Well, I am not sure what both govts are thinking, if they had just spent US$42m on the consultancy costs, without going ahead. I feel it is more inefficiency than anything else.
http://investors.aecom.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131318&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=1698459
I dunno... Shall I try something more cynical than that.... Exports are falling, growth is falling, efficiency and productivity is falling what with the foreign labour cap. Property prices in Singapore are falling... I'm just wondering if maybe some of the powers-that-be may not want to make it easier still for people who can afford it to go North...
I mean... there was lots of inequality and people were unhappy but... I look at some of the policies and they seem to reduce inequality not by giving those at the bottom a significantly better life, but by making it harder for those in the middle or upper middle to have a better life or to move ahead (the upper crust somehow will always likely remain unscathed) ie. Everybody is the same, so stop complaining and live your lot... Now, one has to admit that being Singaporean, one cannot be in the lower end of the spectrum in Singapore... You need to have a decent income and some savings to buy a Malaysian property, something that a lot of people can't do (Median salary of Singaporean residents in 2014 was $3,770 INCLUDING employer contributions so stated wage is around $3,336 and take home around $2,670. That doesn't leave a lot left after deducting expenses.). Remember if median is around $3,350 there is another 50% below that.
I mean, sure, there will be people who earn more, execs, white collars, more senior wage earners - in the $5,000 to $10,000 range... But if you look at that, the difference is not much more per month. If your salary is $5,000 and your take home is $4,000, the median salary owner is taking home two thirds as much as you. One may think it is a lot in the long run but actually, it is not. The big difference is surplus income. The person who takes home the median of $2,670 will have, if he is lucky, $500 left for savings or investment or additional luxuries. The person who takes home $4,000, if he spends the same on necessities as the median salary owner, will have around $2,000 left. That is 400% higher than the median wage earner.
Now, again, one may think that is a lot in the long run but the truth is that depending on what you do with your money, it is not. With the low interest rates in Singapore, putting the money in the bank will not see you much better off than the median in the long run. What the higher disposable income meant for the higher income earners of yesteryears was that it allowed them to invest in property. Their higher incomes allowed them to take bigger loans and their higher surplus income allowed them to service them more effectively. And then if they were smart, they would get higher returns from their investments either through selling or through rent. So not only the principal difference increased over the years but their rate of return on excess income increased a lot. And after a while you get a middle class which was quite comfortable.
I'll not go into the political context or the fact that in elections everybody, regardless of income, has one vote. But let's just look for example of the latest laws regarding property. I know and believe that a big argument is to prevent people from over-committing. But unwittingly or wittingly, it has the effect of pricing some people out of the market. So, take for example the median earner of $2,670 and the person who takes home $4000, now both cannot buy an additional property and have to put the money in the bank... Ok, maybe the higher earner can have more luxuries but it is very possible both will stay in the same HDB flat... That is not so big a gap...
I know I am long-winded but here the Malaysia part comes in... Being suddenly cut out of Singapore property the higher wage earner suddenly realises - "Oh, if I just look across the causeway, I can have luxurious living with my salary...I can get loans, the property is cheaper, it is a SHORT drive.."
And that's where my possible conspiracy theory comes in. After effectively reducing the ability of the upper middle class to move ahead in Singapore, there is suddenly a loophole which threatens to create two classes. One who can have a higher standard of living by going to Malaysia and one who cannot... How would the have-nots feel? How would they vote?
But there are impediments.. Customs, jams, transportation.... But they can be surmounted right? By building new causeways, links, the RTS, the HSR, having a ferry service, improving infrastructure such that going to JB would be like going to a part of Singapore and vice-versa....
But... But....
