Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, July 24
Singapore ranked fifth most expensive city in Asia
SINGAPORE: Singapore is now the fifth most expensive city in Asia, according to Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.
Singapore’s rise in rankings is partly due to the appreciation of the Singapore dollar against the US dollar.
Other contributing factors include its high quality of living and continued strength as a regional hub.
Tokyo is the costliest Asian city, followed by Seoul, Hong Kong and Osaka.
In world standings, Singapore is in 13th position, one notch higher than in 2007.
Moscow was ranked the most expensive city both in Europe and globally for the third year running.
Mercer’s survey covered 143 countries across six continents. — CNA/de
Is this good news to Singaporeans and the ruling party?
stay in 3 of those 5 country b4... and i still think sg is the worst lor...
ok lah, not in the top spot.
relak.
Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):stay in 3 of those 5 country b4... and i still think sg is the worst lor...
Singapore is 5th, can't be that bad right? Would you want to share why is it the worst?
Originally posted by Fantagf:
Singapore is 5th, can't be that bad right? Would you want to share why is it the worst?
Tokyo is ex.... double sg maybe.. but half of it is for the extra quality...... in sg u pay more u may not get more quality too.. but in tokyo u pay anything.... u still get the quality.. just how premium is the quality nia..
HK.... there's a choice.. u can live like a king.... u can live cheap cheap too.. they got one of the cheapest Mac u know?
in SG... u got choice?? ERP?? GST??? CPF?? got choice????... bus, water, electricity, phone, anything.. which one is not owned by u know who......
Just a question
Is Singapore's salary and pay amount near the top 10 in Asia as well?
If so, it's still quite ok, at least to me... Maurizio, any comments to share? Would like to see your statistics, if it's not too much trouble.
Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):
Tokyo is ex.... double sg maybe.. but half of it is for the extra quality...... in sg u pay more u may not get more quality too.. but in tokyo u pay anything.... u still get the quality.. just how premium is the quality nia..
HK.... there's a choice.. u can live like a king.... u can live cheap cheap too.. they got one of the cheapest Mac u know?
in SG... u got choice?? ERP?? GST??? CPF?? got choice????... bus, water, electricity, phone, anything.. which one is not owned by u know who......
Thanks for sharing. That is because the current government runs Singapore like a business. WE are PAP's employees/slaves. PAP are the top management, board of directors.
so Japan have 2 most expensive cities?
must take their people salary into consideration too. construction workers in Japan are quite highly paid.
double post.
Wow.. moscow top. no wonder chelsea fc owner so rich, rich land produce rich ppl.
Originally posted by KELVIN!:Wow.. moscow top. no wonder chelsea fc owner so rich, rich land produce rich ppl.
only a handful is rich in russia altho' standard of living are catching up and becoming more widespread. but by and large, russia is still badly administrated and people in general are not well off. people like chelsea's owner do not live in russia anymore to escape its crippling taxes there.
as for singapore, being expensive is a tag not to be proud of.
Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):
Tokyo is ex.... double sg maybe.. but half of it is for the extra quality...... in sg u pay more u may not get more quality too.. but in tokyo u pay anything.... u still get the quality.. just how premium is the quality nia..HK.... there's a choice.. u can live like a king.... u can live cheap cheap too.. they got one of the cheapest Mac u know?
in SG... u got choice?? ERP?? GST??? CPF?? got choice????... bus, water, electricity, phone, anything.. which one is not owned by u know who......
In Tokyo, you are not always paying for the quality, you are paying for the packaging of the products and services. Which you can also get in Singapore if you are willing to pay the same.
In HK, how much are you paying for rental in terms of psf?
In Singapore you can live cheap too, you dont need a car as public transport is cheap, As for CPF, that is not exactly part of the cost of living isnt it?
Have you made comparison on the utilities cost between Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong, or are you simply guessing?
hehehe.....
Salary is cheap in Singapore too. ![]()
Cheap salary with average transport cost & high rental cost, whereas other country pay big salaries.
Singapore has the salary level of Taiwan but the living cost close to that Japan. ![]()
I wonder if someone knows the pay of a fast food restaurant worker in Japan.
Japan's per hourly wage rate for Mcdonalds employee is at least 3-4 times that of Singapore.

The price of Big Mac in Japan was around USD2.23 then.
http://www.investmentu.com/tradersu/2006/20060601.html
Also the electricity rates for Hong Kong. The typical charges for say 500 kwh, which is what a typical family uses. It will cost us SG$119.40. While for this same amount of usage in Hong Kong, it will only cost SG$93.63. They even have a concessionary rate of 60% discount for eldery / disabled / single parent / unemployed. I am sure Gazelle will qualify for this concessionary rate there. ![]()


Originally posted by Fantagf:
Singapore is 5th, can't be that bad right? Would you want to share why is it the worst?
By logic if we are the most expensive city, our citizens probably should also be enjoying the highest or close-to-highest standard of living.
Will be be logical if we are among the most expensive cities say at the 5th most expensive and yet most of the citizens are not earning sufficient incomes to make ends meet or prepare for retirment at 55-62.
Such lopsided ranking of our costs of living as compared with our disposable income ranking is most disasterous of all governments suggesting serious fractures and failures and problems in governing of a country.
Let our expert economists think over this fact.
Originally posted by maurizio13:Also the electricity rates for Hong Kong. The typical charges for say 500 kwh, which is what a typical family uses. It will cost us SG$119.40. While for this same amount of usage in Hong Kong, it will only cost SG$93.63. They even have a concessionary rate of 60% discount for eldery / disabled / single parent / unemployed. I am sure Gazelle will qualify for this concessionary rate there.
Are you sure S$93.63 for 500kwh hour is correct? I hope this discussion is not going to end up like that Japan and Korean petrol price. ![]()
Originally posted by Fantagf:Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, July 24
Singapore ranked fifth most expensive city in Asia
SINGAPORE: Singapore is now the fifth most expensive city in Asia, according to Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.
Singapore’s rise in rankings is partly due to the appreciation of the Singapore dollar against the US dollar.
Other contributing factors include its high quality of living and continued strength as a regional hub.
Tokyo is the costliest Asian city, followed by Seoul, Hong Kong and Osaka.
In world standings, Singapore is in 13th position, one notch higher than in 2007.
Moscow was ranked the most expensive city both in Europe and globally for the third year running.
Mercer’s survey covered 143 countries across six continents. — CNA/de
Is this good news to Singaporeans and the ruling party?
What this article doesnt tell you is that this is a survey done on expats and their lifestyle, where a big chunk of the living expenses goes into rental.
By logic if we are the most expensive city, our citizens probably should also be enjoying the highest or close-to-highest standard of living.
Will be be logical if we are among the most expensive cities say at the 5th most expensive and yet most of the citizens are not earning sufficient incomes to make ends meet or prepare for retirment at 55-62.
Such lopsided ranking of our costs of living as compared with our disposable income ranking is most disasterous of all governments suggesting serious fractures and failures and problems in governing of a country.
Let our expert economists think over this fact.
http://www.management-issues.com/2006/10/20/research/seven-out-of-10-fear-retirement-poverty.asp
The less time we spend trying to say it's uniquely a Singaporean issue, i think we will gain more time finding a better solution
Originally posted by Stevenson101:http://www.management-issues.com/2006/10/20/research/seven-out-of-10-fear-retirement-poverty.asp
The less time we spend trying to say it's uniquely a Singaporean issue, i think we will gain more time finding a better solution
That's because P4P suppressed the wages through imports of foreign labour. That's the only way they know how to maintain competitive advantage over other nations.
Originally posted by O o O:
What this article doesnt tell you is that this is a survey done on expats and their lifestyle, where a big chunk of the living expenses goes into rental.
Rentals are correlated with housing prices no?
Originally posted by whiskers:Rentals are correlated with housing prices no?
Yes, and it is the same in other cities. However only Singaporeans are allow to buy HDB and EC directly from the government and enjoy housing grant.
And your point is?
Robert and Maurizio
Being the 5th most expensive city in Asia, not only the people don't receive good/high pay, the finance minister is discouraging salary increment to Singaporeans while ministers are enjoying high obscene pay. Other than the obscene high pay, they have increment or adjustment within a short time. This is so uniqueLEE "Singapore"
Many Singaporeans refuse to return to work in Singapore. They are earning well in other countries. With the high pay they have they are able to cope with the high costs of living overseas.
It is so uniqueLEE "Singapore" that Singaporeans are expected to cope with the constant rising cost of living with low salary (not well paid) and no increment. Time to change the ruling party. Singapore is an expensive city in Asia with low paid Singaporeans.
Originally posted by Fantagf:Robert and Maurizio
Being the 5th most expensive city in Asia, not only the people don't receive good/high pay, the finance minister is discouraging salary increment to Singaporeans while ministers are enjoying high obscene pay. Other than the obscene high pay, they have increment or adjustment within a short time. This is so uniqueLEE "Singapore"
Many Singaporeans refuse to return to work in Singapore. They are earning well in other countries. With the high pay they have they are able to cope with the high costs of living overseas.
It is so uniqueLEE "Singapore" that Singaporeans are expected to cope with the constant rising cost of living with low salary (not well paid) and no increment. Time to change the ruling party. Singapore is an expensive city in Asia with low paid Singaporeans.
I believe you are using an average expat's cost of living to compare with an average Singaporean salary right?
but overall, i think seoul sucks most. Dont have enough good food.