A reply to: “Singapore cheaper than Stockholm”
October 14th, 2009 | 
Author: I refer to the Straits Times article “Singapore cheaper than Stockholm” dated 26 Sept 2009 which featured Mr Mikael Huss from Stockholm telling us how much cheaper Singapore is compared to Stockholm.
Mr Huss vouched that back in Stockholm, it is nearly impossible for a household to survive on a single income, so he found it ’surprising’ that his family could get by on a single income after moving to Singapore. He concludes that “Stockholm’s living cost is much higher”.
But according to the UBS comparison on prices and wages, which is the subject of the accompanying Straits Times report “How much is a burger worth?”, the price level in Stockholm excluding rent is only 87.0, not “much higher” than Singapore’s 82.0, contrary to what Mr Huss says.
Mr Huss added that “everything is cheaper here except maybe rent and childcare”. The question we want to ask Mr Huss is, what is the point of counting the price of everything except rent? Will that exclude Mr Huss from paying rent? Certainly not! So if we consider rent as well, UBS’s findings tell us that the price level in Stockholm is actually 65.5, lower than Singapore’s 70.7. Therefore, Singapore is in fact more expensive than Stockholm, contrary to what Mr Huss or the title the article would like you to believe.
Furthermore, what is the point of comparing price levels without also comparing wages? The UBS findings show that Stockholm’s wage level is 74.5, way above Singapore’s wage level of 26.8. In other words, while prices of goods are similar between the two countries, Stockholmers earn three times as much as us! So it is indeed unthinkable how Mr Huss should find it nearly impossible to survive in Stockholm yet finds it easy to do so here when the average wage in Stockholm is three times that in Singapore!
Mr Huss also claims that taxes in Stockholm were higher. But according to UBS findings, the net wage level (that is net of taxes) in Stockholm is 71.0 while the corresponding figure for Singapore is 31.3. In other words, despite Stockholm’s higher taxes, their take home pay is still much higher than those in Singapore, more than two times that of Singapore’s in fact.
All in all, it is hard to believe what Mr Huss says. And that is the problem with personal anecdotal evidences, they are not necessarily reflective of the general situation at large.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
Posted in Letters
ST never do their homework i guess.
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I did not read the article, but did Mr Huss mentioned how much he is earning in Singapore ??
As a FT / Expat, he may be earning 5 times (or more) the average household income of a typical Singaporean family, so any comparison by him is invalid.
The majority of Singaporeans feel lousy about this country and stressful about the high cost of living here.
It just don’t feel like Singapore is our home anymore.
What happened to the country we used to love and were proud of, just 5 years ago ??
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I believe its more of ST doing their homework to omit these details
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yes. he probably earns 5 times, and probably also has housing allowance. Another silly letter by an ang moh.
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Another thing is that there are social benefits in Sweden but in Singapore, it is almost zero. People there has less worries about not having money when retrenched, retired and sick. Our direct tax may be low but we have other indirect ‘tax’ e.g. fake subsidy like market subsidy in government services is actually an income to government and it is another form of tax. In fact, almost all the government agencies are IRAS in disguise !!!
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So, where is that thorough investigation of facts before reporting as claimed by a certain some one?
Using an orange to compare with an apple, of course everything looks cheap!
Heck, just take the cars for example. The price difference between a Toyota Altis here and a Toyota Altis in Malaysia is already a good indicator. Can we say that Singapore is cheaper with this one comparison?
Sigh… another of those brilliant works by the MSM!
I really enjoy reading your work Ng Kok Lim!
Keep up the good work!
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If Mr Huss is an expat, he will have many perks plus allowances that will of course make it much cheaper to live in Singapore.
Try earning the average Singaporean wages.
Once again, a well written rebuttal by Mr Ng. TR should consider making him a guest columnist.
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If this stupid AngMoh says that “Stockholm’s living cost is much higher”, ask him to become Singapore citizen lah ! Simple as that. Suddenly you have thousand and one reason why he doesn’t want to become Singapore citizen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sweden WAS the rich neighbour of Norway but since Norgwegian struck oil in the North Sea and managed its economy on meritocracy ( they sacked the entire SWF team after they screwed up the investment portfolio in 2008/2009 meltdown), Norway has become the very rich neighbour of Sweden. It used to be Norwegians waiting at the table, now it is the reverse.
Why Huss have not tell the truth that Sweden has gone backwards TREMENDOUSLY while Norway prosper through almost 3 decades now and compared Sweden to Singapore??
HE MUST BE THINKING THAT SINGAPORE SHOULD BE GOING BACKWARDS WITHOUT TELLING ST ABOUT THE TRUTH OF SWEDISH ECONOMY WHICH ST BUSINESS DESK WOULD ALSO KNOW THE TRUTH BUT NOT PUBLISHING?
STRANGE AND GOOD BEDFELLOWS from afar as the truth of reality!!
If Huss is right, tragedy awaits Singapore. Our young graduates will be waiting on the tables in Malaysia and Indonesia soon,
MAJULAH SINGAPURA, SINGS ST?????
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What Mr Huss has convieniently failed to mention are:
1.Education is free up to University in Sweden
2.Medical and hospitalization is also free.
3.Social security benefits for the unemployed.
4.5 weeks of paid annual leave for all employees.
5.One year paid maternity leave.
6.Paid(get a salary)for skills upgrading for the unemployed.
7.Many other benefits especially for children
I do not think that Mr Huss is willing to forego all of the above when he loses his fat salaried job in Singapore.
In Sweden we would call him ” jävla dumskalle”
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Excellent rebuttal based on hard facts. He’s torn the ignorant expat’s argument to pieces.
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Mr Ng, thanks for your articles.
They are always such a joy to read
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Well offcourse the ang mohs says that it is cheap here. Their housing is paid by the company (I believe so as a perk of their benifits) and thats why the ang moh mr huss says that it is cheaper here. taking expat pay, housing and others are subsidy by company, don’t you guys think that it is cheaper here? but what is their salary there? how many times higher compare to the locals here. earning the kind of pay there to spend here sure cheap lah. just like we earn local and spen in our neighbouring country, we find that it is cheap.
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@newdawn on Wed, 14th Oct 2009 2:12 pm
Wow, thanks for the info. Sweden indeed seems like a much better place. If we have half of what you listed, it would be already a great help for our citizens.
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## D on Wed, 14th Oct 2009 4:14 pm
“just like we earn local and spen in our neighbouring country, we find that it is cheap.”
Yeah, but we don’t write in to Malaysian newspapers about it, like that chow angmo wrote to ST.
Just want to see his name in ST, I guess.
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is this Mr Huss even a real person or some fictional character created by a ST propagandist to offer a “other side of the story” perspective so as to make us wretched Singaporeans seem like we are complaining about nothing?
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Every year thousands of Swedes leave Stockholm to go to other countries not because of price reasons, but because of opportunities in other lands. Stockholm is quite a “dead” city and prices of food are high there, as in many high-end European cities.
Compare to Singapore, food is cheap and rent is cheaper than in Sweden Stockholm. Can someone compare the price of a Volvo between the 2 cities? The ERP? The tax? The housing and then finally the income level?
I still think Singapore is cheaper, but not that much cheaper. The disadvantage of Singapore is you have no freedom of speech or freedom of thought, and the PAP leaders simply don’t care about your thoughts because they simply walk over you (walkovers because no oppositions).
How long will educated Singaporeans bear with this kind of treatment from the PAP?
Not long, I think.
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I was in Stockholm 2 years ago.
Streetside, a banana costs S $3.
Casual glances into retail shops not selling branded
clothes showed shocking prices of $300 per T shirt.
Sitting down alfresco at a cafetaria enjoying
a banana split cost $27.
Hardly anybody seemed to own their own homes.
Almost all tertiary students I spoke to had to take
loans for their studies.
Going into a public toilet cost $1 – $2.
Search you me if you think Stockholm is cheap …
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We all love to compare so much – myself included, but ultimately the only important thing is whether you are happy in your current situation.
How can we compare a society where the presence of a strong social safety net is taken for granted to one where there is none.
In a bizzaro twist, isnt it funny how singapore is supposed to be a nanny state, but one where the nanny is only concerned that the kids behave and when they need help they are on their own?
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random thoughts..strange that you picked banana and banana split for illustration. I bought one rambutan in Kings Cross sydney for $1 – these are not “home grown” fruits so it could be the reason why it is so expensive. You walk into retail shop in Sydney, and by “country road” t-shirt ( not that hot or heard of in this part of the world) it is also expensive.
So it is difficult of valid comparison. If Swedes are earning S$1,000 per month take home pay or worse still 1,000 ringgit per month, the prices you quoted won’t sustain even poverty-line living for two weeks. By extension of that logic, any China man importing quality made Chinese clothing would be a rocking millionaire importing and selling cheap Chinese-made apparel expensively in Stockholm in just a few months.
It is purchasing power of wages, not prices as a valid comparator.
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random thoughts,
our MIWs are in the best position to lecture those Stockholm citizens if they ever complain about high cost.
Some extraordinary million dollars reason that might be useful advise to citizens of Stockholm from our MIWs
- food expensive ? No one ask you to eat the food. Go eat cake. Cake expensive ? Too bad !
- Housing expensive ? You are been choosy, demanding, illogical and whining. No one ask you to buy a house
- Study expensive ? No one ask you to study. Don’t be choosy.
- toilet expensive ? No one ask you to use the toilet. Cannot afford, don’t pee.
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KAM,
Singapore’s emigration rate is far worse than Sweden’s. Singapore’s emigration rate of tertiary educated is 15.2% which is much higher than Sweden’s 4.4%.
High food prices is not a big issue as most of them eat in. Rent is certainly not cheaper in Sweden according to the UBS survey. The UBS survey also shows the price of car to be much higher in Singapore compared to Sweden. If you have read the report, the average take home pay or after tax income is more than twice in Sweden compared to Singapore. Housing is also more expensive in Singapore, according to UBS.
All in all, according to the UBS survey, Singapore is more expensive than Sweden. It’s no use saying “I think Singapore is cheaper” because individual opinions simply cannot be used to represent the overall picture at large. And that was essentially the problem with using Mr Huss’s opinions as the basis of the Straits Times report.
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random thoughts,
Like what anonymous said, banana is not native to Sweden and if it’s a tourist street, you can bet that things would be a lot more expensive than they are in the supermarket. So one miserable observation means nothing.
What is branded is hard to say. What is branded here may not be branded there and vice versa. There are simple clothes here that cost hundreds of dollars too. Depending on where you look, the range can be so great. So again, it’s meaningless to dig out one example and claim that that represents the whole truth. It’s meaningless to discuss the entire situation on the basis on one, two observations from one person.
Technically, a lot of people in Singapore also don’t own their homes. Until you have fully paid up for your mortgage, your home belongs to the bank. And that is the situation in Singapore, many people are saddled with debts and it will take them all their working lives to fully pay up for their homes. The govt’s 30% rule is generally based on a 30 year loan repayment period. So if you started work at 25, you don’t own your home until you are 55. By then, perhaps you would have been retrenched and asked to sell your house for retirement funds. So it’s like you never really did own your house.
Most tertiary students in Singapore also take loans (either from bank, father or mother) for their studies right? So what’s the diff?
I’m not sure if public toilet cost is such an important consideration. It’s not as though they have no toilets at home, work places or restaurants.
Whether Stockholm is cheaper or not cannot be decided by you or me. It can only be appreciated on a wider level and without statistics, you have nothing to back what you say.
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Funny that a few months ago, a Canadian was praising how good Singapore is as compare to Canada. Now a Sweden guy!! And all these posts come from Shitty Times (nonetheless), seems quite obvious what ST (based on their bias reporting) is trying to do here.
Also, if you go to the P65 website, you will see the arrogant Luck posting the Canadian comments there.
Lastly, if anyone reads yesterday TNP, you will find on the front page (occupying almost half the page), talking about Coco Li “seriously” want to become a Singapore citizen (title reads something like this – Greenery trees, good food……what else is there not to like Singapore), and the news report go on to write how she met with Nathan and seriously wanna be a citizen here, sinced Jet Li and Gong Li are already one here.
Suddenly all these things surfacing on MSM…….quite obvious what is the hidden agenda right?
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@ city, the sublimal hidden message to brainwash Singaporeans is that foreigners found this place fantastic and want us to welcome foreigners giving PRs like handling out toilet tissues after the shameful episode of Zhang Yuan Yuan degrading our blue i/c ib Beijing.
Election probably comes right after the APEC meeting in Singapore.
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On the same trip to the Scandinavias were fellow tourists
like us, well travelled and cognisant of the costs of living in countries across several continents.
To a voice, all were amazed how grossly inflated in prices even the daily accoutrements of life were.
Considering that the median household income in Stockholm is about US$50k and that the top tax rate is 57% with an average of 31%, the Swedes just did not seem to have the spending power to make them conspicuous consumers
seeing how impossibly priced most items were.
As another gauge,we seem to have far greater numbers of luxury marques on the roads in Singapore and our ladies, bedecked with jewelry, are definitely more flashily attired.
We appear to have more disposable income and far greater spending power.
Mind you, we have a higher home-owning rate and a higher savings rate too, which means our spending on non essentials is not profligate.
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@ random thoughts.. Your comment
“On the same trip to the Scandinavias were fellow tourists
like us, well travelled and cognisant of the costs of living in countries across several continents.”
Nice assurance of local knowledge from your wide travelling experience across several continents..
I assumed that you would NOT missed Australia as it is so close to home.
Can you explain to us all why in housing auctions there – you will see a lot of YOUNG Asian couples and much OLDER Australians bidding across a whole spectrum of demand.
I know ther reason but I prefer to wait for your response, then I offer my answer.
I know local conditions in Australia by the finger tips.
Having said that, and accepting your pricing data in Sweden is correct, can you explain (that GIVEN THE RELATIVE POVERTY OF INCOME TO COSTS OF LIVING DEPRESSING AFFORDABILITY AND PRESUMABLY DEMAND AS A CONSEQUENCE),how does the business owners afford to pay their rent every month all across Sweden for retail space?? They need to survive too, don’t they to keep operating their business, right?
Sweden is not such a hot tourist destination or is it?
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A couple of possibilities
1) It is asian mentality, young and old, to buy rather than to rent. Occidentals tend to rent with the exception of the more elderly ones being wiser
2) Young working professional Singaporean couples have substantial CPFs to pay for loan premiums with less out of pocket / Older Ozzies have the wherewithal having worked for that more many years, whereas younger ones just do not want to fork out cash upfront which will then crimp their lifestyle.
As to why auctions and not developer sales
1) young Asians + old Ozs know that in auctions better buys may be had.
2) younger Ozs maybe biased against lived in premises
based on personal experience
Businesses all over the world do as businesses do,
ie find premises with good human traffic or attractive attributes, find good products that are saleable,
define their clientele, maximise profits whilst maintaining
customer loyalty…. then open their doors to do business.
If all factors in the equation have been conscientiously weighted, then the rental will take care of itself.
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Random thoughts,
At first I thought you have lived in Sweden for at least a couple of years. Now I’m surprised that you are passing judgement on Sweden’s cost of living from a tourist’s perspective. Even if it’s a well travelled tourist, I’m not sure he is the best person to pass judgement on cost of living.
Let’s see, when a tourist comes to Singapore, where does he or she go to? He or she probably goes to Sentosa, Zoo or Orchard Road where the price of food is generally higher than that in hawker centres where Singaporeans go to. Sounds familiar to your banana case isn’t it? Tourists hardly experience the kind of life that locals do so his judgement would be invariably off.
According to the UBS survey, income in Stockholm is three times those in Singapore’s while take home pay is more than double. So despite their higher taxes, they are still better off. What is the point of applying the top tax rate on a median income?
The fact that our ladies or more dedecked with jewellery or luxury marques simply shows our Asian propensity to show off or to look good. It doesn’t mean we’re richer. Just like the hawker wearing singlet can be driving a merc while the fresh grad wearing the power suit is still struggling to repay tuition fee loans.
You need to be precise with what you say. are you saying “we appear to …” or do you actually mean “it appears to you …” instead? because nobody here seems to agree with you so where is the “we”? according to the statistics, we do not have more disposable income nor far greater spending power.
And I repeat, when we speak of home ownership, we should discount all those HDB dwellers who have yet to fully pay for their flats because until they do so, their flats belong to the HDB or the banks. Once we discount those, our home ownership rates would be far less. Furthermore, we only own our homes for 99 years compared to real land ownership in many other places.
The fact that we have higher savings rate only means that we are more thrifty. It doesn’t mean we are making more buck for the hour that we put in.
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random thoughts,
you haven’t answered anonymous’s question. in a special situation, like in a time of ultra inflation when things are ultra expensive and nobody can afford to buy anything, how do businesses survive?
resort to bartering? that’s not what we see in Sweden do we?
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random thoughts..
The most probable reason/s (from talking to lending bankers as the basis of my probable reason/s assertion) is that younger Asian HAVE NO DIFFICULTY AT ALL FRONTING THE 30% CASH UPFRONT for the bankers to loan the balance of 80% on valuation.
So for a suburban house on auction in Sydney let says purchase costs of $320K, the bank values it at $300K, the bank will lend only $240K. The buyer will pay the balance of $80K which is well within affordability including transaction costs. Note that 30% of $320k is roughly $96K.
For Ozzies, forking out $80K cash takes a couple a lot more than a decade to save. Why? LIFESTYLE IS DIFFERENT.. Not all are like that – I met Ozzies younger ones with a few thousands in their bank accounts talks of and really take leave for holiday in Bali, Fiji, Singapore, Hong, Kong, South America. Tobacco, liquor and party life social habits is strong.
Many Asians work 2 jobs so their savings in the first few years accumulated faster and lives more frugally.
The moral of the explanation is that as a traveller, one cannot know the lifestyle of locals to understand their purchasing power and affordability for any wage level. The same wage level gave rise to different affordability of the same “expensive” housing as I illustrated of what I noticed in Sydney. While there are developer sales, built-to specification type development, most “old” houses, previously occupied are only sold by “auction” in Sydney, not that there is any preference for auction at all.
My point on rental is that there is an economic relevance of costs to revenue base. If bananas is expensive to your wages noted in Sweden, there is enough affordability to buy those bananas for the fruit and vegetable marketer to make a good living and PAY HIS RENT AS AND WHEN THEY FALL DUE.
If it is really that oppresssive of hardships of “touristic” view of their costs of living, then all the retail business would have collapse long time ago. They survive didn’t they?
Put it simply THERE IS AFFORDABILITY WITHIN “high costs of living” in each society. So it is really hard to compare bananas in Stockholm to conclude life is really tough there compared to Singapore.
When I am in Sydney, I don’t walk into Queen Victoria Building to buy a “country road” t-shirt or the high end shopping for a winter cardigan at David Jones – these are for tourists and those locals loving to splash. I buy my clothing at Flemington or Chinatown flea market for nearly a price of a song comparatively. The tourists sees and buy from Queen Victoria Building and screams “expensive”. I buy from Flemington and screams almost as cheap as Singapore’s Orchard Road’s departmental store.
Travel tourism learning are very superficial of reality. You need to live there to see the “real thing” My first car in Australia long way back was A$300 (only three hundred australians in the 1970s )- 8 year old Morris 1100. You can’t get the same in Singapore in the 1970s for a 8 year old secondhand car at that price. And it provided good service!!
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Yes, it is surely stating the obvious that costs for tourists are different from costs for locals.
That said,as a tourist comparing Stockholm with New York, Tokyo or Berlin, it does feel expensive and of course I am comparing like and like ( need I say ! ).
By the way, I did poke around these places on my own for a few days, mingled with the natives, used their local transportation and sampled their local cuisine.
Considering median taxes at 30%, VAT at25%, rentals
( only about50-60% of Swedes own their own homes ) and high consumer prices, the Swedes really do not appear that well off even if their pay seems high compared to Singaporeans.
Yes, different nationalities do have different priorities in spending their disposable income but the hallmarks of wealth for most societies are the same.
I see more conspicuous consumerism in New York, Sydney
and Moscow than Stockholm.
Actually, few countries in the world offer ownership of land in perpetuity and leasehold is the norm.
Singapore small though she is, is one exception that we take for granted.
Hardly anyone but the ultrarich buy properties without a loan. Statistics for homeownership ALWAYS include all who buy a home with a loan, so why belabour the point ?
Yes Orientals have a higher saving rate because we are innately more thrifty, but 1st there must be the excess income to put aside, this after ‘our propensity to show off ‘ with our cars and accoutrements.
The Swedes as with us are not under times of ‘hyperinflation’ and it is not as if everybody cannot ‘afford to buy anything’.
I love your use of the hyperbole though.
Yes, of course there is affordability of the basics in Stockholm, nobody is denying that.
Unfortunately, there is little left for the niceties of life after that.
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random thoughts ..welcome back!
Your comment…”obvious that costs for tourists are different from costs for locals….” scratch the surface on this one. Tourists DOES NOT know the NUMEROUS alternatives to far cheaper shopping than local. I mentioned Flemington AND Chinatown flea market. There is Bankstown shopping place almost like a gigantic warehouse. And suburban shops thriving on cheaper rent away from touristic glitz offer far better value shopping of same products. Tourist only see Queen Victoria Building and David Jones in Sydney – not much else. What you see, don’t tell the story, WHAT YOU DON’T SO OF SO NUMEROUS TELLS EVERYTHING is my point.
New York, Sydney, Moscow are the icons of tourism and icon of wealth and greed lavish spending in each of the country you mentioned. Stockholm is NOT even remotely in that same league of “conspicous” spending. If you are aware of this fact ( Sweden went through a huge life/death struggle of sub-prime type busts in around yr 2000. A TSUNAMI WENT THROUGH THAT PLACE OF MASSIVE ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING – THE RESULT WAS WHOLE SOCIETY BEAR THE BRUNT OF SUPPORTING THE PILLARS OF SURVIVING ECONOMY. Standard of living taken a huge beating almost like the same consequences that hit Tokyo when their asset bubble burst. In Tokyo, executive “ta pau” their own lunch to work. What you seen in Stockholm was after the effects of this economic tsunami went through which would only be apparent in NY maybe in a year or two from now. So Stockholm is not comparable to NY or Sydney and Moscow is again the icon of wealth in poverty-ridden Russia. In fact, some economist thought that Sweden is going to crash back into the second world league or worst. That is why you find a lot of Swedes in lower level jobs in oil-rich Norway now.
Singapore MIGHT BE HEADING THE WAY OF STOCKHOLM, crashed and burnt out if another big one come next year of recession because we had no significant external sector. Sweden has export industry, agriculture and a revival of mining despite a strong enivronmental lobby. We had none of Swedes economic basic strength. Our economy now is on life support of $20 billion plus resilience package like many others. You have NOT seen the worst yet here to see the comparison of Stockholm ( already way past their sub-prime experience)and we just the beginning only.
Your comment below
“Statistics for homeownership ALWAYS include all who buy a home with a loan, so why belabour the point ?. Everybody buy property on loan except the very very rich. But my point is that – BECAUSE IS IT DEEPLY LIABILITY FINANCED ASSET ACQUISITION, a different life-style prevent younger Ozzies from house buying compared to Asians. So your lifestyle affects your affordability and AFFORDABILITY CHANGES OVER TIME. Once that housing is done, Asians goes for conspicuous consumption of flashy cars etc. Ozzies starting late with smaller cash base, struggle with huge mortgage has less affordability even after their housing commitment. My point is affordability is structured according to income. And for that reason, if those expensive shops and bananas exist, they exists within affordability. I could not eat steak in Tokyo the way I eat steak in Sydney. It is as simple at that. It is what you can buy with what you earns – vat, costs of living must be compared with income and income itself is different. Income (take home) may be lower in Sydney than Singapore but here money disappeared through dark holes of expensive cars and housing leaving nothing else. I believe housing and cars are the biggest killers here – car is discretionary but housing is not.And wages here is falling with the influx of foreign PRs at all levels.
I love your hyperbole? This one has some relevance. Your bananas illustration has as much validity of that point as also in truth. I bought one rambutan in Kings Cross in Sydney just for the “revenge” taste sampling of how ridiculous it was of sweetness to justify that when in Singapore, a bunch of 20 to 30 could cost me the same. The use of the term “cannot afford to buy anything” is just to highlight the suitably innappropriate inconsequential comparison you applied using bananas hyperbole which is not home grown in Sweden. It is not intended to dramatise any thoughts of affordability.
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While I enjoy reading the many posts here on the danger of making superficial comparisons, what I would like to comment on the Swedes’ observation is that he is guilty of being superficial if not downright brown nosing.
I thought FTs are supposed to be much more intelligent to deserve high expat’s pay. No?
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Random thoughts,
you are assuming that the amount of premium charged to tourists is the same in all the places you have been to. that may not be true, so you may not be comparing like and like, even if you have poked around for a few days. i was in germany for three months and i cannot be confident to say i am a good judge of german cost of living.
taxes shouldn’t be seen on its own, it should be considered together with salaries and price of goods. seen together, the UBS report tells that Swedes are better off than Singaporeans.
some hallmarks are the same, some hallmarks are not. certain brands are branded here but are considered ordinary labels back home.
income inequality is probably higher in New York and Moscow as compared to Stockholm. So just because one or two in New York or Moscow have a lot to flaunt, it doesn’t mean that the rest are really that well off. Conversely, European income inequality is generally much lower. So while its more difficult to spot the super rich, you can bet that most people are of a certain standard of living.
I disagree. there are not many places like singapore where more than 80% of the land is in the hands of the govt. so unlike our country, land ownership is more in the hands of the people.
on what basis do you say we singaporeans take land ownership for granted when the land doesn’t even belong to us and the so-called ‘bought’ flats are only ‘bought’ for 99 years?
what you say doesn’t change the fact that when you owe the bank money, your house belongs to the bank, period.
there may be excess cash, but we may be putting aside one peanut everyday to accumulate all that we have accumulated. contrast this to the westerners who can afford to splurge everyday. i’m not condoning their lifestyle, just stating the fact that a person who can spend $100 everyday is simply earning more than one who can only afford to spend $5 and save $20.
so you still haven’t answered the question posed by anonymous. if everything is so expensive, how does businesses survive? appreciate an honest reply rather than a brush aside.
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Few months back, Shitty Times published a Canadian on “Be Grateful Singaporeans”
Now we have Swiss Guy claiming “Singapore Cheaper Than Stockholm”……all from Shitty Times.
And next, we will have this:
“Mr Angel and Mr Jesus decide to settle for Singapore, because Singapore is better than heaven” :LOL
Not surprising for Shitty Times which are only creating at imagining things :LOL
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I see where you are coming from, but the logic is somewhat circular, namely: things look expensive, yet people can still afford it, hence things are not so expensive after all.
If you apply this rationale across the board then there will no longer be expensive nor cheap cities and all is egalitarian, something we know is not true
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I see where you are coming from, but the logic is somewhat circular, namely: things look expensive, yet people can still afford it, hence things are not so expensive after all.
If you apply this rationale across the board then there will no longer be expensive nor cheap cities and all is egalitarian, something we know is not true.
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random thoughts,
earlier you said “how impossibly priced most items were”.
so if things were so “impossibly priced”, how could the people have afforded things?
so while the logic won’t reveal precisely who is cheaper or more expensive, it does show your opinion to be entirely false.
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Their statements are genuine. ,
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We walked through that desert on our way to school starting in 1st grade. ,
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