"Reading out the figures in a shrill, rapid voice, he proved to them in detail that they had more oats, more hay, more turnips than they had had in Jones's day, that they worked shorter hours, that their drinking water was of better quality, that they lived longer, that a larger proportion of their young ones survived infancy, and that they had more straw in their stalls and suffered less from fleas." - George Orwell
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A (who left in 2007): When did Singapore become more expensive than Hong Kong?
B: yes A. decent low level entry car 100k, decent small condo 1 mill. property prices have effectively tripled from 7 yrs ago with salaries inching up by 2-3% per year
C: Singapore is more expensive than the rest of the world, period. I am finding it more expensive than the US!
A: I've always found the US to be quite affordable although that is quite a generalisation given the scale of the US. Exceptions are property in some major cities and healthcare, but from what I hear, Singapore is fast catching up.
D: Tau Huay 1.50 油条 80-90 cts..used to be selling with my late grandpa at 10 cents a piece...
C: Well, I think with the exception of NY, none of the other major metropolises are as expensive as Singapore. Not forgetting that in US, a great equalizer in any non-location specific goods is Amazon. And so called branded goods in Singapore are lowest denominators in US - Crocs shoes that cost US$20 goes for SGD75. And let's not even start on the electronics. The only things which are cheaper are labor intensive stuff like barbers and hawker center food.
A: It's the same in the UK in that amazon, eBay and freecycle mean things are at least half the price in Singapore. And even barbers can be same price if one knows where to look, ie Brick Lane, Finsbury Park.
E: Interestingly, that could call the top of a bubble. When cities get really expensive, it's often just before it blows. What does the Economist say about Singapore property prices?