Just to add to the concerns about Singaporeans offering to help, there are some strategies to adopt to protect yourself, especially for those traveling with young family, or the new arrivals who hasn't been here earlier to scout out the place or to set up their bank accounts. This work both ways, for the helper if they also have family too, as both parties are equally vulnerable to be targeted by scammers pretending to offer or seek help.
In no particular order of importance:
#1. Do not exchange family photos online, especially not pictures of your kids. Both sides won't want their kids ending up somewhere in the golden triangle never to be seen again forever. On the other hand, no need to be so totally anonymous that you don't even exchange email or phone number. Phone number is needed later when arranging to meet up.
#2. It is not necessary to arrange to meet at the airport. The newly arrived family is easy to spot, they look disoriented, lost, tired, they push multiple carts with their life belongings, and most importantly, they are probably carrying all their heirlooms and valuables and weeks worth of cash. It can be safely assumed that they won't have any local credit cards issued yet, or bank accounts opened to deposit their bank drafts, which takes a month to clear. You don't want you and your family to be picked up, split up into 2 cars, and driven to unknown places to be robbed or chopped. From the helper's angle, you also don't want to reveal your address and bring an unknown group of people into your home, if things don't work out, they will always know where you live.
#3. Spend at least your first night in a hotel, the first thing you want is a safe and neutral place to crash privately and sleep out your jet lag in peace without having to keep an eye on your belongings or worry for your kids. Make use of the hotel's shuttle bus service to fetch you from the airport to your hotel. The shuttle bus can take lots of baggage, you and your family are not traveling alone, there are other travelers booked into your hotel too. Act cool like you're tourists in any other big city, not newly arrived immigrants. If you have kids, the hotel has the added advantage of making the landing seem like one of your usual family vacations to Tokyo or London or where ever, the process of airport to hotel is familiar and takes the shock off the landing. There is also the convenience of soap, towel, warm bath ready without having to unpack, no stranger's house rules to learn, no introductions or small talk to make, no awkwardness or feelings of obligation, and best of all, the hotel has breakfast ready in the morning.
#4. Arrange to meet your helper the next morning at the hotel lobby. Just the guy will do, no need to drag the whole family down to the lobby. The hotel lobby is a safe and neutral location. There is no need for either you or the helper to describe you're the guys in the grey polo shirt and blue jeans. Both you and your helper are Singaporean, you will know each other instantly on sight, and confirm it when you both open your mouths. If you sense a scam, return to your hotel room, or your car and call the meetup off.
#5. Introductions having made, its then up to you to assess helper and helpee that both are genuine, sincere and trustworthy. Then you can go to the hotel room to introduce the whole family. Chances are you all will then go for a ride in the helper's car, to go look for food, groceries, or for a rental car, or another cheaper hotel for the next days if that is the case. At this stage, you're now friends more or less and not strangers anymore.
#6. There is no need to rush to buy your house without knowing where your eventual workplace will be. Consider renting first and commute, then look for a house in the city of your workplace. If your helper has no problem with his housing agent, you can consider using the same agent to represent you in your house hunt rather than use the seller's agent. Do not be too much in a hurry to buy a house in order to save on rent, it could turn out to be an expensive mistake at the worst case, or an unsatisfying house in the best case. It is easy and free to buy, but harder and expensive to sell. Deal with the agent, he's a 3rd party, so helper and helpee are at arms length to avoid future misunderstanding. If you make a mistake with the rental house, that mistake is temporary and will be corrected when your lease expire.
#7. Needless to say, do no not reveal arrival flight numbers, car license plate, hotel room number, home address, credit card numbers, personal IDs. Some things can be known later like car number or address when you visit each other. But at least for the initial meetup, both helper and helpee don't want to be scoped out by unscrupulous invisible scammers while they are trying to help.
I know, some of the above sounds like coming out of a Frederick Forsyth plot, but better be safe than sorry. If precautions are taken, it is alright to offer help and to receive help, the overseas Singaporean community is near non-existent unlike other communities, so every little effort helps.
