<TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>ButohPAPee <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>4:15 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>40961.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Costs
Spiralling again
Awash in foreign money, this city is locked in a permanent high-cost structure like Tokyo or Paris that only a downturn can retard. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Oct 30, 2010 (This metropolis has become a meeting place for wealth and talent, but the flourishing life also comes with the expensive living in a global city for the young with a modest income).
WHEN the government recently launched a dating campaign for young singles, it received an earful that maybe it was holding the wrong end of the stick.
A few men and women found it cool, but a wider response was: “Before you play Cupid, reduce the cost of living first!”
The government is trying to boost marriage and birth rates by promoting romance among 20-35 year-old Singaporeans, but the target audience reacted along the tone of this letter writer who said:
“Getting married in Singapore is more an issue of rising cost of living than it is about finding the right partner. In this society with such a high cost of living, raising a family is a huge responsibility.”
The government matchmakers were urged to first sort out serious issues like rising costs, housing shortages and job security before persuading youths to start a family.
A young Singaporean wrote: “Everyone’s too busy thinking about money, and we can’t help it because the moment we open our eyes in the morning the bill meter starts.”
Some are obviously choosing singlehood as a preferred lifestyle, but not the majority, which wants to follow human aspirations for family warmth and love.
For these people, recent headlines have not been placating.
A fast economy and cheap money – much of it imported – are erecting a high-cost structure in this over-crowded, global city not unlike Paris, Tokyo or New York.
This is posing problems for all, particularly for the young with a modest salary. For them setting up a family has become a daunting task, and more are giving up hope of raising a family because of rising costs, especially children’s education.
Last month, officials said inflation rose to 3.7%, the highest level in 20 months, because of more expensive housing, transport and food. And worse is to come. The government said it is likely to worsen to 4% and remain there at least until early next year.
The inflation spectre will deal a blow to this city of five million. It eats into the earnings of the young as well as the savings of the elderly.
The 4% inflation rate overshadows the 0.25%-0.3% Singaporeans can get from bank savings. In other words, savings are being eroded.
“The inflation rate is now higher than the 2.5% interest we get in our CPF (state retirement fund) ordinary account. Fantastic,” a blogger posted.
There had been worse times, though. In the 2008 economic crisis, inflation reached and stayed at around 7.5%, one of the highest in history.
The current escalation is mainly caused by a red-hot expansion of the economy, likely to reach 13%-15% this year, and an influx of foreign money.
The Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Singapore as the 10th most expensive city to live in, and third overall in Asia.
For years, Singapore has striven to change itself into a metropolis, a meeting place for wealth and talent. It has succeeded to an extent. But with the flourishing life also came the high cost structure of these global cities needed for high-class living.
Thirty years ago when I first landed in Paris, I was shocked to find myself being charged US$1 (RM3.11) for a glass of plain water. Today this is what one could expect to pay in some upmarket restaurants in Singapore.
“Thanks to cheaper hawker centres and wet markets, Singapore still has some way to go before catching up with them, but then so have our salaries,” said a widely-travelled businessman.
I also found that many of the middle class in Brussels and Paris were being forced to live further and further away in the suburbs because of rising rents.
Instead, the capitals were attracting more migrant workers and the poor who lived on welfare. That was what high costs in a developed city could do.
“I fear that a future high-cost Singapore may follow this trend,” my businessman friend warned.
So it is not surprising that spiralling costs of living have become one of the biggest concerns here. It has given opportunities for Singaporeans to move upwards as well as pushed some down the social ladder.
The central bank here said last week that Asia, not only Singapore, was facing growing risks from money inflows.
“Large capital inflows into the region have continued to fuel activities and prices in the asset markets, which could also pose a risk to the inflation outlook,” it said.
On the plus side, prosperity is visibly spreading.
A rising currency is pushing up Singaporeans’ spending power in the world. Visit the city’s top restaurants and luxury showrooms, and one can see some of the people’s new-found splurging habits.
Recently Credit Suisse reported that Singaporeans were possibly the fourth wealthiest people in the world – and the second richest in the Asia-Pacific.
Their average wealth per adult was said to be S$336,000 (RM804,404) in 2010, calculated as the value of investible assets minus debts excluding properties.
Some economists say this collective wealth is distorted because more than a third lies in foreign hands.
Not all are complaining about inflation.
“Let’s face it, Singapore is more or less a mature economy, and no country can climb so quickly without paying higher living costs,” said a retired banker
(This article was published in The Star, Malaysia)
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Spiralling again
Awash in foreign money, this city is locked in a permanent high-cost structure like Tokyo or Paris that only a downturn can retard. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Oct 30, 2010 (This metropolis has become a meeting place for wealth and talent, but the flourishing life also comes with the expensive living in a global city for the young with a modest income).
WHEN the government recently launched a dating campaign for young singles, it received an earful that maybe it was holding the wrong end of the stick.
A few men and women found it cool, but a wider response was: “Before you play Cupid, reduce the cost of living first!”
The government is trying to boost marriage and birth rates by promoting romance among 20-35 year-old Singaporeans, but the target audience reacted along the tone of this letter writer who said:
“Getting married in Singapore is more an issue of rising cost of living than it is about finding the right partner. In this society with such a high cost of living, raising a family is a huge responsibility.”
The government matchmakers were urged to first sort out serious issues like rising costs, housing shortages and job security before persuading youths to start a family.
A young Singaporean wrote: “Everyone’s too busy thinking about money, and we can’t help it because the moment we open our eyes in the morning the bill meter starts.”
Some are obviously choosing singlehood as a preferred lifestyle, but not the majority, which wants to follow human aspirations for family warmth and love.
For these people, recent headlines have not been placating.
A fast economy and cheap money – much of it imported – are erecting a high-cost structure in this over-crowded, global city not unlike Paris, Tokyo or New York.
This is posing problems for all, particularly for the young with a modest salary. For them setting up a family has become a daunting task, and more are giving up hope of raising a family because of rising costs, especially children’s education.
Last month, officials said inflation rose to 3.7%, the highest level in 20 months, because of more expensive housing, transport and food. And worse is to come. The government said it is likely to worsen to 4% and remain there at least until early next year.
The inflation spectre will deal a blow to this city of five million. It eats into the earnings of the young as well as the savings of the elderly.
The 4% inflation rate overshadows the 0.25%-0.3% Singaporeans can get from bank savings. In other words, savings are being eroded.
“The inflation rate is now higher than the 2.5% interest we get in our CPF (state retirement fund) ordinary account. Fantastic,” a blogger posted.
There had been worse times, though. In the 2008 economic crisis, inflation reached and stayed at around 7.5%, one of the highest in history.
The current escalation is mainly caused by a red-hot expansion of the economy, likely to reach 13%-15% this year, and an influx of foreign money.
The Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Singapore as the 10th most expensive city to live in, and third overall in Asia.
For years, Singapore has striven to change itself into a metropolis, a meeting place for wealth and talent. It has succeeded to an extent. But with the flourishing life also came the high cost structure of these global cities needed for high-class living.
Thirty years ago when I first landed in Paris, I was shocked to find myself being charged US$1 (RM3.11) for a glass of plain water. Today this is what one could expect to pay in some upmarket restaurants in Singapore.
“Thanks to cheaper hawker centres and wet markets, Singapore still has some way to go before catching up with them, but then so have our salaries,” said a widely-travelled businessman.
I also found that many of the middle class in Brussels and Paris were being forced to live further and further away in the suburbs because of rising rents.
Instead, the capitals were attracting more migrant workers and the poor who lived on welfare. That was what high costs in a developed city could do.
“I fear that a future high-cost Singapore may follow this trend,” my businessman friend warned.
So it is not surprising that spiralling costs of living have become one of the biggest concerns here. It has given opportunities for Singaporeans to move upwards as well as pushed some down the social ladder.
The central bank here said last week that Asia, not only Singapore, was facing growing risks from money inflows.
“Large capital inflows into the region have continued to fuel activities and prices in the asset markets, which could also pose a risk to the inflation outlook,” it said.
On the plus side, prosperity is visibly spreading.
A rising currency is pushing up Singaporeans’ spending power in the world. Visit the city’s top restaurants and luxury showrooms, and one can see some of the people’s new-found splurging habits.
Recently Credit Suisse reported that Singaporeans were possibly the fourth wealthiest people in the world – and the second richest in the Asia-Pacific.
Their average wealth per adult was said to be S$336,000 (RM804,404) in 2010, calculated as the value of investible assets minus debts excluding properties.
Some economists say this collective wealth is distorted because more than a third lies in foreign hands.
Not all are complaining about inflation.
“Let’s face it, Singapore is more or less a mature economy, and no country can climb so quickly without paying higher living costs,” said a retired banker
(This article was published in The Star, Malaysia)
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