Salary Expectations
A recent graduate can expect between US$20,000 to US$31,000 per
year. Chinese New Year bonuses in the amount of one month's salary
are given by most employers at the end of January or beginning of
February. Most companies pay in Hong Kong dollars and salaries are
often quoted in HK$ per month. When negotiating a salary in Hong
Kong it is important to make sure both sides know which currency is
being discussed.
http://www.amcham.org.hk/hongkong/employment.html#cost
Median household monthly income in the third quarter grew to HKD
16,700, up 4.4% on the same period last year, while the median
individual monthly salary rose 2% to HKD 10,000.
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/businessandfinance/061123/html/061123en03002.htm
Average household income is HKD 18,884 and 30.6% (HKD 5,779) goes
to housing.
http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hong_kong_statistics/statistical_tables/index.jsp?charsetID=1&tableID=54B
Average cost of 61.6 sq.m apartment = HKD 1,000,000
http://www.housingauthority.gov.hk/en/aboutus/news/pressreleases/0,,2-0-15512--0,00.html
Time required for an average household to purchase
apartment in Hong Kong:
(HKD 1,000,000 / HKD 5,779) / 12 months = 14.42
years
====================================================
Average household income is SGD SGD 3,244 and 22.4% (SGD 727) goes
to housing.
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pdtsvc/pubn/softcopy/hes2003.pdf
Average cost of 3 room HDB apartment in Singapore = SGD
170,000
Time required for an average household to purchase an
apartment in Singapore:
(SGD 170,000 / SGD 727) / 12 months = 19.49 years.
====================================================
Conclusion: an average Singaporean would take 5 years
longer than their Hong Kong counterparts to finish paying off their
housing loan.
Have you the faintest idea what is "reserves" in Singapore context?
Where does the reserves come from? Do you know what is happening to
OUR reserves now? Having a budget deficit once or a few times in a
while is not the end of the world, it gives the economy time to
restructure and focus on areas of development (instead of seeing
your fellow citizens ending up on the MRT tracks as roadkill, in
this case, track kill). Business cycles is not a linear line, it
goes up it comes down, it's cyclical.
Have you analyse their budget 2006/2007? To increase taxes so that
you can spend on areas to help stimulate the economy is one thing,
increasing taxes so that you can have a bigger pay is another. In
economics, it's called "Moral Hazard", a situation in which one of
the parties to a contract has an incentive, after the contract is
agreed, to act in a manner that brings benefits to himself at the
expense of the other party to the contract.
In corporate finance, it's not good to have too much reserves,
because it lowers your Return on Equity (ROE). That's why Singtel
decided on a share buyback to reduce it's reserves, because they
can't make that rate of return expected from them by the market.
e.g. There is a difference between making a $10 profit with $200
and $100. $200: ROE = 5%; $100: ROE = 10%.
Do you know that the recent depreciation, since mid 2004 has
resulted in a loss of 10% of our reserves? I would not discount a
15% to 20% loss of our reserves in afew years time.
[(1.71 - 1.54) / 1.71] X 100% = 9.94%
Why did such loss occur? A rigid system like ours will lead to more
problems, because of it's inability to react to external
circumstances with an appropriate response. Having 82 "Yes Sir!"
people in the cabinet is not going to yield dynamic change.
You don't have to go Hong Kong to ask them about their lives, you
ask me or any average Singaporean and they will tell you their
lives.
According to "the Economist: world in figures 2007", Hong Kong's
purchasing power is ranked 15th (77.7), whereas Singapore is ranked
24th (70.8 ); (USA = 100)
I admire you, you get all your information from ChannelNewsAsia,
you are one smart aleck. Judging yourself in the mirror, you will
always look perfect. But having others judge you is
impartial.
lionnoisy: you were saying???
Ghandi is my idol.
