... Why is the scenario so different???? :( ...
to put things on a nice perspective, i'd say that on the whole, Singapore has done very well in hiding the poor and the under privileged, if you'd to compare Singapore with other big cities, Singapore doesn't really have any ghettos. all thanks to the 1~2-room pigeon hole around the Chinatown area, Redhill/Bukit Merah area, and perhaps the other older HDB districts.
the big crunch comes when we look at the employment figures as well as the income figures. how many of our Citizens are gainfully employed and how much dough are they bringing home? the middle class who live in the 3~5-room pigeon holes are repaying their HDB loans with their CPF, and how much would be left in the CPF? how much disposable income do they have? you think these folks can afford to retire?
the top tier probably wouldn't have much problem, these increases in costs of living could be just "peanuts" to them. these group also probably wouldn't have much trouble emigrating to any country that pleases them
we may have progressed in terms of the development of better infrastructures and all, but the rest of the populace are mere economical digits, but not truly developed as Citizens of a First World Nation.