Singapore Expats

A guy with a nick called "kojakbt" had just copied a lot of messages here to support his anti-FT rants in Temasek Review.

See:

http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/12/09 ... ent-253270

I think he said if you're local and comes to expat forum, the MOD here will kick you out.

He did the samething in delphi "3in1kopitiam":

http://forums.delphiforums.com/3in1kopitiam/messages

I married a Singaporean but not very fond of the locals. Yes, I do live in the heartland.

It takes all types and that is what makes this board interesting.
We have some locals who are very positive contributors to this board and some foreigners who make negative contributions so you can't sterotype...

MauMau wrote:A guy with a nick called "kojakbt" had just copied a lot of messages here to support his anti-FT rants in Temasek Review.

See:

http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/12/09 ... ent-253270

I think he said if you're local and comes to expat forum, the MOD here will kick you out.

He did the samething in delphi "3in1kopitiam":

http://forums.delphiforums.com/3in1kopitiam/messages

I married a Singaporean but not very fond of the locals. Yes, I do live in the heartland.

A lot of those folks would make great East Texas rednecks. Glad to know that the maroons are not confined only to the US.

Strong Eagle wrote:A lot of those folks would make great East Texas rednecks. Glad to know that the maroons are confined only to the US.

??? Did you mean "are NOT confined only to the US"

the locals sure arent very happy from those post
is the unemployment that bad? i knew that job competitive is a global issue but i didnt expect it to be so hostile over here. am i missing something?

donova.n wrote:the locals sure arent very happy from those post
is the unemployment that bad? i knew that job competitive is a global issue but i didnt expect it to be so hostile over here. am i missing something?

At 2-3% the unemployment rate here is not high by any measure. The hostility is more from foreigners driving up property prices, foreign students edging out our children from the top positions in schools, foreign bosses with a holier-than-thou attitude, and foreigners earning more than locals for the same job.

But many locals are not like that and welcome you so don't worry

WIMH, your new avatar seems to violate SE's IP rights

Ya that’s all the same stuff that my Singaporean buddies carryon about. My only response was to be careful what you ask for because you might get it.
I definitely see their point on some of the issues but it’s a lot more complicated than just running the “foreigner trash”

Wind In My Hair wrote:[foreigners driving up property prices,

Is that even true though? I read somewhere and I think I saw it on that Singapore talking program too, that only something like 7% of properties are actually owned by foreigners so I don't see how that small amount can be driving the prices up. It's greedy Singaporeans who take out 5 mortgages to buy condos that they can rent to foreigners who are driving the prices up, I hardly think that foreigners (the majority of whom are here doing low paid menial jobs) are causing it

Wind In My Hair wrote:The hostility is more from foreigners driving up property prices,

Unfortunately, the government has put paid to that complaint. It would seem that 85% of the HDB resale market is purchases made by locals. And, in most cases it is they, themselves (Singaporean) who are driving up the prices as they know they can get it by asking/holding out for it. It's the Singaporean sellers who drive up the prices knowing the housing crunch will force the buyer to pay more if they want to find a place to buy/upgrade to. The same thing goes in the rental market. With 80% of Singaporeans owning their own homes........ They control the market, not foreigners. They are not forced to sell at astronomical prices. But who's gonna turn it down?

x9200 wrote:WIMH, your new avatar seems to violate SE's IP rights

More like his photo violates my privacy rights. We should sue each other

JayCee wrote:Is that even true though? I read somewhere and I think I saw it on that Singapore talking program too, that only something like 7% of properties are actually owned by foreigners so I don't see how that small amount can be driving the prices up.

As a percentage of the private housing market I suspect the figure is much more than 7%. Given that it's many people's aspiration to own private property, this is where it hits hardest.

JayCee wrote:It's greedy Singaporeans who take out 5 mortgages to buy condos that they can rent to foreigners who are driving the prices up

Your argument holds only if these 'greedy' Singaporeans' make up more than 7% of the housing market and thus have more impact on prices than foreigners. Do you have figures on how many Singaporeans own multiple properties on which you can base this assertion?

Let me ask you the same question - do you have any figures to back up your 'suspicion' that it's more than 7%? I saw it on a tv show on channel 5 just a few months back, they also mentioned that there are large amounts of Singaporean investors buying up new condos to then rent out. That is really the only information I have to back up my statement but as the program was on channel 5 and the panel were apparently respected professionals in their industry I thought the info would be reasonable

sundaymorningstaple wrote:It would seem that 85% of the HDB resale market is purchases made by locals. And, in most cases it is they, themselves (Singaporean) who are driving up the prices as they know they can get it by asking/holding out for it. It's the Singaporean sellers who drive up the prices knowing the housing crunch will force the buyer to pay more if they want to find a place to buy/upgrade to.

How are resale prices determined? By the going price. When the most expensive HDB in Singapore is bought by an Indonesian paying
close to $1 million, what do you think that does to prices across the board?

Also, many who sell their HDB do so to 'upgrade' to private property. Hence when private property prices increase, their asking price goes up.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Unfortunately, the government has put paid to that complaint.

And why does the government have to step in to explain this? Because they know the perception on the ground. It's this perception which in part explains the hostility of some Singaporeans to foreigners, as opposed to the unemployment rate, which was my reply to Donovan.

People, let me make clear that I was merely trying to explain the perceptions that create hostility towards foreigners. This does not mean I share those perceptions, or that I feel the same hostility. So play nice. If you want to understand the situation, I am happy to explain. If not I am happy to let you bask in your existing worldview.

Jaycee, I am typing from a teeny iPhone and will do some research on figures when I have access to my notebook later.