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untitled.bmpOnce kampung always kampung la!

Goodbye....you made teh right choice From ST Forum: Why one couple is resettling in Sweden I REFER to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's suggestion in last Thursday's report that Singapore emulate Sweden's strategy in improving birth rates ('Taking a leaf from Sweden's book to boost birth rate'). I am a Singaporean married to a Swede. However, within a year, we will leave Singapore to live in Sweden. My husband has persuaded me that Singapore is not the place to live and have a quality life, including having our first child. I am convinced even though I have good work opportunities here. The higher cost of living and stressful environment have taken a toll on us. The Government fails to help couples like us in many ways. First, as middle-class people, we have not been helped in any way to buy our first home, even though we are as good if not better taxpayers than younger couples. Couples like us cannot buy an HDB flat because our income exceeds the cap at our age. My husband is above 35 and I am well into my 30s. We are penalised for getting married in our 30s and cannot enjoy the grants given to young couples buying HDB flats. Resale flats are well beyond our means, with high valuation which means a bigger debt should we buy our first home in Singapore. Young couples can buy a five-room flat for $250,000, including grants, while we have to pay at least $400,000, without any grant. With such a debt, it is discouraging to have children as that will add a further burden, with childcare costs here topping $1,000 a month. We do not believe in hiring a maid to look after children. As a result, we now live in a rented apartment and will not have children until we move to Sweden. On top of that, my husband would like to spend time looking after our baby, but he is not entitled to paternity leave here. His employer, a Singapore company, does not promote it. With longer hours in this rat-race society, how can couples enjoy bedtime intimacy? In Sweden, the scenario is different. Employers are understanding and allow employees to take time off to collect their children from childcare. Flexi work hours are common and the government gives grants to encourage new families to procreate. Higher tax rates are offset by returns from the goverment, such as child allowances and free childcare. We have decided our first baby will have a Swedish passport, and not a Singapore one. Heng Siew Cheng (Ms)

Even expats also sian the cost of living liao Interesting exchange going on in expatsingapore forums. The forumers there are discussing if Singapore is getting too expensive for expats to stay: Move: We find it is getting more expensive to live in Singapore. Rent has been skyrocketing. Also, more expenses incurred after GST increase (eg. maid asked for more pay, increase in food prices). Package is now on local deal (not expat deal as when you just first moved here). AUD is now stronger than SGD so effectively earning less than before. Some people we know of have moved back. Got told that it is unlikey that AUD will get weaker against SGD in 5 years. Wondered if people have considered a move back?? We are going home: We have been here about 2 years and have decided to go home - as it's just not worth living here anymore - true, the low tax rate is great - but we will now have to pay over SGD6,000 a month for a same place we have been paying SGD2500 for the past 2 years and our paychecks have not increased by that much over 2 years. Also with strong AUD against SGD, we are not really that better off in Singapore. Also, the long working hours have started to cause a problem in our marriage (I was working almost 12 hours a day, almost every day at a bank). We too: We're going home too. It's not worth it anymore. http://www.mrbrown.com/ National Day Propaganda failed to work on them?