Is Singapore getting too expensive for the middle class?

[hanzohattori]

If you have lived in Singapore for an extended time, you'll notice that there is only one class: the middle educated class.

The upper class and lower class have been largely marginised.

If you don't believe me take a walk in Orchard Road or read the mainstream newspaper Straits Times where middle class values are all too obvious, prominent and glaring.

A classless middle class society is the utimate utopia where everyone enjoys equal opportunities even if it costs a bit more for such privilege.

Let's celebrate it instead of KPKB.

So true.. all upper class residents has fly out to better life in Australia :bsmilie:

 

[Sion]

So true.. all upper class residents has fly out to better life in Australia :bsmilie:

To enjoy the unemployment benefits given by the Australian Social Welfare Department? :bsmilie:

Kill two kangaroos with one stick.

 

[hanzohattori]

To enjoy the unemployment benefits given by the Australian Social Welfare Department? :bsmilie:

Kill two kangaroos with one stick.

No.. to enjoy the company of neighboring celebrity teen singer wannabe :bsmilie:

 

[Andreq]

For some, it's time to consider migration! Singapore is becoming more and more a mega company (some call it MNC) rather than a country. And it's a very successful one at that!

One thing I can never understand is this. Many of our kids are put through our grilling education system for years at kindergarten level till at least college level. Yet many come out or work to realise they are just a number despite being exposed to good local education all the way to a university degree.

Now contrast this with those who study overseas. I have heard countless examples of how students who had not scored good grades in their O or A levels here went overseas like Australia or UK to study. I mean it's really bad… like lots of D-grades or some F's. But somehow, they eventually managed to do well overseas.

Some choose to stay on and enjoy a much preferred life there (according to them, not me!) -- A more understanding/cordial culture there where strangers greet you, offer a chat, help you when you are at the slightest need for one, cheap cars (you can buy a 2ndhand car before you even start to work formally), affordable housing with a garage and nice little garden (really AFFORDABLE, not the one defined by our authorities here!), a large country to explore which will take more than your lifetime probably, and above all, a relaxed working environment (where you don't usually work on Sats, knock off at 4pm on Fris, and when it's time to go home at 5pm, you get your butt out of office at 5pm!), no constant worrying about kids' education, no squeezing with crowds, etc.

For those who do return here, they are usually on par with local graduates or even preferred as the former seem to have that bit more critical thinking skills and vocal ability.

The only catch is, as parents, do we have the $$$ to send our kids overseas? In that sense, whoever says money can't buy education? And also, unless your kids are especially bright and can get scholarships (getting tougher these days), yes, there is a danger that they end up being a normal middle-class. In fact, I find "middle-class" is no longer an appropriate term to refer to such people. Many are now classified as "middle poor".

Now coming back to our local graduates…. They work hard for years, climb hard to get into the local universities, but come out having to worry if they can afford a tiny 4-room flat and have kids after they get married. Although work is supposed to end at 5pm, very often, there's an unspoken rule that if you are seen going home on the dot, or even 15 minutes later, you are not working hard enough. You need to clock OT (over-time), but they will not give you OT pay. You are told you need to work hard to improve the economy here, but at the same time, have kids, have the so-called "work-life balance", don't put pressure on them, we are told. Unfortunately, it's never as easy as it seems.

So that's some food for thought…

 

[ed9119]

whatever happened to "No Pain No Gain" ?

follow Li Ka Shing's and Chow Yun Fatt's advise

http://e27.co/li-ka-shing-teaches-buy-car-house-5-years/

http://www.lollipop.sg/content/you-wont-believe-what-mobile-phone-chow-yun-fatts-using

Nobody is doing anything bad to you ...... you make your own decisions and choose your own life

 

[Yutaka Go]

whatever happened to "No Pain No Gain" ?

follow Li Ka Shing's and Chow Yun Fatt's advise

http://e27.co/li-ka-shing-teaches-buy-car-house-5-years/

http://www.lollipop.sg/content/you-wont-believe-what-mobile-phone-chow-yun-fatts-using

Nobody is doing anything bad to you ...... you make your own decisions and choose your own life

Both of them are rich and Li Ka Shing is the one of the developers making housing bubble and inflated price. There are report that his company bought lands meant for housing but didn't develop them so that the supply cannot meet demand.
This ensure his company have maximum profits. When you are rich and powerful, you can make everybody life miserable.

 

[Sion]

I've heard a few frugality stories about LKS too about how a driver helped him find his coin and he tipped the man $100 and he wears a cheap Japanese watch.

 

[Andreq]

I guess Singapore is progressing faster than most can catch up. It's a misconception for you to think that everyone is unhappy because they are not rich or must earn $xxx grand a year. I think many would just wish for a more assured future and a standard of living commiserate with their education level and competency.

So those who can't have that ideal lifestyle, and if they plan it well, they will have migrated to their "greener pastures" overseas to attain the kind of life they want. The successful and rich ones will stay on to prosper further. The aspiring middle class (more rightly the "middle poor") will do their best to navigate the complexities of the stressful life here. Some will succeed to go up the next level. While others just have to learn to make adjustments in their expectations. Life isn't what their parents used to have or promised it would be for them 20-30 years ago.

It's all about managing one's expectations.

 

[dniwkh]

Both of them are rich and Li Ka Shing is the one of the developers making housing bubble and inflated price. There are report that his company bought lands meant for housing but didn't develop them so that the supply cannot meet demand.
This ensure his company have maximum profits. When you are rich and powerful, you can make everybody life miserable.

ed9119 already said what "no pain no gain". For Li Ka Shing, maybe that meant other people's pain

 

[Sion]

ed9119 already said what "no pain no gain". For Li Ka Shing, maybe that meant other people's pain

In Hong Kong they call it 地產霸權.

LKS's businesses cover almost every facet of life in Hong Kong e.g. electricity, telecommunications, real estate, retail, shipping, the Internet etc. You can't live without him touching your life.

No chief minister has ever been elected without his blessing. But not this time he publicly backed Henry Tang, one of his kind but Beijing backed C.Y. Leung, the son of a policeman. Power has won over wealth in HK this time.

 

[ed9119]

Both of them are rich and Li Ka Shing is the one of the developers making housing bubble and inflated price. There are report that his company bought lands meant for housing but didn't develop them so that the supply cannot meet demand.
This ensure his company have maximum profits. When you are rich and powerful, you can make everybody life miserable.

oh please.....Li Ka Shing and Fatt Chye were certrainly not born rich.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ka-shing

"Due to his father's death, he was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he laboured 16 hours a day."

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

"Chow was born in Lamma Island, Hong Kong to a mother who was a cleaning lady and vegetable farmer, and a father who worked on a Shell Oil Company tanker.[2][3] Of Hakka origins,[4][5] he grew up in a farming community on Lamma Island in a house with no electricity.[6] He woke up at dawn each morning to help his mother sell herbal jelly and Hakka tea-pudding on the streets and in the afternoons he went to work in the fields."

Someone said "A rising tide raises all ships" so to be rich above others u have to go out and take the risk to catch that big surf while others are safely in harbor just rising with the tide

Pain never hurt young people .....with a little luck and/or good timing thrown in (this, education cannot give you).... the world's your oyster

 

[ed9119]

nearer to home.... Sim Wong Soo
"Sim Wong Hoo was born in Singapore and is an alumnus of Bukit Panjang Government High School......

On 1 July 1981, with an initial capital outlay of US$6,000, Sim (along with former schoolmate Ng Kai Wa) founded Creative Technology in the form of a computer repairs shop in Pearl's Centre, which is located at Chinatown."

or Qian Hu Corporation
"The beginnings of Qian Hu go back to the 1980s when Yap Tik Huay, father of current Managing Director Kenny Yap, and Yap Tik Huay’s brother, Yap Hey Cha ran a pig farm, rearing pigs as a family business."

and so many more ...... I suggest stop whining, blaming everyone else and finding excuses for where we are today, myself included

And if friends measure you/your family based on your material posessions, title on your namecard or school grades ..... go find new and more sincere friends

 

[Sion]

oh please.....Li Ka Shing and Fatt Chye were certrainly not born rich.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ka-shing

"Due to his father's death, he was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he laboured 16 hours a day."

Pain never hurt young people .....with a little luck and/or good timing thrown in (this, education cannot give you).... the world's your oyster

I have a Chinese biography book on LKS. He worked as a salesman in the plastic factory. He was a hard-working man starting his job earlier than his colleaques. When they arrived at the office he was already on the road selling. His father-in-law gave him the seed money for his plastic factory.

He is a Chinese scholar, well-versed in ancient Chinese literature and an accomplished calligrapher.

Reading up the success stories of the Chinese businessmen are interesting and inspiring. I once had 4 Chinese biography books on Li Ka Shing, Robert Kwok, Aw Boon Haw and couldn't remember the 4th one.

 

[saberlancer]

I agree its abt managing expectations..
Every year I expect less n less..

 

[Sion]

I agree its abt managing expectations..
Every year I expect less n less..

From EOS-1DX to PowerShot S120? :bsmilie:

 

[petetherock]

We just hit the most expensive city list again..
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31689124

 

[Sion]

We just hit the most expensive city list again..
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31689124

So we must be rich to be able to afford to live in a most expensive city?

Congratulations to all. We've made it. :bsmilie:

 

[kandinsky]

The Gov's response to the previous EIU survey: Mai kancheong, doesn't apply to peasants ;p

I buy their explanation regarding the basket of goods. I don't know about the average Singaporean, but I'm definitely not getting $50-$99 haircuts and buying $259-$430 business shirts

In the latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) survey, Singapore was ranked as the most expensive city for expatriates to live in. The survey aims to measure the cost of living of expatriates working in different parts of the world. It is not intended to reflect the cost of living experienced by Singaporeans.

There are three reasons why this survey does not reflect the cost of living for Singaporeans.

Reason 1: All prices are expressed in US dollars.
Over the last 10 years (i.e. 2003-2013), the Singapore dollar appreciated by nearly 40% cumulatively against the US dollar. It has also appreciated against the currencies of many other cities included in the EIU survey. This has significantly increased the US dollar price of goods and services in Singapore compared to other cities. As the EIU has itself stated, this currency appreciation contributed to a rise in Singapore's ranking in the EIU survey.

However, while the stronger Singapore dollar has increased the expatriate cost of living expressed in US dollars, it does not have this effect for Singaporeans. In fact, with a strong Singapore dollar, the items that we import and our overseas holidays have become cheaper for Singaporeans.

Reason 2: The expatriate items in the EIU basket are quite different from the goods and services regularly consumed by ordinary Singaporeans.
For example, the EIU basket includes items like filet mignon and international foreign daily newspapers.

Reason 3: The prices of comparable items used by EIU in their survey are higher than what Singaporeans really pay.
About 95% of comparable items in the EIU basket have higher prices compared to those collected by the Department of Statistics (DOS) through extensive surveys based on Singaporeans' shopping practices. There was no price difference for items like petrol and taxi fares where all consumers are charged standard rates.

For the items which recorded higher prices in the EIU survey,two-fifths of them were priced more than double what Singaporeans pay. Table 1 shows the prices of some of these comparable items collected by DOS and EIU.

EIU’s WCOL survey is designed to allow HR managers and expatriates to compare the cost of living in 140 cities in 93 countries. It has a useful role in that regard, enabling HR managers to work out appropriate compensation policies when relocating employees, assuming they maintain a lifestyle that is similar to what they might be accustomed to in their home countries. The facts above explain why it does not reflect the cost of living of the typical or average Singaporean household.

http://www.gov.sg/government/web/content/govsg/classic/factually/factually_20140328_eiusurvey

 

[UncleFai]

ST reporter Rachel Chang wrote in ST on 1 Mar:

"While the poor worry about their needs and the rich can afford all their wants, the middle class is liable to confuse their wants for their needs - and what they want always seems just an inch out of reach.

No centrist party can win an election without the middle class voter. Yet their desires are not urgent enough to be addressed first by any government that prides itself on objective policymaking, and too complex to be tackled in one blow."

 

[Bukitimah]

It is supply and demand problem here. If every student goes to university then we need to filter them by score. Of course, always remember there will be those with the right connection. They just need something to show equvilent. An oversea piece of paper will do. You will never be able to change this in the next 10 years. We are changing and those above 50 will be able to relate this situation better.