View attachment 48521
I came to Singapore at age 25 earning $5K a month in 2005. The money was more than enough for a bachelor sharing a 5-room HDB apartment with 2 other bachelor friends whom I knew from India. I always had enough to go out for parties at CQ, trips with friends, the odd date now and then (unfortunately few and far between) and yet still able to save $2.5 k a month. Of course rent and cost of living were low then. Difference between my life in India and Singapore is that I had more disposable income to spend but in India by spending 25% of the salary I could afford to get someone to cook for me, someone else to clean the house and do the laundry and a third person to wash my car once a week. Fast forward to 2011, I make just under $6.2k, I’m married and my wife is unemployed. I am still renting an HDB, but the smallest possible configuration.
Taking a PR was the biggest mistake. Company reduced my salary by the amount they need to contribute. On top of that employee contribution from my salary.
Now I barely save 1K a month, that too by penny pinching to an extraordinary degree. Barely go out now to save money. Travel only by bus/MRT. No cabs for personal purposes. Eating out is now restricted to the food court. Only 1 trip a year and that too back home to visit our parents.
My college friends in India (in the IT industry) earn roughly around $3.5k to 4k in SGD terms. They live in posh apartments which they own (still have to pay the mortgage). Have servants, can afford to take vacations to places like Phuket, Bali, Egypt, Dubai and are basically enjoying life.
So my new year resolution is to leave Singapore by the middle of this year and try to get a job in India to chase the Indian dream. My Singapore dream has turned sour in the last 3 years.
So the point is…. $5.5 K is not enough for an Indian family living an upper middle class life similar to India. 3K SGD will go a long way in India. Its only just above penury in Singapore.
To add further injury to insult, why are we Indians working in Singapore? India is a resource rich country and booming.
We must develop India and stay there and not develop Singapore. In summary, Singapore isn’t well suited for living. Everything here is just hype, overly reliant on foreigners and nothing much compared to bigger countries.
I am appalled to see many talented Indians working like slaves and coolies in Singapore to support the aging local population. We expect to be treated better. We foreigners, may even need to pay more in the future for this purpose. My suggestion to all Indians is to just take whatever Singapore offers, use it as a stepping stone and spring board to other countries where quality of life seems to be better and cheaper too.
Singapore is not only dying , it will not last long economically.
I came to Singapore at age 25 earning $5K a month in 2005. The money was more than enough for a bachelor sharing a 5-room HDB apartment with 2 other bachelor friends whom I knew from India. I always had enough to go out for parties at CQ, trips with friends, the odd date now and then (unfortunately few and far between) and yet still able to save $2.5 k a month. Of course rent and cost of living were low then. Difference between my life in India and Singapore is that I had more disposable income to spend but in India by spending 25% of the salary I could afford to get someone to cook for me, someone else to clean the house and do the laundry and a third person to wash my car once a week. Fast forward to 2011, I make just under $6.2k, I’m married and my wife is unemployed. I am still renting an HDB, but the smallest possible configuration.
Taking a PR was the biggest mistake. Company reduced my salary by the amount they need to contribute. On top of that employee contribution from my salary.
Now I barely save 1K a month, that too by penny pinching to an extraordinary degree. Barely go out now to save money. Travel only by bus/MRT. No cabs for personal purposes. Eating out is now restricted to the food court. Only 1 trip a year and that too back home to visit our parents.
My college friends in India (in the IT industry) earn roughly around $3.5k to 4k in SGD terms. They live in posh apartments which they own (still have to pay the mortgage). Have servants, can afford to take vacations to places like Phuket, Bali, Egypt, Dubai and are basically enjoying life.
So my new year resolution is to leave Singapore by the middle of this year and try to get a job in India to chase the Indian dream. My Singapore dream has turned sour in the last 3 years.
So the point is…. $5.5 K is not enough for an Indian family living an upper middle class life similar to India. 3K SGD will go a long way in India. Its only just above penury in Singapore.
To add further injury to insult, why are we Indians working in Singapore? India is a resource rich country and booming.
We must develop India and stay there and not develop Singapore. In summary, Singapore isn’t well suited for living. Everything here is just hype, overly reliant on foreigners and nothing much compared to bigger countries.
I am appalled to see many talented Indians working like slaves and coolies in Singapore to support the aging local population. We expect to be treated better. We foreigners, may even need to pay more in the future for this purpose. My suggestion to all Indians is to just take whatever Singapore offers, use it as a stepping stone and spring board to other countries where quality of life seems to be better and cheaper too.
Singapore is not only dying , it will not last long economically.
