How I Feel About Singapore

[carteki]

Is that I'm being ripped off. No matter where I go, or who I use it is rare that I feel secure that I am being provided with the best service / value etc. Its taken me 6 years of living here to put it into words, but there you have it.

Today's experience... I received a quote for a QR code design from a local company (I wanted to support them) that
a) assumed I didn't know anything about qr codes - and got told to buy a smart phone;
b) quoted me $50 for boring designs; and when I asked for better one's he said that the quote was $300.
Now I've found overseas designers that will do the better work for $50!

This experience unfortunately typifies how I see Singapore and is a classic example of the type of "service" I receive from just about any service provider (including a Big 4 international audit firm). How SME's survive here is beyond me. They pay through the nose for piss poor insulting service.

Sad, but true.

[nakatago]

or sis, as the case may be.

#iknowthatfeel

[zzm9980]

+1 to both of you.

[Mi Amigo]

I've always kept in mind the 'two buckets' analogy shared by a long-term expat (I forget who it was now), which I remember reading when I first came here. One bucket is for the money you make, the other is for all the bullsh!t you have to endure. When one (or both) of the buckets is full, it's time to leave.

Right now my BS bucket is noticeably heavier than the money one.

[Brah]

While I have always liked that image of nakatago's, I get the buckets thing (nice analogy BTW) and while my BS bucket is anything but empty, I also wonder how full it would be if I were living in say, Malaysia or Indonesia or Thailand.

Faced recently with the prospect of leaving, and the option to stay, I'm finding more things to keep me here, temporarily at least, than I thought I would. Part of that is due to economic situations elsewhere, so more a consideration of the destination than the origin.

But the annoying things are no less annoying. I still don't like that I have to get angry to get things done or be understood.

[nakatago]

I've always kept in mind the 'two buckets' analogy shared by a long-term expat (I forget who it was now), which I remember reading when I first came here. One bucket is for the money you make, the other is for all the bullsh!t you have to endure. When one (or both) of the buckets is full, it's time to leave.

Right now my BS bucket is noticeably heavier than the money one.

True, true...

[Sergei82]

While I have always liked that image of nakatago's, I get the buckets thing (nice analogy BTW) and while my BS bucket is anything but empty, I also wonder how full it would be if I were living in say, Malaysia or Indonesia or Thailand.

Faced recently with the prospect of leaving, and the option to stay, I'm finding more things to keep me here, temporarily at least, than I thought I would. Part of that is due to economic situations elsewhere, so more a consideration of the destination than the origin.

But the annoying things are no less annoying. I still don't like that I have to get angry to get things done or be understood.

Can you clarify about the main reason for staying in SG now?

[x9200]

I've always kept in mind the 'two buckets' analogy shared by a long-term expat (I forget who it was now), which I remember reading when I first came here. One bucket is for the money you make, the other is for all the bullsh!t you have to endure. When one (or both) of the buckets is full, it's time to leave.

Right now my BS bucket is noticeably heavier than the money one.

I would suggest to make some holes in your BS bucket at least the same size as you already and surely have in your money bucket. With bad service quality in Singapore is like with the weather: you have to learn how to cope with it as it is not going anywhere away in any predictable time.

[nakatago]

While I have always liked that image of nakatago's, I get the buckets thing (nice analogy BTW) and while my BS bucket is anything but empty, I also wonder how full it would be if I were living in say, Malaysia or Indonesia or Thailand.

Faced recently with the prospect of leaving, and the option to stay, I'm finding more things to keep me here, temporarily at least, than I thought I would. Part of that is due to economic situations elsewhere, so more a consideration of the destination than the origin.

But the annoying things are no less annoying. I still don't like that I have to get angry to get things done or be understood.

Can you clarify about the main reason for staying in SG now?

Psychological inertia?

[Wd40]

I've always kept in mind the 'two buckets' analogy shared by a long-term expat (I forget who it was now), which I remember reading when I first came here. One bucket is for the money you make, the other is for all the bullsh!t you have to endure. When one (or both) of the buckets is full, it's time to leave.

Right now my BS bucket is noticeably heavier than the money one.

I like the analogy. However, in my case the bullshit bucket is not even quarter full and my money bucket(I guess most people's too) is bottomless so it never gonna be full.

Hence my philosophy is; when tap of money flow slows down below an acceptable rate or stops for even a minute, its time to leave

[quitter]

I like the analogy. However, in my case the bullshit bucket is not even quarter full and my money bucket(I guess most people's too) is bottomless so it never gonna be full.

Totally agree. I graduated from Melb Uni in 2003 and was told then by several employers that Aus Uni grads get paid the least of all graduates. When I finally got a job, was paid less than what I had to spend on transport and food. See my bottomless bucket? And don't get me started on the BS bucket...

[ulu ulu]

Hence my philosophy is; when tap of money flow slows down below an acceptable rate or stops for even a minute, its time to leave

I wonder why did you apply for PR if this is your philosophy? If you wanted to stay here as long as you are making decent money, wouldn't an EP suffice?

[Wd40]

Hence my philosophy is; when tap of money flow slows down below an acceptable rate or stops for even a minute, its time to leave

I wonder why did you apply for PR if this is your philosophy? If you wanted to stay here as long as you are making decent money, wouldn't an EP suffice?

Its true, I want to stay here as long as I am making decent money. Now how long is that gonna be? 1 year? 5 years? 10 year? forever? who knows?

So If I end up staying really that long, I can do with having a PR and HDB instead of just keep renting forever.

That was my thinking when I applied for PR in Jun 2012, at that time, life was just perfect. I had a cushy job that will I thought will last for quite a long time, but today thats not the case. I am not sure how many more months my job will last and I dont see anything even 10-15% lower salary available in the market. I will have to go down 25-30%, which I wont do. So now the outcome of the PR application for me is really inconsequential.

[ulu ulu]

That was my thinking when I applied for PR in Jun 2012, at that time, life was just perfect. I had a cushy job that will I thought will last for quite a long time, but today thats not the case. I am not sure how many more months my job will last and I dont see anything even 10-15% lower salary available in the market. I will have to go down 25-30%, which I wont do. So now the outcome of the PR application for me is really inconsequential.

Well I think you should count yourself lucky that you did not buy a hdb in SG. Most of the investment banking IT jobs in Singapore were off-shored from other higher cost locations. Given that the cost of living in SG has been rising and the appreciation of SGD, it was a matter of time before they moved to other locations with cheaper cost of operation.

[Wd40]

That was my thinking when I applied for PR in Jun 2012, at that time, life was just perfect. I had a cushy job that will I thought will last for quite a long time, but today thats not the case. I am not sure how many more months my job will last and I dont see anything even 10-15% lower salary available in the market. I will have to go down 25-30%, which I wont do. So now the outcome of the PR application for me is really inconsequential.

Well I think you should count yourself lucky that you did not buy a hdb in SG. Most of the investment banking IT jobs in Singapore were off-shored from other higher cost locations. Given that the cost of living in SG has been rising and the appreciation of SGD, it was a matter of time before they moved to other locations with cheaper cost of operation.

Yeah, I agree. My colleagues who are PRs and have HDBs, I wonder what they are gonna do. One person who is currently earning 6k is telling me he cannot even find anything for 3.5k. I think eventually they will have to give up their HDB to the HDB and get whatever valuation the HDB does for them. Those who bought it in 2010 and before will still be profitable. But those who bought it in 2011 and 2012, I guess will lose their COV paid.

These guys are working as software developers even after 10-12 years of experience. Basically, they have screwed up their career for the lure of Singapore. If they were in India, they would have become project managers by now. The longer you stay here the more you screw up your career. So I guess some things happen for good. Its better to go back now and make good some lost ground or else after another 4-5 years we will be totally unemployable, anywhere, even in India.