First there’s a registration fee based on the “open market value” (OMV) of the car. According to Dollars and Sense, a Singaporean personal finance site, you could pay S$60,578 extra on a Mercedes E200 with an OMV of S$49,113. Then an excise duty is charged, which is 20% of the OMV, plus a 7% GST (Goods and Services Tax) on top of that.

The most famous tax, though, is the certificate of entitlement (COE). Your COE cost is based on the type of car – the larger and more powerful the engine, the more expensive the COE – and how many people want COEs at any given time. In some cases, this payment can be more expensive than the car.

Singapore simply doesn’t want too many cars on the road, says Priscilla Ng Yi Xian, a born and raised Singaporean. It’s a small country, she says. “They want people to use public transit.”

She doesn’t own a car, but may buy one when she has kids. For now, Uber works just fine. “It’s simple", she says. “I call a cab.”

Under surveillance

Expats will also have to put up with video cameras tracking their every move. Flora Chao Lutz, a Washington DC native who moved to Singapore in May with her family for work, has noticed cameras nearly everywhere.