How speechless will you get with the hysteric feeling while you will be at Sands SkyPark and swimming in one of the largest pools there in the breathtaking sovereign city-state and island country of South East Asia, Singapore! Not to ignore, soothing your eyes at Gardens by the Bay if you're someone who gets enchanted by nature, the world's largest observation wheel, Singapore Flyer, on which you make your sunset an unforgettable one with that special someone, spending an intimate time with your partner on a Cruise, River Safaris, Botanic Gardens and the most attractive place, Universal Studios, Sentosa to meet your favourite movie characters! Doesn't all of this seem really intriguing? For us tourists, yes, but if you ask the inhabitants of this city to opine, they will probably react in an exact contradiction. These places have stopped fascinating them because of the rampant freaking economics!
If you have plans to move to this city now or anytime in the future,brace yourselves! According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Singapore has dethroned Tokyo to become the most expensive city in the world in 2014,as told by the EIU in their latest Worldwide Cost of living Survey(this survey is released twice a year in which a comparison is made between more than 400 individual prices covering 160 products and services in as much as 130 cities including food,drink,clothing,etc.)! Just ten years ago,it was ranked eighteenth on this list. As difficult as it seems to digest for us,Singaporeans are appalled by the same as well! The rise in prices of necessities in Singapore, where once,moving there for good was a viable option for migrants from various parts of the globe have triggered numerous issues for the people who live on meagre earnings and also students who stay there for quite sometime for finishing their academics. As retorted by some students from Singapore, it has become difficult to live even while they are doing jobs at coffee and burger shops. As regards retail shops et al, Singapore is the most expensive city again when it comes to buying clothes! Now how shocking is that!
So what has made Singapore to top the list earlier this year which has left all its citizens slack-jawed? There are many reasons to which are responsible for its expensive state.Starting with modes of transport, cars costs in Singapore have very high Certificate Of Entitlement (COE) fees attached to them. Hence,this makes Singapore the most expensive place than any other even when it comes to running a vehicle! A major consequence of this is the transport costs rising three times higher than in New York.COEs have different categories ranging for cars, vehicles, motor-cycles, buses and their engine powers. These categories are from 1 - 7 and A - E.
A recent example to quote of a COE is that a Category A COE was sold off last month for a whopping S$72,369(this is equal to approximately to a gargantuan Rs.34,96,443.10!!) according to onemotoring.com,a web portal serving motorists and vehicle owners in Singapore! Another significant,long in the tooth problem for Singapore is its reliability on other countries for water and energy supplies since its not blessed with sufficient natural resources.This, therefore, makes Singapore the third most expensive destination for utility costs.
Talking about the youth in Singapore, the Mass Media Research survey had interviewed some 800 odd people between the age window of fifteen to thirty-five living in the city. The survey concluded that around hundred percent of them had said that financial stability was their aspiration along with the right work-life balance and strong family relations. Also, all of them had admitted to hoping of Singapore becoming an affordable place to live in in the next five years. People who can easily afford buying cars but are taking to public transport because of the rise in maintenance costs. We cannot imagine the plight the common hand to mouth earners must be going through.
Coming to the property facts of the city of attractions,according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the former's property market is within the world's top ten most expensive. Since 2009, there has been a 60% spike in residential property prices. Getting your own abode in this city, stretching for some 1000 square meters will require you to shell out at least a minimum of S$1 million which can rise furthermore!
There is, in fact, no surprise that Singaporeans are fretting and fuming over their standard of living. Due to its heavy inclination towards living independently, almost every citizen there used to move out of their parents' house and start to eke out a living on his own by staying separately. But,all thanks to the current economical scenario, Singapore youth is forced to live with its parents just to cut down on their residential costs. Conditions have become so dull that people have to think twice before buying tobacco, liquor and even engaging in betting at Singapore pools because the taxes on the same have been enormously increased by ten percent,twenty percent and between twenty five to thirty percent respectively.
One good thing worthy of noting is that Singapore still continues to be one of the least expensive countries in terms of corporate taxes.Economists are of the opinion that if those are on a rise, Singapore's competition with Hong Kong will be affected badly. According to George McFerran,Managing Director for Asia-Pacific for eFinancial Careers, companies might try to counterbalance costs which will be shown in forms of bonus reductions or wage slowdowns but jobs wouldn't be a hampered, especially new hirings.
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