Low cost of living, high salary and no income tax. My sister works as an attorney for a global law firm in Dubai, and the attitude that westerners have there is like they're exploiting a rainforest for its goods. You move there for 4 or 5 years, rack up a huge sum and head back to your country of origin with a huge chunk of change.

Although I imagine for Americans this will be more difficult now with FACTA laws.

>Low cost of living

Not really true

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp

however, many companies offer housing as part of their packages.

Precisely. And for many western expats, their package deals also include schooling for their children as well if they have them, and a company car.

Besides food and utilities you're pocketing all the money you earn.

But compared to the traditional high tax, high income areas? Like New York, SF or London?

http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/mountain...

Yeah. My cousin works in Qatar and while his salary is around $50,000, he lives in a 4-bedroom condo on the top floor that overlooks the ocean and his company pays for it.

50k (even cash) is not nearly enough for the tradeoff of life in a regime like UAE to be worth it.

It really depends. I have always lived on the cheap side, but others go out to expensive bars (almost all in 5-stat hotels) and waste incredibly dumb amounts of money on everything.

Granted, I can drive a SUV at 1.00QR per litre. at 90 octane gasoline, that is basically 20-30 US cents a litre. However, inflation is a dirty word. Last inflation bump came because gov't sector pentions for Qatari citizens were close to doubled, and almost all grocer products increased by at least 1QR (0.20-0.30 USD) overnight. Many went up a lot more. And people were upset, but that is top-down economics.

Don't really think that guy was getting a 50K package.

The salary I can imagine for an American engineer working in Abu Dhabi would be a minimum of 100,000 - 180,000+ USD , and it is tax free (usually comes with additional benefits).

Abu Dhabi is a rich city (they got oil) and they usually pay more than Dubai.

Source: I live here, and run a startup and work with multiple companies and consultants.

He's not an engineer.

High salary yes but until you get in a jail for a random reason and then it's just a number on your bank account.

how do you find one of these jobs?

A friend of mine teaches at an international school in Abu Dhabi. He's fond of saying that its a thoroughly modern place but its not quite civilized. Don't mistake one for the other.

You have to make the distinction between modern amenities and governance.

You get a lot of glitz and luxuries, but you always have to keep in mind that the region is still ruled with a Bedouin mentality (I say this as an Omani national).

Women might feel safe "walking around" but certain violations of Sharia law just might get them stoned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_Arab_Emirat...

Well, it depends on how much one is willing to risk for a given salary. I bet the guy was well paid in KSA. He was just ignorant of that specific risk when going back there or too arrogant to think he would get caught.

I know a lot of people that work in Singapore too.A beautiful place but you'd better make sure you know the implications of doing things that would seem harmless in the west. Because being a westerner wont make the justice system more lenient. On the contrary,they tend to make examples out of westerners.

Personally, I tend to stay far away from any place that requires an exit visa.

I didn't even know that existed. Agreed.

It's actually how they facilitate modern day slavery in the Middle East.

I'm curious: what kinds of things would those be? I've always thought Singapore was a quite westernized country, but I guess I'm wrong.

It's a modern, clean and gleaming metropolis --it's quite exciting and clean, but there are some things westerners may not like so much. Censorship[1], criminalization of some male behavior[2] and capital punishment[3],[4] for drug "trafficking"

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Singapore

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_377A_of_the_Penal_Code_...

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_%28Singapor...

[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Singapore

As detailed in William Gibson's '93 article "Disneyland with the Death Penalty":

http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html

Revisited in '12:

http://www.wired.com/2012/04/opinion-jeyaretnam-disneyland-d...

I don't know if the other responders have ever set foot in Singapore, but you're right that it's quite westernized in the sense that a Westerner's first trip to Singapore won't be overwhelming (certainly not negatively) the way it would be in many other places.

They have their laws, and you're better off not breaking them, but none require you to be consciously aware of what you're doing every second of the day.

As for the bumble gum thing, it's commercial import and sale that's prohibited. A tourist chewing gum won't get into any trouble. Is it a silly law? Maybe, but Singapore has a lot of people yet is very clean...and besides, it's not like western countries don't have silly bans.

Details here:

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/si...

Is it a modern country ? sure but westernized ? absolutely not.

Singapore has historically been recognised as the most Western country in the Asian region. Sure they are tougher on certain crimes but then again the US justice system is arguably far worse (trying children as adults, capital punishment for mentally challenged).

But let's be honest what on earth does "western" mean in this day and age. You would be hard pressed to see any different in children from Bangkok, Manila, Seoul, Tokyo, London, New York, Los Angeles etc. They all like Western food/music/culture/websites/technologies/products etc.

I lived there for 18 months. Very westernized, and surpassing the west in modernity.

Not sure where the Singapore bashing comes from on HN. It doesn't sound like most people have been there, yet still comment on how strict it is.. And the bubble gum thing.. geez.. Actually, i never felt safer in any city i have been.

I think it comes from certain notions about what freedom means.

Eg Singapore is far from a democracy. I don't care much about democracy, rule of law being much higher on my list. What do I care about my vote being one of millions? A fair and predictable legal system are more important.

Chewing gum, for one.

There's actually no issue with chewing gum anywhere in Singapore.

It's just that their sale is forbidden. If you have a pack you chew from your travel to Malaysia nothing will happen to you -- but you better not stick it in any public property or throw it down when you're down...

Downvotes, really? As this is misleading or offensive or something? I've lived in Singapore for 3 years on and off, perhaps those downvoting know better?

Check here for information too, if you don't believe me:

http://www.quora.com/Why-do-so-many-people-think-it-is-illeg...

Chewing gum.

Money and low taxes. Reason why thousands of people from Asia work in the middle-east despite piss-poor conditions.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read "well-off". Still, more money is the answer.

>>Money and low taxes

More like no taxes. From what i heard, they have no sales tax, or income tax (including companies). And a flat 5% duty on all duty (with that even exempted on certain goods such as computers).

I thought expats(American) were required to pay U.S. taxes?

https://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/us-taxes-while-l...

They are required to file US taxes. Between the $100,000 foreign income exclusion and the foreign tax credit, many will not owe any tax.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Forei...

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/What-...

There is no tax credit if there is no tax in the country you are in.

Because money, obviously