Elandtrical

Elandtrical OP t1_iykhf6z wrote

Singapore's lack of resources is a great strength. It means it had to invest in the only thing it had- its people. Highly educated workforce based on international commerce, no one wanting to go back to work in the glorious coal mines. For the foreseeable future Singapore is locked in. Hong Kong is no longer so Singapore serves as the sole finance center of the whole of Asia until another country creates one.

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Elandtrical OP t1_iyid0n9 wrote

We lived in a semi-detached with front and back garden in a nice area. I could cross the road and access 50km of jungle trails and still have a very good supermarket 5 minutes walk away. Our house was very kampong but loved it for that.

I used to volunteer for a charity fixing up old people's HDB flats that fell through the cracks. These people grew up illiterate in kampongs when Singapore started, worked hard manual labor their whole lives and usually couldn't afford to marry or kids didn't want to look after them. Their savings didn't account for big COL increases. Some of what I saw heartbreaking sad

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Elandtrical OP t1_iyib65e wrote

House prices in Singapore are insane but the rental is very low in comparison. Our last place, a semi detached house with front and back garden in a good area would cost SG$16M but rent was SG$4900/month. A lot of hot money flowing from all parts of Asia just sitting there. There are places like Sentosa Island where almost every second house has been built and no one has ever moved in. Fixture wires still hanging down, no curtains etc.

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