You're 100% on point there - easy for people who have ridden an asset driven value boom in an expansionary 30 year SG period to scoff at such sums, but it shows how disconnected the generations are, particularly across Social strata.
And to be fair, no-one should be reminded of the need to take sensible precautions - ostentatious displays of wealth can see you relieved of portable value very quickly in London/New York/Paris/Rome/Sydney...basically anywhere in the civilized world.
I idiotically left my keys in a brand new 1000cc sports bike in a public car park overnight last week. There is nowhere else in the world that it would have still been there the next day but here...god bless sg.
It's sad that many of the rich here have lost track of what is meant by cheap and expensive. This applies to the PAP government also. Given the extremely high prices of HDB flats, the ministers could still label public housing as "affordable". Of course, these overpaid idiots pay themselves millions every year. What do they know? They even explained the poor and elderly commonly seen pushing heavy carts of old cardboards are simply doing physical exercise.
Those who bought their resale flats a few years ago at the peak are now stuck in disappointment and frustration at not being able to move out without losing a lot of money. It's not that they are dumb to buy at such high prices a few years ago. But back in 2008-2013 especially, there were few or no new BTO flats released. People need places to live in. So they have little choice. Thanks to none other than the great mastermind of it all -- Lee Hsien Loong. He brought in so many new immigrants and gave them citizenship easily but the housing, healthcare and transport infrastructures were not properly put in place.
So despite property prices shooting up tremendously, the SG government still labels them as "affordable". Despite the severe lack of hospital beds across the country, they tell us "Please keep yourself healthy". Despite the frequent breakdowns of MRT trains recently, the bimbo minister Josephine Teo said this is normal as the trains are used by many commuters every day.
However, between SG and Iskandar/JB or Malaysia in general, I'd say SG does give one a much higher sense of safety and assurance. But it's becoming a playground for the rich. If you have the money, it's almost a no-brainer to invest in SG. Your wealth will grow eventually. But the commoners likely won't have that kind of money. So they have to take greater risks now and go to places like Iskandar or elsewhere.
To rich men, $300K or half a peanut is loose change to you. If one's take home pay is only $3K a month, it will be extremely challenging to even save $30K annually. $300K represents 10 year savings.
Indeed, I think 300k is peanut in the kidnapping world. It just isn't worth it. Loose change or not, 300k is simply little when one wants to try to kidnap for money. The penalty is life imprisonment
A financial scam or straight-up con is better as they largely go unreported by the wealthy....a small percentage loss for them is generally kept quiet as they can't stand the loss of face/being made to look stupid.
Kidnapping is a different matter.
Anything is affordable if we just pay through our bloodied nose! But this false sense of affordability comes at a price lor. Can I afford a jumbo flat with COV of $100K? Not with the little money in my bank alone, but can borrow from banks lor..may be can raise the money and tada the jumbo flat is "affordable" liao, but it means additional $500K in fresh SG loans for next 20 years or more. And renovation not even counted in.
Haha...yup. To the SG government, affordable simply means you can achieve it no matter the cost.
So for a young couple to buy a $450,000 4-room flat, they have to take 30 bloody years loan. The government will then say: "See, it's possible! It's affordable!"
There used to be a joke that a commoner can also afford luxury cars. Just borrow money, and take 30-50 year loan.
[/QUOTE]Yes. Most are on company lease. RM7000-RM 10,000 are norm for companies VPs and directors ( expat ) My foreign expats have housing allowance of around RM6000-RM 10,000 but I heard they can request for 2-3k more if they are staying in posh neighbourhoods such as PH etc. Subject to management approval but as you know, THEY ARE THE MANAGEMENT. Unlikely can get RM 15-20K rental in this ailing market. RM 7000-RM10000 for a 3-4 bedder high floor with superb view is just right
I know for sure Pine studios and neighbouring SMEs or Hua wei etc are planning to uproot their directors and senior management to PH due to it being an exclusive enclave as I just had a chat with one of the little birds in Dine
fully furnished
Was that a rare unit that got rented out?
According to someone I know, the rental at Imperia is not doing well. He's trying to sell his aunt's unit but also hardly any enquiries. High floor, good view and 1,800+ sq ft, about S$690k. Not sure if it's considered expensive or not.