Why do many Singaporeans migrate to countries like Australia and New Zealand, given that these countries have a high cost of living and one of the main complaints about living in Singapore is a high cost of living?
Pace of life is the answer to your question.
Most of my peers who studied in Australia never attempt to be back to Singapore. They found a job and settled in the country eventually.
I was there in cities like Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney for about a month. I did enjoy the way of how things work. Though their taxation is high, it does not stop people to work and save.
As a 9–6 white collar employee in Singapore, you have to work from 9–9 with no OT pay. Average working hours stretch from 8 hours to 10 hours and this situation became a norm. I have friends who work 12 hours average Monday - Saturday.
As for family planning, the long hours working in Singapore push couples to delay their baby plans. Health care benefit is also a key answer to your question. You have to buy loads of insurance in Singapore to cover the bulk of the expenses.
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¹Guys who migrate will always find their argument to support their decision. However, there are many areas , beside space, housing and car, that make Singapore a great place to stay. I had worked and lived in US (6months), Germany ( One and a half years), Thailand ( few months ) and China ( 13 years ) but none will make me want to migrate . For housing and car , there are choices you can make to take away the high cost on these two items . For space , you can travel to almost anyplace in the world with a Singapore passport. I had been to almost 2 hundred cities in the world ( leisure and Work ) and stay there are at least a week or so. Still, I am very proud to be back home when my plane landed in Changi. Now , I am retired@ 71 , and I still make 4 trips overseas each year but stay put in Singapore which had given me so much in my life.
Home is where the heart is
I make 1 mainly golf trip per month out of Singapore in my retirement (I’m 71 too), but I am aware that not everyone can just take off like you and me. Most of my retired friends have to budget one or two trips per year.
I do know friends who migrated mainly because of pace of life as well as limited avenues to pursue leisure. You can’t be window shopping in the best malls everyday. You have limited roads to drive your car, assuming you can even afford a car in Singapore.
I read an article some years back by a Malaysian who used to work in Singapore and moved back to Malaysia on retirement, and he summed it up very well. Singaporeans are asset rich, top in terms of per capita income, but cash poor, and have limited opportunities to spend their wealth.
I think he did not summed it that well . If those Singaporeans are asset rich, there are a lot of opportunities to spend their wealth travelling , and helping fellow Singaporeans in need and treating yourself well etc etc. I think retirement is more than just window shopping . I re learned to play the guitar at 68 and learning to play the piano at 69. Now I spend one hour each day practising on them . And I pick up watch repair hobby spend my time to bring life back to not working watches which I buy cheap .
Making such a decision depends on many factors like the people around you. Your financial status and also if you have your responsibilities which is of course of primary factor.
But why so many migrate to Singapore? they are wrong? hmm…
Hm I probably am going to lose this since I am almost half your age. Don't have your life experiences but here goes.
“On many areas”…I would say there is very few actually. Not many. But we get to it later.
Space. There is no space for a district size piece of land housing 6mil people. Singapore is essentially 20*40 small. It's the size of half a district for a country the size of Thailand. Unless your point is the lack of space being a pro, but few people look at it this way.
Housing. Is affordability or “space” the strength of your argument? The only cheap apartments, not houses are BTOs and one can't get that unless of a certain age. The resale market apartments cost way above what the average man can buy, alone. Any other requires a spouse. Without a very distinguished career or parents, an actual house which has the space I am talking about is out of reach of normal Singaporeans. So it's a lot of money for very little space.
We all know Singapore has a great public transportation system. Ever tried to go to a hospital, with a broken ankle in a newer estate without your own means of transportation? It's steps down from lift, walk to bus stop, walk to mrt from bus stop, take mrt, walk to hospital. Reverse it for the trip back home. Of course you can order a GRAB, which cost 20 times what someone could do with a scooter to cover those 10km. For the scooter, it's open gate, ride scooter to hospital. Walk a dozen steps to find the wheelchair. Reverse. But otherwise it's pretty silly to own a car without aging parents or kids in Singapore. So not having a car, when healthy, is a plus in Singapore, as compared to the cost of a car, required overseas. You win this point.
Now travelling to another place is not space. It's escapism. The sad reality of the lack of spaces, thus the sad bintan trips, JB trips, once a year (you can only afford it once a year since days are limited for those working, and virtually 7 days left if you have kids since leaves are randomly taken up by kids) trips to the same few spots, notably Japan for 9 days. Snapped up at a travel fair. Bintan btw is a no man's land consisting of mainly forest that Singaporeans don't visit, infrastructure and shopping malls that's is inferior to Singapore but for the feel of escapism and cheaper costs, people are willing to take that trip. Retired? Take as many trips as possible, as long as financially one could.
At 71, with all due respect, you don't have the capabilities, strength and health to migrate anywhere. It's too late.
Having friends your age travelling, I am aware, as you are too, the quality of your travels. What can a 71yo do for his travels, besides travelling to eat then to sleep* X days? But I applaud you for this, since you are financially able to. Most aren't or won't be able to. At least you are in shape and still have that wanderlust in you.
Now to the actual pros, Singapore has over, say, Australia. A lack of space (no pun). If one requires the presence of humans or human interaction around to feel safe, then Singapore a great choice. It's basically sardines everywhere. Second is it's extremely safe. The entire system is prioritized to ensure the workers (citizens) safety as it's the only asset the country has. Why the need for many people around to feel safe? Can't answer that. Cheap. If two people aren't working in their 40s. And have only 1000 in the bank, A dollar in Singapore can get you further than in Australia. Eating outside easily showcase this. But apply it outside Australia, it's a con. It's far cheaper in many countries to make that dollar work for you.
Hello, when I travelled overseas, food is not my focus at all. At 71+ I have no problem at all. I still walked a lot to see places, even climbing up stairs at the scenic sites , mountains although not as much when I was 5 years younger. Recently , I went to Shangri la in Yunnan province in China. No travel agency want to let me join their one day trip from Lijiang citing the height at 4K metres as the reason. Undeterred, I took my own train there and explore it .
Kind of only partially agree with Jon. What people really look forward in singapore is also safety. When I say safety it’s not just about guns and terrorist attacks.
its also about your kids. When your kids grow old and go to Junior College and subsequently to Uni, you are kind of sure your kids don’t have any easy access to drugs.. I know a lot of people in Down Under and US who have fallen victims to drugs just because some friend of theirs have easy access to it. That means a lot to a lot of people btw!!
Yep in US kids can even get drugs in school n hence that’s y they install NARCAN for emergency use to reverse d effects of opioids! Well done US! N in OZ they intro similar drug called NALOXONE Nasal spray!
ridiculous!
maybe the other key factor that I could think of is probably the space to breathe! Mostly, I noticed malls, coffee shops, wet markets, streets … damn.. you name it … you see load of peoples around buzzing around… even in lift! you need to squeezed in.
I lived in Singapore for the past 20 years. I feel everything getting expensive for no good reason than speculation and authorities preferences on asset values and so their balance sheets. I had enough and will be relocating by end of this year. Instead of one property in Singapore, I bought 7 properties in KL and can live-off passive rental income (with some spare) for the rest of my life.
Good luck with your property in Malaysia. Hopefully they can last longer than what you are paying for. A lot of people I know who invested in Malaysian properties lost money and depreciate instead of appreciate. Also rental depreciate as well.
Great!!!I also wanna be like u
I have travel quite a bit for work and leisure for the past 40 over years. Everyone mention about cars and houses but when you reached old age convenience to health care, transport, food etc is important. I also know of people who have migrated overseas still keep (SG) passport for the family and the younger generation actually comes back here to work and some of this ppl actually come back here to stay. So when you are in yr retirement years, do you want to drive minimum 30 to 45mins to get food and probably 2hrs to get to the airport.
Cost of big ticket items like cars and houses are much lower in Australia. Food cost is also lower. Taxes are higher but better social security and health care benefits. Better work-life balance.
Yes agreed better quality life. Lesser stress.
Houses: Singaporeans can buy good quality HDB flats that appreciates in good value over time.
Transport: Unless you are feeling rich, take public transport, use the reliable MRT and buses.
As we ALL Hopefully know, life & Data is Never Static.
Might be useful to check today's Affordability, Taxes, Insurance, HealthCare & Safety trends for an aging Society.
Many things can & has Changed in an 85 year Life cycle which may Not Conform to the Perceived or Presumed Economy’s Economic Life cycle❗
Always curious about worklife balance in anz… i used to work at asia pac level so i travel to.amd work with team across all countries in ap. In one of my trip to sydney, i bought my nephew, who was there studying then, out for dinner, after dinner at around 10pm as we were walk back to my hotel across sydney cbp, my nephew told me he was advised to move to australia as it have better work life balance and people dont work late. I told him before he decide, he should take a look up at the building in cbp sydney, count how many floor of this office building have no lights on. My nephew ask me back, with worklife balance, many offices should have no one working, and in sydney being environmentally conscious most offices would have system to auto off the power when no activity is detected, so would it not be easier to count how many location with lights.on then off. I told him to count first..and when he look up… to his surprised every office floor hv lights on… and this was on a friday night too… situation in anz have changed…
Many of the buildings have after-work cleaners and they generally work throughout the evenings and nights to clean the office buildings.
Just to add, legislation has passed in Australia where employers are obliged not to call you after work hours.
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/workplace-laws/legislation-changes/closing-loopholes/right-to-disconnect
The whole quality of life is going down for the average Singaporean. The system here benefits mainly the government and the large corporations.
Why is “the whole quality of life is going down for the average Singaporean”?
when those who worked as production line managers, with engineering degrees, work as taxi drivers or delivery men, isn’t life going down?
And you blame the country and Government on this? What have you been doing yourself to upgrade and learn new things. There are many who continue to work in their own profession for over 35 years and still working in their 60’s because they love the job and continue to upgrade themselves to learn new technologies. I had seen people who decide to stop learning and move to sales after a few years. When they get older, they no longer have a job.
It is one thing for one to upgrade and another thing when the whole sector disappears….where are the big electronics manufacturers now? Went to China becz high cost in SG. Who is increasing the cost here? Landlord..who is the biggest? Government. There is no time for an engineer to re-skill to become a programmer and start at the most junior level. If you are affected, you will know that.
Yes, I know that some factories moved out but there are others still around. And I do understand the pain of reskilling and start lower than where you were before. I had been through one of those but because of me willing to take that reskilling and the role, I subsequently found another role that is paying me a lot more than what I had before the retrenchment. That’s the difference between you and I. Change is constant in today’s world and you need to keep adapting and adjusting.
But did you upgrade while you were working, like learning new knowledge in your own line? That is the main problem most people have When they are in a role, they feel comfortable and relax, forgetting to learn new stuff.
I always encourage people that if you find a new role, make sure the role can help you learn new skills that is good for your next role. Don’t go for the money alone.
I had up and down in my careers, but I managed to continue gaining employment, though there are some gaps where I was jobless due to retrenchment, but I still able to find employment. After 36 years working in the same field and still working today. May be the pay is lower that what I had before but still good enough for me and higher than the average salary most people got because the employment market had changed. Gone are the day with high salary job. Most of the jobs that I did before are paying a lot lower than what I got when I was in that role.
Why are you and me paying a price for governments’ interest to keep high land prices and bolster their balance sheet?
Yes, I agree with the land and rent prices. Ridiculously high. That’s why you see shop closing and opening every day.
Many middle age turn into gigg workers like food delivery and driving phv.
Hi Jon Ng. We are very interested in your job that you mentioned that you have to work from 9–9 ie 12 hours per day from mon to sat with no overtime. I think you have over stated. It could only happen to only some jobs like accounting or some IT work that that they need to complete after office hours. For myself, I work as Regional sales manager for multi national firm before and also a director with a local company. I seldom work overtime as the company trust me in my work and performance. I have travel to Australia and New Zealand before on business trip, but stay there as a tourist or just business is OK, but to stay there long term - no way for me due to being treated as 2nd class citizen and also racist is still rampant in Australia though to lesser extend in NZ. I believe those who really migrate to Aus and NZ purely for retirement. In fact many Singaporeans came back to SIngapore for better job opportunities and prospect as compare to down under.
we emigrated to australia as a family of 4 in MAY 1989 . We are still here and our family has grown to 11 including 5 grand children . We OWN (free hold) our homes as do my 2 children . Those who refuse/fail to assimilate will feel like second class citizen and encounter racism .
Singapore is good for growing kids, but after that they have to learn the reality in life. The island city(not even a country) is too organised, controlled ( even chewing gum.?) and artificial on some places. Singapore is an expat place, make money and get out to retire. The only people that likes it are the high paying politicians.
Better than letting my kids get exposed to drugs or firearms. They can learn and choose when they are older and more mature to make informed choice.
What’s the big deal with missing out on chewing gum? This liberal thingyi about freedom is overhyped. Just look at the wokeism in the west. I’m just glad that it’s not happening in Singapore
I aint’ a politician but I love my country. And how is it not a country, Singapore is not even the smallest country in the world.
You cannot live in Disneyland forever. The world outside is just as you describe, full of drugs and firearms, and the best survival skills you can impart to your kids is for them to interact, discern and make judgements on threats, bad habits and vices. Just like exposure to viral and bacterial infections, you need exposure to be stronger and activate self-defence mechanisms.
To each his own.
I find this a stupid comment from people who desire liberty & freedom so much over health, safety & stability of oneself & family.
Everyone’s lived experience is different. It is not right to called someone else’s choice stupid. They have different priorities from you right now, and so they choose what matters to them.
Precisely everyone made up his own decision. Many might love to live in Disneyland forever vs staying in the Amazons.
"The only people that likes it are the high paying politicians."
The high paying politicians are paid pittance compared to top 30 CEOs in Singapore - they will be paid/earn a lot more in private sector.
Key assumption you are making is….politicians are as good or better than CEOs….how come?
The Singapore PAP politicians are as good and better than most CEOs in private sector. In any case, the scope and depth of their responsibilities AND ACCOUNTABILITY far exceed those of private sector CEOs.
You reckon someone like you (I have seen your LinkedIn profile) is worth more than the S$1m President Tharman was paid as a Minister?? Or that the CEO of DBS is worth 12 to 15 times that of President Tharman??
Too many assumptions you are making…show me one minister who came out and became a successful CEO for a sizable company in Singapore or outside?
How do you measure ACCOUNTABILITY to say that they hold more accountability than company CEO’s?
If so accountable, why are the returns of Temasek and GIC so pathetic compared to many other state funds? Where is the accountability for low performance?
Talk facts, not fiction.
Don't waste my time with your polemics
Can’t argue and give up?
Also why are minister not resigning when something bad happens like in the corporate world?
Puzzled by Vic’s comment about Singapore being (not even a country) …. We are a country since 1965, 9th August - the Republic of Singapore. We are an island by geographical definition and a city state by the fact that we are a country that has only ONE city - called Singapore, within our country, and no other cities.
I think what Vic means is that a real country has cities, towns and rural areas. Singapore is an artificial country that cannot survive by itself within its borders.
depends on your income, family ties etc…
the not so well off that wants to migrate will probably find somewhere closer to Singapore & not so expensive cost of living like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Etc.
Singapore is however heaps safer than Australia though.
You see the first thing that is important for us and our kids is a roof over our heads. In Singapore you struggle to buy a HDB flat and take a loan of up to 40 years to re pay it and its only a leasehold of 99 years. In Australia, Europe or America, you can get a freehold landed property for the same price. Cars are also dirt cheap. Taxes may be high but it covers health and medical benefits as well as free education for the kids. In Singapore you need to buy excessive Insurance policies to cover your health benefits and there are no unemployment benefits like in Australia, Europe or America. Cheers!
The latest migrant Titok suffers the same fate. Still new migrant Rednote continues to come Die die must come.
Our founding father, LKY, has always led a life of frugality, so much so he once joked about it, saying that, those who came to visit him and seeing the frugal way he lives would not dare borrow money from him. He then went on to say in his later years that even if he was to be given $1m, he wouldn't know what he would do with it. And that was the gospel truth, because most of his money derived from his salary as PM, would be given to charitable foundations. I believed his whole life's philosophy was this:
You are not rich by what you own, but what you can do without. — Billy Graham.
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