Living in Singapore

Living in Singapore is not cheap.

Property and car prices are one of the highest in the world - one might argue, these are not necessities, they are good to have. But having a house over your head (and owning it) and being able to get from one place to another are one of the most important items to the man on the street.

In Singapore, even when you buy public housing i.e. hdb flat, you spend the next 30 years of your life financing the loan. Meaning that a young couple who get married in their 20s would only be able to say they own their flat when they reach retirement age. Our dear govt keeps reassuring that flat prices remain affordable for everyone and there is enough supply to keep with demands, however i am unable to understand why they can say that when the public does not feel otherwise (and shouldnt we know better since we are the actual ones that ballot for BTO flats time and time again and dont get it and are the ones paying the $ from our own pockets?).

Well, you might say, just take public transport instead of owning a car yes you can do that. But our so called "world class" transport system is really not what it is made out to be, try squeezing with the many thousands of commuters in early morning MRT to work, sometimes its so crowded you cant even board the train and have to hope you can get on the next one so you wont be late for work. It's not a surprise then that the public transport ridership in Singapore has dropped by a 2 digit amount and the govt needs to increase the prices of COE, which translates to higher prices of cars again.

What about food, yes you can say food prices are pretty inexpensive here..you can get a $3 chicken rice or wanton mee from the food centre/hawker centre in Singapore, as opposed to other countries like Australia and UK, you can only buy a drink at S$3. But again, if you want to a relatively nice restuarant to have a decent meal, that would set you back by about S$20-$30 at least.

Water, gas and electricity - prices are going up every year.

Water: Singapore hopes to be self sufficient in water supply by year 2061, through its recycling water efforts i.e. Newater (yes the water that tastes a tad weird and came out from your toilet bowl) to meet the needs of its increasing population. And guess what? yes water prices will eventually go up because it's not cheap recyling water.

Electricity: Ever since the govt's decision to privatize its electric and gas supply industries, prices have been on the climb.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_508442.html

Mar 30, 2010
Electricity rate to go up - By Tessa Wong

ELECTRICITY tariff for Singapore households will go up again in the coming quarter, due to the fuel oil price hike over the last three months.

The new rate for the April to June quarter will increase to 23.56 cents per kWh, about 3 per cent higher than the current quarter, said SP Services in a statement on Tuesday. This will work out to an average increase of $2.47 in the monthly electricity bill for families in four-room HDB flats.

SP Services, a member of the Singapore Power Group, said that the rise - the fourth quarterly in a row since last July - is largely due to an increase in fuel oil price over the past three months, from $99.38 to $102.95 per barrel.

Also contributing to the tariff hike is a slight increase of administration and operation fees, by 0.01cent per kWh.

SP Services reviews the electricity tariffs quarterly based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), the electricity industry regulator, which has approved the latest round of tariff hike.

Of course, this may be inevitable, since Singapore is such a small country with limited or rather no natural resources. But all these factors play to the fact that to continue living in our small island that we call home, we have to be prepared to cope with the reality of increasing prices.

One day, when we are old and have no more income coming in, we may find ourselves wondering whether we have enough money to buy food and necessities to last another day. I do hope this will not happen to us and that is why we need to save as much money as we can while we have the ability to earn money when we are young and able bodied. Because if we don't, as the govt has reminded us, we can only rely on ourselves (and our CPF money) and families - they wont be able to take care of everyone. Hence the call for Singaporeans to plan in advance to ensure they have enough money to take care of daily needs in their golden (or not so golden if one does not have enough $) years.

And the final nail that is driven into the coffin - Singaporeans salaries have not caught up with the rising costs. They say that our salaries cannot be too high, if not MNCs will move out from our countries to cheaper cost countries. To be cost competitive, we have to keep our wages low. If this is the case, why are countries like Hong Kong and Australia still able to let their people earn decent salaries and yet we dont see a mass exodus of companies leaving these countries? I still see business there doing well, their countries expanding. Even though their cost of living is high, but so are their pays. Which bodes well for them but what about us in Singapore? So really, i must say i find it hard to understand our country's logic.

I like to think that once upon a time, our govt did have our interests at heart. they once were concerned about providing affordable housing to shelter its citizens. That they once, liked to ensure that their citizens have good quality of living, are happy and when they are old, can retire happily. Somehow, along the way, i guess something happened and they lost track of what is important.