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How is this authentic insights. You're not asking the right people. You're asking foreign labour, retiree and blue collar workers? The only white collar worker is not even answering your first question. If you were to search, medical dosimetrist pays around 8.7k SGD a month. This make me doubt those old videos you posted on your channel.
From my experience as an Australian who spent a lot of time In Singapore in the 80s, I think there is a large difference between the rich and poorer people. The people interviewed were realistic about their situations.
Just one example. Think about the car prices . It is the world most expensive place to own a car but average people are still buying . Many Singaporeans are not stupid financially either. This gives an indication of the wealth in Singapore in the average middle class
@@mabe-t9z why so pessimistic. we're comparing back then with today ? backthen got so much to brag about meh? got people doing fast food delivery in case ur hungry at 3am? got internet access to do online business? got mrt to connect people? polyclinic easily available everywhere? they're the ones building the foundation to what is today. without people doing bechak,without the mamak selling kacang,without the aunty selling tauhuey,fishermen fishing. they lived a hard and brutal life back then, and today they're living hard as well. due to our economy,everything being expensive compared to back in their day. the makcik simply lowered her expectations on things,unlike we people today. everyone wants a car,everyone wants a beautifully renovated house,with luxury branded furnitures such as proofliving,everyone wants luxury bags,luxury clothing,luxury timepieces etc. you comparing our generation with them? we skipped the heavy hands on part,already good enough. everything is accessible these days.. there's a malay saying ''baju ukur badan sendiri'' / ''wear clothes that fits your body'' which means, spend according to your means. your expectation should be reasonable to what you can afford.
Exactly. You can make a shat-tonne and still feel 'POOR' if you have lifestyle problem, gambling, spending LOL I know of a guy who slept out rough and homeless, digging supermart recycle bin for canned goods, showering in handicap washroom all while working, and manage to bounce back from homelessness, today being quite well established. 'Living within neccessity' as makcik put it, allows you to accumulate alot
@@aero.l Bob Marley had the best answer when asked if he was rich. "Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end."
In all honesty, I do feel rich. My net worth is more than 130 million. So if you think that a rich person would not feel rich. That is because you have not meet a truly rich one.
"Money, at the end of the day, is just a number." That makes for a good tagline, but is nothing more than an empty platitude for those living on or below the poverty line. It's a luxury belief to claim that money doesn't matter to people who can't afford basic necessities. The unemployed guy is a good dude. He's got the ability to think selflessly, even when he's financially struggling himself.
It just sound great, but not reasonable in actual life. Sometimes people forgot everything around them are there because of *money*. Clothes, shoes, phone, computer, foods, etc all require money. Money cannot buy time, health, happiness, etc is like an empty wise words.
I would say that the interviewer got people who were poor, and people who were 'middle-class'. For salaries above $7k/month is already upper-middle. Don't believe what media says, especially when they quote the average salary of Singaporean. Even one billionaire in a country will skew the average results and Singapore has a few dozen billionaires here.
Your title is misleading. You interviewed foreign worker and domestic worker. Those are not Singaporeans. Singapore's median income in 2023 is $5,197 hence 50% of Singaporeans earn more than 5K per month.
@@MrLoichinwestern countries have much higher tax rates. Australia's average pay is about 8k a month but after tax it's only 5-6k, comparable to SG's.
They should have interviewed some middle age people working in the financial and high tech industries too. Obviously the people interviewed are mostly around or below average pay. The title says to find out if Singaporeans feel rich, so they should interview people from different social economic backgrounds to have more balanced views. Actually in any country, there are rich and poor people depending on who you ask. Rich/poor is also relative. A person earning $5k a month may be considered rich in some countries but just average in Singapore.
As a Singaporean, I feel privilege, but thats not to say there isnt any issue in Singapore. Things are getting really expensive and it is hard for younger generation to live in. Could be said the same for other countries too.
"Expensive" is relative. When I first came to SG to work 25 years ago, my salary was SGD1.2k. Cant afford car, phone, travel or eating at McD. But I thought I was doing well.
All Singaporeans are rich enough to have security, clean streets, clean water and good education and transport. Things that are normalised here and taken for granted but are luxury elsewhere. A rich kid argues that the money belongs to his parents, but he's living in a big house and getting all the fancy stuff. A rich Singaporean argues that the money is not his, but he's getting all the stuff paid for by the government. Even if you ask condo and car owners, they will say they are not rich because they can't fly first class all the time. It's perspective.
There are quite a number of Singaporean interviewees in this video, despite negative comments here stating that majority being interviewed are non singaporeans. Thank you for posting, Asian Boss!
Wrong place and wrong time! Not saying all Singaporeans are rich but you're interviewing elderly Singaporeans, and blue-collar foreign workers in one of the less 'rich' and old neighbourhoods. Moreover, you are doing this interview during what seems to be office hours during a weekday, if this is a weekend, it will be crowded, which means all the non 'jobless' people are all at work. Try interviewing Singaporeans in the CBD area to get a wider perspective. Come on Asian Boss do better.
"Go to the rich areas and there will be more rich people". The interviewed people live in Singapore, their voices are no less important when trying to find a consensus.
@@limkimyaw8980 Not sure if you are able to comprehend what I wrote. What’s the objective of asking jobless people, domestic helpers if they feel rich?
As expected, realistic thoughts from Singaporeans...lol. I hate how the media also portray Singapore as the city with all the wealthy people. The everyday struggles are real but we will just need to learn to manage and find simple pleasures in life within our means.
Asian Boss, if you interviewed people in Orchard rd (mostly tourists or youngsters), heartlands (mostly retirees, domestic helpers, construction workers), CBD (mostly PMET). Why not try interviewing at supermarkets/cafes in River Valley/Bukit Timah/Grange/Cairnhill, as well as Country clubs, I believe it will be interesting.
This was a very interesting and informative video. It just goes to show that many people all over the world are having similar economic woes and have to find ways to meet their needs. It is also interesting to see the misinformation that we receive from media and/or entertainment. The grass isn't always greener
In the first place, no locals or even the government said Singaporean are very rich. It is the foreign media who labeled us that, due to the high GDP and strong currency.
High GPD per capita is the measure used to indicate whether a country is rich or not. It is not a measure of any individual. It is a measure of the whole country. High GDP per capita means the country is rich. This statistic doesn't tell you how inequality there is, or how poor the poorest people are in the given country.
I am saddened to see so many Singaporeans and foreign workers could not cope with the high cost of living here. I like this video, interviewed, and obtained direct feedback from ordinary citizens. I hope our Grassroots people and MPs go to the ground and get direct feedback from the hdb residents and others. I hope they can get feedback from retirees and those who are unable to work due to unforeseen circumstances, etc.
Singapore as a country is definitely rich there is no doubt about that. Even though you are not rich in sg, you still have a roof over your head and affordable hawker food so that you wont starve to death. Other asian countries you see homeless people more than in sg and people still want to complain?
You're right. Its all about being content. I think the average Singaporean is definitely "richer" than most already(especially within SEA region). At least there's a roof above their heads and no need to starve. Most people can even afford travelling overseas for holiday once a year.
I always love Asian Boss content but this video makes me doubt the authencity o Asian Boss interviews of other countries. Not sure what this is trying to achieve, most interviewees are either non Singaporeans or are people who doesnt reflect the regular Singaporeans. I thought it should have been even well thought through, felt like its really misleading, and as a Singaporean i really don't feel represented here, while the video title says otherwise. I think Asian Boss should be fair to Singaporeans and continue to be authentic to all its audiences. Simply interviewing anyone who accepts your interview within a poor neighbourhood is clearly lazy work...
I’m Thai , earning 200K THB a month from working in Japanese based company in Thailand. A bit surprise because as far as I know Singaporean people get at least 100K THB to cover monthly cost of living in Singapore.
Beyond per capita income = 1) Purchasing power parity is a really important concept that most people need to understand. 2) Infrastructure is important such as good quality of road, public transport, good hospitals, etc. 3) Effective and efficient government. 4) Social order, ethnic harmony, safety, low crime rate, society free from drugs, etc. 5) Negative externalities such as pollution, noise, traffic congestion, trash in public places, etc are minimized.
interesting...I agree w/social order. Freedom,rights are important. We arent subjects of gov to hav 1 law 4 us,1 for gov. But Everyday protest unrest imo wud wreck havoc on the economy. Since uncertainty due to protests and opposition to gov wud make investors scared,so ppl will flee the country and soon whole cycle of flow of money cud collapse.
Singaporeans have financial troubles of their own. Much like any other person from an Asian country. It's fascinating to hear their insights. They're somehow informative.
They didn't interview people working in financial and high tech industries, or those who live in condos driving BMW/Porsche. The people interviewed are mostly on below average pay.
@@busybee5156 not many but Singapore’s typical salary is not as low as this video portrayed to be. What I meant is that any society has low and high income earners but those may not be typical. This video’s title says they were there to find out if Singaporeans feel rich, yet they interviewed mostly low income groups. They should have interviewed people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to have more balanced view. In my opinion, most Singapores are neither rich nor poor. They have a relatively good living standard but not luxurious lifestyle.
SG is expensive in house, food and transportation. If you are migrant workers. It is pay to pay check. No much you can save. But if you are in bank, finance, accounting, tech, Ai etc, you can get 10k and above. You need average of 5-6k for easy life. SG government are very smart people that can tied you down by asking you to get married and settle down policy, so you are grounded . Btw, SG is like a big steel cage that housed the people to work non stop.
I'm a regular office worker in Singapore working a 9-6. My partner and I are dual-income with no kids (right smack in the middle class). The cost of living day-to-day is actually manageable (hawker food is cheap, don't splurge on buying branded goods, don't take taxis/grab everywhere etc). However, car is pretty much a pipe dream if you want to have kids, and as middle class citizens (we earn slightly more than the average couple), we can barely afford a house (resale public housing in a convenient neighbourhood can cost 800k-1 mil). The rich are rich rich, but as a middle class person - no we don't feel rich haha. I'm already fairly well-off compared to my peers - there are plenty of families who are really struggling day-to-day. Singaporeans aren't rich by default 😂
I feel like the individuals that were interviewed are mostly not Sporeans, or are seniors who are obviously not working anymore. Maybe to get a better picture of the situation, you should interview a more diverse group of people?
They chose a very heartland neighbourhood area, which tend to be mostly service staff in F&B and retail which have compartively lower income; students or retirees. If they chose places closer in town, the demographics would be different. Ideally they should interview people from different regions, to get a more balanced view of things.
Wear nice clothes, drive sports car, going to nice restaurants DOESNT mean that the person is rich. People really need to get educated. On the contrary, wearing simple clothes, taking bus, eating at hawker doesn’t mean that the person is poor. People who think this way tend to chase material wealth which is the reason why they remain poor! Maximize your income, save diligently, learn to invest for the long term will make anyone wealthy in the long run!
Maybe not rich rich. But having a sports car, nice clothes, big home means you have acces to disposable income that goes towards luxuries that poor people don't have. Like that one guy said. Money is just numbers. You can be poor because you lack money but you can be rich if you have good health, a family that takes care of you and not to worry about starving to death. It's all relative.
I was middle management 20 years ago getting $4K /mth went to UK for meeting, exchange rate was 1 GBP to 3 SGD. The office clerk is getting £2K per month and was higher paid than me. At that time I also thought everyone in UK is very rich.
old man and old women took my heart.....they are so mature even though they earn less or retired...old women is saying i'm rich bcoz i'm not taking from others...and retired old man is saying we should donate to needy peoples like in gaza...salute to them.
As someone who know about the property market, I can share a bit of info about the prices between the rich and the normal people. A 100sqm public flat with 3 bedroom in a normal location will cost S$550K to S$850K. Compare this to a private condo S$2M or more. For the ultra rich, his condominium may cost S$20M to S$70M depending on the size and location. A house with 40,000 sq feet land will cost S$80M and above depending on location.
In this generation, truly wealthy individuals don't drive luxury cars or wear flashy attire to avoid attracting attention from potential thieves. In Malay culture, being content is seen as being wealthy, and it's considered essential for finding happiness in life. Their feeling of not being rich means they're striving to generate more wealth for themselves and Singapore.
There's a difference between the country being rich and the people being rich... But personally i feel locals aren't that poor as compared to other counter parts in the region. Definitely stressful living in an expensive city
i found this topic that the interviewer who asking the questing is very positive, he is able to find the inner concern of the interviewees, and bring up some true positive answers that inspire people, enjoyed.
Half of the interviewees are not singaporeans, another 3 are elderly (retirees). And a 3 bdrm public housing flat (HDB) only cost less than 400k, only the rich ones will buy a private housing flat (condo) that cost more than 1mil. The channel does not do fact checks properly and their selection of interviewees has dropped so much in standard that street interviews are no longer reliable source of info.
Domestic helpers -let’s be clear. They do not have to pay for housing, utility bills, medical checkups, or their meals. Even thought their cash salaries can be low, it’s not taxed.
Thank you. This video made me know that Singapore is not as wealthy as I imagined, or that not everyone is as wealthy. Before this, because I saw the per capita GDP data, I always thought that the annual salary of Singaporeans could reach US$50,000, so the monthly should be 4000 and above.
@@jacquuelinesimpson191 Nothing to disagree with. Data is true. It just means that you and your friends are just bottom 50% of Singaporeans income earners. Simple as that.
Would @Asian Boss do a feature about the massive numbers of self-professed "Property Gurus" who speculate in Properties under the guise of 'Investment" ?,... The Whole Society here seems to be drunk on Properties, prices pushed up to the extent that everyone in Society pays for the Profits of Land Lords,... Thank You
As someone that has lived in multiple countries, Singapore has been by far the easiest to live in in terms of affordability. Tax is low, food can be very cheap, and wages are high compared to the other places I've lived. Singapore is expensive if you want to buy a car and send your kids to international schools. Neither of those is needed though.
The very fact that you’ve lived in multiple countries show you’re at the very least from the upper middle class… I wonder if your view is representative of the average s’porean.
@@squishypillow3162 I'm from your average background. Originally from New Zealand where salaries are lower, taxes are higher, and costs are higher than SG. Spent a couple of years after university working on a graduate salary in the UK (again, cost of living was far higher there). Spent a year in Australia (again, cost of living was higher there). Later moved to Singapore - food costs are lower, salaries are higher than those places (maybe with the exception of AU), and tax is low. Most studies literally state that Singapore is expensive if you send your kids to international schools, want to buy a car, and live a life of luxury. Most Singaporeans don't send their kids to international schools, and a car isn't needed here. Furthermore there are a lot of deductions on costs and other benefits for locals. Singapore is a great place.
I would also add that housing is not as expensive as some like think (especially with the benefits of CPF). To put things into perspective, one of my friends back home took a $1 million mortgage for a first home (essentially the bare minimum on what you need to take out since there is no BTO option). Due to interest rate changes, the interest payments alone are $60,000 per year. Essentially his wife's salary can only pay the interest, and doesn't even hit the principal.
As a Singaporean (student) myself, I don't feel rich nor poor. Just privileged and right. Rich for me is having a roof over your head, having to eat 3x+ a day, having variety of clothes to wear.. With the crisis of inflation rate rapidly increasing nowadays, you need to atleast earn more than SGD7k to live comfortably and own a studio type condo unit. But in my perspective we own a house, and my parents earn i say above middle class-? Anyway Thank you Asian boss for featuring and interviewing minimum wage earners and we truly get to learn alot from this video.
Asian boss used to really get the on the ground interviews. This feels misleading bcos they're trying to suit their narrative so select particular candidates. Do better asian boss!
Not a balanced interview, Asian Boss. I assume you went to a housing estate during a weekday so you only find people on shift work or are retired. Some of these people like the lady in the thumbnail aren't even Singaporean. It would have been a more robust interview if you included a place like Raffles Place to show those in the middle and higher tax bracket. Then you'll be showing the complexity of the situation. Disappointing.
What is wealth? For most Singaporeans, wealth is money. Most of those interviewed, they viewed being rich as being materially wealthy. But wealth is more than just being rich materially. For some who are super rich, they’d think they are poor because of their high maintenance lifestyle. For that malay auntie, she thinks she is rich because she is living for her needs, not her wants. There are people who are rich but they don't show it. They just wear simple clothes and slippers. They dun have a room full of luxurious goods and all that. They probably dun even own a car. They just take grab. There are super rich people out there that are not happy with themselves. They are usually very crunchy and would snap at you if you cross their paths. And there are also rich people who likes to steal things. So what if you are rich when you have poor attitude? I feel that the aunite in that interview is rich just because she is very contented and grateful for all the she has. She is willing to help others, like the older gentleman who is retired. What’s the point of being rich if you keep all to yourselves and your own family only? Have you done anything for others? At the end of the day, there are different kinds of richness. Doing something meaningful for others is also a kind of richness. Being selfless and helpful at work is also a kind of richness. Being kind to your own body by not drinking or smoking is also a kind of wealth because you dun waste mony buying things that dun give your body any benefit. As for me, I do feel rich, not in the material sense but on the spiritual level because i meditate daily. I am healthy because I take care of my body by exercising and and eating wisely. If one does not know how to manage one’s wealth properly, if one does not know how to save for rainy days, buying expensive stuff just to show off, then what’s the point of being materially wealthy? Managing wealth is a skill-set that most people don’t know because they never teach you in schools. There are many ways of being rich, not just materially. If you are selfless, helpful, kind to your own body, manage your wealth well, meditate and pray, live a meaningful life,, wouldn't that be considered as being rich? For most people, they may never see it this way.
Let me give you the real definition of rich. Rich is you have enough money to not work a job ever again. To retire your mom and dad. To do what you want and afford a new car each month if you want to. That is rich and there are such people in every country, mainland china, singapore, korea, etc. Those are the families with the kids coming to USA as international students going to top school buying ferrari just for the fun of it. That is rich. Everything else is just cope. Not to offend anyone but that is cope. Hell even I see my own parents cope like that because they are poor. That’s why I do my own business now and to be rich soon… RICH IS MONEY,
@@HipHopTheme, well, at least to you, rich is money, but not to others. Because when you die, you go empty handed. You leave everything here. You can't bring anything with you except who you are when you were a person. If you, and only if you believe there is a God, He or She will not give a deem of how many millions you have made when you were on earth. He will only be interested of what you have done for humanity while you were here. What have you done for your spiritual growth when you were here. That is the real wealth. So in the end, material wealth is just an empty shell. Yes, you can buy whatever you want, but in reality, you are still a beggar in your heart. Look at Putin, is he not rich? But was he satisfied? No. This is only for people who believe in something intangible, but if you dun believe, then you will not take this seriously. But sooner or later, you will see that it will still applies to you, whether you like it or not. You will find out when that time comes. For now, you can disbelieve in whatever you want.
@@64ytb To me, to be rich is through the hardship that god has tested me, to get to the point, to have wealth to give back. I will not have much to say but I understand it is all perspective. As long as you are at peace in life, I am happy for you :)
@@HipHopTheme, If one so desires, God may fulfill one's dream of becoming rich. But the ultimate happiness comes from fulfilling God's Will. If God wants you to be rich so that He can use you to do something good for the world, then being rich could be a blessing. Otherwise, it could be a curse in disguise even if one earns it through hardship.
Singapore is a very rich country. There are many rich people in Singapore. But not everyone in Singapore is rich. 400,000 Malaysians travel daily to Singapore to work. And Malaysia is not a poor country.
Sorry but... half the people you interviewed seems to be immigrant workers rather than Singaporeans... I understand its hard to find people to interview, but the context is changed So it would be more accurate to rename this to "Do people living in Singapore Feel Rich?"
3:32 public healthcare system for the average singaporean citizen is so heavily subsidised for the quality of healthcare that is provided. if you have to get sick, singapore is one of best places to be sick in, especially around southeast asia. that is of course excluding the super rich who are looking for top tier healthcare for rare illnesses, then they would probably be better off in other countries in the west. kinda weird for someone working in the medical field to be making such a comment.
There's free universal healthcare in the west, meaning public healthcare is all paid by the government. Poor families are like what the chef said, poor parents, poor child, poor girlfriend probably too. So, there's little to no savings.
I come from a wealthy family and always assumed Singaporeans were rich, this is definitely not the case. We're "rich" relative to our peer countries, I mean we all have housing, proper education, healthcare etc compared to them. (I studied at Indonesia and their healthcare is horrible compared to Singapore's). But the problem is that within Singapore itself, not alot of us actually make that much, with everything being expensive as well as the general culture of wanting luxury goods (When i studied at Indonesia, none of the rich kids there actually bought luxury goods, but here in Singapore alot of people disregarding their status like to spend on luxuries.) It rlly makes it seem like we want to be rich (or at least feel like it) rather than we're actually rich.
To be rich in Singapore means you no longer live in government-subsidised public housing. You live in your own private property and can afford many choices - one day you can choose to eat at hawker centres and another day you can choose to eat at a Michelin restaurant or have meals whipped up by private chefs in your equally rich friends’ homes in Nassim or Ridout. You can also travel to far away places on business class and ski at the best resorts. Remember, 80% of Singaporeans are not like that.
@@josephinejosephine8776 Actually, a lot of people living in Ridout or Nassim, will cook themselves, it's the intimacy and strong work ethic they prioritise. They fly business class and do go skiing is true.
Some rich people want to stay low key, don't draw unnecessary attention to themselves. Dress simple and neat, fly under the radar, only have sincere pple around. Some people like nice cars, some nice clothes or jewellery, all that. Some like to grow money so make sense to multiply it more, they feel accomplished.
You need to interview those car owners for the set who earn much more than this group. Cars are extremely expansive here, usually they earn a lot more.
I wouldn’t say that cars are expansive here. In fact, smaller vehicles like hatchbacks are very popular. I have hardly seen expansive vehicles like monster trucks or limousines.
Wow ! Singapore is not flashy as it appears to be . Earning below 2k a month That’s just pocket money That’s harsh life to live. Thanks for sharing! Good information video . Liked n subscribed
This is the neighborhood I grew up in, generally I think we’re all regular people. If you are just talking about Serangoon and decided to go to Serangoon Garden Circus, that is where you will find the rich people for this area.
as an outsider I was shock when I saw their salary, at the same time i thought it must be the gap between rich and poor is really wider right, the inequality income. how can ppl survive with $900 SGD or under $2k in a high living costs country, right, that salary even can't survive in China, no way
The title is misleading. Some of those are not Singaporeans. The guy and lady earning 800 is a foreign worker(likely to be from Bangladesh) and the lady is a domestic worker. Accommodation and food is usually provided for their line of work and they'll send back home a large portion of their salary to their family members in their home country.
@@Pigeonbmit takes just a quick google to find out "上海人社局公布本市2021年度全口径城镇单位就业人员平均工资为每月11396元", that is 11k RMB per month for average worker in Shanghai in 2021. There are some migrants from country side in Shanghai on minimum wages so the actual average wage will be lower than 11k, but RMB 6-7k is a bit far from fact.
Private universities aren't expensive. In 2016, my total tuition fee is 21k. I saved my pocket money since young and 2 years of national service allowance. By the time I start school, I can already pay off everything. Fyi I'm from a low income family
Thanks for the video, it was interesting :) I think it would also be beneficial to gather varied viewpoints by visiting different areas of Singapore to pose the same inquiries. Consider venturing into the Central Business District to engage with the working population there. The timing of your question is also crucial-ideally, it should not coincide with weekday working hours, as it appears to have been the case during the interview.
As a singaporean, i would say most of us are not "rich". but rich is a varied concept amongst people. Some pple may think pple who can afford to drink milo every day are rich Some may think that pple who can afford a luxury watch/bag are rich Some may think that pple who can afford a car are rich Some may think that pple who can affford a private jet are rich While some just want to live normally. Really depends on the concept of your "rich" This cannot be easily quantified as some pple like to live in their own means / simpler life (as long as u dont get a critical illness, of cos) Some like to be "rich" in experiences (but that usually takes $ also, tbh) Singapore in general is not a super expensive place to live in as long as you dont aspire to own a big/fast/expensive car and a big/expensive house. That said, costs are generally rising , esp. with housing prices. and salaries rates dont go up as fast as inflation. There is always a balance with things and how you would like to live your life. if u want something, you will just have to work hard for it, its as simple as that.
Inflation is a huge factor that is affecting not just Singapore but globally. Singapore has always been a global business hub for multinational companies and it is not surprising that we are in a global recession, even companies in Singapore is not creating jobs like they used to. However, there are still a few sectors that would create more jobs and provide more stability and those are in AI and renewable energy sector. In Singapore, you don't only just need to be lucky, but you need to work really hard to make a comfortable living. Rich is determine by one's mindset, you can be really happy being poor and you can also being happy being in the middle income. Live the life where you can sustain, don't chase for meaningless stuff that are liabilities in life rather than having an asset. Continue to upskill yourself, be creative, be bold in your dreams and fight hard. We are going to be the next Hong Kong where property prices starts rising and we have to constantly remind ourselves we are a land with no natural resources and the only driving force are the citizens.
I would say generally Singaporean are asset rich but may not be cash rich. The reason I say this is that their property is very expensive so a BIG chuck of their wealth is stuck in property.
This is probably true for most countries with comparable per capita GDP to Singapore. As far as I know, Australia and New Zealand people's assets are mostly their homes too. It appears so in Canada and some US states too. Pretty much all big cities are the same.
I earn a median Singaporean salary, which is easily top 20% income in neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand. I own an apartment which could have bought me a bungalow in those countries I mentioned. But I am constantly stressed out due to high expenses and work competition. I travel in crowded bus/train because a car is too expensive. That is the price of living in Singapore I guess; you are not dead but not rich either.
For Singaporeans if you have a fully paid HDB that you can rent out for 3k-4k a month husband and wife can retire in bali comfortably, rent a nice villa in canggu for 15-20k a year only come back to SG for medical checkup and make full use of your medisave, the question is how many of Singaporeans have a fully paid HDB before the government enblock your flat need to relocate to a smaller unit plus can't rent out for the first few years.😅
Actually , I would say this interview doesn’t paint the full correct picture of Singapore. Likewise, crazy rich Asians don’t paint an accurate picture as well.
I think there are alots of Singaporeans that are rich. Look at the TS concerts, yes, there are fans from overseas, there are also lots Singaporean fans. Next, did you visit the Natas event in last weekend held at Expo? The Northern Light packages were being snap up in minutes with pricing increasing on the spot. The cost per pax is 5.5K ~ 8K depending on which agencies you sign with. Just these 2 events, we can see that Singaporean are rich.....
East Asians(Han Chinese Mostly) are usually the richest and wealthiest in Singapore And Malaysia with South East Asians(Mostly Malays also called Malaysians) And Desis also named South Asians(Mainly Indians) are usually on the more mid, poorer, broker, and homeless sides yeah.
"Over the decade, median household income from work also rose across the board for all ethnic groups. In nominal terms, the 2020 figures were $7,972 for Chinese, $5,704 for Malays and $8,500 for Indians." - Straits Times article titled "Rising household incomes, more working couples in Singapore over past decade: Census", Jun 19, 2021 Stats from 2020 show that Indians are the richest. I cannot find anything more current to contradict that.
So loud and wrong and for what??? Traditionally speaking, the Chinese-Singaporeans and Indian-Singaporeans have been better off compared to the Malay-Singaporeans but your analysis is so wrong. I see you everywhere saying these types of things and you're an Indian-American. 💀
Self hating Indian-American, constantly trying to fish for compliments and pity. Malaysian is a nationality, not an ethnicity. Don't know anything about Singapore or Malaysia? Then don't talk!
This is also the reason for the low birth rates here. The high cost of living directly affects the birth rates directly. The media likes to paint a rosy picture and it's not realistic.
I am from Vietnam. It's not easy to live here, though, but of course, it's not as hard as it is in Singapore. I also visited Singapore many times and I see you have to be very excellent or lucky to be rich in Singapore. In Vietnam, I have an understandable or intermediate English level, and I can earn 3 times more than average people, while many people in the video showed a very sharpened English level and still struggle living in Singapore.
The dude in the maroon tee is insightful, you gotta navigate through to earn great knowledge and perhaps good incomes to live in singapore. Finding the meaning of life is far better than getting rich. If you are that hard work and dedicated if not it's okay to live and help others if you can
no matter how rich they are but stressfull & hardworking make earn money,salary payment/wages,pension & money won't buy happines but beside bring others happines
For more authentic insights like this from Asia, you can watch some of our exclusive videos not available on RUclips for free here: asianboss.io/yt/123-exclusivevideos
kolea is the rich no1 in the world 🌎
This is an interesting question, but the interviewees do not represent the majority of Singaporeans, and even includes non-Singaporeans.
How is this authentic insights. You're not asking the right people. You're asking foreign labour, retiree and blue collar workers? The only white collar worker is not even answering your first question. If you were to search, medical dosimetrist pays around 8.7k SGD a month. This make me doubt those old videos you posted on your channel.
This isn't authentic insights at all. Please in the weekends, town areas + neighbourhood places to get a more indept insights.
From my experience as an Australian who spent a lot of time In Singapore in the 80s, I think there is a large difference between the rich and poorer people. The people interviewed were realistic about their situations.
You think your experience in the 80s is relevant? From my experience, Australia was damn racist in the 80s.
@@aero.l and what makes you think your 80s experience in aus would matter (based on what you are saying)
Just one example. Think about the car prices . It is the world most expensive place to own a car but average people are still buying . Many Singaporeans are not stupid financially either. This gives an indication of the wealth in Singapore in the average middle class
Well if you do business as any nationality or even a Singaporean it will be quite easy I will say or even crypto
@@HangHangTweeI think he is trying to say Singapore in 80s and now are different
3:14 makcik knows the answer. very wise.
Makcik probably pioneer gen so gets plenty of handouts from gahmen. No need to worry. Also got cheap flat from 40yrs ago. Lucky her.
@@mabe-t9z why so pessimistic. we're comparing back then with today ?
backthen got so much to brag about meh?
got people doing fast food delivery in case ur hungry at 3am? got internet access to do online business?
got mrt to connect people? polyclinic easily available everywhere?
they're the ones building the foundation to what is today.
without people doing bechak,without the mamak selling kacang,without the aunty selling tauhuey,fishermen fishing.
they lived a hard and brutal life back then, and today they're living hard as well. due to our economy,everything being expensive compared to back in their day.
the makcik simply lowered her expectations on things,unlike we people today. everyone wants a car,everyone wants a beautifully renovated house,with luxury branded furnitures such as proofliving,everyone wants luxury bags,luxury clothing,luxury timepieces etc.
you comparing our generation with them? we skipped the heavy hands on part,already good enough.
everything is accessible these days..
there's a malay saying ''baju ukur badan sendiri'' / ''wear clothes that fits your body''
which means, spend according to your means. your expectation should be reasonable to what you can afford.
Exactly. You can make a shat-tonne and still feel 'POOR' if you have lifestyle problem, gambling, spending LOL I know of a guy who slept out rough and homeless, digging supermart recycle bin for canned goods, showering in handicap washroom all while working, and manage to bounce back from homelessness, today being quite well established. 'Living within neccessity' as makcik put it, allows you to accumulate alot
Macik ❤!
I like the elderly lady being interviewed
She is rich in her heart
She has a heart of gold
I don't think even a rich person anywhere would feel rich. They'd always want more.
lifestyle creep, that's the crux.
Asking people whether they feel rich is bloody silly.
@@aero.l Bob Marley had the best answer when asked if he was rich. "Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end."
In all honesty, I do feel rich. My net worth is more than 130 million. So if you think that a rich person would not feel rich. That is because you have not meet a truly rich one.
#truth
"Money, at the end of the day, is just a number." That makes for a good tagline, but is nothing more than an empty platitude for those living on or below the poverty line. It's a luxury belief to claim that money doesn't matter to people who can't afford basic necessities.
The unemployed guy is a good dude. He's got the ability to think selflessly, even when he's financially struggling himself.
It just sound great, but not reasonable in actual life. Sometimes people forgot everything around them are there because of *money*. Clothes, shoes, phone, computer, foods, etc all require money. Money cannot buy time, health, happiness, etc is like an empty wise words.
Money is small nos? Without money you still want go live ovesea? Hahaha what a kid .....$5000 salary for him enough ? Unless he lives alone
No money you die fast without expensive medicines. Without money your mood stressful.. simple ..
money is never just a number the guy watched too many movies and read too much philosophy.
Money at the end of the day, is just a paper. Is the correct term lol.
The title should be 'Asking poor people wether they feel rich in Singapore"
😂😂😂😂😂
Exactly
Agree
I would say that the interviewer got people who were poor, and people who were 'middle-class'. For salaries above $7k/month is already upper-middle. Don't believe what media says, especially when they quote the average salary of Singaporean. Even one billionaire in a country will skew the average results and Singapore has a few dozen billionaires here.
@@edd8460 There's something called median salary, not average. Do check that out
Your title is misleading. You interviewed foreign worker and domestic worker. Those are not Singaporeans. Singapore's median income in 2023 is $5,197 hence 50% of Singaporeans earn more than 5K per month.
your $5k average income in singapore is considered close to minimum wage in all other developed countries inclucing OECD / G20
They live in Singapore too and have to bear the same cost of living, why is this misleading?
@FatassFromSingapore because the title said Singaporeans.
@@MrLoichinwestern countries have much higher tax rates. Australia's average pay is about 8k a month but after tax it's only 5-6k, comparable to SG's.
They should have interviewed some middle age people working in the financial and high tech industries too. Obviously the people interviewed are mostly around or below average pay. The title says to find out if Singaporeans feel rich, so they should interview people from different social economic backgrounds to have more balanced views. Actually in any country, there are rich and poor people depending on who you ask. Rich/poor is also relative. A person earning $5k a month may be considered rich in some countries but just average in Singapore.
As Singaporeans,I feel rich when going overseas.True hard facts bro.Nice video.Upz
How? One SGD is only 74 cents USD! 50,000 is the average in the United States seems Singapore is not as rich as it states!
I totally understand you. Singapore is surrounded by low-cost countries and a weekend trip abroad could make you feel very rich!
@@MrRight-v2sthe US is not the only country outside of singapore you know 🤦♂️
Living inside Singapore, we don't feel rich. Living in some of our neighbor countries, we can feel a little bit rich.
And trust me, the Singaporean behaviour shows.
As a Singaporean, I feel privilege, but thats not to say there isnt any issue in Singapore. Things are getting really expensive and it is hard for younger generation to live in. Could be said the same for other countries too.
新加坡称得上富裕国家。该国的GDP(国民人均收入)远远超过我国日本了。贫富差距没有美国悬殊。街上看不到无家可归的游民､乞丐什么的。因此街头干净，治安良好。可是竞争社会里难免工作压力很大吧。这点跟韩国一样
"Expensive" is relative. When I first came to SG to work 25 years ago, my salary was SGD1.2k. Cant afford car, phone, travel or eating at McD. But I thought I was doing well.
How much money is required to stay in Singapore
我是韩国人住了新加坡10年多了 新加坡各个普通人的能力超级差 没有竞争力所以外国人有很多机会挣大钱 就是因为新加坡政府没有political corruption 所以新加坡有现在的发达 好幸亏的国家。 国家的位置又讲英文中文
@@riteshvs4949 they have boats for rent at 25,000 a month and they weren't yahts.
All Singaporeans are rich enough to have security, clean streets, clean water and good education and transport. Things that are normalised here and taken for granted but are luxury elsewhere.
A rich kid argues that the money belongs to his parents, but he's living in a big house and getting all the fancy stuff. A rich Singaporean argues that the money is not his, but he's getting all the stuff paid for by the government.
Even if you ask condo and car owners, they will say they are not rich because they can't fly first class all the time.
It's perspective.
Very good comments. As a Singaporean , I agree with what u said.
Wow, love that comment. Especially I just travelled here and I came from a poor country :)
Basically, citizens work hard for their Gov. And only the country is rich, not people.
0:53 I can’t believe this woman is domestic worker. She speaks so well, I would have thought she’s in some management level at a big company.
believe it or not there are a lot of well spoken helper in singapore.
There are quite a number of Singaporean interviewees in this video, despite negative comments here stating that majority being interviewed are non singaporeans. Thank you for posting, Asian Boss!
With a title stating its singaporeans opinions, there shouldn't even be non- singaporeans interviewed
Then what exactly is a Singaporean? what they look like?
Singaporeans are not foreigners from the Philippines and Bangladesh....?
Most interviewees gave a lot of realistic insights and that domestic helper lady is so gorgeous!
The pool you guys interviewed idt is representative of all ages. Probably missing out 30-45 years old Singaporean who are in the prime earning times
the medical dosometrist is probably in that age group but just didn’t reveal her salary
Wrong place and wrong time! Not saying all Singaporeans are rich but you're interviewing elderly Singaporeans, and blue-collar foreign workers in one of the less 'rich' and old neighbourhoods. Moreover, you are doing this interview during what seems to be office hours during a weekday, if this is a weekend, it will be crowded, which means all the non 'jobless' people are all at work. Try interviewing Singaporeans in the CBD area to get a wider perspective. Come on Asian Boss do better.
I think CBD people too busy hustling to want to stop for interview xD
"Go to the rich areas and there will be more rich people". The interviewed people live in Singapore, their voices are no less important when trying to find a consensus.
Nothing wrong with the video. You can't accept the reality of the real Singapore ?
@@limkimyaw8980 Not sure if you are able to comprehend what I wrote. What’s the objective of asking jobless people, domestic helpers if they feel rich?
@@DanSurprise There is only one helper and one jobless guy in the video. The rest are working class people.
As expected, realistic thoughts from Singaporeans...lol. I hate how the media also portray Singapore as the city with all the wealthy people. The everyday struggles are real but we will just need to learn to manage and find simple pleasures in life within our means.
The foreign domestic worker speaks better English than Singaporeans. She could surely get a higher paying job if she's local.
Much agree, her spoken English is so fluent could land her a good job. On a side note, she is pretty looking too
i wonder where she is from
That domestic helper could be university graduate. Yes, she is pretty and well dressed too.
those who speaks English well are from Philippines. Most of them hold a degree@@unnecessary982
I would like to hire her for sure :)
Most Singkies feel rich only when they are in other countries. Singapore dollar is very strong.
But your attitude really shows. We can tell you are not rich in your own country.
@@GeorgiaAndrea Yeap I am not rich in my own country. You have a problem with poor people saying Singkies feel rich when they are abroad?
I love this 😭 I hope every single person in this video reaches their dreams and lives happy lives and achieves their goals
Macik has the best attitude
The irony when the domestic helper is the best dressed of the lot....
once a week can go out, dont tell me you also wanna wear ur tshirt . as if wearing tshirt 6 days a week is not enough
maybe her family lives in another country...
so cheaper expenses.
If she lives with employers....0 rent i suppose.
Why is it ironic? They were all fairly low paid.
To get PR la...
philipine wat
Asian Boss, if you interviewed people in Orchard rd (mostly tourists or youngsters), heartlands (mostly retirees, domestic helpers, construction workers), CBD (mostly PMET). Why not try interviewing at supermarkets/cafes in River Valley/Bukit Timah/Grange/Cairnhill, as well as Country clubs, I believe it will be interesting.
I totally agree. Someone would say 10K is their monthly expenditure on food and spa.
A truly rich person is one who is helping the poor and needy even though that person is not financially impressive.
This was a very interesting and informative video. It just goes to show that many people all over the world are having similar economic woes and have to find ways to meet their needs. It is also interesting to see the misinformation that we receive from media and/or entertainment. The grass isn't always greener
In the first place, no locals or even the government said Singaporean are very rich. It is the foreign media who labeled us that, due to the high GDP and strong currency.
High GPD per capita is the measure used to indicate whether a country is rich or not. It is not a measure of any individual. It is a measure of the whole country. High GDP per capita means the country is rich. This statistic doesn't tell you how inequality there is, or how poor the poorest people are in the given country.
I am saddened to see so many Singaporeans and foreign workers could not cope with the high cost of living here. I like this video, interviewed, and obtained direct feedback from ordinary citizens. I hope our Grassroots people and MPs go to the ground and get direct feedback from the hdb residents and others. I hope they can get feedback from retirees and those who are unable to work due to unforeseen circumstances, etc.
Thank you for bringing the real voice to the world. A country with Press Freedom Index of 129 (in 2023), many of our voices are silenced.
Singapore as a country is definitely rich there is no doubt about that. Even though you are not rich in sg, you still have a roof over your head and affordable hawker food so that you wont starve to death. Other asian countries you see homeless people more than in sg and people still want to complain?
You're right. Its all about being content. I think the average Singaporean is definitely "richer" than most already(especially within SEA region). At least there's a roof above their heads and no need to starve. Most people can even afford travelling overseas for holiday once a year.
I always love Asian Boss content but this video makes me doubt the authencity o Asian Boss interviews of other countries. Not sure what this is trying to achieve, most interviewees are either non Singaporeans or are people who doesnt reflect the regular Singaporeans. I thought it should have been even well thought through, felt like its really misleading, and as a Singaporean i really don't feel represented here, while the video title says otherwise. I think Asian Boss should be fair to Singaporeans and continue to be authentic to all its audiences. Simply interviewing anyone who accepts your interview within a poor neighbourhood is clearly lazy work...
I’m Thai , earning 200K THB a month from working in Japanese based company in Thailand.
A bit surprise because as far as I know Singaporean people get at least 100K THB to cover monthly cost of living in Singapore.
Beyond per capita income = 1) Purchasing power parity is a really important concept that most people need to understand. 2) Infrastructure is important such as good quality of road, public transport, good hospitals, etc. 3) Effective and efficient government. 4) Social order, ethnic harmony, safety, low crime rate, society free from drugs, etc. 5) Negative externalities such as pollution, noise, traffic congestion, trash in public places, etc are minimized.
You are describing Singapore in the 1980s.
interesting...I agree w/social order.
Freedom,rights are important. We arent subjects of gov to hav 1 law 4 us,1 for gov.
But Everyday protest unrest imo wud wreck havoc on the economy. Since uncertainty due to protests and opposition to gov wud make investors scared,so ppl will flee the country and soon whole cycle of flow of money cud collapse.
Singaporeans have financial troubles of their own. Much like any other person from an Asian country. It's fascinating to hear their insights. They're somehow informative.
It's worse in Singapore.
Why Singapore salary is so low, and everything is too expensive?
Modern day slavery
@@Johnne009 capitalism is at its highest.
They didn't interview people working in financial and high tech industries, or those who live in condos driving BMW/Porsche. The people interviewed are mostly on below average pay.
@@cosmos5610can you please share the percentage of Singaporean who can afford to drive Porsche and BMW etc ?
@@busybee5156 not many but Singapore’s typical salary is not as low as this video portrayed to be. What I meant is that any society has low and high income earners but those may not be typical. This video’s title says they were there to find out if Singaporeans feel rich, yet they interviewed mostly low income groups. They should have interviewed people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to have more balanced view. In my opinion, most Singapores are neither rich nor poor. They have a relatively good living standard but not luxurious lifestyle.
SG is expensive in house, food and transportation. If you are migrant workers. It is pay to pay check. No much you can save. But if you are in bank, finance, accounting, tech, Ai etc, you can get 10k and above. You need average of 5-6k for easy life. SG government are very smart people that can tied you down by asking you to get married and settle down policy, so you are grounded . Btw, SG is like a big steel cage that housed the people to work non stop.
yeah and unfortunately our country has no natural resources, only human capital so we must work and work.
I'm a regular office worker in Singapore working a 9-6. My partner and I are dual-income with no kids (right smack in the middle class).
The cost of living day-to-day is actually manageable (hawker food is cheap, don't splurge on buying branded goods, don't take taxis/grab everywhere etc). However, car is pretty much a pipe dream if you want to have kids, and as middle class citizens (we earn slightly more than the average couple), we can barely afford a house (resale public housing in a convenient neighbourhood can cost 800k-1 mil).
The rich are rich rich, but as a middle class person - no we don't feel rich haha. I'm already fairly well-off compared to my peers - there are plenty of families who are really struggling day-to-day. Singaporeans aren't rich by default 😂
I feel like the individuals that were interviewed are mostly not Sporeans, or are seniors who are obviously not working anymore.
Maybe to get a better picture of the situation, you should interview a more diverse group of people?
They chose a very heartland neighbourhood area, which tend to be mostly service staff in F&B and retail which have compartively lower income; students or retirees. If they chose places closer in town, the demographics would be different. Ideally they should interview people from different regions, to get a more balanced view of things.
Wear nice clothes, drive sports car, going to nice restaurants DOESNT mean that the person is rich. People really need to get educated. On the contrary, wearing simple clothes, taking bus, eating at hawker doesn’t mean that the person is poor. People who think this way tend to chase material wealth which is the reason why they remain poor! Maximize your income, save diligently, learn to invest for the long term will make anyone wealthy in the long run!
Maybe not rich rich. But having a sports car, nice clothes, big home means you have acces to disposable income that goes towards luxuries that poor people don't have. Like that one guy said. Money is just numbers. You can be poor because you lack money but you can be rich if you have good health, a family that takes care of you and not to worry about starving to death. It's all relative.
Wah you are so wise.
No disrespect but why y'all ask the first guy if he was rich. Yall know damn well he would have fixed his teeth If he was rich.
@@hannesRSA Your speaking for the guy can’t close his mouth properly rightttttt.
Extremely well spoken domestic helper, very impressed. The family that employs her is lucky.
Yes and despite earning at the lower end in Singapore she can still dress well and send half of her income home to support her family.
Thank you ❤
Asian boss is the best, neutral and objective. The selection of topics is innovative. Let the world, Asian countries better understand Asia.
Macik's words are simple yet enlightening
I was middle management 20 years ago getting $4K /mth went to UK for meeting, exchange rate was 1 GBP to 3 SGD. The office clerk is getting £2K per month and was higher paid than me. At that time I also thought everyone in UK is very rich.
Oh yeah, it's surreal for me to earn in SG dollars then in US dollars, I'm so rich if I spend here but not rich is I spend there.
Huge disparity between the rich who earns over $10K a month to those who only earn $800 to $1500 per month!. It is a struggle for them.
Each time I visit Singapore, it gets 20% more expensive. The middle class is shrinking, definitely.
old man and old women took my heart.....they are so mature even though they earn less or retired...old women is saying i'm rich bcoz i'm not taking from others...and retired old man is saying we should donate to needy peoples like in gaza...salute to them.
Great video Asian Boss! Please do more of such video about Singapore
As someone who know about the property market, I can share a bit of info about the prices between the rich and the normal people. A 100sqm public flat with 3 bedroom in a normal location will cost S$550K to S$850K. Compare this to a private condo S$2M or more. For the ultra rich, his condominium may cost S$20M to S$70M depending on the size and location. A house with 40,000 sq feet land will cost S$80M and above depending on location.
In this generation, truly wealthy individuals don't drive luxury cars or wear flashy attire to avoid attracting attention from potential thieves.
In Malay culture, being content is seen as being wealthy, and it's considered essential for finding happiness in life.
Their feeling of not being rich means they're striving to generate more wealth for themselves and Singapore.
"In this generation"?? Which generation? Gen Y? Gen X?
And by truly wealthy, you meant inheritance? Lol...
There's a difference between the country being rich and the people being rich... But personally i feel locals aren't that poor as compared to other counter parts in the region. Definitely stressful living in an expensive city
I am rich, I stay in my own house, eat what I want, where I want and never suffer under the sun.
I am blessed.
But in terms of number I am not rich.
i found this topic that the interviewer who asking the questing is very positive, he is able to find the inner concern of the interviewees, and bring up some true positive answers that inspire people, enjoyed.
Half of the interviewees are not singaporeans, another 3 are elderly (retirees). And a 3 bdrm public housing flat (HDB) only cost less than 400k, only the rich ones will buy a private housing flat (condo) that cost more than 1mil. The channel does not do fact checks properly and their selection of interviewees has dropped so much in standard that street interviews are no longer reliable source of info.
Domestic helpers -let’s be clear. They do not have to pay for housing, utility bills, medical checkups, or their meals. Even thought their cash salaries can be low, it’s not taxed.
Thank you. This video made me know that Singapore is not as wealthy as I imagined, or that not everyone is as wealthy. Before this, because I saw the per capita GDP data, I always thought that the annual salary of Singaporeans could reach US$50,000, so the monthly should be 4000 and above.
You're not wrong though. The median income of Singapore is 5k. All these being interviewed are in the lower bracket and doesn't reflect the majority
@@KeoNz i am a true blue singaporean and me and my friends who were born here will disagree with this data....
@@jacquuelinesimpson191 Nothing to disagree with. Data is true. It just means that you and your friends are just bottom 50% of Singaporeans income earners. Simple as that.
Would @Asian Boss do a feature about the massive numbers of self-professed "Property Gurus" who speculate in Properties under the guise of 'Investment" ?,...
The Whole Society here seems to be drunk on Properties, prices pushed up to the extent that everyone in Society pays for the Profits of Land Lords,...
Thank You
As someone that has lived in multiple countries, Singapore has been by far the easiest to live in in terms of affordability.
Tax is low, food can be very cheap, and wages are high compared to the other places I've lived. Singapore is expensive if you want to buy a car and send your kids to international schools. Neither of those is needed though.
The very fact that you’ve lived in multiple countries show you’re at the very least from the upper middle class…
I wonder if your view is representative of the average s’porean.
@@squishypillow3162 I'm from your average background. Originally from New Zealand where salaries are lower, taxes are higher, and costs are higher than SG.
Spent a couple of years after university working on a graduate salary in the UK (again, cost of living was far higher there).
Spent a year in Australia (again, cost of living was higher there).
Later moved to Singapore - food costs are lower, salaries are higher than those places (maybe with the exception of AU), and tax is low.
Most studies literally state that Singapore is expensive if you send your kids to international schools, want to buy a car, and live a life of luxury. Most Singaporeans don't send their kids to international schools, and a car isn't needed here. Furthermore there are a lot of deductions on costs and other benefits for locals.
Singapore is a great place.
I would also add that housing is not as expensive as some like think (especially with the benefits of CPF).
To put things into perspective, one of my friends back home took a $1 million mortgage for a first home (essentially the bare minimum on what you need to take out since there is no BTO option). Due to interest rate changes, the interest payments alone are $60,000 per year. Essentially his wife's salary can only pay the interest, and doesn't even hit the principal.
@@camplord3509 started as average, ended up as lower upper class right? With your salary, of course you will find everything cheaper.
As a Singaporean (student) myself, I don't feel rich nor poor. Just privileged and right. Rich for me is having a roof over your head, having to eat 3x+ a day, having variety of clothes to wear.. With the crisis of inflation rate rapidly increasing nowadays, you need to atleast earn more than SGD7k to live comfortably and own a studio type condo unit. But in my perspective we own a house, and my parents earn i say above middle class-? Anyway Thank you Asian boss for featuring and interviewing minimum wage earners and we truly get to learn alot from this video.
Asian boss used to really get the on the ground interviews. This feels misleading bcos they're trying to suit their narrative so select particular candidates. Do better asian boss!
Singaporean👻👻: "I am making less than 1K a month, but i feel 'rich' since i don't consider having plenty of $$$ as 'rich' as a Ang Mo think! "
Not a balanced interview, Asian Boss. I assume you went to a housing estate during a weekday so you only find people on shift work or are retired. Some of these people like the lady in the thumbnail aren't even Singaporean.
It would have been a more robust interview if you included a place like Raffles Place to show those in the middle and higher tax bracket. Then you'll be showing the complexity of the situation.
Disappointing.
Thank you for updating the thumbnail after my comment.
What is wealth? For most Singaporeans, wealth is money. Most of those interviewed, they viewed being rich as being materially wealthy. But wealth is more than just being rich materially. For some who are super rich, they’d think they are poor because of their high maintenance lifestyle. For that malay auntie, she thinks she is rich because she is living for her needs, not her wants.
There are people who are rich but they don't show it. They just wear simple clothes and slippers. They dun have a room full of luxurious goods and all that. They probably dun even own a car. They just take grab. There are super rich people out there that are not happy with themselves. They are usually very crunchy and would snap at you if you cross their paths. And there are also rich people who likes to steal things. So what if you are rich when you have poor attitude?
I feel that the aunite in that interview is rich just because she is very contented and grateful for all the she has. She is willing to help others, like the older gentleman who is retired. What’s the point of being rich if you keep all to yourselves and your own family only? Have you done anything for others?
At the end of the day, there are different kinds of richness. Doing something meaningful for others is also a kind of richness. Being selfless and helpful at work is also a kind of richness. Being kind to your own body by not drinking or smoking is also a kind of wealth because you dun waste mony buying things that dun give your body any benefit. As for me, I do feel rich, not in the material sense but on the spiritual level because i meditate daily. I am healthy because I take care of my body by exercising and and eating wisely.
If one does not know how to manage one’s wealth properly, if one does not know how to save for rainy days, buying expensive stuff just to show off, then what’s the point of being materially wealthy? Managing wealth is a skill-set that most people don’t know because they never teach you in schools.
There are many ways of being rich, not just materially. If you are selfless, helpful, kind to your own body, manage your wealth well, meditate and pray, live a meaningful life,, wouldn't that be considered as being rich? For most people, they may never see it this way.
Spoken like a true blue upper middle class or lower upper class person.
Let me give you the real definition of rich. Rich is you have enough money to not work a job ever again. To retire your mom and dad. To do what you want and afford a new car each month if you want to. That is rich and there are such people in every country, mainland china, singapore, korea, etc. Those are the families with the kids coming to USA as international students going to top school buying ferrari just for the fun of it. That is rich. Everything else is just cope. Not to offend anyone but that is cope. Hell even I see my own parents cope like that because they are poor. That’s why I do my own business now and to be rich soon… RICH IS MONEY,
@@HipHopTheme, well, at least to you, rich is money, but not to others.
Because when you die, you go empty handed. You leave everything here. You can't bring anything with you except who you are when you were a person.
If you, and only if you believe there is a God, He or She will not give a deem of how many millions you have made when you were on earth. He will only be interested of what you have done for humanity while you were here. What have you done for your spiritual growth when you were here. That is the real wealth.
So in the end, material wealth is just an empty shell. Yes, you can buy whatever you want, but in reality, you are still a beggar in your heart. Look at Putin, is he not rich? But was he satisfied? No.
This is only for people who believe in something intangible, but if you dun believe, then you will not take this seriously. But sooner or later, you will see that it will still applies to you, whether you like it or not. You will find out when that time comes. For now, you can disbelieve in whatever you want.
@@64ytb To me, to be rich is through the hardship that god has tested me, to get to the point, to have wealth to give back. I will not have much to say but I understand it is all perspective. As long as you are at peace in life, I am happy for you :)
@@HipHopTheme, If one so desires, God may fulfill one's dream of becoming rich.
But the ultimate happiness comes from fulfilling God's Will.
If God wants you to be rich so that He can use you to do something good for the world, then being rich could be a blessing. Otherwise, it could be a curse in disguise even if one earns it through hardship.
Singapore is a very rich country. There are many rich people in Singapore. But not everyone in Singapore is rich.
400,000 Malaysians travel daily to Singapore to work. And Malaysia is not a poor country.
Its rich through singapore...
Sorry but... half the people you interviewed seems to be immigrant workers rather than Singaporeans...
I understand its hard to find people to interview, but the context is changed
So it would be more accurate to rename this to "Do people living in Singapore Feel Rich?"
3:32 public healthcare system for the average singaporean citizen is so heavily subsidised for the quality of healthcare that is provided. if you have to get sick, singapore is one of best places to be sick in, especially around southeast asia. that is of course excluding the super rich who are looking for top tier healthcare for rare illnesses, then they would probably be better off in other countries in the west. kinda weird for someone working in the medical field to be making such a comment.
There's free universal healthcare in the west, meaning public healthcare is all paid by the government. Poor families are like what the chef said, poor parents, poor child, poor girlfriend probably too. So, there's little to no savings.
I come from a wealthy family and always assumed Singaporeans were rich, this is definitely not the case. We're "rich" relative to our peer countries, I mean we all have housing, proper education, healthcare etc compared to them. (I studied at Indonesia and their healthcare is horrible compared to Singapore's).
But the problem is that within Singapore itself, not alot of us actually make that much, with everything being expensive as well as the general culture of wanting luxury goods (When i studied at Indonesia, none of the rich kids there actually bought luxury goods, but here in Singapore alot of people disregarding their status like to spend on luxuries.)
It rlly makes it seem like we want to be rich (or at least feel like it) rather than we're actually rich.
To be rich in Singapore means you no longer live in government-subsidised public housing. You live in your own private property and can afford many choices - one day you can choose to eat at hawker centres and another day you can choose to eat at a Michelin restaurant or have meals whipped up by private chefs in your equally rich friends’ homes in Nassim or Ridout. You can also travel to far away places on business class and ski at the best resorts. Remember, 80% of Singaporeans are not like that.
@@josephinejosephine8776 Actually, a lot of people living in Ridout or Nassim, will cook themselves, it's the intimacy and strong work ethic they prioritise. They fly business class and do go skiing is true.
Some rich people want to stay low key, don't draw unnecessary attention to themselves. Dress simple and neat, fly under the radar, only have sincere pple around. Some people like nice cars, some nice clothes or jewellery, all that. Some like to grow money so make sense to multiply it more, they feel accomplished.
You need to interview those car owners for the set who earn much more than this group. Cars are extremely expansive here, usually they earn a lot more.
I wouldn’t say that cars are expansive here. In fact, smaller vehicles like hatchbacks are very popular. I have hardly seen expansive vehicles like monster trucks or limousines.
Wow !
Singapore is not flashy as it appears to be .
Earning below 2k a month
That’s just pocket money
That’s harsh life to live.
Thanks for sharing!
Good information video .
Liked n subscribed
This is the neighborhood I grew up in, generally I think we’re all regular people. If you are just talking about Serangoon and decided to go to Serangoon Garden Circus, that is where you will find the rich people for this area.
as an outsider I was shock when I saw their salary, at the same time i thought it must be the gap between rich and poor is really wider right, the inequality income. how can ppl survive with $900 SGD or under $2k in a high living costs country, right, that salary even can't survive in China, no way
The title is misleading. Some of those are not Singaporeans. The guy and lady earning 800 is a foreign worker(likely to be from Bangladesh) and the lady is a domestic worker. Accommodation and food is usually provided for their line of work and they'll send back home a large portion of their salary to their family members in their home country.
@@KeoNz ty so much
@@Pigeonbm in China rich cities like Shanghai Beijing so on RMB 6-7K literally just paid the bills, most of jobs not provide accommodation and food.
@@Pigeonbmit takes just a quick google to find out "上海人社局公布本市2021年度全口径城镇单位就业人员平均工资为每月11396元", that is 11k RMB per month for average worker in Shanghai in 2021. There are some migrants from country side in Shanghai on minimum wages so the actual average wage will be lower than 11k, but RMB 6-7k is a bit far from fact.
This interview is really not representative lol, fresh grads in Singapore expect $3.5 - 5k SGD monthly salary for their first job.
Private universities aren't expensive. In 2016, my total tuition fee is 21k. I saved my pocket money since young and 2 years of national service allowance. By the time I start school, I can already pay off everything.
Fyi I'm from a low income family
I'm surprised that these blue collar workers are definitely underpaid. 1000 sgd is like 700ish usd. And living in Singapore is crazy expensive.
It's indeed very expensive for single foreigners (regardless PR or not) because the rental can easily exceeds 30% of your salary....
Thanks for the video, it was interesting :) I think it would also be beneficial to gather varied viewpoints by visiting different areas of Singapore to pose the same inquiries. Consider venturing into the Central Business District to engage with the working population there. The timing of your question is also crucial-ideally, it should not coincide with weekday working hours, as it appears to have been the case during the interview.
As a singaporean, i would say most of us are not "rich". but rich is a varied concept amongst people.
Some pple may think pple who can afford to drink milo every day are rich
Some may think that pple who can afford a luxury watch/bag are rich
Some may think that pple who can afford a car are rich
Some may think that pple who can affford a private jet are rich
While some just want to live normally. Really depends on the concept of your "rich"
This cannot be easily quantified as some pple like to live in their own means / simpler life (as long as u dont get a critical illness, of cos)
Some like to be "rich" in experiences (but that usually takes $ also, tbh)
Singapore in general is not a super expensive place to live in as long as you dont aspire to own a big/fast/expensive car and a big/expensive house.
That said, costs are generally rising , esp. with housing prices. and salaries rates dont go up as fast as inflation.
There is always a balance with things and how you would like to live your life. if u want something, you will just have to work hard for it, its as simple as that.
Inflation is a huge factor that is affecting not just Singapore but globally. Singapore has always been a global business hub for multinational companies and it is not surprising that we are in a global recession, even companies in Singapore is not creating jobs like they used to. However, there are still a few sectors that would create more jobs and provide more stability and those are in AI and renewable energy sector. In Singapore, you don't only just need to be lucky, but you need to work really hard to make a comfortable living. Rich is determine by one's mindset, you can be really happy being poor and you can also being happy being in the middle income. Live the life where you can sustain, don't chase for meaningless stuff that are liabilities in life rather than having an asset. Continue to upskill yourself, be creative, be bold in your dreams and fight hard. We are going to be the next Hong Kong where property prices starts rising and we have to constantly remind ourselves we are a land with no natural resources and the only driving force are the citizens.
Appreciate the interviews were done at local neighbourhoods instead of CBD areas...
I like how older folks in this video are caring about community.
I would say generally Singaporean are asset rich but may not be cash rich. The reason I say this is that their property is very expensive so a BIG chuck of their wealth is stuck in property.
This is probably true for most countries with comparable per capita GDP to Singapore. As far as I know, Australia and New Zealand people's assets are mostly their homes too. It appears so in Canada and some US states too. Pretty much all big cities are the same.
I earn a median Singaporean salary, which is easily top 20% income in neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand.
I own an apartment which could have bought me a bungalow in those countries I mentioned.
But I am constantly stressed out due to high expenses and work competition. I travel in crowded bus/train because a car is too expensive.
That is the price of living in Singapore I guess; you are not dead but not rich either.
For Singaporeans if you have a fully paid HDB that you can rent out for 3k-4k a month husband and wife can retire in bali comfortably, rent a nice villa in canggu for 15-20k a year only come back to SG for medical checkup and make full use of your medisave, the question is how many of Singaporeans have a fully paid HDB before the government enblock your flat need to relocate to a smaller unit plus can't rent out for the first few years.😅
Come back to spore for medical?.do you know the journey back , how long it would take?
Actually , I would say this interview doesn’t paint the full correct picture of Singapore. Likewise, crazy rich Asians don’t paint an accurate picture as well.
I think there are alots of Singaporeans that are rich. Look at the TS concerts, yes, there are fans from overseas, there are also lots Singaporean fans. Next, did you visit the Natas event in last weekend held at Expo? The Northern Light packages were being snap up in minutes with pricing increasing on the spot. The cost per pax is 5.5K ~ 8K depending on which agencies you sign with. Just these 2 events, we can see that Singaporean are rich.....
omg please do more videos on singapore!! ^^
East Asians(Han Chinese Mostly) are usually the richest and wealthiest in Singapore And Malaysia with South East Asians(Mostly Malays also called Malaysians) And Desis also named South Asians(Mainly Indians) are usually on the more mid, poorer, broker, and homeless sides yeah.
"Over the decade, median household income from work also rose across the board for all ethnic groups. In nominal terms, the 2020 figures were $7,972 for Chinese, $5,704 for Malays and $8,500 for Indians." - Straits Times article titled "Rising household incomes, more working couples in Singapore over past decade: Census", Jun 19, 2021
Stats from 2020 show that Indians are the richest. I cannot find anything more current to contradict that.
A correction. Malays not the same as Malaysians. Malay is an ethnicity where as Malaysians refers to citizens of Malaysia, regardless of ethnicity.
So loud and wrong and for what??? Traditionally speaking, the Chinese-Singaporeans and Indian-Singaporeans have been better off compared to the Malay-Singaporeans but your analysis is so wrong. I see you everywhere saying these types of things and you're an Indian-American. 💀
Self hating Indian-American, constantly trying to fish for compliments and pity. Malaysian is a nationality, not an ethnicity. Don't know anything about Singapore or Malaysia? Then don't talk!
Embarrassing comment.
This is also the reason for the low birth rates here. The high cost of living directly affects the birth rates directly. The media likes to paint a rosy picture and it's not realistic.
I am from Vietnam. It's not easy to live here, though, but of course, it's not as hard as it is in Singapore. I also visited Singapore many times and I see you have to be very excellent or lucky to be rich in Singapore. In Vietnam, I have an understandable or intermediate English level, and I can earn 3 times more than average people, while many people in the video showed a very sharpened English level and still struggle living in Singapore.
U got to ask at night... or the weekends when ppl are off work😅
The dude in the maroon tee is insightful, you gotta navigate through to earn great knowledge and perhaps good incomes to live in singapore. Finding the meaning of life is far better than getting rich. If you are that hard work and dedicated if not it's okay to live and help others if you can
I feel so attacked Asian Boss comes to Serangoon Central.
Why you want to travel the world?
- What a great question to ask
kakkak is the realest person in this video
I think it is a blessing to buy what one wants without worrying about
no matter how rich they are but stressfull & hardworking make earn money,salary payment/wages,pension & money won't buy happines but beside bring others happines
I feel rich when I cross the border to jb but when I’m back in Singapore I am poor I am destitute
if you conduct your interview at CBD area, you will get a very different answer sets
One of the best interviews.
The retiree in white tee, he speaks pretty well with clear thoughts. Cool dude.
I earn 9k driving grab and do part time job a month. I have 200k CPF . I am rich.