Singtel prepaid SIM sucks

I bought a Singtel prepaid SIM for $28 Singapore dollars (equivalent to about $20 USD) at Changi Airport before i left for Bali on Monday morning. I was not able to get the data network to work prior to boarding my flight so i thought i must have incorrect settings for APN on my iPhone. On arrival in Bali, i still could not get the data network working so i attributed that to roaming in Bali on a non-Singtel carrier. Now that i am back in Singapore, i still could not get it to work. Two hours ago, i walked into a Singtel retail store to figure out what was my problem. Turned out Singtel has two types of prepaid SIM cards. One for voice/SMS while the other for data only. I was very surprised to find out that there is not one that combines both voice/SMS and data. WTF!

I was able to do voice/SMS and data using a prepaid SIM from Maxis in Malaysia, granted it was not cheap to use the data plan. I also was able to achieve that while in Bali using a prepaid SIM from Indosat. It was incredibly cheap to use the data plan on Indosat’s prepaid SIM. I paid no more than $8 USD for the SIM and i was constantly checking my email and surfing web during the five days while i was in Bali.

So basically, Singtel requires me to get a separate SIM card if i wish to use their data network. And if heaven forbids i need to send a SMS or make a voice call, i will need to swap out the SIM card. This is so freaking uncivilized.