Singapore: a garden city for global professionals

27 Mar 2019 5 min read

In 2017, Ross Wakeham was into his third year at Facebook Australia when he was offered a role at Facebook’s office in Singapore, which is home to the company’s Singapore and regional teams.

Having grown up surfing across the windswept beaches of Sydney and trekking along the lush wilderness of Australia’s east coast, relocating to a city-state like Singapore seemed like a daunting prospect for him.

But everything changed on the first week after arriving in the city-state.

“Singapore has a unique way of balancing nature and modernity seamlessly. I can be working in a skyscraper the entire day and if I take a five-minute walk I can relax at a nearby park,” Ross said.

In fact, the Australian has developed such an affinity for Singapore’s outdoors that he cycles nearly 15 to 20 kilometres before work every day, traversing through nature hotspots like Macritchie Park, Telok Blangah Hill and Sentosa Island.

Working abroad had always been a part of his career plan but he knew right away that relocating to Singapore meant that he would be right at the heart of emerging markets in the region.

“As a region, APAC is leading a global digital transformation and is becoming an economic growth driver. Being in Singapore means being at the forefront of this change,” he said.

In 2018, the city-state was also one of only three countries in Asia to roll-out the app’s “Marketplace” feature which allows users to buy and sell items online.

“From large multinationals to small start-ups, Singapore is an amazing hub for global professionals. After living here for several years, I’m continually impressed by the quality of life and ability to easily travel to many parts of the region as well as further destinations in the US or UK,” he added.