there.   

[crkens]

Hear hear, spoken like a ...ah...well...a truly distinguished senior member.  I'm in awe, who new that clairvoyance was part of their repertoire.

[mingus]

Hear, hear, ... well spoken, just like a truly ignorant new member.

[crkens]

Another distinguished senior member exposing themselves, I blush!

[zulgabe]

I have just joined, how can I become a senior member?