Hi sorry for late response… haven’t been checking back lately.


Mommy Ng, I sent you a pm.

For the daddy relocating to Chengdu, you can apply for LOA by downloading the form, and paying whole year fees at the school. You have to do it by Dec if I’m not wrong. Can call and check. Pls insist on a receipt and do KEEP the receipt! It’ll also be helpful to find out who’re the teachers and get their contact details, email etc.

hi Poonie, Soong Ching Ling is world class. Not middle of path. It’s actually right up there, ivy league, i think better than our top preschools in sg.


There’s a local division which a lot of guanxi is needed to get in, and there’s an international div which a lot of money is needed to get in. If budget is not a problem, do visit the school and register early. I heard of cases where they "misplaced" registered forms, so you should pay fees as early as poss (not just deposit) to secure a place.


Yr other qn: Yes, chinese is strong in local schools with international division. English somewhat weaker but I think you can always beef up at home.

MommyNg, sounds like you are based elsewhere right now?


1. YK Pao and Dulwich - different as chalk and cheese. YK Pao tries to position themselves as the best of both worlds - local (rigorous) curriculum + international (angmoh) standards. I think they're still trying to live up to it. Friends who send their kids there say it's over-rated and over-priced.

Dulwich, together with SAS, are the 2 most highly-regarded international schools in SH so far. Pricey too. Sg friends there report their kids have not much affinity for chinese, pretty much the same way as sg kids here.

There're local schools with int'l division like Shanghai United and Shanghai High, but the verdict is still out if they're good enough to seamlessly transit the child back to Sg system.

Moving back to Sg - my kids have no problems assimilating, but maybe coz they're still young?

Poonie, legally you cannot bring your maid there to work. China will never issue work visas for foreign maids when they hv such a huge population of ppl trying to find work. If you do, you run the risk that other ayis will report on you and the family could get deported. Not worth it.

It was something I grappled with, tried to work around, in the end I just settled with hiring an ayi from Anhui. Yes they have their peculiarities, a lot of pride, and different ideas of what maids are. But overall my ayi was reliable, honest and a great cook. Over there, we always moan and joke about our ayi horror stories, end of the day, it boils down to luck and patience. Pretty much like our maid situation here too.

Yup I photostated her ID and got her home tel nbr etc. I hired her through word of mouth.

Salary - in SH, be prepared to pay RMB 1,800 to 3000 for an ayi. More if they'd worked for angmohs. Most of us hire ayis from the neighbouring provinces, not local shanghainese.

I have first hand experience in relocating to China and then back to SG again. But my kids are still quite young, one of them is back in primary school here thanks to LOA scheme. Here’s mine and some friends’ experience:


1. School in China
A lot depends on what type of schools you enrol your kids in China. Local schools - he’ll be strong in Math and Chinese. Local school with international division - kind of the middle path. Full international school - Chinese may not be the focus.

But every international school has its own strength and weakness, so it’s hard to generalise. You may be surprised to know that the Singapore school in shanghai is actually weak in English despite following the Sg’s (old) English syllabus. And the famous hongkong international school is weak in everything right up to secondary levels, except Chinese.

You can find out a lot by talking to other expats there, especially Asian expats. Parents usually only find out the real standards when their children move back home, or switch to another school, and struggle.

2. Leave of Absence scheme in Sg
I encountered a lot of difficulty getting the school here to send me up to date worksheets, tests and what-nots. I really got the impression that the school didn’t care much for LOA students, despite the govt’s sincere attempts to support us. I sent my kid back to school every summer hol, but we were really on our own. The communication was dismal, my emails went unanswered by the teachers, I had to chase (beg) repeatedly for worksheets and tests and even for a simple transitlink card! It was up to me to find out what went on in school during our absence. It’s like they know you won’t be staying long anyway, so it was all very patronizing. Quite disappointed to say the least. But of course, once we came back for good, it was a different story.

I paid fees and bought books every year, just to be in the know what was being taught in Sg.

3. Relocating back to SG
If your kid comes back by P3 or P4, there’s a good chance he can still catch up. But many S’poreans do not want to come back at P5 or P6. If at all, they will wait till after PSLE year. I have friends who successfully enrolled their kids into secondary schools in SG without having done PSLE. And the kids still come back every summer for immersion prog. These are usually your neighbourhood schools.