What I hate about the current Singapore
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Oppsgal:
Haha, well if you use this definition as a guide...Singapore is one of the 35 \"advanced economies\" in the world. I pretty much agree with the list...
What is \"High standard of living\" :?usa-sing-1:
Here's what I LIKE:
-Low crime
-Low corruption
-Low income tax rates
-High standard of living
-Weather (yes it's hot and humid but I will take that over the 5+ month range of freezing cold, snow and ice where I grew up)
-Highly developed, globalized economy -- goods and services available from just about anywhere
-Well developed hub for regional and global flight connections to most major cities
-Good urban planning and sensible development of infrastructure (roads, utilities, housing, schools, medical facilities, shopping and entertainment)
-Politically stable environment, generally competent, forward-looking leadership (which I would say that NO other country in the region has, to the same degree...and many countries around the world are deficient in this as well)
THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IMPROVED:
-I would like to see Singapore not only maintain its prominence as a global trade centre/business hub, but I would also like to see it become more renowned for cutting edge arts, sports, and other entertainment...it is slowing evolving toward this
-I would like to see more cutting edge thought and innovation with regard to useful products, services, inventions, etc. Intellectual capital plays a major role in shaping Singapore's future...it needs to foster more of that innovation locally. It is trying to do so with pharmaceuticals and other areas...decent progress but needs to evolve more.
Only know \"high cost of living\"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country -
usa-sing-1:
Why not look at \"purchasing power\" which compares wages to prices.
Haha, well if you use this definition as a guide...Singapore is one of the 35 \"advanced economies\" in the world. I pretty much agree with the list...Oppsgal:
What is \"High standard of living\" :?
Only know \"high cost of living\"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country
It should give a more accurate picture of \"standard of living\". I guess SG ranking is quite below.. -
Yeah three cheers for USA-sing-1! Thanks for bringing up low crime rate in sg!
Recently my child and me needed to catch a flight at 6am. I stood there at the car park at 3.30am, with only my child toddling around, waiting for the cab to pick us. The neighborhood was poorly lit and very quiet. If it were somewhere else, I do not think I would feel so assured.
No need to go very far, just across sg’s borders can already. I would have freaked out if hubby arrange such flights for us. -
limlim:
Why not look at \"purchasing power\" which compares wages to prices.
Haha, well if you use this definition as a guide...Singapore is one of the 35 \"advanced economies\" in the world. I pretty much agree with the list...usa-sing-1:
[quote=\"Oppsgal\"]
What is \"High standard of living\" :?
Only know \"high cost of living\"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country
It should give a more accurate picture of \"standard of living\". I guess SG ranking is quite below..[/quote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita -
3Boys:
What are you rumbling about?
Riiighhttt!! All those overseas people who come and study our pension scheme don't know a thing hor?WeiHan:
The reason why gahman has been finding all kind of excuses to delay drawing of CPF and its usage is because GIC has only been able to return 0.007% from the loan it took from CPF. How are they going to pay 2.5% annual return if their return is only 0.007%? Moreover, about half of the assets are illiquid which requires long time period to liquidate.
...maybe now you should see why..
Now I see. And all along I thought they were just trying to make sure that the CPF does what the CPF does, which is a retirement fund so that an individual will have enough for his old age.
Silly me, to believe that the average life span for a male in Singapore is now 80+years, I'm sure that figure is fudged. Therefore, we should all believe that we can comfortably extract all our CPF at 55 years old, after having worked maybe 30 years, and then expect those funds to last us another 25 years+ to 80 and beyond! Why didn't I think of that! Foolish of me to buy the g'ment line that we probably need to extend our working life span and defer CPF withdrawal.
And you know, if I run out of money, never mind lah, just raise taxes for the working adults lor, after all, I'm already in my golden years, I raise the younger generation, so now its time that they paid for my retirement lor.
I was talking about transparency and accountability.
Did anybody protested that the retirement age has been raised? Quite the opposite, many have difficulty finding jobs once they get older.
About taxing young adults for older people, it maybe a red herring. Nowaday, you see parents paying for the children first housing installment, pay part of their marriage cost, pay for the their university tuition fees, pay for their car loan. Why do you assume that after 30-50 years of prosperity, it has to be the youngs that support the olds?
Is a moral hazard. Borrow from the CPF at low cost. invest in risky assets. When the return is high, the gov keep the difference. But what happened when they make a return less than the rate of CPF? I guess CPF members bear the lost? -
3Boys:
Even if some people can't plan properly financially, does it justifies the gov adopt a completely conservative stance regarding CPF?
I wish I could share more here, but when you say \"makes no sense\", you are completely right. Singaporeans say and do many things that make no sense.limlim:
why would you spend $ on a piece of useless equipment or medicine you do not intend to eat and solely profit the doctor or hospital just bcoz the money is from medisave?
really makes no sense right?
It is not a if, an ultra-conservative stance pays no price. -
usa-sing-1:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita[/quote]GDP != purchasing power
Why not look at \"purchasing power\" which compares wages to prices.limlim:
[quote=\"usa-sing-1\"]
Haha, well if you use this definition as a guide...Singapore is one of the 35 \"advanced economies\" in the world. I pretty much agree with the list...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country
It should give a more accurate picture of \"standard of living\". I guess SG ranking is quite below..
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/09/high-living-costs-low-wages-purchasing-power/
http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2011/01/ubs-report-purchasing-power-comparison.html
[quote]According to the report Singapore ranks 11th in terms of cost of living and 43rd in terms of wages. Singapore came in 42nd for purchasing power which is wages relative to the cost of living and Kuala Lumpur is 2 places ahead of Singapore. Singapore is behind Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei and Hong Kong. In 2006 Singapore workers have a purchasing power index of 54.9 (using New York as the base=100), today that figure has fallen to 40.6.
Basically, Singaporeans have been put on a threadmil. As wages go up, the price level of housing, transport and medical care goes up even more. Its like the speed of the threadmill is increased year after year and you are made run harder just to stay on the spot and not fall behind. For the bottom 30% whose wages have remained more or less stagnant for the past 10 years, their quality of life has simply deteriorated. So what is the selling point of this system for ordinary Singaporeans? [/quote] -
verykiasu2010:
If you're talking about GLC.. then I tend to agree.. a good example is PSA.. before the restructuring, there is a lot of overpaid senior staff doing minimum work.. (according to my sources)
wage suppression ? another way to look at it is some people are over paid, grossly overpaid, hence the lower cost looks like wage suppression.
But.. for the private sector in general, I strongly doubt so.. -
WeiHan:
I am not rumbling about anything, I am merely pointing out that the g'ment is trying to make the CPF do what the CPF is intended to do, that is, act as a retirement fund. You on the other hand, made a speculative comment, completely unsubstantiated, about why the g'ment was delaying CPF payouts. Transparency? I'd like you to be transparent about HOW you actually came to your conclusions. Accountability? How about you be accountable for what you say as opposed to making unsubstantiated, speculative comments and passing them off as truth?
What are you rumbling about?
I was talking about transparency and accountability. -
I strongly believe that government should respect those PRs who are genuinely making their lives and growing their loving families on this beautiful land. Please kindly don’t put more obstacles such as paying extra 5% stamp duty for them to buy their ONLY property to get in some good schools in expensive districts. 5% is a lot of $ for many families. It’ll get in the way with a family’s advanced school planning. To get our kids in good schools requires great planning, efforts, time and $. Everything we do is for our future generation. Government should consider to impose this rule on those who buy for investment purposes to cool down the market.
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