Swiss dream†is fast becoming a “Russian†nightmare
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February 2, 2010 by eakky By Eugene Yeo, Consultant Editor Low wages Singapore has a GDP (PPP) per capita higher than Switzerland, but our wages are way below the Swiss. High cost of living Singapore was ranked the second most expensive place to live in after Tokyo, surpassing Hong Kong for the first time. Let us compare the food prices in Singapore and other developed countries since food is a basic necessity. In the UBS study, a basket of 39 food items is put together and weighted mainly according to Western European consumption habits. The average worldwide cost of the basket is USD385. Singapore workers have to work harder to earn the same amount of money and save for a longer period to purchase the same product. In 1991, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong promised Singaporeans that we will be able to achieve the “Swiss standard of living� within a decade. Like Singapore, the Russians has a low wage and domestic purchasing power . State-sponsored repression Conclusion What started out as a “Swiss dream� is fast becoming a “Russian� nightmare. Isn’t it strange that Singapore, with one of the highest GDP (PPP) per capita in the world has a standard of living closer to Russia than Switzerland? How is it possible that the state is flushed with cash and yet ordinary Singaporeans have a domestic purchasing power comparable to the Russians and way far behind the Swiss? What went wrong? Are Singaporeans getting a fair deal from their government? Why are we paupers in a first world economy? Until the global financial turmoil last year, Singapore has enjoyed 10 years of continuous growth of more than 5% per day. The Singapore government has always used GDP growth as a basis for citizens to appraise its own performance. Even a variable portion of their multi-million salaries is pegged to the GDP. Singapore’s GDP figures are indeed impressive: Singapore is ranked third in the world by the World Our income gap, as measured by the Gini Coefficient, is the highest among the twenty most developed economies, comparable with the Philipines, Nigeria and Nicaragua. (source: wikipedia) This means that the gains we have made as a nation from years of economic growth are not distributed evenly across the population. A minority becomes richer, but the rest are not better off. Some even become poorer. Influx of foreigners When MM Lee said recently that foreigners are vital to our economy, he was not exaggerating. Foreigners contribute to almost one third of our workforce. Our economy will collapse without them. In the past, foreign workers in Singapore consisted chiefly of the low unskilled blue collar workers and the highly skilled white collar professionals. The former do not compete directly with locals as they worked mostly in industries shunned by Singaporeans while the latter helps to add value to our economy and create more jobs in the process. However in recent years, we are seeing more semi-skilled foreigners entering our labor market. Not only are they competing directly with Singaporeans for jobs, they also have a certain degree of spending prowess which compounds the problem of inflation. These foreigners took up many jobs which can otherwise be filled by locals such as engineers, mid-level managers, and administrators, leading inevitably to stagnation or even decline in overall wages. Of course the widespread use of foreigners help to bring labor costs down collectively, contributing to GDP in the process. While other countries are exploring ways to improve productivity, Singapore continue to take the easy way out by importing foreigners en masse to pop up its economy. High prices of public housing Over 85% of Singaporeans live in high-rise public housing built by the government. Though they are meant to be cheap and affordable to the masses, recent price hikes has priced ordinary Singapore workers out of the market. In the 1980s, a new four room flat in Bishan cost about $60,000 while the median pay of a fresh graduate is about $1,500. A young couple paying a monthly mortage of $1,000 will be able to repay the entire housing loan in 5 years time. Today, a new four room flat under the Design, Built and Order scheme in Bishan cost around $600,000. The median pay of a graduate is only $2,500. How much will a couple need to pay a month in order to service a thirty year loan? The high cost of public housing means that families have to save more to finance the bank loans which translates to less cash for domestic consumption in the purchase of non-essential goods and services. It is little wonder that Singapore’s domestic purchase power is the least among the Asian Tigers in the UBS study. We are “paupers� compared to the Taiwanese, Hong Kongers and Koreans because we are unable and unwilling to spend as much as them. The monopoly enjoyed by the HDB enables them to set prices arbitrarily though the new flats are pegged to the resale markets. There is no incentive
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Is Eugene under the influence of Volka when he wrote the above? He should be glad that he is an Editor now, knows how to speak and write good english and a comfortable life with his family in Singapore.
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Originally posted by angel7030:
Is Eugene under the influence of Volka when he wrote the above? He should be glad that he is an Editor now, knows how to speak and write good english and a comfortable life with his family in Singapore.
what is volka?
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Volka oso dunno...dam gu man you
Volvo mix wif Vodka lar
Kind Regards
Genie
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Back to topic..... aiya whether Russian lifestyle or Swiss lifestyle never mind lar..so long happy can le.
Singaporeans voted for the garment means they happy can le mah.
For all you know maybe they like Russian Lifestyle....by the way Russians also work Saturdays and many OT?
Kind Regards
Genie
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when MM said we should be living in swiss standard of living, he is indicating on the graciousness of the swiss, who have low crime rate, courtesy, patience and more importantly, do not mantle with govt policies. That is what he wanted. He will not want Singaporeans to be like swiss, sit all day, drink cuppucino and shake legs.
Hope all is clear.
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just want to chime in that the swiss with their direct referendums have taken consultativeness to a new standard and have no need for meddling with politics. http://direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerlands-system-referendums.html
however we can be sure that sort of thing sure won't be adopted here... don't malign the swiss hor... -
whatever it is we want to be a neutral country like swiss, so that in time of conflict we can be a venue to hold negiotiation and meeting, and also hopefully, Asia richs will put their money here and treat this place as the Geneva of the east. a good financial hub and peaceful country all at a lower cost than swiss.
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Times are bad.
Really.
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What sort of Swiss dream do they want in here ? A world of difference is in between, believing is easier than thinking. If we want to achieve something, we must get rid of this bunker mentality..
- Minimum Wages (Underpaid immigrants and locals like in Cambodia)
- Free Speech (No need to comment on this one)
- Direct Democracy (Swiss popular vote on major issues, we dont have any in here)
- Wages
- Unemployment benefits (Zero in here, whereby the swiss have a solid unemployment system and the rate is well kept under 4%)
- Unions (No independent unions except SQ)
- Freedom of the press etc. (Switzerland ranks 4th, Singapore 136th)
- Defamation laws (Singapore is known worldwide for its draconian def. laws)
- Alcohol (Its not a luxury item in Swiss, 0.90 cents is enough to buy a beer in the super market) -
Originally posted by Bloodyfootandmouthdisease:
What sort of Swiss dream do they want in here ? A world of difference is in between, believing is easier than thinking. If we want to achieve something, we must get rid of this bunker mentality..
- Minimum Wages (Underpaid immigrants and locals like in Cambodia)
- Free Speech (No need to comment on this one)
- Direct Democracy (Swiss popular vote on major issues, we dont have any in here)
- Wages
- Unemployment benefits (Zero in here, whereby the swiss have a solid unemployment system and the rate is well kept under 4%)
- Unions (No independent unions except SQ)
- Freedom of the press etc. (Switzerland ranks 4th, Singapore 136th)
- Defamation laws (Singapore is known worldwide for its draconian def. laws)
- Alcohol (Its not a luxury item in Swiss, 0.90 cents is enough to buy a beer in the super market)u forgot somemore: 30% GST, VERY EXPENSIVE food, 40% income tax, cost of living is unbelievably high....
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@Casopia, Well Switzerland living cost is still much higher than Singapore. Agreed on something, Singapore is on the right track to become the most expensive country along with its underpaid workers of Asia.