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Business Traveller
Living and Working Abroad
Aired February 08, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: Had enough? Tired of the daily grind? Want to just get away?
Oh, for something different! A job that's more exotic. You want to move abroad, so this month, the expat on CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. Everything you need to know about living and working overseas.
Hello and welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month reporting from Singapore.
This city is home to tens of thousands of expats who came here primarily for their careers and perhaps the chance to experience a different way of life. For most, it will be the opportunity of a lifetime, but here's a warning. If you don't think carefully about why you're going overseas and plan all the details of your move, then what should be a great opportunity and chance could turn into a nasty shock.
So this month, the move may be good for your career, but what about your expat partner? Will they be happy? And finding the right school for your child. Why education is so important when you're taking your family abroad. And we go ON THE ROAD with a professional expat. He's Frank Lavin, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh take pride of place here at the British Club in Singapore, one of many national clubs in the city that cater to the expat community. It is here that you will meet your new friends, relax, discuss life and, of course, cultivate those new business contacts, and we'll be meeting some members of the club a little later in the program.
But before we go any further, let's consider some of the key issues that you need to consider before you accept a posting overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): When Tony and Judy Buss moved from the U.K. to Singapore four years ago, they expected to be overseas for three years, but that all changed. Back then, Tony was working for Glaxo-Smith-Kline. Now he's heading up a local firm, Merlion Farmer (ph). There's no longer a return date for this British couple.
TONY BUSS, EXPAT: We very quickly got to like the place very much indeed and I think quietly hoping it would last a little longer. And so when the opportunity came to head up the new company, then it was perfect. We were very comfortable in Singapore. We love living here, love working here, so it was a great opportunity really.
QUEST: Unlike the Buss's, sooner or later most expats will want to return home, which is why it's important about the reasons for living abroad in the first place.
Career advisors say rule No. 1: see your career move overseas as part of the bigger plan.
DAVID NORTHWOOD, BERNARD HALDANE ASSOC.: It is actually ensuring that the move is a strategic career move, either giving somebody credentials and experience that they currently don't have or giving them an extra skills set. But what they do need to do is to make absolutely certain that when they are planning to come back that they have maintained their contacts, they have kept their network available and they have maintained their profile to ensure they can actually get back into the working environment.
QUEST: Another issue to look at before setting out on an expat trip is finances. Moving abroad will bring plenty of tax problems and potential bills if the individual doesn't know what he or she is doing.
The best thing any expat can do before making a major decision is to seek serious financial advice.
ELLIE PATSAIOS, TAX PARTNER, DETROIT: There are a lot of issues that surround how you get paid, how you pay your taxes, what is allowable, what insurance covers and things like that. Make sure that you move your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) accounts offshore to ensure you don't get unnecessary taxes. Consider pensions, social security, share plans, fundamental and the fact that don't forget that the company only compensates you for additional tax on your employment income. Anything after that is your responsibility.
QUEST: For the person with the career, expat life is relatively straightforward. They'll have to work in a new culture. They'll be dealing with a new language. But most of this comes down to commonsense. Be open minded. Make an effort to pitch in and try, at least, to learn a few phrases of the local language.
It's the partner or spouse that's moving abroad that will find expat life more difficult. It's hard to make friends when starting from scratch and without the reference point of the office.
JUDY BUSS, EXPAT: You have to go out and meet people because otherwise it's a lonely, lonely life. And then it becomes a resentment, I think, for the person, the partner that's not working, because there isn't -- you know, they're not putting themselves in a social environment. Therefore they're in the home all the time and they could be very skillful, probably had a career before, and all of the sudden, you know, they're not using, utilizing, their skills.
QUEST: Judy Buss has gone out of her way to mix with the local community, joining a golf club whose members are mainly Singaporean.
The expat scene is there too, providing a comforting reminder of back home. But these friendships are transient friendships and at some point everyone moves on, and that's the important thing to remember about your assignment overseas. The parties, the fun, the good life, even the problems, all eventually come to an end.
Back at the British Club and its very own pub, here's someone for whom expat living has never come to an end. Tony Melero is the club's president and he's been an expat for most of his career.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
From a career point of view, Tony, what's the biggest problem?
TONY MELERO, BRITISH CLUB, SINGAPORE: The biggest problem, from a career point of view, I think, is that somebody comes out to any expatriate market, Singapore, and is reporting back to people a long way from here, and that person, probably a man, is telling his head office how things are here, and if that doesn't gel with what people know back at head office, you're in a constant battle of saying, "Yes, but it wouldn't work here. It doesn't work in this part of the world. You have to understand it's different in Asia. You have to understand it's different in this market, that market."
And there is a continual tension between head office expecting you to get on with the job in the way that they normally do it, and you're out in the market, it the country, finding there are different business norms, cultural norms, to deal with. And there is a lot of tension involved in that, a lot.
QUEST: How long is the maximum that you should stay abroad before you start doing your career damage?
MELERO: If you've succeeded in convincing them that you understand the market and you can deliver on what you're expected to do, then fine, you're on site. If you find the opposite, then in three years you're probably going to have to go.
QUEST: Tony, many thanks indeed. Tony Melero joining me here at a very British pub in Singapore, talking about the career issues of the expat life.
And coming up after the break, we turn our attention to the issue of education.
You went abroad for the lifetime experience, but what about the little ones? Do children really fit in as easy as people say, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A way of life that's a child's delight, seemingly endless days of fun in near perfect conditions. Of course, it was your career prospects that took you overseas in the first place, but chances are it will be family problems that will eventually force you to return home.
High on the list of those problems will be your child's education. The big question: how to get it right.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): The Crocker family moved to Dubai from the United Kingdom nearly six years ago. Finding a school for Isabella and Georgina was a top priority. In the end, it was the Dubai English Speaking School that met the grade, but it took Crispin four days of searching the schools in Dubai before making her final decision.
CRISPIN CROCKER, EXPAT: I think what I was very concerned with was that they as near as possible followed the English syllabus so that when they came back you could slot them in.
QUEST: Kathleen Cocklin runs an education consultant assisting families like the Crockers, who have moved overseas. She believes a personal visit to the schools is vital before making any choice.
KATHLEEN COCKLIN, EDUCATION CONSULTANT: Two days should be spent actually in the classroom. On the second day, you should have your short list of first choice and second choice. It doesn't make more than a week to do your survey trip if you've done your homework before hand.
QUEST: Of prime importance is what kind of school should the children attend. Should they follow the education system from back home, or go into the local system? Perhaps the international school is more suitable. What is shows is that there are no hard and fast rules and in making your decision, the experts say don't close any doors for the future.
Nine months on, Mr. Crocker's been promoted and the family is back in the United Kingdom. There's a new house and new climate, and with that, a new school.
Isabella and Georgina have settled in well. They've made lots of friends, and because of their Dubai schooling they're inline with their peers academically. For Mrs. Crocker, all that research has paid off.
CROCKER: The only option for us was a private prep school, which is mixed, a mile-and-a-half away from the house, and they had a wait list. Luckily, they did interview the children two years before we came back, which I think was a very important step to have taken, and I would advise anybody, even if they don't think they're coming back, to make provisions like that and to put their child on a wait list.
QUEST: The Crockers return to the United Kingdom has been relatively easy. A beautiful home, a big garden and new friends.
Of course, children won't always fit back in smoothly. They may be behind in class. They may find the social change difficult. They may miss the good life they've left behind. It can all lead to a loss in confidence that will effect learning and happiness.
So the experts say get them to focus on what they've learned.
COCKLIN: The strengths will be rock solid geography. The strengths will be a knowledge about another country. The strengths will be that as a family you learned different foods and ways of living. So those are the strengths, and you're going to be ahead of the other children that have never been anywhere and never intend to travel overseas.
QUEST: For the Crocker family, Dubai was a success, helped because the children were happy and thriving at school in Dubai, and they've continued to do well in the United Kingdom. It's important to remember that when moving abroad, it's not just the executive's future that's at stake.
Stefanie March is a mother of three. She's lived in Germany, the United States and now here in Singapore. For her, the hardest problem is keeping her children in touch with their family and being constantly on the move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Are you aware of your children needing to have a sense of a home, a rock, a base?
STEFANIE MARCH, EXPAT: That is very important. Hopefully the rock will be the family. The base, that's going to be tough. We always said that once they get to an age where they start primary or secondary school, we wanted to have a posting where we would stay for longer.
We can make some plans. We still have property in the United States, so we might go back there and let them go to the same school for a couple of years. But we don't know. I mean, hopefully they'll be able to handle it.
When they come home and visit their family, they know that they are different. They like to talk about their experience here. They like to show off the fact that they speak two languages. I think they know how to handle it.
QUEST: We thank you, Stefanie. Stefanie March, enjoying the expat life here at the British Club, here in Singapore.
And if you'd like more details on the issues we're talking about, the trials and the tribulations, then visit our Web site. It's at cnn.com/business traveller.
And I'd like to hear your experiences of living the expat life, balancing career and home, private and public. What have you enjoyed? What have you hated? Expats on the road. We'll put the best e-mails on the Web site. It's the usual e-mail address, quest@cnn.com.
Coming up after the break, his excellency, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore. We went ON THE ROAD with him, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Welcome back to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER from Singapore.
There will come a time when you will have had enough of your sanitized expat existence. You'll want to get out and about, perhaps going to Loa Pat South (ph), one of the hawker centers here in the city, where you can enjoy an excellent lunch.
I'll have the smoked duck and rice with soup. Lunch for just a couple of dollars.
Now while I enjoy my lunch, you can enjoy some of the things you can do if you have two hours to kill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM TEO, UNIVERSITY LECTURER: Hi. I'm William and I've practically lived here all my life.
The thing about Singapore is it's completely unpredictable, just like the weather. So if you've got some time to spare, I've got a couple of places to show you, whatever the weather.
Now let's get out of the rain.
Hi. This is Little India, one of the great places to come and shop if you're ever in Singapore, whether it's raining or whether it's sunny outside. It's all under cover.
Here you can buy sweets, jewelry, souvenirs, fabrics, practically anything that's India. And just around the corner you've got Mohammad Mustafa's (ph). It's a famous department store and it's open 24 hours a day. It's a good place to buy electronics and prices here are about 30 percent cheaper than in the city.
Well, Singapore, as you know, is well-known for its food, and where better than Little India to try traditional curries. Here at the Banana Leaf (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's a great way to savor all the Indian dishes that you find in Singapore.
One of the dishes that you should actually try is the fish head curry. It might take some getting used to, especially if you don't like your food staring back at you.
I'm standing at a rather historic sight here in Singapore. This is Telluride (ph) Street. What's interesting about this street is that it showcases the diversity of religions here in Singapore. Behind me is an Indian Muslim mosque and just ahead on the other side is a Chinese Methodist Church and what we're going to take a look at next is a Chinese temple.
This is the Chan Ho King (ph) Temple, one of the most famous Taoist temples here in Singapore. Now this is truly a cosmopolitan temple. You've got floor tiles from Britain, you've got wall tiles from Holland. And other fascinating facet of this is this barrier that's stuck right in front here. This is to prevent the temple from wandering ghosts.
If you're in Singapore and you want to take a city tour, don't take the bus. Take the duck.
It's a converted Vietnam War amphibious vehicle. They were used by the U.S. Army during the Korean and Vietnam War to get food and cargo into remote areas. Nowadays tourists use them to sightsee the city.
Singapore is great because there is so much to do, great food, great people, great cultures, all mixing together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: In the world of expat living, it doesn't get much more glamorous than being am ambassador, after all, with the job comes an ambassadorial residence, a car with a flag and invitations to the best parties in town. You represent not only your people but also your country.
So what's it really like? We went ON THE ROAD with the U.S. ambassador to Singapore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK LAVIN, U.S. AMB. TO SINGAPORE: I think the enjoyable part of the job is it's a chance to make a difference. We have a chance to show leadership. We have a chance to help out, whether it's working on some of the military-to-military ties, whether it's doing business promotion, whether it's taking care of American citizens here or working on charitable causes. You can by force of your personality, your energy level, make a difference, make a contribution, and that's the enjoyable part of the job.
About once or twice a year we have to go back to the United States. I try to pack very light. And I try -- if there are ever connecting planes to my ultimate destination, I will carryon my luggage.
Typically, you're going for a few days and you have top to bottom meetings, and if your shirt or toothbrush isn't there when your meeting starts, you are in deep trouble.
The family has been abroad now for about seven years. We want the kids to have a quote/unquote "a normal life" and grow up and experience all of the joys of youth. You also want them to try to develop some understanding and appreciation of this different cultures.
There are an additional set of challenges because of my visibility and the kids benefit or suffer from that, depending on the mood. But their behavior is under much greater scrutiny and the way we have to manage and work with them is much more thorough than I'd say many typical American households.
You're not always in a policy environment. Sometimes it's a sports setting. Sometimes it's a cultural setting. Sometimes it's local cultures, local events, local religious ceremonies, and you have to have the wherewithal to function in these kind of settings that you might not be overlying familiar with, and if you can't do that, you're not going to do a good job as ambassador, so you have to tell yourself there's going to be certain things that happen this week that I've never seen before, done before, but I'm going to go out and do it and have a good time and I'm going to meet people and I'm going to try to get my message out there about the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Finally, from us something both expats and locals can celebrate, the Chingay (ph) Parade here in Singapore, celebrating the diversity and global culture of the place.
And that's BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest, in Singapore. Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you next month.
END
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Aired February 8, 2004 - 08:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: Had enough? Tired of the daily grind? Want to just get away?
Oh, for something different! A job that's more exotic. You want to move abroad, so this month, the expat on CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. Everything you need to know about living and working overseas.
Hello and welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month reporting from Singapore.
This city is home to tens of thousands of expats who came here primarily for their careers and perhaps the chance to experience a different way of life. For most, it will be the opportunity of a lifetime, but here's a warning. If you don't think carefully about why you're going overseas and plan all the details of your move, then what should be a great opportunity and chance could turn into a nasty shock.
So this month, the move may be good for your career, but what about your expat partner? Will they be happy? And finding the right school for your child. Why education is so important when you're taking your family abroad. And we go ON THE ROAD with a professional expat. He's Frank Lavin, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh take pride of place here at the British Club in Singapore, one of many national clubs in the city that cater to the expat community. It is here that you will meet your new friends, relax, discuss life and, of course, cultivate those new business contacts, and we'll be meeting some members of the club a little later in the program.
But before we go any further, let's consider some of the key issues that you need to consider before you accept a posting overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): When Tony and Judy Buss moved from the U.K. to Singapore four years ago, they expected to be overseas for three years, but that all changed. Back then, Tony was working for Glaxo-Smith-Kline. Now he's heading up a local firm, Merlion Farmer (ph). There's no longer a return date for this British couple.
TONY BUSS, EXPAT: We very quickly got to like the place very much indeed and I think quietly hoping it would last a little longer. And so when the opportunity came to head up the new company, then it was perfect. We were very comfortable in Singapore. We love living here, love working here, so it was a great opportunity really.
QUEST: Unlike the Buss's, sooner or later most expats will want to return home, which is why it's important about the reasons for living abroad in the first place.
Career advisors say rule No. 1: see your career move overseas as part of the bigger plan.
DAVID NORTHWOOD, BERNARD HALDANE ASSOC.: It is actually ensuring that the move is a strategic career move, either giving somebody credentials and experience that they currently don't have or giving them an extra skills set. But what they do need to do is to make absolutely certain that when they are planning to come back that they have maintained their contacts, they have kept their network available and they have maintained their profile to ensure they can actually get back into the working environment.
QUEST: Another issue to look at before setting out on an expat trip is finances. Moving abroad will bring plenty of tax problems and potential bills if the individual doesn't know what he or she is doing.
The best thing any expat can do before making a major decision is to seek serious financial advice.
ELLIE PATSAIOS, TAX PARTNER, DETROIT: There are a lot of issues that surround how you get paid, how you pay your taxes, what is allowable, what insurance covers and things like that. Make sure that you move your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) accounts offshore to ensure you don't get unnecessary taxes. Consider pensions, social security, share plans, fundamental and the fact that don't forget that the company only compensates you for additional tax on your employment income. Anything after that is your responsibility.
QUEST: For the person with the career, expat life is relatively straightforward. They'll have to work in a new culture. They'll be dealing with a new language. But most of this comes down to commonsense. Be open minded. Make an effort to pitch in and try, at least, to learn a few phrases of the local language.
It's the partner or spouse that's moving abroad that will find expat life more difficult. It's hard to make friends when starting from scratch and without the reference point of the office.
JUDY BUSS, EXPAT: You have to go out and meet people because otherwise it's a lonely, lonely life. And then it becomes a resentment, I think, for the person, the partner that's not working, because there isn't -- you know, they're not putting themselves in a social environment. Therefore they're in the home all the time and they could be very skillful, probably had a career before, and all of the sudden, you know, they're not using, utilizing, their skills.
QUEST: Judy Buss has gone out of her way to mix with the local community, joining a golf club whose members are mainly Singaporean.
The expat scene is there too, providing a comforting reminder of back home. But these friendships are transient friendships and at some point everyone moves on, and that's the important thing to remember about your assignment overseas. The parties, the fun, the good life, even the problems, all eventually come to an end.
Back at the British Club and its very own pub, here's someone for whom expat living has never come to an end. Tony Melero is the club's president and he's been an expat for most of his career.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
From a career point of view, Tony, what's the biggest problem?
TONY MELERO, BRITISH CLUB, SINGAPORE: The biggest problem, from a career point of view, I think, is that somebody comes out to any expatriate market, Singapore, and is reporting back to people a long way from here, and that person, probably a man, is telling his head office how things are here, and if that doesn't gel with what people know back at head office, you're in a constant battle of saying, "Yes, but it wouldn't work here. It doesn't work in this part of the world. You have to understand it's different in Asia. You have to understand it's different in this market, that market."
And there is a continual tension between head office expecting you to get on with the job in the way that they normally do it, and you're out in the market, it the country, finding there are different business norms, cultural norms, to deal with. And there is a lot of tension involved in that, a lot.
QUEST: How long is the maximum that you should stay abroad before you start doing your career damage?
MELERO: If you've succeeded in convincing them that you understand the market and you can deliver on what you're expected to do, then fine, you're on site. If you find the opposite, then in three years you're probably going to have to go.
QUEST: Tony, many thanks indeed. Tony Melero joining me here at a very British pub in Singapore, talking about the career issues of the expat life.
And coming up after the break, we turn our attention to the issue of education.
You went abroad for the lifetime experience, but what about the little ones? Do children really fit in as easy as people say, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: A way of life that's a child's delight, seemingly endless days of fun in near perfect conditions. Of course, it was your career prospects that took you overseas in the first place, but chances are it will be family problems that will eventually force you to return home.
High on the list of those problems will be your child's education. The big question: how to get it right.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): The Crocker family moved to Dubai from the United Kingdom nearly six years ago. Finding a school for Isabella and Georgina was a top priority. In the end, it was the Dubai English Speaking School that met the grade, but it took Crispin four days of searching the schools in Dubai before making her final decision.
CRISPIN CROCKER, EXPAT: I think what I was very concerned with was that they as near as possible followed the English syllabus so that when they came back you could slot them in.
QUEST: Kathleen Cocklin runs an education consultant assisting families like the Crockers, who have moved overseas. She believes a personal visit to the schools is vital before making any choice.
KATHLEEN COCKLIN, EDUCATION CONSULTANT: Two days should be spent actually in the classroom. On the second day, you should have your short list of first choice and second choice. It doesn't make more than a week to do your survey trip if you've done your homework before hand.
QUEST: Of prime importance is what kind of school should the children attend. Should they follow the education system from back home, or go into the local system? Perhaps the international school is more suitable. What is shows is that there are no hard and fast rules and in making your decision, the experts say don't close any doors for the future.
Nine months on, Mr. Crocker's been promoted and the family is back in the United Kingdom. There's a new house and new climate, and with that, a new school.
Isabella and Georgina have settled in well. They've made lots of friends, and because of their Dubai schooling they're inline with their peers academically. For Mrs. Crocker, all that research has paid off.
CROCKER: The only option for us was a private prep school, which is mixed, a mile-and-a-half away from the house, and they had a wait list. Luckily, they did interview the children two years before we came back, which I think was a very important step to have taken, and I would advise anybody, even if they don't think they're coming back, to make provisions like that and to put their child on a wait list.
QUEST: The Crockers return to the United Kingdom has been relatively easy. A beautiful home, a big garden and new friends.
Of course, children won't always fit back in smoothly. They may be behind in class. They may find the social change difficult. They may miss the good life they've left behind. It can all lead to a loss in confidence that will effect learning and happiness.
So the experts say get them to focus on what they've learned.
COCKLIN: The strengths will be rock solid geography. The strengths will be a knowledge about another country. The strengths will be that as a family you learned different foods and ways of living. So those are the strengths, and you're going to be ahead of the other children that have never been anywhere and never intend to travel overseas.
QUEST: For the Crocker family, Dubai was a success, helped because the children were happy and thriving at school in Dubai, and they've continued to do well in the United Kingdom. It's important to remember that when moving abroad, it's not just the executive's future that's at stake.
Stefanie March is a mother of three. She's lived in Germany, the United States and now here in Singapore. For her, the hardest problem is keeping her children in touch with their family and being constantly on the move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Are you aware of your children needing to have a sense of a home, a rock, a base?
STEFANIE MARCH, EXPAT: That is very important. Hopefully the rock will be the family. The base, that's going to be tough. We always said that once they get to an age where they start primary or secondary school, we wanted to have a posting where we would stay for longer.
We can make some plans. We still have property in the United States, so we might go back there and let them go to the same school for a couple of years. But we don't know. I mean, hopefully they'll be able to handle it.
When they come home and visit their family, they know that they are different. They like to talk about their experience here. They like to show off the fact that they speak two languages. I think they know how to handle it.
QUEST: We thank you, Stefanie. Stefanie March, enjoying the expat life here at the British Club, here in Singapore.
And if you'd like more details on the issues we're talking about, the trials and the tribulations, then visit our Web site. It's at cnn.com/business traveller.
And I'd like to hear your experiences of living the expat life, balancing career and home, private and public. What have you enjoyed? What have you hated? Expats on the road. We'll put the best e-mails on the Web site. It's the usual e-mail address, quest@cnn.com.
Coming up after the break, his excellency, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore. We went ON THE ROAD with him, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Welcome back to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER from Singapore.
There will come a time when you will have had enough of your sanitized expat existence. You'll want to get out and about, perhaps going to Loa Pat South (ph), one of the hawker centers here in the city, where you can enjoy an excellent lunch.
I'll have the smoked duck and rice with soup. Lunch for just a couple of dollars.
Now while I enjoy my lunch, you can enjoy some of the things you can do if you have two hours to kill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM TEO, UNIVERSITY LECTURER: Hi. I'm William and I've practically lived here all my life.
The thing about Singapore is it's completely unpredictable, just like the weather. So if you've got some time to spare, I've got a couple of places to show you, whatever the weather.
Now let's get out of the rain.
Hi. This is Little India, one of the great places to come and shop if you're ever in Singapore, whether it's raining or whether it's sunny outside. It's all under cover.
Here you can buy sweets, jewelry, souvenirs, fabrics, practically anything that's India. And just around the corner you've got Mohammad Mustafa's (ph). It's a famous department store and it's open 24 hours a day. It's a good place to buy electronics and prices here are about 30 percent cheaper than in the city.
Well, Singapore, as you know, is well-known for its food, and where better than Little India to try traditional curries. Here at the Banana Leaf (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's a great way to savor all the Indian dishes that you find in Singapore.
One of the dishes that you should actually try is the fish head curry. It might take some getting used to, especially if you don't like your food staring back at you.
I'm standing at a rather historic sight here in Singapore. This is Telluride (ph) Street. What's interesting about this street is that it showcases the diversity of religions here in Singapore. Behind me is an Indian Muslim mosque and just ahead on the other side is a Chinese Methodist Church and what we're going to take a look at next is a Chinese temple.
This is the Chan Ho King (ph) Temple, one of the most famous Taoist temples here in Singapore. Now this is truly a cosmopolitan temple. You've got floor tiles from Britain, you've got wall tiles from Holland. And other fascinating facet of this is this barrier that's stuck right in front here. This is to prevent the temple from wandering ghosts.
If you're in Singapore and you want to take a city tour, don't take the bus. Take the duck.
It's a converted Vietnam War amphibious vehicle. They were used by the U.S. Army during the Korean and Vietnam War to get food and cargo into remote areas. Nowadays tourists use them to sightsee the city.
Singapore is great because there is so much to do, great food, great people, great cultures, all mixing together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: In the world of expat living, it doesn't get much more glamorous than being am ambassador, after all, with the job comes an ambassadorial residence, a car with a flag and invitations to the best parties in town. You represent not only your people but also your country.
So what's it really like? We went ON THE ROAD with the U.S. ambassador to Singapore.
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FRANK LAVIN, U.S. AMB. TO SINGAPORE: I think the enjoyable part of the job is it's a chance to make a difference. We have a chance to show leadership. We have a chance to help out, whether it's working on some of the military-to-military ties, whether it's doing business promotion, whether it's taking care of American citizens here or working on charitable causes. You can by force of your personality, your energy level, make a difference, make a contribution, and that's the enjoyable part of the job.
About once or twice a year we have to go back to the United States. I try to pack very light. And I try -- if there are ever connecting planes to my ultimate destination, I will carryon my luggage.
Typically, you're going for a few days and you have top to bottom meetings, and if your shirt or toothbrush isn't there when your meeting starts, you are in deep trouble.
The family has been abroad now for about seven years. We want the kids to have a quote/unquote "a normal life" and grow up and experience all of the joys of youth. You also want them to try to develop some understanding and appreciation of this different cultures.
There are an additional set of challenges because of my visibility and the kids benefit or suffer from that, depending on the mood. But their behavior is under much greater scrutiny and the way we have to manage and work with them is much more thorough than I'd say many typical American households.
You're not always in a policy environment. Sometimes it's a sports setting. Sometimes it's a cultural setting. Sometimes it's local cultures, local events, local religious ceremonies, and you have to have the wherewithal to function in these kind of settings that you might not be overlying familiar with, and if you can't do that, you're not going to do a good job as ambassador, so you have to tell yourself there's going to be certain things that happen this week that I've never seen before, done before, but I'm going to go out and do it and have a good time and I'm going to meet people and I'm going to try to get my message out there about the United States.
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QUEST: Finally, from us something both expats and locals can celebrate, the Chingay (ph) Parade here in Singapore, celebrating the diversity and global culture of the place.
And that's BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest, in Singapore. Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you next month.
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