New EP Point Based System 2023 onwards. Thoughts?

[smoulder]

There are a couple of HDBs with gated systems too. One in Punggol Central and City View @ Boon Keng near ICA. Dawson & Pinnacle@Duxton don’t have these features despite their million dollar resale HDBs. IMO all the gated security in condos & HDB are a joke since people can easily follow the person in front. I had to do home visits for my previous job, went via taxi into all sorts of condos (old ones, new ones, ones where the lift brings you straight up into the house) without ever being stopped.

You want security, try some government buildings where you have to trade in your IC for a security pass, the internet browsing on some Govt computers are very rudimentary, you cannot stick your flashdrive into any computer or the alarm will sound, and no phones either. Some govt places don’t even allow foreigners to intern/work there.

I get what you mean about security here being fairly perfunctory, but I must say in the last couple years security at my condo has really tightened. Where you would just be able to say the words drop off and be let in the front gate, now you have to specify block and unit number, while a machine scans your license plate.

Good points all around about condo security. So here are my thoughts -

1. Gate security for visitors entering on foot - generally the best reason to have this is to ensure that outsiders don't barge in and use facilities for free. But as MOCHS pointed out, there could still be security breaches.

2. Security access cards to enter blocks - generally redundant in my opinion. Singapore is quite safe.

3. Checks at the gate for vehicles - must have, generally quite secure. And a very good reason why this should be in place is to ensure that outsiders don't get free parking.

At the end of the day, security has to be defined first by what you are protecting.

[Lisafuller]

There are a couple of HDBs with gated systems too. One in Punggol Central and City View @ Boon Keng near ICA. Dawson & Pinnacle@Duxton don’t have these features despite their million dollar resale HDBs. IMO all the gated security in condos & HDB are a joke since people can easily follow the person in front. I had to do home visits for my previous job, went via taxi into all sorts of condos (old ones, new ones, ones where the lift brings you straight up into the house) without ever being stopped.

You want security, try some government buildings where you have to trade in your IC for a security pass, the internet browsing on some Govt computers are very rudimentary, you cannot stick your flashdrive into any computer or the alarm will sound, and no phones either. Some govt places don’t even allow foreigners to intern/work there.

I get what you mean about security here being fairly perfunctory, but I must say in the last couple years security at my condo has really tightened. Where you would just be able to say the words drop off and be let in the front gate, now you have to specify block and unit number, while a machine scans your license plate.

Good points all around about condo security. So here are my thoughts -

1. Gate security for visitors entering on foot - generally the best reason to have this is to ensure that outsiders don't barge in and use facilities for free. But as MOCHS pointed out, there could still be security breaches.

2. Security access cards to enter blocks - generally redundant in my opinion. Singapore is quite safe.

3. Checks at the gate for vehicles - must have, generally quite secure. And a very good reason why this should be in place is to ensure that outsiders don't get free parking.

Yup, agree with all points. I guess security in singapore really isn’t about ensuring physical safety, but rather making sure outsiders don’t take advantage of amenities. Point 2 stands out to me, I find the access card system incredibly inconvenient, I think it does more harm than good because residents are the ones who have to pay every time they forget their card and need to wait for someone else to show up at the block or buzz home and hope that someone is there to let them in. What a waste of money.

[malcontent]

i don't know what you are smoking WD40, but Singapore is as materialistic as it gets. everything here is about $$.

I think WD40 is trying to say is that Singapore is a good place to make money, not spend money (on materialistic pursuits), because you don’t get the bang for your buck here.

As an example, before I moved to Singapore I used to be a car enthusiast, I always bought car magazines and had all my favorites picked out, knew all the performance numbers and specs — but as soon as I arrived here, the prices made me lose all interest and I don’t even care about it anymore. My materialistic mindset was transformed. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Can definitely relate, in the US we were used to driving two or three cars, each nice European/American brands. Here, we buy secondhand, and usually a cheap Korean car at that. It’s just not worth the money, and if anybody is going to judge me for it they can do so, they are the ones who don’t know how to protect their cash.

I almost feel embarrassed to drive a car here. Knowing what a car costs, I wouldn’t want anyone to be envious, because it’s actually not something to aspire for. It’s one tax you don’t have to pay, and I can just hear the depreciation clock whirring daily!

Taking BMW (bus, MRT, walk) is what everyone should aspire to. After 2.5 decades, I have a genuine love for public transport, especially after the advent of smart phones and podcasts. Since the pandemic I am so far behind on them all - not sure how I’ll ever catch up!

[rajagainstthemachine]

Taking BMW (bus, MRT, walk) is what everyone should aspire to. After 2.5 decades, I have a genuine love for public transport, especially after the advent of smart phones and podcasts. Since the pandemic I am so far behind on them all - not sure how I’ll ever catch up!

same, i actually haven't driven a car continuously for over10 years and i don't miss it one bit either. in fact just the thought of owning a car is frankly tiring, forever washing it maintaining it servicing it feels like a burden.
i would take public transport any day over owning a car here.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I sold both of mine during the first 6 months when the system was first launched in May of 1990. I've had a couple of cars since, but one belonged to a Kiwi friend who left Singapore for external contracts and eventually gave up his PR but kept his condo here. He didn't want to leave it in the basement car park for 2 or 3 years so said just use it until the COE expires then scrap it. The other one was a company car I used for the two years before I retired. It got to the point I'd leave it at the office and take public transport rather than deal with the generally ignorant local drivers. I do, however, miss my restored 1966 Mini-Cooper Mk1 with the British factory race prepared motor for the Singapore Grand Prix circuit back in the late 1960's here.

[malcontent]

I’ve only owned 3 cars in my entire life, all before I moved here. First was a 1981 Chevy Camaro while in high school, had it until I graduated but then got into an accident and totaled the entire passenger side. I then had a 1986 Honda CRX during college. It was a HF model that averaged 48.5mpg city+hwy. The gas savings paid for the car! Once I got my first job out of college I got an Acura Integra, only had it for 10 months before moving to Singapore. Paid $7750 and sold it for $7250, so only $500 depreciation with 40k miles added during those 10 months. It actually sold the day after I moved here, which was a relief because my entire life savings of $5000 was tied up in that car - was paying it off as fast as possible to save on the interest. I told my dad to send the proceeds to my credit card and then I took cash advances to pull it out here. I came at the worst possible time in 1996 when the exchange rate was 1.38… even stronger than today!

[truthhurts1]

This is actually a really good point. When I first moved here I was unmarried, and my first job only paid S$2.3k and I rented a room in an HDB for $450/mo, and I could still save a good % of my salary.

I am married, single income wife is home maker and my daughter goes to International School. Yet, I have managed to save like 50% of my salary throughout my 13 years stay here.

I just reorganized my networth tracker this weekend and here are some interesting stats:

I saved 852k SGD over these years since Jan 2010, cumulative from my salary, prior to that my networth was 87K and I came to SG in Jun 2009. Then the return on investment from my most adhoc poorly managed investments over these years is cumulative 342k.

So 87K+852k+342k = 1281K. This is what I have achieved by staying in Singapore on an EP for 13 years Worth it or not?

Really fantastic. I have been here for almost 10 years and can’t show anything substantial at the end of these 10 years.. living pay check to pay check has been the norm and I wanna change it, its never too late