Singapore vs. Hong Kong: Which Is More Expensive?
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need to maintain close contact with my family and friends there so got to keep tap on what's happening there especially news on the street.
lived on-off there and elsewhere but nothing beats here.
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Angelight:
Don't make yourselves sound so narrow minded and can't take any criticism. As I have wrote, the expats did say that Singaporeans are generally very nice people. He was just saying that Singapore seems artificially built up like a fantasy land specially for the expats. It sacrifices too much of its unique characteristics to achieve that. As he said, if not because of the distance to work, he will prefer to live in the heartland to experience the real neighbourhood instead of staying near CBD area. Of course, the soul part also meant that people are afraid to voice out-meaning there is a repressive atmosphere.
WeiHan, your expat friend said Spore has 'no soul' just becos our nation is so squeaky clean and green, crime rate low, our pple are law-abiding and don't go on strikes at every little provocation, then I just have to say that he doesn't know the true meaning of 'soul'.
Spore is not perfect, but I'm fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO. -
Musings:
why students need to study so many irrelevant subjects to make their studies workload more? a lot of subjects study already is not useful in work life. :? then students got to waste more money to do tuition to get their results good...The fact that we r a tuition nation does not mean educational systsm is flawed or schools are lousy. Its being KS and also many send their kids for tuition to make the kids revise or just keep them occupied and not becos they need help.
Havent u read in papers that Hong Kong is also a tuition nation with tutors earning millions? Same for Taiwan, Korea and increasingly so China.
Does it mean all these countries' schools are lousy? No it is the Asian obsession with acheiving stellar academic results. Amy Chua's book recounts how Asians behave this way even in the US. -
i do agree that one would feel alive if he is living in hong kong. everything that happened or will happen is so unexpected. you dont even know what hit you and the next thing, you are already picking yourself up and on the go.
i love the fact that radio dj, celebrities, politicans and even people on the street are able voice their disagreement openly or even scold high govt pp like donald tsang, tung jin hwa etc. without the fear of being sue. my mil is one of them. :evil: but shucks, uneducated she may be, but what wise words from her.
if a supermarket rises the price of sugar (for example) especially during recession or recovering from recession, hell will break loose with these people shooting arrows at the rich organisaitons who own the supermarkets forcing them to reverse the price back to the old one.
cafes, restaurants even the θΆι€ε are very mindful of how people would react to price/food adjustments. in spore, one hawker upped the price, all the rest will follow. one charge extra for a cup of water, the rest will follow. most of the hawkers in hk, will not follow blindly.
i love listening to the radio programmes because not only are the talk show hosts quick with witty remarks, quesitons and suggestions, they are also armed with a wealth of information. and some of these popular hosts are not even graduates but someone who has lived the life (up and down).
but life is really not easy for the middle and lower income group especially now that china is in charge. hong kong is definitely a place where money talks.
as much as i would like to get the govt and businesses to listen to the voice of the common people, i dont think strike is the way to go. it cripples economy.
however i must say kids in hk are definitely more streetsmart than ours.
quote \"you have the right to be offended but i have the right to offend you\". by one of my favourite london radio presenter.
though it is money talk there, i must really :salute: the social workers and those doctors who have been helping the poor, old and needy in their private capacity. also some hk pp are always ready to help especially when an appeal (to save a tree, help the poor etc) is passed on by a talk show host. it is so unlike those telecasted tv charity show whereby so and so donated xxxx sum of money and appeared smiling on tv and papers but the donated xxxx sum of money might never materialised. -
WeiHan:
Haha, what hypocrisy on the part of your expat friend. Why be deterred by the distance to work? Overseas, many people drive 45 mins to an hour to get to the office. If he lives in Bishan and takes the train, he will be at Raffles Place in about the same time or less. Tell him, move to HDB and experience the true heartlander commute on the MRT. Talk is cheap my friend. He has some big ego, as if all of this was done for the benefit of expats. Yah, there are plenty of downtown condos that are expat enclaves, but who owns those condos? Did they not decide to congregate there themselves? What would he prefer, Singapore to be messy and wild for HIS benefit? Puhleez! I like SG for its neatness and order, really good for families with young kids, who are the TRUE beneficiaries. I would not have it any other way, expat preference or not.
Don't make yourselves sound so narrow minded and can't take any criticism. As I have wrote, the expats did say that Singaporeans are generally very nice people. He was just saying that Singapore seems artificially built up like a fantasy land specially for the expats. It sacrifices too much of its unique characteristics to achieve that. As he said, if not because of the distance to work, he will prefer to live in the heartland to experience the real neighbourhood instead of staying near CBD area. Of course, the soul part also meant that people are afraid to voice out-meaning there is a repressive atmosphere.Angelight:
WeiHan, your expat friend said Spore has 'no soul' just becos our nation is so squeaky clean and green, crime rate low, our pple are law-abiding and don't go on strikes at every little provocation, then I just have to say that he doesn't know the true meaning of 'soul'.
Spore is not perfect, but I'm fiercely protective towards my nation. And whoever says Spore has no soul can choose not to live or work here. JMHO. -
Anyone knows the class size of public/govt schools in HK? I heard from a student from China that the class size in china sch is much larger than ours.
When we look at what others lack, then we realise how lucky we are.
For foreigners who complain about low-crime rate and clean environment, I think they are just spouting rubbish. Maybe they should go and work in some extremely dirty countries to get some soul there. -
WeiHan:
Hi WeiHan,
Don't worry. He already said that he will move out of Singapore to work in India after another 1-2 years of this high paying job. The reason that he stays where he is staying now is because of a friend that own the old apartment at River Valley and he is given a huge discount. He is not even staying in the CBD area and only need to take a short cab every morning to his work.3boys:
Haha, what hypocrisy on the part of your expat friend. Why be deterred by the distance to work? Overseas, many people drive 45 min to an hour to get to the office. If he lives in Bishan and taks the train, he will be at Raffles Place in about the same time or less. Tell him, move to HDB and experience the true heartlander commute on the MRT. Talk is cheap my friend. He has some big ego, as if all of this was done for the benefit of expats. Yah, there are plenty of downtown condod that are expat enclaves, but who owns those condos? Did they not decide to congregate there themselves? What would he prefer,S ingapore to be messy and wild for HIS benefit? Puhleez! I like SG for its neatness and order, really good for families with young kids, who are the TRUE beneficiaries. I would not have it any other way, expat preference or not.
If your expat friend really wants to experience the 'SOUL' of a place, shouldn't he be taking our public transport? Since it is only a short distance via cab, why isn't he? Or maybe he's looking at the wrong place for SG's soul eg. Clark quay? I hardly speak out openly like this, but somehow I feel pissed enough to want to voice it out.
I knew some expats during my working days.....they can talk really well, but to me, flowery. Some too simply LOVE to make similar comments like your friend, but when given an option to base (single, not family) in SG or India, they chose SG. They spent their time in cafes, restaurant, pubs etc. On rare occasions when they joined the locals at a coffeeshop, hawker centre etc....they would RAVE about their great experience .......... but I have learnt to not believe in words alone, action speaks louder. Similarly, knew some who really blend in..... When one do not plan to make a particular country their home, their priorities will differ. And these priorities will change at different stage in life too.
As for 3boys, I dunno if he belongs to any 'policy-making dept', but I have seen him commenting in various other misc threads and was even teased about declaring his :love: for his wife
So what if he is?? I see that many here wrote about hoping the relevant authorities will read the forum for feedback on the ground....... -
cwc:
cwc. Didn't you read my previous posts? This expat does take public transport to move around. didn't I write that he likes our public transport system? And he eats in coffee shops which he prefers rather than \"overpriced\" western restaurants. As for him having a big ego, I doubt so, he can't be bother with flashy condos which many other expats like and he only plans to be in this high paying jobs for 2-3 years and then he will move on to other places where he will find something more satisfying. He needs to pay off his university tuition fees.
Hi WeiHan,
If your expat friend really wants to experience the 'SOUL' of a place, shouldn't he be taking our public transport? Since it is only a short distance via cab, why isn't he? Or maybe he's looking at the wrong place for SG's soul eg. Clark quay? I hardly speak out openly like this, but somehow I feel pissed enough to want to voice it out.
I knew some expats during my working days.....they can talk really well, but to me, flowery. Some too simply LOVE to make similar comments like your friend, but when given an option to base (single, not family) in SG or India, they chose SG. They spent their time in cafes, restaurant, pubs etc. On rare occasions when they joined the locals at a coffeeshop, hawker centre etc....they would RAVE about their great experience .......... but I have learnt to not believe in words alone, action speaks louder. Similarly, knew some who really blend in..... When one do not plan to make a particular country their home, their priorities will differ. And these priorities will change at different stage in life too.
As for 3boys, I dunno if he belongs to any 'policy-making dept', but I have seen him commenting in various other misc threads and was even teased about declaring his :love: for his wife
So what if he is?? I see that many here wrote about hoping the relevant authorities will read the forum for feedback on the ground....... -
Moderator's note:
We have removed posts that we regard as personal attacks on the poster. Please focus on the issue while debating, and not on the person making the points that you disagree with.
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I often hear that Singapore is a nice place to raise kids. I wonder why is this so?
We donβt even know yet that kids nurtured in this environment can survive the ever changing and challenging world that is presenting before our eyes.
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