Ref CPF vs Malaysia's EPF.
Auckland has a Singapore community and a Malaysian community. 95% of all Singaporeans are leading lives of leisure here.
The SGD currency appreciation and the substantial CPF savings mean that Singaporeans can buy homes here and have money left in the bank to fund their retirement.
The Malaysians, on the other hand, all arrive and have to immediately start looking for work. Their savings definitely aren't sufficient to purchase homes and very few have enough savings to live on.
There is more to retirement funds than just ROI. There are banana currencies out there today that pay 30% interest on term deposits but you wouldn't want to put a cent into those currencies.
While there are a ton of issues regarding CPF which cause grief, the fact remains that on the global stage, Singaporeans are very lucky lot provided they know how to capitalise on the opportunities that the PAP has created for them.
When I say I owe a lot to LKY, I really mean it despite the fact that I had family members who lost their livelihoods because of him. As a person, he's an abhorrent character. As an architect of the Singapore system that I benefitted immensely from, he's my hero and savior.