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| What kind of lifestyle can S$29,000 a month buy you in Singapore? |
Except of course, they were not comparing themselves to the locals in Singapore. There was no mention of the locals at all in the article - this couple were merely comparing themselves to what they used to spend in America compared to what they have to pay in Singapore. Mr Letzelter had a much bigger house in America - was he living in downtown Manhattan? No, he was in Denver, Colorado. Property prices in downtown Manhattan are more insane than in Singapore but they become a lot more affordable once you move out to the rural areas and whilst a 610 sq m house may sound huge by Singaporean standards, it is fairly normal by American standards if you are talking about a rural area. The population density in the state of Colorado is a lot lower than in Singapore - but then again, am I telling you something you don't know already? Hardly, duh. That's geography 101.
It is also a lot cheaper to get a car in American than in Singapore - but then again, is this news? Is the article telling me anything I don't already know? Again, no. The only part of their expenditure which made me raise my eye brows was the S$2,400 a month on groceries - really? Even for a family of four + a maid, that seemed like quite a lot of money. But they confessed to paying "a lot of extra money to get products that make us comfortable." Admittedly, I do the same thing when I go to a supermarket in London's Chinatown - but this is a treat rather than a necessity. Just because I was born and bred in Ang Mo Kio doesn't mean that I certain Asian dietary requirements - I am just as happy eating European food that is more cheaply available in my local supermarket here in London. Having said that, there's absolutely nothing wrong with spending some more money on treating yourself to food that you enjoy, especially when you can afford it. Life is too short, if eating something is going to make you happy, then just do it.
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| Is S$2400 a month on food somewhat excessive? |
Furthermore, the Letzelters have made it clear that they are not spending every dollar they earn: in fact they are saving up for their retirement as well as for their children's college fund. That comes across as a completely sensible thing to do - we should all save for our retirement and if they intend to send their children to American universities - then that is notoriously expensive. So it is not like the Letzelters are saying that they can't live on S$29,000 a month - hardly. It is clear from their expenditure breakdown that they are spending just S10,650 a month, which is much less than half of what they earn a month. I consider myself pretty good with money but even I don't save more than half of what I earn. Apart from splurging on expensive imported American groceries, they actually do seem pretty prudent with their money - I note that they are using public transport instead of getting a car in Singapore. They are merely comparing and contrasting their experiences in Singapore and America.
My conclusion? Most Singaporeans are jealous of anyone earning that much money a month. S$29,000 is a lot of money, heck they earn far more than me and I wish I earned that kind of money. However, this also tells me that most people think the world revolves around themselves - when I read the article objectively and take myself out of the equation, then I simply take away the message that the Letzelter's are used to a certain kind of lifestyle and find that their money goes a lot further in somewhere like Colorado than Singapore. The typical Singaporean reaction however is this and I quote (I'm not naming the source of this quote as I have no desire to pick a fight with this blogger but I suspect that she might actually read this as she reads my blog): "Wow this couple is only earning 29k per month and struggling to survive. So poor thing. My boyfriend and I only 7.2k okay. Please don't rub salt into peoples' wounds."
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| Money and the politics of envy |
Furthermore, at no point did they mention that they were 'struggling to survive' - you would be struggling to survive if you couldn't make ends meet and just didn't have enough money to pay all your bills. But if you could put away more than half your monthly income towards your retirement and children's college fund, then you're actually doing pretty well. Loads of Singaporeans jumped to the wrong conclusion and accused the Letzelter's of poor financial planning without actually looking at the figures and realizing that they are doing pretty okay when they are putting away 63.3% of their income every month and let's face it - with the S$10,650 a month they were spending, they are living in a pretty nice apartment in the Thomson area with a maid. They do not hesitate to treat themselves to little luxuries like imported American foods and fly back to the US for regular visits - they are not 'struggling to survive', on the contrary they are enjoying a kind of lifestyle that most Singaporeans can only aspire to. Are you jealous of the Letzelters? You should be. They have a pretty good life - a much better life than yours. But if you are unhappy with the fact that there are so many expatriates in Singapore, kindly direct your displeasure directly at the PAP rather than the Letzelters.
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| Are you struggling to make ends meet? |
So that's it from me on this topic. What do you think? Would you be jealous of the Letzelters? Why are so many Singaporeans reacting so very negatively to this article? Why are Singaporeans not blaming the PAP for letting in so many foreigners into Singapore in the first place? What is it with Singaporeans being unable or unwilling to blame the PAP when things go wrong? Do let me know what you think, leave a comment below please. Many thanks for reading.
This is a well-written perspective piece. As a Singaporean that moved to the US, I found myself somewhat relating to many of the things the Letzelters were saying, such as the differences in home and car prices, having to save for college funds, and the difficulty in finding familiar foods. I was therefore shocked at how angry my Singaporeans friends were. The outrage was universal. I think that people should really refrain from these kind of reactions when they have only seen one side of the coin. I am sure if they have lived in the US, they would find these comparisons fact, and as you said, these are facts that the couple was pointing out, not necessarily lamenting about.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fact that average home prices (and rents) in Singapore are higher, that cars are three or four times more expensive, that baby clothes (strangely enough) cost more. The couple in question are not responsible for this.
Indeed, there's an element of shooting the messenger for the message. I just wanna scream at these Singaporeans, "You wanna live in a big house and not pay too much? Move to somewhere like rural Colorado. There you go. What you want to live in a big house in Singapore and pay rural Colorado prices? Like are you for real?"
DeleteMy family of 4 survives on $280 per month for groceries. $2900 is like....ten times more.
DeleteDue to the current political climate, typical Singaporeans have knee-jerk reactions to take up their pitchforks when talking about FTs. Can't say I'm very surprised by all the jealousy and negativity displayed. Once again, this may be attributed to ignorance. Wait till they hear about MNC country directors with 7 figure annual bonuses...
Delete@Dakota: That's $2400 divided by 5 (parents + 2 kids + maid) = S$480 per person. OK you can split hairs and say that the infant eats less, the maid won't get the best steak etc but roughly that's S$480 per person per month. 30 days in a month = S$16 per day, so roughly S$5.33 per meal.
DeleteAnd ask yourself: what can you get for S$5.33 at a food court or hawker centre? Fine, we're not talking about eating out here, but even for myself, at London prices, when I cook at home, I still come in at between S$3 to S$4 per person a meal and I'm buying frozen chicken instead of fresh chicken. So maybe they are spending a bit more on food than most, but it is not like they are having lobster for dinner every other day.
@BFL - there's a serious reading comprehension problem on the part of Singaporeans who fail to realize that this American couple were comparing US vs Singapore and at no stage said anything bad about Singaporean folks. Yet they got their pitchforks out? Why aren't they getting their pitchforks out against the PAP who creates this situation in the first place? As they said, you voted for this - I don't wanna hear you complain, 70% of you have no right to complain.
Dakota: just because your family spends $280 per month doesn't mean that anyone else shouldn't make the obvious comparisons of food prices in Singapore and the States. Many items in the States are cheaper than in Canada. On a recent trip to Singapore, I saw that Hagen Daz in a tiny tub was SIN$15.60! I almost fell over. Here in Canada where prices are higher than our southern neighbor, it is about CAD$4.50. It must be cheaper in the US. The American couple should buy the food that makes them happy and gives them comfort. They are not saying they are starving. They are just giving the facts. The ST asked for their input. If locals couldn't handle the truth, they should blame the ST for dredging up the obvious.
DeleteI have mentioned elsewhere before, that to live the life I have now, I would have to make way more money in Singapore. Am I jealous of that American couple? Hmmm... I am envious of anyone making that much money in the first place. However, I don't begrudge them the lifestyle that they have. Even if they were to spend money on 5-star restaurants frequently, that's their prerogative. I would like to have my lobster bisque more often.
Singapore IS an expensive place when I compare to what I am used to paying here. As for that $2400 grocery bill. Well, whenever I am at Costco, I come out with a $100.00 to $300.00 receipt. This is on top of my regular food bill at our regular value-priced grocery store, the butcher's where I get my free-range chicken and wild salmon, and other minor treats I give my family. So, my family of three spends close to CAD$800.00 a month on food, and that's by not overindulging in everything that I truly want to buy. If I make the kind of money the couple makes, trust me, I will be spending double. Now, given that western food items costs more in Singapore, I am not surprised they spend $2400 a month.
That blogger friend of Alex ... she is young and naïve. Idealistic even. She tries hard to be profound, but often comes out short in depth. She has some living to do. Take a few knocks, experience a few setbacks and personal crises, get fired, start over, etc. She may actually see the whole differently.
Haagen Dazs.
DeleteAs for the grocery bill, heck they can spend even more because they can afford it and if eating something makes them happy, then I think they should go ahead and spend that money. They are still putting away more than half their income a month, so they can easily spend a lot more on groceries. I don't know about how rich or poor Dakota's family is, but just because you spend a certain amount on groceries doesn't mean that others should follow your benchmark. Ultimately, we spend what we can afford.
DeleteIf I were to go out and spend S$200 on a meal, is that extravagant? That depends. If I am down to my last $1000 in the bank, then blowing 20% of that on a meal is waaaay too much. But if I am multi-millionaire with money to burn, then S$200 is nothing. Everything is relative. So that $2400 grocery bill should be relative to what they are earning and they are spending less than 10% of their income on food - which sounds reasonable.
You do put it pretty well here. End of the day, the couple was chosen to be interviewed by ST, and they basically told the truth. Even if the item in question is a loaf of bread, but it is more expensive in Country A than Country B, it is no wrong to call a spade a spade, and say that yes, we do spend more on a loaf of bread in Country A.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, maybe ST could have chosen a better example to highlight? There was another recent article of a Singaporean engineer who was recently retrenched, has 2 kids, but whose wife is still employed and drawing a $6K monthly salary. This guy was in fact actively bemoaning his situation, and many netizens pointed out that with what his wife is drawing, he's in fact better off and has a greater buffer for failure than many other PMETs. Again, this might have been a case of ST not choosing the best example relative to the situation they are trying to draw attention to.
People not willing to blame the PAP? Lol. I thought its practically a national pastime. I think in this case, there's nothing wrong on the PAP's part that there is an American couple here earning $29K a month. We need people like these to stimulate the economy especially if they are bringing in business and adding value here. What we should be asking is, is the PAP making sure that the guy earning just $2900 a month is also looked after?
But I get what you mean as well when you query the manner Singaporeans are blaming, choosing to do so in a jealous fashion, and choosing to shoot the messenger. The post from your blogger friend kind of says it all. She chooses to highlight that she and her boyfriend only earn $7.2K a month compared to the Lelzetter's $29K. But she and her boyfriend haven't been in the workforce long. She's what, 25? The American couple might have started off small, and rose up the salary ladder. They make an honest living. But all this didn't matter to her. Essentially her stance is "I no money I can make noise. You got money, so please shut up."
And I am not disparaging her character here. Having read her blog and seen her other posts, I feel shes a hardworking Singaporean whose heart is in the right place in wanting to discuss social issues like this. Problem is, her online social circle basically consists of all the hardcore anti-PAP folks. And like I said before, there are many reasons to be anti-PAP, but a large and very vocal group of them simply are so because they expect a free lunch and a good deal from the PAP, but are not getting it.
Don't get me wrong, we have people who are anti-PAP over very fundamental issues like human rights, press freedom and the judicial system. But like in every society, there is that minority of ne-er do wells who will fail, and then blame the system for they failures. We been through this in your earlier posts, lack of killer instinct, unwilling to take ownership over jobs, expecting to be given preferential treatment due to nationality, etc.
Your blogger friend's page has become a congregation for such people. This is why you can constantly go to her page, and see comments that are very typical of what you have spoken against (remember that Jason Lee comment). After some time, these people brainwash each other. Be jealous of the rich. Be skeptical of success. I can complain because I'm screwed up, and I'm screwed up all because of the PAP. You have made it, you are rich, please shut up, you have no right to speak on anything. These are the sort of mindsets they reinforce each other on. And you can see it may be starting to rub off on this friend of yours.
Hahahaha - I see you know exactly whom I'm talking about. But she who shall not be named - I think we all say stupid shit on Facebook every now and then lah, but should we be crucified for it? Maybe not. I do post stupid, silly status updates now and then as well which I don't expect people to take seriously. But as an older adult who has worked around rich people for a long time, I'm kinda used to the fact that yes there are richer people than me. So what? I accept that as a part of life. I am grateful for being financially stable - I have enough money coming in from the rent checks I collect every month and can retire if I want to; I'm working just to prove that I have more to offer (and I'm still on the right side of 40). But I worked so many years to get to where I am - that's many years of experience that this blogger's readers don't have. Hence that's why people come to my blog, for a dose of that wisdom from life's experience. Why be angry with rich people - did this American couple steal their wealth? Did they rob a bank? No, they worked hard and became rich - and you wanna hate them... for what?
DeleteWell, I wouldn't judge her. I can only give two cents on what she posts, and the responses to it. She does seem to be want to be taken seriously though, and to play a role in socio-political discussion online. At least, that's the impression I get from her posts. So she might not be seeing it as a 'stupid, silly' status update. Lol.
DeleteAnd nah, there's tonnes of people richer than you and me. Its a fact of life like you said. Unless you got it via ill gotten gains or are not justifying what you are getting, who is to complain? If you were brought here as an expat, I wouldn't resent you, or whoever that brought you here as long as you add value.
Sadly though, it offends many Singaporean netizens like we already know.
Just something to put it in context. You might have heard of the recent court case involving 'The Real Singapore' editors? Australian Japanese woman earns several hundred thousand bucks running a website that fans xenophobic and anti-foreign talent hatred in Singapore, even to the point to making up certain articles? I'd reckon your blogger friend, and many of her audience would turn a blind eye to that. Some might even be supportive.
But, here we have them spewing hate at an American couple who in all likelihood, worked hard, worked honestly, and become rich because of their hard work.
Go figure.
Exactly. Remember the case of Anton Casey? Okay, at least he did something to offend the locals. What did this American couple do? The only mistake they made was agreeing to this interview which led to the badly written article - in which case, I place far more blame on the ST journalist Dominic Teo (and his editors), rather than the American couple.
DeleteThanks for writing this article. You have no idea how much hate I received from fellow sinkies when I told them to look from the American couples' perspective.
ReplyDeleteI pointed on facebook that as Americans expats,
1) They are subjected to American income tas which is higher than Singapore's income tax.
2)Their kids' education will be expensive as they will send their kids to international schools. I understand the two children of this American couple are still babies and probably not schooling but if they continue to stay in Singapore, they will have to factor in the cost of international schools which are not cheap. In fact, a lot of expats are already complaining about the cost of international schools in Singapore.
3) They have to stay in private housing where rental is expensive.
I also said that this American couple are not suffering and most likely live like an upper middle income Singaporean. 29K/ month might seem a lot but once you factor all these in, the expense per month add up to quite a bit
This American couple also made some effort to save money by not buying a car and shopping at fairprice.
Then I have all these nasty comments saying that these couple should just rent a HDB and should not live in a condo, eat kopitiam food, send their children to public schools and learn to live like an average singaporean. One commenter said this couple has poor financial planning. Another commenter said the monthly rent of the condo 4.4k is more than his monthly pay.
Well guess what, they are here to work. They are not here to feel what it is like to be an average singaporean. Just because their standard of living than the average Singaporean does not mean they should be forced to live like an average singaporean.
Hey, there are plenty of rich Singaporeans that are living like this American couple couple. Why don't you condemn them too?
The Strait Times article could have been phased in a better manner because the way it was written, it make it sounds like the American couple has financial woes where they clearly do not.
But they are well to do, so who are we to criticise them for living the high life? They can afford to do pay for atas food and if you want to live like them, work your ass off and earn lots of money and you can definitely live like them.
Otherwise, stop with all the jealous and xenophobic comments.
I can't stand sinkies' behavior sometimes.
Hi there, thanks for your comment.
Delete1. I totally agree that the fault lies with the journalist who has portrayed the couple as having financial woes: that's clearly not the case. They are putting away a large portion of their income away as savings - that's pretty good going; if only we could all put away like 60% of our income as savings for our retirement (and for them, their children's education).
2. Why should rich people live like poor people? I bought a new house recently and moved in last month - oooh should I be living in a big house like a rich person? Wait a minute - I *AM* a rich person, I am wealthy. The rest of you who think that I should live in a dwelling like a HDB flat are just delusional - here's a simple fact: I have money that I can't take with me to the grave; I am turning 40 this year and expect to die at some stage in the next few decades, so I may as well spend that money on me and live in a beautiful big house. I don't have any children to support, so I have every reason to pamper myself. As for your Singaporean friends who are poor, send them to my blog and Limpeh will bitchslap them around and make them feel bad about being so fucking poor. They need to wake up and smell the coffee. Who are they going to blame for being poor? Wealthy American expats? Excuse me whilst I LMFAO.
Apart from the comparatively better earnings, most pitchfork-wielders do not realize that there may be other reasons for expats not residing in HDBs. There might be policies within HDB for determent of flat rentals to foreigners. As far as I know of from my experience in Tokyo, some property owners are not willing to rent property to foreigners and have explicit policies to deter rentals to foreigners. So without the proper connections or networking, expats may find it hard to seek residence not in their home countries and may have to settle for a higher-cost apartment as compared to what locals are able to get.
DeleteA lot of these pitchfork-wielding S'poreans have never ever worked/lived abroad, so they have zero concept of what it means to be an expatriate.
DeleteI don't think they are putting that much money into savings due to tax. Then again I could be wrong.
DeleteYou know, I'm just wondering if they actually DID talk about their tax and savings, but was omitted by the journalist just to make the ang moh couple look bad. I mean, come on, when you are running an article about cost of living, they didn't ask how much they get to save a year, or mention the high tax at all?
Hence, this journalist either did a shitty job, or the journalist is malicious in omitting the obvious fact.
That totally takes the cake. The commentor who said that this family should deliberately stay in a HDB flat, eat kopitiam food and so on.
ReplyDeleteMaybe those expats should do just that, and when interviewed, they can comment on how cheap Singapore is to them. Lets see how it will then 'offend the sensitivities' of these Singaporean commentors.
I get the impression that these xenophobic Singaporeans are also very inarticulate, hence they come up with the flimsiest, stupidest arguments when it comes to attacking foreigners in their midst.
DeleteRaymond has made a good point. It doesn't matter what the expats say, the lowest common denominator is always going to be jealous and find something to bitch about. It makes them feel better about themselves - they would like to think their lives suck because of some unfair system that is holding them back from wealth and comfort. The simple, awful truth is that many of them are just mediocre people.
DeleteWell BFL, I think back to the office space which I had during my start up and we had a bunch of Eastern Europeans doing jobs like making sure the coffee machine was always stocked up, putting dirty cups in the dishwasher, cleaning the toilets, sweeping the floor, ensuring that the fruit bowl was never empty etc. Then you had the people in the high tech start ups who were inventing stuff, literally out of thin air - so the high tech geeks are going to (hopefully) earn a lot more money when their invention works out and they can sell it for millions whilst the Eastern European cleaners are always going to be paid the minimum wage. Why? It requires little skill to clean a kitchen area or load a dishwasher. Whilst creating a high tech solution from scratch takes a lot of brain power.
DeleteIs the simple, awful truth that many of these Eastern Europeans cleaners who worked in that building are just mediocre people? Well, you can call it what you like, but they have a simpler job which is far less challenging but in return, yeah they're paid peanuts. You don't get something for nothing. It has nothing to do with "some unfair system holding them back from wealth and comfort".
The system is called meritocracy.
I'm watching an amazing series on the BBC now called The Night Manager and it makes me wonder what I would do to attain what I want in this life, how far I would go. You should watch it, it's really thought provoking.
Probably the most annoying part is this. Mediocre and underprivileged are often confused. The underprivileged deserve to be spoken up for. Currently in many places, including Singapore, it is the mediocre who make the loudest noise.
DeleteJust wiki-ed the show and it looks interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteWell, I may have been a little harsh with the "mediocre" tag. Perhaps a better way to phrase it is that many Singaporeans aspire for managerial opportunities when they lack managerial acumen.
In general, Singaporeans are capable of working "hard". Thanks to years of cramming for examinations, we tend to have astounding (at least to the Westerners) work ethics. Unfortunately, being the workhorse doesn't necessarily mean they are managerial material. Unless they can work smart in addition to hard, are able to sell their worth to their organizations, and/or can play a mean game of office politics, they are likely to be overlooked during CEP rankings.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have GLCs who promote based on tenure length - there is a huge demographic of governmental staff who are managers only in name and not in ability or portfolio. My friend in the MFA tells me horror stories of his late 40s manager whose typical day entails laughably mundane tasks such as getting the right brand of cereal for foreign dignitaries on diplomatic trips. Another salient example is the appalling amount of sheer incompetence you see in low-middle management of our uniformed services.
Due to these inequities and inconsistencies, Singaporean meritocracy may just as well be a myth to many people. The sad thing is that instead of learning how to game the system, or taking proactive steps to better their circumstances, typical Singaporeans tend to grouse insipidly online about things like expat salaries. It is so much easier to point the finger at another instead of looking into the mirror after all. This is when I think these people truly deserve the "mediocre" label.
BFL. yes it is my one guilty pleasure. I love lavish drama productions like that, when you could totally lose yourself in the plot of characters with such fascinating, interesting lives. It makes me think, what the hell am I doing with mine and what more can I do to be more interesting like that? It really works for me - I remember once back around 2007 when I got really upset over a dispute at work over money, then I watched an episode of Torchwood (Sci-fi, people battling aliens) and I thought, well these characters have an interesting life and here I am getting upset over my job? I left that company soon after. It's more than just entertainment or escapism for me - I have quite an intense relationship with the characters I am drawn to in my TV dramas; such as the way I am in love with Claire Underwood from House of Cards :)
DeleteThankfully, I have a rather broad network of engineers, who have accomplished tons of amazing things in their respective fields that keep reminding me that I have accomplished nothing and I need to keep learning and working harder.
DeleteDear Limpeh, how do one cope with corrupt authority figures? Not necessary corrupt in a money sense, but in the way they manipulate people for their own personal gain.
ReplyDeleteI got misled by a teacher again today. He made false promises because nobody wants to help his stupid project. Didn't get the rewards I was promised, in fact it wasted my time. I didn't get that advantage.
I was later told that it had developed my character(maybe that's my reward), it is "ruggedness training" and gave me a last warning to stop "whining and complaining".
The only thing I gained from it was my hatred for corrupt authority figures who used their power to escape consequences...compounded so many times from my life experiences esp with my CCA managers.
Dakota, sorry I have to be harsh here, but you're so incredibly naive.
DeleteOK so your teacher is an asshole. And my reaction is, .....so? Why did you expect anything otherwise?
Listen, my parents are retired teachers. They are flawed individuals trying their very best to get through life and I observed close up so many stupid errors of judgments they made over the years. And if they were any more capable or education, I don't think they would have chosen teaching as a profession - but so when you talk about teachers, I think about my parents and my expectations are pretty darn low.
Your teacher is an asshole - but you made the dumb mistake of expecting him to be anything but an asshole. Gosh, the number of asshole teachers I have come across in my life. Duh. I don't know what it is about your culture - but you need to understand that teachers are flawed individuals just like adults in any other profession and they lie, cheat, steal, deceive, commit adultery, visit prostitutes and do all kinds of horrible things.
In life you will meet many, many assholes. Singapore is full of assholes. The world is full of assholes. Trust me, I had a huge overdose of assholes when I served NS. You met one. And my reaction is - duh. Yeah, so what? Get used to it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start learning how to deal with assholes.
You live in Singapore and are ruled by corrupt authority figures called the PAP. Wake up and smell the coffee and do yourself a favour and stop being so freaking naive and childish already. Duh.
One way of dealing with assholes is to send the right email to the right person. There is always a bigger fish out there - even assholes have to report to their bosses.
DeleteAnonymous complaint emails, if properly worded, can end careers. So be responsible about it if you wish to take this path.
Some additional thing to note:
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming the 29K includes bonus, but even if it doesn't, it should be noted that since they are American citizens, there will be double taxation since US doesn't have a Tax treaty with SG.
So their savings level will not be @ 65+%, but closer to 10% once you factor in tax.
http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/index.php?topic=68197.0
Fair point - income tax wasn't mentioned in the article at all.
Delete