International Living website's 2010 Quality of Life Index

[Yash]

Some expats/reader on this site might have seen this report:

[http://www.internationalliving.com/Internal-Components/Further-Resources/quality-of-life-2010]

Singapore ranks 70th out of 194 countries, and I'd be interested to hear what people think of this

IL is quite upfront about its Western bias, explaining it in a sidebar (which I've exerpted below).  IMO, that's perfectly OK, so long as you are open about it and explain your rationale.

I for one have an "Asian bias" (expat of Indian extraction, speaker of Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Japanese; interest in Asian language & culture, Asian politics & intl relns, etc.), and think that I would be bored to tears in France, which has won IL's #1 ranking for a 5th year in a row.

But this then gets to how we define "quality of life" as distinct from "standard of living".

The full title of the IL report/study is "2010 Quality of Life Index: 194 Countries Ranked and Rated to Reveal the Best Places to Live", which is interesting, because it seems to be more geared towards people looking to retire.

I'd be more inclined to agree with some of their rankings/rationale (with many qualifiers/caveats) if the title was "... Best Places to Retire", thinking about things like cost/quality of health care.

Anyway, interested to hear the thoughts of others, esp. w.r.t Singapore vs. the top 10 countries mentioned in the study.

Yash










"Our Western bias

Our sources, staff, and contributing editors are all influenced by a Western bias. We have definite, preconceived ideas about what constitutes a high or low standard of living, what constitutes culture and entertainment, and what climate is the most enjoyable.

Please also remember that statistics obtained from official government sources are not always current, accurate, or reliable. And some statistics are highly subjective. What someone else might consider a museum, you and I might think of as a garden shed. Other statistics may be estimated, outdated, or incorrect for any number of reasons.

Since the statistics we gathered don’t always reflect our own experiences, we sometimes interject a subjective factor to make the numbers better reflect reality. This is most often necessary in the "Leisure and Culture" category."

[$Pripps]

again.. its not about whether we as non-XXX would like or not like to live in YYY but its about how the quality of life for the XXX is. where XXX=citizens, YYY=country.

[TheWrathOfGrapes]

Singapore scores lowly on environment, climate and freedom.

Climate and environment are something which are largely outside one's control. If you are unlucky to be placed near the equator - tough luck for your climate. And the environment is closely linked to the expanse of one's country, not the size of population. Most of those ranked at the top are big countries with many cities and vast hinterland - greenery and all that.  So, small city states like Singapore are condemned to low ranking. The only exception is Luxembourg, which I supposed, is due to the fact that its people can easily nip in and out of the country to enjoy the environment of its beautiful European neighbours.

Now, Freedom. Ah, that sacrosanct concept which some countries hold dear. China scored 8 out of 100, while the top ranked all scored 100 out of 100, except for the US and Italy.  One have to asked what 100% freedom that these countries have - Malta, Uruguay, Hungary, Lithuania, Andorra, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Costa Rica, Poland, Slovakia, Cyprus, Dominica, Barbados, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Nauru, Cape Verde, Palau, Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

If freedom means having the free time to roam about in some small Pacific island or those Eastern European state, then I rather pass.

[Yash]

$Pripps said: "again.. its not about whether we as non-XXX would like or not like to live in YYY but its about how the quality of life for the XXX is. where XXX=citizens, YYY=country."

Well, that's one way to look at it, but the study seems quite clearly geared towards non-XXX looking to live in YYY.

Also, I think it would be even harder for IL magazine, with its admitted Western bias, to attempt to gague how the "quality of life is for XXX in YYY" - because quality of life if different from standard of living, and so is very subjective.

The citizens of YYY (i.e., XXX) might give a very large weighting to, say, the "energy" of a city (as they define it), and so might judge HK to be ahead of Vienna despite much poorer scoreson factors like environment, freedom, etc.

Anyway, I think we're all on the same page here in terms of understanding that any particular individual (XXX or non-XXX) will have their own unique rankings of: (i) Best Places to Live; (ii) Best Places to Retire; (iii) Best Places to Vacation; etc, etc.

[Brain Food]

I read and discussed about the Quality of Life Index with my friends regularly. In general, we disagreed on the assessment and criteria used. The people who assessed the "quality" are either from places of colder climate (hence dislike being under the sun) and/or are in a city for a short period for assessment purpose. Honestly, assessing the quality of life requires day-to-day experience and not a 1 week or 1 month trip to determine accurately. If you are there for only a short period of time, you missed out on the basic but essential stuff like ease of travel to neighbouring countries, ease of getting your electricity set up within 1 day, groceries at 9pm on a Sunday, someone to unlock your broken lock within 30 mins, etc.

Yes, everyone complains about Singapore's weather, but have you considered the fact that the weather allows you to do more outdoor activities? In countries like Lux or Switzerland, you can't really do much beside ski-ing! The rest of the time, you are stuck at home because life is simply too boring.

Yes, southern France is a wonderful and beautiful place but there are many parts of France that are less desirable. Likewise, there are dodgy parts in London and Paris which you would not dare to step in, even during broad daylight. How does this bring France to be on top of the list, one would wonder.

My friends on FB who are staying in the other side of the world, have a big house with garden, sweet husbands, wonderful kids, obedient dogs but THEY ARE BORED!!! They are always envying my life in Singapore, and how they wish they can do this and travel there, etc.

Just my two cents worth.

[marriedguy]

Highly subjective. Depends upon the individual and their particular needs and wants.

[$Pripps]

being bored has nothing to do with where you live, it has to do with yourself.

you can be bored in the ISS space station - if you have that mindset.