24 May 2011 (Tuesday)

I managed to set up Amazon account and purchase Kindle eBooks and read them on my iPad without having to get a US credit card. Your mileage may vary and the systems may change but here's how. The critical bit is actually to use a proxy or in my case a paid VPN service based in US.

1. Set up for free/paid VPN service with host based in the US. (I use strongVPN - costs USD 55 for 1 year) for your PC
2. Go to Amazon.com and register for an account using gmail or email address (preferably doesn't end with .sg)
3. In Amazon.com - Register information - for address can put US address (use Vpost's address) to that you can buy Kindle eBooks which is NOT officially supported in SG
4. In Amazon.com - buy gift certificate using paypal
5. In iPad, (sign out of your SG iTunes account under settings) Go Appstore app and download a free app
6. In iPad - create a new iTunes (US) account - the options allow you to specify US address and nil for US credit card
7. In iPad - upon successful creation of iTunes (US) account, download Kindle app for iPad
8. In Amazon.com - add your Kindle device (and others iPhone, PC) to your account
9. In Amazon.com - start buying eBooks and sending them to your device

Remember to login to the VPN (to make sure your source IP is in US) before going amazon.com to buy your kindle ebooks. VPN is not needed for iPad (but it's a good practice for better IT security) Your mileage may vary, but the above steps worked for me and I referred to the following source as reference:

References: 

http://www.pluitsolutions.com/2010/07/25/how-to-purchase-kindle-books-from-singapore/