What is the price here?

I saw somewhere that mentioned that people in Malaysia has the same PPP as people in Singapore

I think the comparison is between people living in KL to be exact? versus people in Singapore?

Does people living in other Malaysia states, the average Jo earns the same as people in Singapore? I am quite sure although I dont have any prove that an average office clerk in lets say Kelantan will earn less that the same clerk in KL.

What is really the averaged income of an average Jo when u take the entire nation into context?

The price of a branded perfume cost 100SGD in Singapore and 240 Ringgit in Malaysia.

To have the same PPP in this context means an average Jo in Malaysia earns 2400 Ringgit a month versus a 1000SDG singapore Jo

I think the UBS report has some points but it also throws up lots of questions.

I also believe you cannot use the same basket of goods to compare as goods are often sold at different prices in different countries due to things like local manufacturers etc

A western good may be priced cheaper comparatively to the same thing that is sold in another country as that good could be manufactured locally and thus cost cheaper and exported to another country and cost more expensive there

Which part of UBS article do you not understand??? Taking Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the study talks about the lowest base! i.e food, shelter and wage. in the article, it focuses on PPP, domestic purchasing power etc.. but what you are saying are those intangible like cleanliness, culture blah blah blah..if you really wanna take those into account, it will not be a ‘Price & Earning 2009′ it will be called something else…. m*ron…..

1) Availability & cost of education – for example, school fees here are pretty low if you think about it. You can study at a top “Ivy League machine” school like RJC for only $15 a month

2) Infrastructure – would you rather live in a city like London, where the tube is overcrowded everyday (a newspaper report i once read said it was worse than cattle trains!) and often breaks down?

3) Cleanliness – Even the Japanese who come here often remark too me how clean it is. Have you ever walked around the streets of London where there is so much chewing gum stuck to the ground, it looks quite disgusting?

4) Weather – Again, i find the weather in most European countries too cold for my liking. But you could also argue that we are too hot and humid

5) Availability of good food – If you love to eat, Singapore might be the best place on earth. The celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain said this in one of his travel shows. And he’s a New Yorker!!

6) Air quality – Think we’re pretty good compared to HK and some parts of China

7) Corruption & discrimination – For example, if you’re a Chinese or Indian, would you really want to live in Malaysia?? What are your chances of being treated fairly in, say, a job selection process or university entrance process??

Medical care – We have some of the best doctors and medical care facilities here. Though it could also be argued that cost of medical care is expensive

And, yeah, the basket of 39 items sounds suspect too. i’d sniff at it if it included cheese, since it’s terribly expensive here and i don’t eat it anyway!! :-b

P.S. There are also other factors, which would work heavily against us. For example, lack of space, lack of creative culture, need to do NS, etc. So you see, cannot quantify right??!!

Thanks for your feedback.

FYI, the purpose of this article is not to lampoon the government, but to offer an objective analysis of the UBS study.

1. Do you think Chinese food will cost any less than Western food? Will it cost less in Singapore and more in Switzerland? Is our diet a pure Chinese one or a mixed Chinese/Western diet?

2. Please go and read through the entire UBS study again. The iPod is the latest item used. Previous items include the cost Big Mac.

3. The problem with many Singaporeans like you is that they have a superiority complex. You should go to Malaysia and stay for a few months to experience life there. From personal experience, the Malaysian Chinese generally have a higher standard of living than the average Chinese in Singapore. A contractor in Ipoh works only 4 days a week, live in a 3 storey semi-detached house costing only RM 150,000 and drives 2 cars. You can go and check it out yourself.

4. For many people, quality of life means having adequate work-life balance, enough time to rest, to spend with family and go for long holidays. It is simply not possible in Singapore unless you belong to the elite like Tan Yong Soon who can afford to go for a 1 month cooking course in France.

Many Singaporeans can’t migrate because of family reasons. It’s not so easy to uproot yourself completely and leave for a new, foreign land. However, there are already many Singaporeans who left for Australia, Canada, U.S. and Europe.

Being citizens of Singapore, we have a right to determine the direction we are heading. The government is nothing more than representatives of the people. In a real democracy, the people can always vote in an alternative party to chart a different course like Japan’s DPJ which is poised to take power Unfortunately, we have one single dominant party here which has made use of its incumbency to cripple the opposition. However, no family or party can hold on to power forever. It’s a law of nature and therefore it’s only a matter of time before the PAP is kicked out of office which is definitely more probable than somebody rising from the grave.

You said:
“it is even more dangerous to comment if you don;t understand how the numbers are derived”

Now let me show you why this statement is very ironic coming from you.

1. what will be the results if chinese food is used as the bench mark?

Purchasing power is a RELATIVE indicator. If Chinese food were used as the benchmark, the food costs would be divided by the same constant for ALL countries.

Answer: Same results.

2. this is a easy way to compare, but too easy for an investment bank who deal with instruments themselves don’t even understand

The benefits of using iPods have already been stated in the article.

“specific, highly uniform product that is available everywhere in the same quality”

Other items such as Big Macs could be used, but those run into other problems such as quality, different serving portions, etc. The iPod is the same almost everywhere.

Your point?

3. isn’t it laughable enough? are you willing to relocate to Malaysia, maybe UBS staff want to.

The article talks specifically about domestic wages relative to prices, so talking about relocating is irrelevant. One of our ministers did suggest for Singaporeans to go and retire in J.B because it is cheaper though.

4. what is your definition of quality of life?

What do you think Goh Chok Tong was referring to when he said in 1999 that Singapore would have a Swiss standard of living in 10 years? Want to use that definition?

5. in the end, make your own decision, if you are happy, stay in singapore and do whatever you like to do, if not, move to Switzerland, or vote out PAP, and vote….who? ask swiss government to take over? LOL

This “if you’re not happy, then leave” mindset is very sad. Over 50 years of iron-handed rule has left Singaporeans politically apathetic, with many thinking, “hey it could be worse.” But then again, Singaporeans are already leaving, which is why we have a brain drain in Singapore.

what will be the results if chinese food is used as the bench mark?

2) For the purpose of this article, the iPod nano (with 8 GB of storage) is used

this is a easy way to compare, but too easy for an investment bank who deal with instruments themselves don’t even understand

3) Though Malaysia is still a developing country and has a GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of ours, the ordinary Malaysian citizen has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean.

isn’t it laughable enough? are you willing to relocate to Malaysia, maybe UBS staff want to.

4) Long working hours
agree

ever wonder why singaporean’s wage is “low” while GDP is “high”?

what is your definition of quality of life? how many ipods you can buy a year? live in a city worrying about breakins? doing business in a country with undertable deals? travel 2 hrs to work? get beaten by yobs? long working hrs?

in the end, make your own decision, if you are happy, stay in singapore and do whatever you like to do, if not, move to Switzerland, or vote out PAP, and vote….who? ask swiss government to take over? LOL

Then go ahead and humour the rest of us. Which numbers are laughable? Where are the errors in the methodology used by UBS?

The set of numbers that the government uses is GDP alone. Other indicators are simply overlooked. The UBS study, while not perfect, takes PPP, domestic purchasing power, and wage levels into account. It is clear which one is actually more relevant to the quality of life in Singapore.