To Whose Ends, will this Serve?
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Department of Statistics should not waste people's time, asking these questins when NOTHING will come out of it to alleviate High Costs of Living!!!
DON'T FARKING WASTE PEOPLE"S TIME!!!!
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11,000 households picked for expenditure survey
Mon, Dec 17, 2007
The Straits Times
GOVERNMENT officials will come a knocking on 11,000 doors in the next fortnight.
But the Department of Statistics officers just want to know how households are spending their money.
From Dec 24 to Jan 7, the officers will visit the selected households in Choa Chu Kang, Jalan Berseh, Jurong West, Seletar, Serangoon North, Tampines, Tanjong Pagar, Toa Payoh and Woodlands.
The survey results will eventually help the government re-look the Consumer Price Index and plan economic and social policies.
This is part of an even larger survey - to be done over a year. The results will go to updating the basket of goods and services used in computing the Consumer Price Index, which is a key way people measure inflation.
The officers will have identity cards and letters of authorisation. But if you have doubts, call the hotline on 1800-437-0708, from 8.30 pm to 10 pm. -
what would your plan be, pray tell?
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Oh no... my plans are way too devious to be revealed..!!Originally posted by the Bear:what would your plan be, pray tell? -
U mean sit infornt of your PC and write in this forumOriginally posted by HyperFocal:Oh no... my plans are way too devious to be revealed..!!
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most of my money spent on food!
But school food is cheap... Rice + 2 veges + 2 meats = $2.40 for a meal -
WOW! What a fantastic way to alleviate poverty then! The gov't should educate all those greedy poor pple to eat at your school for lunch and dinner!Originally posted by eagle:most of my money spent on food!
But school food is cheap... Rice + 2 veges + 2 meats = $2.40 for a meal
breakfast? forget breakfast! not enuff money still eat so much for what right? u pass it out eventually anyway!
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High costs of living?
Singaporeans can't cope?
I don't get it.
If you're complaining about ERP, you're definately coping pretty well. Why else would you care how much the ERP costs?
Oh, and most flights out of singapore are fully booked till christmas. I'll like to know why the number of travellers are increasing so fast if Singaporeans can't cope.
Singaporeans can cope. We're improving, not going backwards. The homeless and old have always been there. They're just more prominent now that technology and media has brought us closer.
Seriously, to hear some of you talk, you'll think Singapore never had poor ppl before. -
And it comes naturally that if the poor are prominent enough, we need to help them and not wuss our way around like we have no idea how to do so.
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Please don't start with this "let them eat cake" line of argument.Originally posted by deathbait:High costs of living?
Singaporeans can't cope?
I don't get it.
If you're complaining about ERP, you're definately coping pretty well. Why else would you care how much the ERP costs?
Oh, and most flights out of singapore are fully booked till christmas. I'll like to know why the number of travellers are increasing so fast if Singaporeans can't cope.
Singaporeans can cope. We're improving, not going backwards. The homeless and old have always been there. They're just more prominent now that technology and media has brought us closer.
Seriously, to hear some of you talk, you'll think Singapore never had poor ppl before.
Yes, there's always been poor, destitute, homeless pple in SG. But is this a desirable situation?
Should the worst of them be helped? Honestly, there isn't much help available and a lot of them are struggling despite the skyscrapers and BMWs around them.
There are pple who can afford year end holidays, there are also pple struggling to make ends meet.
The pple who are truly destitute are not the same as the ones complaining about ERP and the high price of caviar and truffles this season.
Don't be so quick to gloss over such inconvenient facts with your haughty hyperbole. -
Originally posted by CX:WOW! What a fantastic way to alleviate poverty then! The gov't should educate all those greedy poor pple to eat at your school for lunch and dinner!
breakfast? forget breakfast! not enuff money still eat so much for what right? u pass it out eventually anyway! 
That works only if most of your money is spent on food. Sadly, most people spend on other unnecessary things (to me, things that are unnecessary include mp3 players, branded clothes/wallet, etc...) -
People cannot exists to just work and eat. If life's like this, then we all can be replaced by robots. Even the foreigners, besides working and eating, on weekends, they go shopping, drinking and buy luxury items or unnecessary items just to give themselves a treat.Originally posted by eagle:
That works only if most of your money is spent on food. Sadly, most people spend on other unnecessary things (to me, things that are unnecessary include mp3 players, branded clothes/wallet, etc...) -
well, if my hobby is to exercise:Originally posted by mistyblue:People cannot exists to just work and eat. If life's like this, then we all can be replaced by robots. Even the foreigners, besides working and eating, on weekends, they go shopping, drinking and buy luxury items or unnecessary items just to give themselves a treat.
let's say in 1 week, I go to hougang gym twice :$5
sch gym once, sch swimming pool once: Free
Badminton: in school: Free
Jogging to punggol park, jog 2 rounds, then jog home: Free
Watching TV, crunchyroll on laptop: Free except electricity bill
One month 4 weeks = $20 a month on this hobby => This is already 2 days worth of meals (or more) in school.
Reading books/magazines, borrow from national library is free.
A bus pass for me is just $52 a month, and I can travel to anywhere in Singapore with it.
Of course got go out also, but I don't really buy luxury items... I feel the pinch of money easily... other than spending more on gf, I spend extremely little on myself
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What is the DOS's responsibility and to whom is it accountable for displaying figures coming out of their dept.?
What has it done with funding from the People's contributions and how well does it live iup to its name?
If I may, I like to take this opportunity to ask :
1. Of the 170 k jobs created, how many occupied by sgreans , how many by PRs (foreigner), how many by foreigners who are non PRs, how many are on EP, SP, WP?
2. How long it takes to approve a EP, SP, WP?
3. Why employment statistics is apparently based on PR + sgreans with no clear info that distinguish the 2 components? What is the schoolarstic rationale behind this, which I assume of course exist. But the mudder of all question is, what is behind this rationale?
4. If PR is a non-sgrean, why sg employment rate includes all PR holding jobs here? Which 1st world countries do the same AND do they publish to inform the PEOPLE and does their PEOPLE question and does their opposition challenge and demand explanations and transparency?
Sg, what is going on?
Opposites, what is going on?
PEOPLE , what is going on?
The PEOPLE's actions determines to large extent how the country becomes or is. -
1) In the relevant thread, I had pointed out an estimate of at least 80k.Originally posted by reddressman:What is the DOS's responsibility and to whom is it accountable for displaying figures coming out of their dept.?
What has it done with funding from the People's contributions and how well does it live iup to its name?
If I may, I like to take this opportunity to ask :
1. Of the 170 k jobs created, how many occupied by sgreans , how many by PRs (foreigner), how many by foreigners who are non PRs, how many are on EP, SP, WP?
2. How long it takes to approve a EP, SP, WP?
3. Why employment statistics is apparently based on PR + sgreans with no clear info that distinguish the 2 components? What is the schoolarstic rationale behind this, which I assume of course exist. But the mudder of all question is, what is behind this rationale?
4. If PR is a non-sgrean, why sg employment rate includes all PR holding jobs here? Which 1st world countries do the same AND do they publish to inform the PEOPLE and does their PEOPLE question and does their opposition challenge and demand explanations and transparency?
Sg, what is going on?
Opposites, what is going on?
PEOPLE , what is going on?
The PEOPLE's actions determines to large extent how the country becomes or is.
2) Our government agencies can be damn bloody inefficient. I have known someone who waited 1~2 months before getting his work permit to work in Sg.
3) 4) Regarding PRs, if you really really want the info, I believe you could get it from MOM. For eg, in 1998, there were 350k work permits for foreigners (saw it in some website when I was researching for another thread).
And I thought none of the 3 economies (USA, UK, HK) that I researched on in that particular thread has anything to do with saying that employment rate is calculated by the number of citizens employed, but rather, residents or person.
Other than the above points, I agree with the fact that our current government is not very transparent with figures. One can easily point out many missing statistics. However, I believe that PAP supporters can easily counter-argue that if you want the relevant statistics, you could always go to the relevant authorities. (Then they will play taiji and you will have a hard time getting the data) -
I'm not judging your lifestyle... Before we go any further, let me just say that as I read your post, it sounds healthy and wholesome.Originally posted by eagle:well, if my hobby is to exercise:
let's say in 1 week, I go to hougang gym twice :$5
sch gym once, sch swimming pool once: Free
Badminton: in school: Free
Jogging to punggol park, jog 2 rounds, then jog home: Free
Watching TV, crunchyroll on laptop: Free except electricity bill
One month 4 weeks = $20 a month on this hobby => This is already 2 days worth of meals (or more) in school.
Reading books/magazines, borrow from national library is free.
A bus pass for me is just $52 a month, and I can travel to anywhere in Singapore with it.
Of course got go out also, but I don't really buy luxury items... I feel the pinch of money easily... other than spending more on gf, I spend extremely little on myself
BUT...
cost of gym clothes? shoes?
cost of swimming trunks? goggles?
cost of badminton racket?
jogging... ok... lets say u use the same pair of shoes for gym and jogging... fine.
cost of tv... i guess its "free" since u still live with your parents and of course, they pay for the electricity.
cost of laptop?
Sure, u can say that some of these are 1 time expenses and once incurred, they last for some months, if not years... But u still need $$$ to buy it in the first place right?
and of course, misc expenses incurred in the course of your education? tuition fees? money for photo-copying? gf?
You're luckier than many.
I was an undergrad before and I had a hard time cos of family financial problems. There was no savings, no cpf and I had to pay my own way in both fees and allowance.
I had a very hard time cos there were days when I had my bus pass and nothing else. I skipped meals, worked double shifts, and I didn't have a gf (face it... how to date when u're dead broke?).
Some may say I tua kang and all that, but hey, i'm not here to try to prove anything.
Its great that u lead a frugal lifestyle. But don't forget that frugality itself is a relative term. It suggests that u spend "very little" compared to a "norm".
But what about the lesser fortunates who earn very much less than the "norm" and still have a family to feed? They would envy your definition of "frugal". -
Dang, now you've all gone and made me feel guilty for pigging out at Dempsey Hill for supper most nights these hols.
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Spend within your means. If you fritter away your money on luxuries, you get no sympathy if you cannot afford to pay for your meal.Originally posted by mistyblue:People cannot exists to just work and eat. If life's like this, then we all can be replaced by robots. Even the foreigners, besides working and eating, on weekends, they go shopping, drinking and buy luxury items or unnecessary items just to give themselves a treat. -
The cost of living in Singapore has gone up due to various global events which we have no control over.
The government is doing what it deems appropriate and beneficial to the poor and needy. Its policies, which will always draw criticisms, have succeeded in some ways, and playing these up are natural tendencies for our politicians.
I only hope that our government doesn't rest on its laurels, if any. -
Originally posted by CX:
gym clothes is my jc and uni free shirts... or army AHM/ singlets
I'm not judging your lifestyle... Before we go any further, let me just say that as I read your post, it sounds healthy and wholesome.
BUT...
cost of gym clothes? shoes?
cost of swimming trunks? goggles?
cost of badminton racket?
jogging... ok... lets say u use the same pair of shoes for gym and jogging... fine.
cost of tv... i guess its "free" since u still live with your parents and of course, they pay for the electricity.
cost of laptop?
Sure, u can say that some of these are 1 time expenses and once incurred, they last for some months, if not years... But u still need $$$ to buy it in the first place right?
and of course, misc expenses incurred in the course of your education? tuition fees? money for photo-copying? gf?
[b]You're luckier than many.
I was an undergrad before and I had a hard time cos of family financial problems. There was no savings, no cpf and I had to pay my own way in both fees and allowance.
I had a very hard time cos there were days when I had my bus pass and nothing else. I skipped meals, worked double shifts, and I didn't have a gf (face it... how to date when u're dead broke?).
Some may say I tua kang and all that, but hey, i'm not here to try to prove anything.
Its great that u lead a frugal lifestyle. But don't forget that frugality itself is a relative term. It suggests that u spend "very little" compared to a "norm".
But what about the lesser fortunates who earn very much less than the "norm" and still have a family to feed? They would envy your definition of "frugal".[/b]
swimming trunks is saf one
badminton racket bought on offer
jogging same shoes as gym, Brooks saf shoes
laptop is an expense that was already necessary since I used it a lot for school and make full use of it so that I can excel in my studies.
Actually to me, I don't find myself frugal at all... Many times, I actually lament that I can spend less for more... It is just that some forumers think that I'm frugal..., which I certainly don't think so. To me, I don't have the want for many things, hence I don't see the need to spend that much... The main reason is as you have described your uni life, I see many people like you..., and I want to spend as little as them on most of the things. In addition, I have friends who spend very little on food too. This is stupid in my opinion, because food is what builds our body, and eating the right amount and type is sort of a long-term health insurance; you spend less money in the long run if you are healthier, hence saving more money.
I know some working friends who would tell me, money spent can be earned... But before I even start earning money full-time, I don't see why I should really spend that much...
True, savings in a bank account will only depreciate with time due to inflation. However, having it allows you to have something to fall back upon when the need arises (sound like the PAP on national reserves hor ) -
Originally posted by eagle:
Well, some eat less not by choice... no sympathies for the anorexic trying to look like kate moss though.
...
I see many people like you..., and I want to spend as little as them on most of the things. In addition, I have friends who spend very little on food too. This is stupid in my opinion, because food is what builds our body, and eating the right amount and type is sort of a long-term health insurance; you spend less money in the long run if you are healthier, hence saving more money.
I know some working friends who would tell me, money spent can be earned... But before I even start earning money full-time, I don't see why I should really spend that much...
...
Good that you see both sides of the coin here
Now that I'm working, i do see your friend's point: that money is meant to be spent cos otherwise, its quite meaningless to work so hard for it...
But I've been broke before so I guess it gives me a different perspective. Personally, I prefer to think "value for money" rather than "cheap" or "luxurious" when i spend. But of course, thats a perspective u can only acquire if u have money to spend in the first place -
I buy shoes and I think of the cost divided over 2 years ( if made in china and 60 bucks - forget it- sure break)
I buy shirts and pant suits - cost divided over 5 years ( if made in china again and over 40 bucks - forget it - sure break) .
I buy electrical appliances ( if made in china AGAIn and over 60 bucks forget it - confirm will fall apart in 2 years).
So far my oldest shoes and clothing are 10 years old and my oldest electrical appliance is 6 years old. All still ok. Can use happy liao. -
No argument with the logic, but its kinda hard to find stuff thats NOT made in China these daysOriginally posted by fymk:I buy shoes and I think of the cost divided over 2 years ( if made in china and 60 bucks - forget it- sure break)
I buy shirts and pant suits - cost divided over 5 years ( if made in china again and over 40 bucks - forget it - sure break) .
I buy electrical appliances ( if made in china AGAIn and over 60 bucks forget it - confirm will fall apart in 2 years).
So far my oldest shoes and clothing are 10 years old and my oldest electrical appliance is 6 years old. All still ok. Can use happy liao.
Take my HDD for example: my old Hitachi 160gb SATA HDD died after 1 yr. Its made in indonesia.
I couldn't be bothered to activate the warranty so I decided to buy a new one from a more trustworthy brand.
I found a nice Seagate 160gb SATA HDD for a very reasonable price in SLS and it was Made in China
Clothings are mostly made in China these days and u'll find that its actually of a decent quality... Even if its made in Indonesia or Malaysia, don't be surprised if the fabric is made in China.
I have a very reliable tailor so for office wear, I normally go to him nowadays... Price is comparable to a standard G2000 shirt and it fits well
Clothes very funny one lah... I thought that it was cheap to make suits from Bangkok, so i went there to do it when I was on holiday there... and the pants was totally OFF!!! so what if it was slightly cheaper
I now wear a G2000 suit for attending formal events...
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Ah k . I just don't pay more than what I need to for MIC items.Originally posted by CX:No argument with the logic, but its kinda hard to find stuff thats NOT made in China these days
Take my HDD for example: my old Hitachi 160gb SATA HDD died after 1 yr. Its made in indonesia.
I couldn't be bothered to activate the warranty so I decided to buy a new one from a more trustworthy brand.
I found a nice Seagate 160gb SATA HDD for a very reasonable price in SLS and it was Made in China
Clothings are mostly made in China these days and u'll find that its actually of a decent quality... Even if its made in Indonesia or Malaysia, don't be surprised if the fabric is made in China.
I have a very reliable tailor so for office wear, I normally go to him nowadays... Price is comparable to a standard G2000 shirt and it fits well
Clothes very funny one lah... I thought that it was cheap to make suits from Bangkok, so i went there to do it when I was on holiday there... and the pants was totally OFF!!! so what if it was slightly cheaper
I now wear a G2000 suit for attending formal events... -
To be fair, in a certain way this government is quite competent. at least there's no war, most of us still has a roof over our heads, something to eat.
But on the other hand, this government we have is also quite lousy in certain sense. for example raising your own salary to an out of the world benchmark. It makes it look like legalising corruption so as to be not corrupted. To raise own's salary with a funny benchmark has made this an international joke. A German regional GM from a EU MNC recently commented to me that our politicians make good money. Work for couple of years then resign and he can be able to be quite stable for the rest of his life.
Everything is going up. And to who's coffers does it go to? haha... I guess it will only come down sometime near the next election.
The only way to avoid this is to make yourself immune to the standards of living. Either you work upwards and increase your income or you leave Singapore. My sister left Singapore and even though she has to start everything from scratch, the only regret is her family and friends are still here. The government gave my sister names as a 'quitter'. But I call her a person who seeks to upgrade her own future. I
It simply doesn't make sense to pledge alleigence to the government who will not take care of you. Why are you all still ranting over this government? You all should be upgrading yourselves to stop yourselves from being enticed by the financial traps you face! -
A lot of local are leaving here. There are about 800 locals migrating to other countries each year. Which country ur sister migrate to?Originally posted by MS:To be fair, in a certain way this government is quite competent. at least there's no war, most of us still has a roof over our heads, something to eat.
But on the other hand, this government we have is also quite lousy in certain sense. for example raising your own salary to an out of the world benchmark. It makes it look like legalising corruption so as to be not corrupted. To raise own's salary with a funny benchmark has made this an international joke. A German regional GM from a EU MNC recently commented to me that our politicians make good money. Work for couple of years then resign and he can be able to be quite stable for the rest of his life.
Everything is going up. And to who's coffers does it go to? haha... I guess it will only come down sometime near the next election.
The only way to avoid this is to make yourself immune to the standards of living. Either you work upwards and increase your income or you leave Singapore. My sister left Singapore and even though she has to start everything from scratch, the only regret is her family and friends are still here. The government gave my sister names as a 'quitter'. But I call her a person who seeks to upgrade her own future. I
It simply doesn't make sense to pledge alleigence to the government who will not take care of you. Why are you all still ranting over this government? You all should be upgrading yourselves to stop yourselves from being enticed by the financial traps you face!