Singapore’s MRT woes unlikely to lessen the love from foreign talent: Expat resource website

SINGAPORE — Singapore's recent public transportation woes are unlikely to dent the city's standing as a desirable haven for expatriates, according to Mr Sebastien Deschamps, chief executive officer and founder of ExpatFinder.com, an expat resource website.

"To a certain extent, it might be annoying to the people on the ground, but it doesn't change the view of Singapore being very attractive to foreign talent," he said. "Really, compared to global standards, it's still very, very efficient."

The Republic, known for its sleek infrastructure and forward thinking, is reeling after another incident on its MRT, where a collision between two trains on Wednesday (Nov 15) morning injured at least 29 people.

The local shock from the accident — particularly after breakdowns and increasing furore over inefficiencies in transport in recent years — is unlikely to significantly harm the views of outsiders, Mr Deschamps said in a phone interview.

He said that Singapore remains a "very attractive mobility landscape", helped by Government efforts including the promotion of bike-sharing platforms.

Singaporeans tend to compare the city-state to other parts of Asia, "which are extremely efficient, as well" and leagues above other world-class cities that have weaker infrastructure, he said.

Singapore retains a big lead on other places, consistently polling favourably with foreign residents for its overall quality of life, job opportunities, and efficient services.

It was ranked the top expat destination for the third year in a row in 2017 in the Expat Explorer survey released by HSBC Holdings.

In this year's Expat Insider report by online networking service InterNations, Singapore was fourth in overall quality of life and took the top spot in the "travel and transport" category. BLOOMBERG