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Proper managing of money

Jackjames, this was what most of my friends who were Spore PR and was offered citizen immediately upon getting a U degree. Many of them said they will retire in msian homwtown. Now many of them would not stay more than 3 days in their hometown. Why, Msian will built but would not maintain their housing estates well. The drains are always clogged with rubbish. The govt hospitals are fithy with toilets worst than China. The police are corrupted, always on look out for extorting $ from the citizens.  All non-bumiputras are treated as 2nd class. Nearly all of my Spore PR friends had taken up Spore citizenship. Only one did not because his wife is a Sporean, so he can have the best of both world, likely his father has properties in Msia for him. The only town that is clean is Kota Tinggi (visited 2 yrs ago), sad to said the recent floods has devasted the town.

 

Hi geojam.... same here... I hate the weather here too... I like cold weather

 

oh, victorian you are a gentleman, thought u are a lady ... ha ha..

Sporeguy, not all the SingaproePR from Malaysia want to convert to Singaporean la.. I am one of them.. Well, this is a fact that, all the Malaysian "rush" to work in Singpaore becasue of big money lo.. Singapore dollars rules man.. Can you imagine, some countries didn't accept Malaysian ringgit at exchange counters... really shocked me...

By the way, I don't need to do NS if I convert to Singaporean, but my kids definitely is a must. Oh well, I will go back to my lovely hometown in Sarawak when I am getting OLLLLDDDDD.... Singapore is definitely not a good place to stay when u are 70s and above.. no offense ar..  just want to say the truth nia..

but overall, singapore is the best country in the world. indeed it is!!!

 

elf

got ur point.

if u go to an area here in perth u will see alot of new and young sporean settling here.But,the sale of their 5 room HDB flat cannot cover the cost of the housing here,not like my time.

Yet i do not know why they still keep coming.

Sometimes they tell me cos of their love for their children,like me,so i understand them very well. 

 

yes godpa. it's a question of what price you're willing to pay for your freedom. we can't vote with electoral paper, but we can vote with our feet.

3 out of 4 young singaporeans talk of emigrating. the only thing stopping most is having to leave their family here, or lack of funds/job offer from overseas.

 

Elf

sporean really have no choice of alternative govt.

So actually do u ppl really have freedom?

 

sporegal

we left spore cos of NS and having to learn mandarin.Cost of love for my son.It is all history now.

When i left spore,i miss the perks and salary that goes with my last job in spore.

What i do not miss in spore is the weather.I do not like humid weather. 

 

haha. elf will refrain from posting on the ministers and govt and ministers salary, 'cos sure as hell i'll be 'taken out'. haha.

but yea. khaw is one of the few ministers i actually respect. he knows how to reach out to the grassroots.



databank: ever realised the discrepancy, that our singular databank is always around, yet the insistence on the policy of regeneration in the civil service? Must say tho, that without MM Lee, singapore would be nothing. So its quid pro quo i guess. Fair's fair.



and well, i do whine a lot abt life here too *haha* but let's put it reasonably, as oscar wilde once said, on ideas of democracy and freedom, "If Liberty comes with her hands soaked in blood, will you shake it?"



If you ask me, a lot of young ppl here will say they want freedom, free speech ya dah ya dah ya dah. But then my qn is: can they take the ugly side of freedom? The homeless people, increased taxes, dirty streets, higher rates of crime, higher medical bills, etcetc? Because nothing in life comes free, not even freedom.



At end of day, as Aristotle once said, 'Man is a political animal'. I think citizenry can expect their governments to take basic care of them; that's why we elect our leaders after all. but to expect full support (nanny state) and to be totally dependent such that you can whine but yet hold the 'i'm powerless to do anything' mentality is erroneous. It is to take the easy way out and disclaim all responsibility for yourself; it is to cede free will to your leaders.



And no free human should ever cede such power.  

 

Spore PR from Msia is more likely to stay on in Spore and become sporean. Next in line will be those from China. Those from India will be the least to stay on. Those from India will very often move off to Australia and USA. Those from China sometimes will remigrate to USA and a lesser extent to Australia and UK. Male children of Spore PR are required to do NS.

 

Hi geojam,

Hope you could share with us your experience in why you left Singapore for Australia? What do you miss most in Singapore and what do you not miss at all?

 

I spent 2.5 years of my life in NS and serving the country..... logically I should expect people who do not serve NS to have less rights and welfare from the nation than I do?

 

dear Eastonbay, sorry for late posting... you are right that Khaw comes from Malaysia, and I should add that my hero, Hon Sui Sen too is from Malaysia, and so also Goh Keng Swee, the architect of singapore economic success...  but somehow we aways consider them as true..Singaporeans.. my feelings are however that these people come to Singapore when it is developing.. they contributed..  but my concern about the latest lot of migrants are that they just come for the ride...  suck what they can from the system and then they are going to go away... they are not even going to do NS...  I really like to see the so call foreign talents the likes of former CEO of DBS, Olders, and even present Jackson Tai  do NS... and also that French (?) guy (bought in by Olders?)  who gave misleading CV that he came from Harvard etc..

 

lewsh88...

hehe...

We must do some further "technical analysis' to find out what it is that made the cows eat the 'inferior' grass.

'Fundamentally', the existing grass may be thought to be better, but the true test is the cows are going for it!

 

geojam

Glad that you have settled in and happy down-under.

Human beings always like to think that grass is always greener on the other side.

Even animals think so. I read a report that a British scientist conducted a test on the above theory on a cow. He planted the best grass on one side of a fence and lousy grass on the other side and placed a cow on the side with good grass. Strangely, the cow craned its neck across the top of the fence to eat the lousy grass on the other side!.

 

I think every system has its pros and cons. But considering the pros of our system, it's looks more sustainable than that of countries with social security system that has high payouts. Of course, it's good for old folks, but given the increase in the percentage of old folks across age levels, how sustainable can the current system sustain without the need to increase its burden on the working population to pay for all those free or high subsidised needs. In the long run, I think consisent sustainability still looks the preferred solution, and thus our singapore system looks good.

Our system will be effective, as long as everyone understands financial planning appropriately. That's the current issue now that needs to be tackled, I think, not having a different system......

 

lewsh88

Initial period of about 5 years,i really hated coming here.But i am fine now and happily settled in.

I was just trying to highlight that there is no utopia kind  of society.

Every society has its good and bad points.

I agree that australia is a good place for retirement and also a good place for bring up kids.

The govt.really look after the old folks.Cos they want to have their votes.The grey power.

Spore is diff. cos there is no effective opposition party.Here the govt.needs every vote they can get

Unfortunately,housing is no lomger cheap.When i came in 1987,my house costs me the price of a HDB 5 berdrrom,now it will cost u S$800k.But it is freehold.

On hindsight,i do not regret my move here.

 

 

Hi geojam,

Your enlightenment on conditions in Australia seems like you are not happy migrating there. Apologies if I read wrongly.



However, all my friends who migrated there tell me a different tale. They are enjoying life there and even encouraged me to join them. I'm referring to people of my age group (60s). Medical down to reading glasses is free after official retirement age of 55. The garmen even give them pocket money to spend their free time at the casino so that old folks don't become senile doing nothing at home. (In S'pore, we hear old folks lamenting along public hospital corridors that it is better to die than to get sick!!! ).

Perhaps all these are paid via the 33% income tax. Although it is considered a burden to wage earners, it is good for old age people.



And a simple wooden house with land in the suburbs of Australian cities costs much less than a 5-room flat here. And you really own the house, unlike S'pore where we are paying a 99 year lease.



And the 7% GST now. No worries, not long from now, it will overtake the Australian 10%. Otherwise where are we to get the money to pay garmen people their high wages. We pay them high hoping they won't lined their pockets corruptly.

 

Dear ultrameg,
Are you the writer Dhammapiya in the www.helium.com? I'd prefer you do your posting in the forum, as it is quite troublesome for me to go to different sites to read your views.

Thanks a lot.

 

CPF does offers its benefits. Beside that, the rules and regulations keep changing ahead of times. For those who are unfamiliar about CPF, read on

http://www.helium.com/tm/225109

 

Views from an ex-sporean.

Costs of living in spore is still consider "cheap",wait till u stay in australia.

personally,I thought the CPF is a good idea.Here we cannot touch our CPF for buying HDB etc...So poor ppl like us have to use take home pay to finance our house.

Here the GST is 10%,spore is only 7%.

Here the personal income tax rate is averaging 33%,spore is lower for sure.

Here if u want to stary a small business,the bureaucracy and paper work will put u off.

Here the Minister are doing things for self interest---to line their pocket.

Here we have to pay more taxes to look after the poor ,sick,the unemployed and the single mothers.

So----there spore is still alrght mah.