Saw a note from Citi today that they estimate the impact to be around 200 basis points. Sold most of my US shares a few weeks ago and locked in the exch/rate then. Turned out to be a good decision. Will probably move those funds into SPH, M1 and Starhub to lock in the 7% dividend. Property... sellers still too stubborn with prices. Maybe this interest rate hike will soften their resolve. Also time to move some cash back to Malaysia.

Btw, anyone bought Digi shares? Know why it's going so strong... almost touching RM30 already! On the other hand Maxis is barely moving despite the high dividend yield.

My decision was a no brainer.

Stay in KL, I can buy a nice house in PJ and a little sports car but I would be burdened by the loans practically until I retire.

Come to Singapore and work for 10 years, I can go back to PJ, pay cash for that house and car, and then continue working with no loan commitments and total financial freedom.

If we keep up with the Joneses, it will tied us up when opportunity arises.  I would say that being a husband and a dad to my kids, the reason I can come over to Singapore and give it a try is that I am having some savings that sees me through.  The initial investment in coming to SG is not a joke.  Say if we start here. The initial room downpayment + agent fees + a few weeks or maybe two months without initial salary + Daily expenses + travelling + RM to SG, it can be quite heavy.  If I am in debt or heavily committed, I would think twice, thrice before making that move.  So I think prudence in spending is always important no matter if we are in SG or MY. Also if we got savings and there's the economic downturn, we have all the bullets ready.  It's also easy to be tempted in SG too since every branded stuffs are si beh cheap here.

ya loh
wanna be the practice becoming the
best kiasu
have to go to kiasuland leh

haha

So how many years to go? and how much do you think your average PJ house will cost in ten years' time?

Just because alot of people attended the oppositions rally doesnt mean the opposition is gonna win. Though the opposition may have valid arguments, at the end of the day, most people are selfish in nature and will vote those who fulfill their selfish needs. If that political party does things which morally you are against but it also has a proven track record of delivering on bread and butter issues, the most people will vote becoz of the bread and butter issues.

One good example would be one singaporean fella i know who doesnt like the PAP and grumbles about them everyday but still votes for them since he doesnt want his current "lifestyle" to change. Talk about being a hypocrite.

If this is the case, then satan would make the perfect candidate.

Overall votes dropped to 60% for PAP. If my memory didn't fail me it was 65/66% in 2006 and 75% in 2001. This concludes that sentiment has not been very friendly to PAP despite a smaller quantum swing. The ruling party might have lost Aljunied GRC, but managed to wrestle in potong pasir at razor thin margin.

I think

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Added on May 8, 2011, 12:00 pmThe voices of opposition have been heard.  And Sg can expect a moderate growth in the future. From an outsider perspective, I think job seekers (foreigners) especially fresh grad will have a tough time with govt.

Heard many sayings about india Indians issue in Singapore.. u have any references ? I would like to read more about it..  What are the problems exactly ?

What about chinese from China? What opinions do you have ?

Before I went to Qatar for a small project, I've totally no problem working with any races, but after I came back, the India Indian contractor really make me almost gone super-racist. Sigh.

usually they belong to the higher caste northern indian... southern indians arent too bad especially those that come from a poor background...

But if you noticed, there seems to be a trend whereby indian restaurants are now hiring china workers to do work normall allocated to their own indian brethren such as making roti canai or being the waiter.

I've seen 4 people stay in a single common room. I've heard you can fit around 6 to 7 in a room since i know a guy who sub let a condo with 4 rooms to 22 china labourers.

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Added on May 11, 2011, 3:45 pm

Why cant they hire an indian worker on a work permit at the same salary range? Why does it have to be from china?

some of the balance goes into here:
levies

lot of sg employers find ways to exploit them. their 1st job all salary is paying for their food, accommodation & manpower supplied agent for the 1-2 years. end up nothing after S-pass expired. get nothing back to their own country.
that is how smart most of the sg employers are. the locals are not willing to take such physical demanding & dusty job.
so if lot of people especially those academically low still think it is great to work at sg, think thrice, unless one is very highly pay.

though i am a foreigner at there. i feel it too from s'poreans' point of view.
lot of foods is no longer s'pore's style or taste.
sometimes, i feel not par to the standard as what a developed country should be projected. on surface, everything perfect but inner depth different stories.

well, more towards the eng. edu. ones... if you're chinese edu. most likely they can pick you out... am i right?

neway, just because we blend in better and we are harder to spot doesnt mean there's no resentment... and also our features and colour are more similar there's somekind of kinship involved that helps..

more of these feelings are usually among the lower class/society... the capitalist class loves foreigners, the educated ones usually are more acceptable, where's the upper class are 50-50

You asked if the job's worth it. So, without providing more information about the job and yourself, do you just want us to simply guess the details?

Here's my tembak answer... $2K is definitely not worth it. Should only come to Singapore if they pay $8K or more. Need at least that amount to pay for house in Ipoh, house in KL and save up for a condo in SG.

The way I see it..it's very hard to apply for PR.

Singaporean have been pressuring their government not to have too many PRs. If you want to apply, at least make sure you have a good job, company, stable and etc. I have friends in my eyes are super qualified yet they got rejected. I agree that they have their own criteria in approving PR, and it only makes sense if they want the best to be their PR..that is including the factor whether you are S-Pass or EP. Are WP/S-Pass inferior compared to EP, yes you are..at least in their eyes. The very basic fundamental of whether you'll get an EP or S-Pass is by looking at what I said above, whether you have a good job, salary and a good company. If you can't even get an EP..i really doubt on PR

Seriously thou, if you are S-pass and wanna try...all I can say is good luck