Cost of Living

Here's a photo taken at the Alberta saskatchewan border, on our way back from Edmonton during one of our long weekends.

By the way, Edmonton is a city with 10 million people on it. Most haven't heard about it, but i think its one of the major cities in the world. But anyway, there is one distinct difference between the two Provinces. Alberta is an oil producing province. Things that u buy there are only charged 7% GST. You heartlanders might think this is expensive! Wait till i tell u that Saskatchewan charges another 7% on top of that, known as PST. Province Service Tax. Why so much u might ask? My best guess would be their social support programs.

Single mothers here are given an allowance to support their child. So they basically get paid for being moms. People who retire get more money. People who are jobless get some more money. Who pays for these, THE PEOPLE, and of course foreigners. Thank god Singapore has a better system, known as the CPF. I'm very glad to say that our government hasn't resorted to "vote incentives" like social security programs like what they have here. Our government has the courage to make the right decisions over popular decisions.

And of course I'm wondering why is standard of living in Singapore rated as one of the highest in the world. My guess would be course of the prices of Houses and Cars (BTW, COE is another good policy they implemented). Other than that, food and transport and movies and entertainment and alcohol and tabacoo and many other things are way cheaper than many other countries! I can only get a decent meal here for at least $8 (not forgeting their service tax here is 14%), tabacoo i think is actually more expensive as well.

Oh by the way, i heard in France, the price of gas is Euro$1.80+ nope, not per gallons, but per Litres. That equates to about S$3.60 a litre if you were a Singaporean.

Be glad you are living in Singapore.