Shopping

White Goods

Jurong Point houses Courts and Harvey Norman with a reasonable range and delivery services for all white goods and basic electronic products. In the IMM mall in Jurong East, Best Denki as well as smaller shops can help you with refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, air conditioners for the living room and other electrical goods the University does not provide.

When buying air-conditioning, it is not always worth buying it used. If you decide to buy a new one, it is best to get several quotes from large, reputable installers that are acknowledged by NTU. The contractor needs to inform the university about the proposed changes and requires approval. And, as always, asking your neighbors about their experience is also valuable.

Furniture Stores

Generally staff housing has basic furniture, but you might prefer your own from home. Note that any of the university furniture you do not want to use must be stored by you - the university does not provide storage facilities, university only takes it back only if they have space.

Again, Courts and many smaller stores in IMM are where general furniture of varying prices and quality are offered. IKEA, close to Queenstown MRT station sells modern northern European styles, whereas Iwannagohome in places like Tanglin Mall, Great World City and Lim’s at Holland Village Shopping Mall offers South East Asian and Chinese influenced furniture and decorations. For specific listings of antiques look for ads in expat magazines such as Expat Singapore (available at magazine stands) and The Finder. The latter is available for free at many stores catering to western expats in malls already mentioned above.

Dempsey Road (recently named Tanglin Village) has several warehouses with furniture imported from China as well as Oriental carpets. It is also a good place to find wedding or special holiday gifts. The Furniture Store behind the Concourse Mall and on Beach road has modern furniture, imported furniture (even custom-made) from Indonesia, as well as mattresses and lighting.

Electrical and Electronic equipment

You can find electric and electronic equipment in stores that sell white goods as well as at Parasilk around the corner from Holland Village Shopping Mall and at Carrefour. The cheapest and most varied place for your video or digital camera or computer is in a building called Sim Lim Square close to Little India (within walking distance from Bugis MRT station). However, you should have an idea of the prices of the electronic goods and accessories you want to buy beforehand as you may need to bargain hard. Avoid buying any of these goods on Orchard Road unless you know the actual price and are good at bargaining.

Toys

Kiddy Palace and Lego shop as well as smaller shops at Jurong Point have the construction, electronic, soft and puzzle toys you will need at a reasonable cost. Popular (also at Jurong Point as well as other larger branches) has books, some games and flash cards as well as stationary for all kinds of projects. There are smaller stores more specialized in educational toys in IMM, Great World, Tanglin, Forum and Takashimaya malls.

Crafts and Materials

Spotlight in Plaza Singapura – a must for everyone who loves to make things, and a haven for those faced with art projects for children that leave you scratching your head!  It takes up about half of the 5^th level in Plaza Singapura, and has everything: fabric, art and craft supplies (from basics such as threads, buttons and zips to stuffing for soft toys, paints, cross stitch and tapestry, applique, wood starting kits, curtain making materials etc) kitchen ware, household linens etc. 

There are three big party stores on the third floor of the Concourse Mall on Beach Rd., where you can get decorations for whichever festival is coming up (including Halloween, the religious ones, national day) and great selection on decorations, costumes and party bag things for any sort of party you can think of.

Used Items from Campus Residents

There always seem to be people moving in and out – be they students or foreign staff families. 

For larger household items like refrigerator and furniture, one can check the residents boards at the bottom of the resident buildings of staff housing or sign up to the NanyangConnect list server (see the left frame on the Home Page) to receive emails about sales.

NanyangConnect organizes annual garage sales at the end of the school year (May)--- details of the sale will be sent over the list server.

Add that baby/children’s equipment is often sold and passed on among residents. To find out who might have something, leaders from the Play groups or the NanyangConnect Core Team members (nanyangconnect@gmail.com) should be approached.