Singapore 'still world's most expensive city'

[webfact]

Singapore 'still world's most expensive city'

SINGAPORE: -- Singapore has again been judged as the world's most expensive city but costs across the world have been highly volatile, according to researchers.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Singapore as the priciest ahead of Zurich, Hong Kong, Geneva and Paris.

London was sixth and New York seventh on the list that compares the cost of a basket of goods across 133 cities.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35765378


-- BBC 2016-03-10

[Ulysses G.]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

[Boon Mee]

The ulitmate in boring places is Singapore.

Aside from the casino at Marina Bay Sands that is

[TheCruncher]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

Looks like the US dollar is still way overvalued then.

[Ulysses G.]

The ulitmate in boring places is Singapore.

Aside from the casino at Marina Bay Sands that is

It is clean. It is pretty. They have great food and a fun - and legal - red light area. I have good memories from when Thailand was still a third world country and Singapore was a place to get away from it for a few days. Now Bangkok has pretty much everything that Singapore does.

[worgeordie]

More expensive than Tokyo,Seoul,London, hard to believe,

suppose it depends what you are paying for.

regards Worgeordie

[trogers]

Now, that's one way to be first on a world's list...

Question for Singapore is, most expensive may not equate with value for money.

[keeniau96]

It's all in how the costs are calculated. I have lived in San Francisco and in New York and make do very well but not by the expense-account housing and eating used in those cost calculations. That's the same as defining BKK costs on the basis of staying at the Oriental and eating only in farang food restaurants.

[boomerangutang]

I just read in Bkk Post how Yangon is also very expensive. 4 times more than Bkk, and several times more than NYC. and that's with Y's power outages.

To me, big cities are a big turn off. The only redeeming thing about cities are they sometimes have a good park or some good museums. Bangkok has neither. Ok, I know this thread is about Singapore, but just wanted to rant a bit on how disappointing/smoggy/overcrowded/full-of-depressed-people/bad-air cities are in general, and SE Asian cities are in particular.

Every day I thank Bob and other Gods that I don't have to reside in a city. I've got rural property which is better than any city property for a dozen reasons, ......and it cost 1/500th as much as city property.

[trogers]

I just read in Bkk Post how Yangon is also very expensive. 4 times more than Bkk, and several times more than NYC. and that's with Y's power outages.

To me, big cities are a big turn off. The only redeeming thing about cities are they sometimes have a good park or some good museums. Bangkok has neither. Ok, I know this thread is about Singapore, but just wanted to rant a bit on how disappointing/smoggy/overcrowded/full-of-depressed-people/bad-air cities are in general, and SE Asian cities are in particular.

Every day I thank Bob and other Gods that I don't have to reside in a city. I've got rural property which is better than any city property for a dozen reasons, ......and it cost 1/500th as much as city property.

The unfortunate Singaporean does not know the meaning of rural.

[Ulysses G.]

IMO, big cities tend to have better restaurants than small towns and also have lots of various cuisines. They also have lots more cultural events like concerts and plays. I'm living in a small town, right on the beach, but I miss San Francisco for food and other stuff.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[Credo]

IMO, big cities tend to have better restaurants than small towns and also have lots of various cuisines. They also have lots more cultural events like concerts and plays. I'm living in a small town, right on the beach, but I miss San Francisco for food and other stuff.

"....other stuff"? San Francisco excels in having a lot of very interesting 'other stuff'.

I enjoy very brief periods in Singapore, but overall after 2 days, I find it to be quite boring.

[wabothai]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

Enlighten us, please.

[Ulysses G.]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

Enlighten us, please.

I already DID.

[laolover88]

I like sunshine and I like sea. Singapore appears to me to have neither; nor anything else I want. I don't like "shopping" and I can find better food in many a place. A bit like others I live in a small town; has pretty well everything including a decent swimming pool. If I want sea I can be in Phuket or Samui in 3 hours and if struck by an insatiable need for Eau Sauvage or a new Gucci handbag in BKK in an hour. Lack of a decent bookshop is a bore but Kinokuniya deliver and I can live without Tate Modern and the V&A! Oh yes no skiiing. Air Asia to Japan? Cheaper than London Zurich. Decent house here 2M B, Decent Rental 10K B max....Garden full of Bee-Eaters today. Singapore? London? New York? Zurich?....I'll pass

[Ulysses G.]

I like sunshine and I like sea. Singapore appears to me to have neither

Singapore has BOTH. Apparently, you've never been there.

[boomerangutang]

IMO, big cities tend to have better restaurants than small towns and also have lots of various cuisines. They also have lots more cultural events like concerts and plays. I'm living in a small town, right on the beach, but I miss San Francisco for food and other stuff.

I'm somewhat familiar with SF. Yet it's going downhill (no pun intended). I hung out for about 30 hrs in the business district (waiting to get on Greyhound buses). there are effectively no parking spaces available in the entire sq. mile. At night, dozens of homeless people put out sleeping bags on the sidewalks. One morning, as I was about to cross the street with about 10 people, a homeless woman walked up and spit in the face of the young woman standing next to me. Cities are yuk. I walked around one afternoon in downtown SF. I went to 5 museums which were marked on the BART map. 4 were closed and one had an exclusive get-together. I could say good things about SF, as it is one of the best cities in the world, but it's still a city, ....with the masses of ugly crud that cities are about. The glass is half empty for me. Maybe when I'm in a rosier mood, the glass would look half full. I've walked around Singapore for several hours, 20 yrs ago: Ummm, it was ok.

[b17]

I like sunshine and I like sea. Singapore appears to me to have neither; nor anything else I want. I don't like "shopping" and I can find better food in many a place. A bit like others I live in a small town; has pretty well everything including a decent swimming pool. If I want sea I can be in Phuket or Samui in 3 hours and if struck by an insatiable need for Eau Sauvage or a new Gucci handbag in BKK in an hour. Lack of a decent bookshop is a bore but Kinokuniya deliver and I can live without Tate Modern and the V&A! Oh yes no skiiing. Air Asia to Japan? Cheaper than London Zurich. Decent house here 2M B, Decent Rental 10K B max....Garden full of Bee-Eaters today. Singapore? London? New York? Zurich?....I'll pass

Singapore is a tropical island, and somehow it appears to you to not have sunshine nor sea? I lived in Singapore for two decades, and I can confirm it has both sunshine and sea in abundance.

[Dustdevil]

Singapore as an Asian city-state means you have to have at least $10 million in you bank account to live in a detached or even semi-detached house. Everybody lives in apartments. Like Hong Kong.

[JHolmesJr]

Overpriced is a more appropriate word than expensive.

The entire country is controlled by landlords who ensure that prices keep rising.

Most businesses struggle to stay afloat and pass the cost on to customers.

Online shopping has killed orchard road....big brand boutiques are empty.

Food is unspectacular....quality of produce is awful and culinary skill absent apart from a few high end restaurants.

[Boon Mee]

Overpriced is a more appropriate word than expensive.

The entire country is controlled by landlords who ensure that prices keep rising.

Most businesses struggle to stay afloat and pass the cost on to customers.

Online shopping has killed orchard road....big brand boutiques are empty.

Food is unspectacular....quality of produce is awful and culinary skill absent apart from a few high end restaurants.

Food went to shit there after the Tanglin Car Park eateriies were done away with.

Regarding Bngkok having everything Singapore has minus a first-class casino...

[Ulysses G.]

The casinos are a relatively recent phenomena. I went there a lot before they existed and really enjoyed the place for a few days. Hotels were expensive in comparison to Thailand, but cheap compared to America or the UK. Beer is expensive, but mostly left it alone with no regrets.

[TheCruncher]

Singapore as an Asian city-state means you have to have at least $10 million in you bank account to live in a detached or even semi-detached house. Everybody lives in apartments. Like Hong Kong.

Finally someone who gets to the point. The cost of living isn't measured by the price of a Heineken or a bowl of rice, it's measured by the price of accommodation.

[JSixpack]

IMO, big cities tend to have better restaurants than small towns and also have lots of various cuisines. They also have lots more cultural events like concerts and plays. I'm living in a small town, right on the beach, but I miss San Francisco for food and other stuff.

But . . .

Legendary S.F. stripper Carol Doda dies at 78

Edited March 11, 2016 by JSixpack

[GOLDBUGGY]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

I certainly didn't find Singapore cheap when I was there and spent 3 weeks 2 years ago. Most things were very expensive and Cigarettes prices were outrageous. Food was great in most places but you also paid through the nose to eat a fine dinner. The only thing I didn't find too high was bus fares and alcohol, but back then I didn't drink too much or keep a close eyes on the tab when I did. Taxi's were too bad but almost impossible to find during rush hours.

Another oddity is that Singapore only allows a certain limit of new cars (or did when I was there). So unless you have special permission like a Taxi Driver, who can get a new car every couple of years, you go on a waiting list and can wait up to 10 years to get a new car. So as a result, the resale value of a used car is worth more than a new one. Imagine buying a Mercedes-Benz new and driving it for 2 years. Then selling it for a higher price than what you paid for it. Well this is what Taxi Drivers do and why most of the Taxis their are nice new cars.

Singapore was the only place I was ever at where most Taxi Drivers, who have been living there a long time, are Millionaires. Property Prices are through the roof on buying or renting. Cheap ones in not such a good area go for +$1 Million. Okay if you want to sell your property and retire here. Not so okay if you plan to live there. I am surprised there isn't more doing this though. But then if you are Asian and have close family ties, it is difficult to do I suppose.

[Ulysses G.]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

I certainly didn't find Singapore cheap when I was there and spent 3 weeks 2 years ago.

I guess it depends on how you live. I think of it more in terms of a Western city and watch where I go. There are really good food courts everywhere and they have cheap Chinese, Malaysian and Indian food for prices close to food courts in Thailand. I get bored of these places in Thailand because hey are mostly all the same cuisine. Between these and all the fast food places, I almost never want to go to an expensive restaurant.

I don't drink much anyway, so that is off limits as beer is quite expensive in bars.

I usually stay in the redlight area, not to taste the delights, but because nice, clean hotels are so safe and cheap. It is easy to use the subway to go anywhere for a reasonable price.

Yes, I have to watch where I go and what I do, but not much more than Bangkok.

[Jimbo]

Gold buggy...so much info is wrong in your post. Long waiting list for new cars? The only thing you need is money and buy the license to own the car. Cheap apartments in bad areas for 1 million? My friend just sold his nice hbd flat for just over 400k and its in a decent area.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Jimbo

[b17]

I don't believe this. I can visit Singapore and have a really good time for half of what it would cost in New York, San Francisco, London or Paris.

I certainly didn't find Singapore cheap when I was there and spent 3 weeks 2 years ago. Most things were very expensive and Cigarettes prices were outrageous. Food was great in most places but you also paid through the nose to eat a fine dinner. The only thing I didn't find too high was bus fares and alcohol, but back then I didn't drink too much or keep a close eyes on the tab when I did. Taxi's were too bad but almost impossible to find during rush hours.

Another oddity is that Singapore only allows a certain limit of new cars (or did when I was there). So unless you have special permission like a Taxi Driver, who can get a new car every couple of years, you go on a waiting list and can wait up to 10 years to get a new car. So as a result, the resale value of a used car is worth more than a new one. Imagine buying a Mercedes-Benz new and driving it for 2 years. Then selling it for a higher price than what you paid for it. Well this is what Taxi Drivers do and why most of the Taxis their are nice new cars.

Singapore was the only place I was ever at where most Taxi Drivers, who have been living there a long time, are Millionaires. Property Prices are through the roof on buying or renting. Cheap ones in not such a good area go for +$1 Million. Okay if you want to sell your property and retire here. Not so okay if you plan to live there. I am surprised there isn't more doing this though. But then if you are Asian and have close family ties, it is difficult to do I suppose.

Just to clarify, anyone can buy a new car at any time, as long as they have sufficient cash to pay the COE on the vehicle. There is no waiting list for cars, although you could easily wait ten years if you were unwilling to pay the additional COE amount that is added on to the purchase price of the vehicle. Resale values of used cars are almost NEVER higher than a new one- if they were, the resale market wouldn't exist.

Taxi drivers are not allowed to own their own vehicles - they are owned by Comfort, CityCab, etc and are upgraded every few years. The drivers pay a daily charge to the companies - typically, it takes them about 5 hours of driving to pay off the petrol and daily rental charge.

I am a close friend of a Singapore taxi driver, and I can assure you that 99% of taxi drivers are NOT millionaires. They live in HDB (public housing) flats and generally drive over ten hours a day to keep the larder stocked.

FYI, I lived in Singapore for over 21 years, and agree that most things are very expensive, save Hawker food.