25/02/2026
[10 Years Living in Vietnam]
Prelogue
Two years ago, I wrote an article "8 Years Living in Vietnam", the article focuses on the my views on food, travel, and living in Vietnam (you can find the article via this link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-years-living-vietnam-kar-heng-lee).
Two Years Later, After the Pandemic...
Vietnam is still, to me, a great country to live and work in, popular places of interest, as usual friendly people, and with plenty of work opportunities in terms of setting up offices and living here. And once again, to cost of living and setting up and operating business has not rocketed up sharply. Vietnam is now the top 10 best countries for foreigners to live in and work, for the first time, in accordance the "Vietnam on the rise as a place to live and work for expats in HSBC’s Annual League Table 2019".
Safety
Vietnam is absolutely safe to live in, I am still living here. In my 10 years of living here on residence status, I had not encountered equalquakes and tsunamis, although periodically, there are heavy rains and sometimes typhoons which hit Central Vietnam in the months from August to December of a year. I live in Ho Chi Minh City, with frequent travels to Central and Northern Vietnam. The physical security in cities is not alarming too, in fact, the local people are generally friend and will help when there is a need. However, one still ought to be careful, just like traveling in other countries, avoid quiet alleys. I have heard, but it is like less than 5 cases in my 10 years here, phones or necklances being snatched.
One can call 113 or go to nearest police station in the event when there is problem.
Weather
Vietnam is basically divided into 3 regions whose weathers are unqiue in these 3 regions.
The Northern Region (Sapa, Ha Giang, Halong Bay and low land areas around Hanoi): Generally, the 4 seasons are distinctive, except in low land areas, there will be no snowing normally. Dry winter lasts from November to April, with the coldest months from January to MarchThe hot, humid and highest rainfall summer lasts from May to October.
Central Vietnam (Danang, Hoi An, D**g Hoi, Hue): Close to Northern Vietnam, December & January are cold. Central Vietnam is hot and dry between January & August when temperatures may hit 35+°C and high levels of rainfall occurs from August to December.
Southern Region (Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, Phan Thiet): The weather tropical climate it is warm from 25°C to 25°C all year round. There are two seasons here, the dry and the rainy seasons where the rainy season extends from May to October. I live in Ho Chi Minh City, the weather resembles that in Singapore and I am comfortable living here.
Transportation
Transportation to everyone in a city, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are often congested epecially during peak hours (7.30 am to 9.30 am, 4pm to 6p,). Hence, it is important to work close to residence area. It may take you hours to travel from one place to another, and sometimes, you do not even know the reason. Motorcycles are the most common mode of travel here, I have 2 motorcycles here for travel in the day. I drive in the evening and sometimes to receive friends or business contacts at the airport, as well as moving around when they are in the city. In remote, infrastructure is not as good and so it is a big challenge for foreigners to explore in Vietnam driving or riding. I drive in Vietnam with a Vietnamse driving license, with a valid driving from your home country, it is easy to apply for the Vietnamese driving license.
You can contact me on converting your driving license, parking using APP and electronic toll payment.
Language
Many foreigners find Vietnamese language difficult to learn, and there is very few Vietnamese who can communicate in English, or Mandarin, relatively. I can speak and read Vietnamese, it facilitates communicating with the Vietnamese, as well as getting works done effectivel, and efficiently. I learned Vietnamese self-learned using Youtube, books (with CD), watching movies and enjoying music in Vietnamese.
You can contact me to 1. learn Vietnamese for conversational purpose, 2 learn Vietnamese for Businesses.
Buying a House
Rental a house or room to live while working in Vietnam is simple with rental service contract. But buying a house is very complicated, leading high purchasing price. Firstly, very limited information information can be found on laws or rules for foreigners to buy houses here. Usually, one engages property to handle all the administrative matter relation to purchase of houses. I bought an apartment 2 minutes walk from SC Vivocity, a complicate process but it benefits if you live here for years.
Cost of Living
Numbeo (https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Vietnam) rank Vietnam 86th in the world and 6th in Southeast Asia in terms of cost of living.
“How much does one need to live in Vietnam?” As shared by several friends and contact living here (not family), the average cost of living in Vietnam ranges from SGD800.00 to SGD1500.00, including rental and water/electricity (SGD300 - SGD900, sharing), transportation (SGD50.00-SGD80.00, motorcycle), meals (SGD200 - SGD400), grocery SGD150.00) and mobile (SGD20.00).
These figures are estimates after speaking to my circle of friends (not living as suiper-expat here). The cost varies depending largely on lifestyle too.
Life and Challenges Singapore Friends Vietnam Business News Singapore in Vietnam Return to Ho Chi Minh City
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