Getting more expensive

[To Los Test...]

In a short space of time S'pore has experienced significant inflation, namely property prices which is a key factor of life whatever your reason for being here. Any first world city population faced with this kind of inflation would be outraged. The fact this 'reflation' has been engineered intentionally only aggravates the negativity. Sure, some may be able to leave this island that owes them nothing. Most others have little choice but to stay for various reasons, entailing a significant reduction in disposable incomes.

Face it. The inflation has been too fast, too far for such a first world city.   

[no.....]

Any first world city population faced with this kind of inflation would be outraged.

Locals are not renters, they are owners who bought a couple of years ago. they are laughing to the bank with the recent property inflation. why should they be outraged? Maybe expats should be outraged instead.

[lámase los testículos]

Those who are outraged are those who came from wherever in 2005 and managed to rent a flat in prime area for 2k a month. It is unlikely that in their home country they could afford to live in an equivalent location, but suddenly 2 years later they are outraged that they now have to move out the the suburbs from whence they came

[not so]

I disagree.  We came in 2005, actually paid $5k and would quite easily have been able to find not only that but much MORE in our home country.  We bit the bullet given that we thought it would be a good experience to live overseas and experience Asia. 

We thought it was expensive then and are finding it absolutely ridiculous now.  80-100% increases are outrageous. But complaining about it really doesn't do anything.  It's what the market will bear and we're all just stuck with it.

I can't change it.  But I can go home and will be as soon as this contract is finished.  It's a shame, we've enjoyed our time here.

[RH]

Live according to your means, your dreams, the experience you are looking for and above all be realistic. You pay 10 times more eating at a fancy Indonesian restaurant along Orchard Road then at eating joints around Arab Street. As a local we prefer the fresher and variety of food we cud get at the latter location. You want ambience and style and are prepared to get fleeced,
then that is your choice. I have seen caucasians now slowly emerging in the heartlands, putting up in HDB flats, eating at the food courts nearby and using public transport and they seem to have adapted and adjusted. Here is a question of being realistic. If you belong to the super powered expat class, surely your employers will know how to take care of you. But if you are not and you are expecting Singapore to forever remain in the low-level economy just to suit your whims, forget it, times are achanging and will continue to do so.

[More than Housing]

Any first world city population faced with this kind of inflation would be outraged.

Locals are not renters, they are owners who bought a couple of years ago. they are laughing to the bank with the recent property inflation. why should they be outraged? Maybe expats should be outraged instead.

Rather short sighted just looking at rents. The thread is about expense in general so even for locals the GST hike, ERP increases, electricity price hike, petrol price increases, medical costs and the like have a greater impact based on local salary levels. Rumours that public transport fares are to be increased (or at least the requests have been made by the transportation companies) will only make things worse.

[Nonsense]

If there are better options than Singapore, then move. 3 yrs later, when that place they have moved to becomes expensive and rents in Singapore decline, these same people will come running back. Silly isn't it.

Completely flawed logic - people moving will have learned their lesson - will likely buy or plan adequately in their contracts.... and won't have any incentive to come back when all the action has moved with them...

See Taiwan today - most companies closing and moving to Shanghai/Beijing... In the next 5 years, as infrastructures and living conditions improve, there won't be many "hardship" postings left...

Want a glimpse of the future - see how business Geneva is compared to London, Frankfurt or Paris... (hint: not...)

Rentals declined after 1997 all the way till around 2004/2005 before starting to rise again to reach or even exceed those levels achieved in 1997. Why- what caused this fluctuation? You go and get the answers and then you will realise what rubbish you are uttering here.

[hibiscus24]

To me it seems the days of "living in Singapore for the experience" are gone. It's just another glass-and-concrete city, and they're tearing down even the physical vestiges of what used to be. Forget the Bugis Street and Chinatown that was!

Singapore is good for a base in the region, though; to live and work here so you can travel in the region if that is what you like doing.

Of course people come here for the money. What is anyone here for - soul?

And take it from me, it's horrible to be short of money in Singapore. I don't mean wads and wads of it, but things like having to think twice before buying a friend a present, or before going out for drinks cos you'll have to pay your share (and there'll be sneaks who manage to get away without paying, so the rest shoulder their share). Or thinking twice before taking that holiday to Chiang Mai or whatever. Not fun if you can't do that, so ensure your package is a good one.

Whoever is romanticising Singapore - forget it. These days, you gotta have money - anyone who says otherwise is probably living a life so frikking cushioned by the stuff that they can't even feel it.

Hey, my daily meal just went up from $3 to $3.50. Calculate the percentage rise, I'm hopeless at maths. Gives you an example of what I mean. If you're in the bracket where $8 is a low-end lunch, go ahead, you'll have fun here.

Ed: I realise I sound all bitter and all, but I'm not. There's plenty about Singapore that I like and have grown to get used to and enjoy, and I would not stop anyone from coming here. I just don't like people romanticising it and saying "it's a great place with great people". It's not. (Specifics removed.) Keep your eyes open, that's all; don't be under any illusions.

(ed again to remove a late-night typo  )

[asia traveller]

The good old expat days when we could take on a job in Singapore,get treated like royalty, have tons of money to spend travelling and whimsical shopping trips to Takashimaya & Sim Lim Square, trips to Bali are long long gone.

So I suggest that we can only move to Thailand or Indonesia as those are the only places that we'll be able to live that expat dream these days but its hardly the same is it.

You have to accept that it wont ever be the same as it was even only a few years ago.  Property /rentals is/are rising and not going to drop but only go up, economy is getting stronger, demand for foreign talent continues to get less & less.

No point staying here just to make enough to get by.  Time to get out and return to the reality of cold climes if we can even afford to go back.

[Woo Hoo]

Great post by Hibiscus 24 - a lot closer to the truth than the "Singapore experience" crap.

[Market Forces]

testy, I have not read criticisms by Expats concerning the loss of luxury lifestyles but the rejection of increases which are not based on market forces and leave residents with no choices.

For most Expats, like MNCs, coming to Singapore was an investment and a calculated risk which took time to implement and similarly exit strategies for those who choose cant be effected over night; the fact that they are not posted here does not mean they are not in progress.  
 

[RH]

Yeah it boils down to this. You move to a place and if it meets your expectation, you stay put, otherwise just move on. Things are achanging and what is good today may not be good tomorrow. It is up to the individual really.

[KF]

Not just the expats yeah, I'm a local but I also feel the standard of living here is just so expensive and hard to live in. We slog at work, underpaid, long hours. Overseas we could slog less in the same hours and be paid twice as much. This 7% GST is not the end of it, nor is the rising price in property and rent. Sure Singapore is a great country to live in, but I'm just not prepared to pay for it.

[Y]

Any first world city population faced with this kind of inflation would be outraged.

Locals are not renters, they are owners who bought a couple of years ago. they are laughing to the bank with the recent property inflation. why should they be outraged? Maybe expats should be outraged instead.

Locals are owners faced with a long-term bank loan.

[pissed]

btw how much r u guys earning  a month?