Hi Libelula,
I have been living in Singapore for 4 1/2 years and livng in
Asia off and on since 1984 (mostly on).
Great sailing communities here.
Singapore cost of living is down somewhat with the recession, most notably housing, which went mental over the last 2 years. Goods and services are still quite high.
Feel free to PM me with an
email address and I can send you my "expat primer" - I manage a diverse group of expats and have some insight to structuring of expat asignments.
There is also a web site that is pretty specific about living in Singapore. There are a lot of trolls there but if you can sort out the random
noise there is a lot of helpful
advice.
ExpatSingapore - ExpatSingapore Message Board - Index
As far as
living aboard in Singapore it is an option but it is one that has been "discovered" and can be quite pricey. The
marinas are not very convenient to the Amercian
school located on the northern side of the island and with a pre-schooler that could become an issue.
The other issue is that the boat market is very small and finding a suitable
liveaboard boat to
purchase can be time consuming. You may consider sourcing the boat from
Thailand where the market is slightly larger and sailing it down.
One suggestion is to make sure the package has as much temp living in it as possible. There are outstanding
service apartments available but they are pricey as well.
If you get a "look see" trip all the better.
Final thought is to obtain a 1 year
lease on a condo and get the lay of the (boating) land - your term of assignment may make the whole idea of
buying a boat, living aboard and selling out, somewhat of a
money pit.