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Singapore's
cost of living higher than Europe's
Singapore
Democrats
28 Mar 08
A newspaper in the UK, the Daily
Mail, ran a story about how much more British expatriates
earned in the countries they worked than if they remained in
Britain.
The countries cited were Canada, France, Italy,
New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the
United Arab Emirates.
What does this have to do with
Singaporeans?
At the very end of the piece (see below) the
reported read: "most of those (British expats) living in
eight of the ten countries said the cost of living was lower than
in the UK."
And get this: "Singapore and the
United Arab Emirates were the exceptions."
Hands up
those of you who've been to Europe and complained how expensive
things there are.
Well, now you have Britons saying that
the cost of living in places like Sweden, France, Italy, Norway,
Spain and the UK are lower than in Singapore.
And yet the
income disparity in Singapore continues to widen with the wages
of workers here remaining stagnant and even plummeting.
Can
anyone find elderly French or Canadians or Swedes working for the
equivalent of S$400 a month as cleaners or road sweepers?
Can
anyone find the British or Italian prime minister paying himself
more than S$300,000 a month and his father another $250,000?
Can everyone now understand why the police had to stop
the march and quickly seize all the placards at the protest last
Saturday?
It is clear that we need to continue to shout,
and shout loudly: "TAK BOLEH TAHAN!"
And
there's no better time to do it than this coming May Day.
How professionals can get 43 per cent pay
bonus by working abroad
Becky Barrow
Daily Mail
28
Mar
08
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html...
Workers
who leave Britain for a job overseas can get a 43 per cent pay
rise.
A professional gets an average wage of £47,000
in this country but overseas they can earn £67,000, a
report says today.
But it is not just a higher salary
that lures record numbers of Britons to a life abroad.
The
survey of more than 1,100 expats found they are "wealthier,
healthier and happier" than they were in the UK.
Those
interviewed included engineers, teachers, economists,
accountants, IT professionals and those working in financial
services and marketing.
When asked about their new life,
they spoke in glowing terms about their decision to quit this
country.
More than 90 per cent said they were happier.
More than 80 per cent had "a greater sense of well-being"
and "feeling better all round for moving abroad".
And
99 per cent said they had made "a good decision" to
live abroad, with around 80 per cent saying their decision to
move was "excellent".
The majority - more than
60 per cent - said they had "no reason" to return to
Britain, according to the study by NatWest International.
David
Isley, head of NatWest International Personal Banking, said:
"Expats who have moved abroad appear to be wealthier,
healthier and happier.
"All these factors have
contributed to a better quality of life."
There are
many reasons for the salary premium, said to Dr Frank Shaw, a
director of the Centre for Future Studies think-tank.
Many
worked for multi-national companies in the UK and were offered a
salary increase to go and work in a foreign country.
Other
countries are so short of certain skills such as IT professionals
that they offer generous salaries to lure workers from the UK.
Dr Shaw, who was involved in the research, said about 20
per cent of the expats who took part in the research were
self-employed.
Although many workers are moving abroad,
they are still employed by UK-based companies.
"An
increasing number of professional people are choosing to take
their skills and expertise abroad," he said.
"In
some instances, we found that there is an emerging generation of
professionals who are choosing to work outside the UK for
companies in the UK. Work is no longer a place that we go to but
a thing that we do."
Official figures show record
numbers of Britons are joining the exodus.
For the first
time, more than 200,000 left in 2006, according to the Office for
National Statistics.
Dr Shaw predicts the number of
expats will continue to soar.
Around 5.5million Britons
live overseas and a further one million will leave over the next
five years, according to the Centre for Future Studies.
Researchers spoke to expats living in ten countries -
Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore,
Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.
The biggest
winners were those moving to the United Arab Emirates, who earned
an average of £79,000, tax-free.
Even in Portugal,
which came at the bottom of the top ten, British workers were
paid an average of £58,000.
As well as earning a
better salary, most of those living in eight of the ten countries
said the cost of living was lower than in the UK.
Singapore
and the United Arab Emirates were the exceptions.
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