TRUE Living Cost in Singapore

CNN rated Singapore as the world’s MOST EXPENSIVE city to live in year 2016.

It is even more expensive than Zurich, Switzerland. Are you sure, CNN news?

I have worked and stayed in Singapore since year 2004 and I definitely can tell you the living cost in Singapore is not that bad. In fact, it is much lower than Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Let me share with you my true living cost in Singapore in great details. Here you go!

I break down the cost into few categories as follow:

 

(1) Utilities bill - S$119.

Below shown are my past 13 months of utilities bill (that includes electricity, gas & water). In average for the past 13 months, my utilities bill was S$119 per month only for a family of 3. We switch on the air con every night at 25 degree C, FYI. Government gives quite a fair bit of free rebate in this bill (S$220 per year), if not, the true electricity cost is at S$150 maximum per month for my household.

 

 

 

 

(2) SingTel Internet broadband / house phone line (FREE) / cable TV and mobile phone- S$122.

 

The breakdown is as following:

That comes with Fibre Home Bundle with 300 MB speed at S$46.64.

Cable TV Entertainment Bundle: Family Starter (including CNN / Bloomberg, Disney Kid Channels, etc..) at $34.40. The sub-total is S$81.04.

My mobile phone Combo 2 Plan (with 2 GB local data):$40.09 before 30% discount.

Caller ID is additional S$5.00, mobile phone per month is S$33.06. Above total cost with 7% GST, that’s S$122.09 per month.

 

 

 

 

(3) Foods expenses - S$600

Foods expenses: for our household, we can say it is easily less than S$10 per day (weekday lunch and dinner, can you believe it? ). 

As me and my wife work full time, we decided to engage foods delivery to our home directly at S$214 per month. Well, we surely have no time to cook for ourselves and for the little 4 years old boy and to cook such a portion is not very practical too. I also found out the foods delivery quality is not bad or better than hawker centre as it is less oily and have good varieties too, you don’t have to worry what to eat everyday.

 We usually ordered 3 months services and it comes with S$150 discount! How good can it be?

 

3 month S$214 x 3 (months) = S$642 – S$150 (discount) = S$492 / 3 (person)= S$164 /20 (days)= S$8.20 per day.

 

The food is enough for us and the little one and, that’s like S$8.20 per day for 3 persons. Of course, in certain days, I will buy more food if I see some dishes that I do not like, ha ha. That’s about 1 or 2 times per week, and I can easily just top up some mixed rice items from the hawker centres downstairs. I cook rice myself. It is an easy job.

 

 

 

 

 

There are many hawker centres in Singapore. Just below my home, there are 3x hawker centres within 10 minutes walk. You basically can get all the food you want, from chicken rice to noodles soup and mixed rice. The price range is from S$2.50 to S$5.00. Most of the Singaporean settled their meal at hawker centres as you can have all the varieties, easy to access and it is affordable.  

We spend more at weekend as we usually dine at restaurants on weekend, if not, cook at home (that's very seldom). In average, the bill comes to S$50-70 per meals (be it lunch or dinner). So, average out, one person S$600 maximum per month on foods is surely more than enough.

Below are the restaurants that we visit very often in Singapore. That's me and my boy beloved eatery places. You got to try them all when you visit Singapore!

 

The milk powder consumption is about S$1,000 per year. I got all my milk powder from AEON at Bukit Indah. :)

 

(4) Medical Cost - $0
We have medical and dental cost coverage from our employer up to S$3,000 per year (combined) for the entire family. We never fork out extra for medical cost in Singapore, which is very good.

(5) Transportation Cost - S$100 (if you don't drive)
or S$1,700 (for my case).

Taking public transport is dirt cheap in Singapore. I take a bus from my home to Jurong East MRT station (3 bus stops away) and transit to the MRT train to Raffles Place (CBD), that cost me less than S$1.60 (that's 25 minutes train journey). I used public transport in Singapore until I have kid. I can survive with public transportation too.

All right, car in Singapore is the most expensive in the world, Malaysia is the second most expensive country to own a car too. A brand new Toyota Corolla Altis costs you S$110,000 for 10 years, then, you will take back S$10,000 after you scrap your car after 10 years. So, I pay monthly car loan of S$1,200, new HDB monthly car park would be S$120, and car patrol, $200 , with all the car insurance and road tax, in average, I am paying S$1,700 for my car to ferry around my family. I do not need to pay ERP as I don't have to pass through those ERP gates. :)

If you want to save costs in Singapore, obviously you can cut the expenses here by taking the public transport and taxi services. Don't complain!

(6) Domestic helper - S$0

I do not have domestic helper. I love doing housework myself. I have all the time to do it myself too. It is a form of exercise for me and my expectation of cleanliness is very high. I rather to do it myself. If you hire one domestic helper, it shall be around S$900 per month (to include additional expenses you need to pay for them)

(7) Childcare - S$750

 

For those who have kid, unless your wife is not working, else, you will surely either to have a domestic helper to look after your kid or sending him/her to full day childcare. I love the childcare concept here. It opens from 7 am to 7 pm. I usually send him to the school at 7.30 am and pick him up at 6.10 pm. You can send your 2 months infant until age 6 (K2) to the childcare. The kid will learn massively in the childcare and they will also build up immune system. S$750 per month for full day childcare is good money spent. I would not complain about this cost.

Of course, there are also additional cost for the excursion or enrichment class if you sign up. For example, the swimming class, gym class, drama & speech class, excursion trip to play centre, etc. The fees can be ranging from S$30 to S$70 per trip.

We bring our 4 years old boy to art class as he has talents in drawing. He has the skills from his mum and maybe he can become an architect too. :) The art class is S$30 per session.

We also expose him to keyboard class (piano class). It is about S$25 per session. He does not show interest in music class so we will stop the course after the 12 sessions are completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(8) Housing loan - S$0

 

We are lucky to pay off our HDB housing loan 3 years ago. It has the market valuation price of S$460,000. To buy a 4 rooms flat at good location (Toh Guan, Jurong East), it was S$355,000. With 80% loan, 30 years of tenure, and interest rate of 2%, the monthly mortgage is only S$1,049. You can easily pay this amount off by using the CPF. You do not need to fork out any cash.

 

In fact, if you like, you can rent out your room at S$750 per month, 2 rooms will give you extra S$1,500 cash per month even! How crazy is that? S$1,500 can fully pay all your monthly expenses in Singapore!

 

 

(9) HDB town council fees - S$46.25

 

Jurong East monthly town council fees is S$55.50. Government has consistently waived 2 months of charges every single year. So, the monthly commitment now is S$46.25.

 

 

 

Having say all these, do you really think the living cost in Singapore is the highest in the world?

 

Surely NOT. That is for the foreign expats who stay in Singapore la ! They love to rent the expensive private property, go fine dining , pub drinking and a lot of entertainment costs too.

Few words for Malaysians
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I am a Malaysian too. I was born in year 1980. My friends in Malaysia always converting the expenses in Singapore from SGD to RM. If you want to do that, make sure you do not forget to convert the income too!

As a fresh graduate in Singapore in year 2004 (during my time), it was S$2,500 per month, comparably it was RM 2,500 in Malaysia too. Vice versa, assuming after 12 years of work, you are now earning S$8,000 per month in Singapore, that also means you are earning RM8,000 in Malaysia too. I told them, by then, if I minus off all my Singapore expenses, the balance I have in SGD, if I covert them back to Ringgit, it will be surely more than the gross income earned in Malaysia! (It actually means, for a monthly income of S$8,000minus the expenses in Singapore say, S$5,000 a month, you will have a balance of S$3,000 which is RM9,000 a month. That is still more than the monthly gross income of RM8,000 in Malaysia)  Not to mention, the personal income tax in Singapore is so much lower than Malaysia as well.

Last but not least, the SGD had appreciated almost 200% towards RM since year 1986. It could touch RM4.0 by year 2026. Who knows?

 

Engineering Change Order

In FDA regulated health care life science manufacturing industry, 21 CFR Part 820 Quality System Regulation is very important for good manufacturing practise for the medical device.

Engineering Change is an important topic. I would like to pen down my experiences before all faded away.

Engineering Change Order (ECO) will trigger the following requirements:

(1) Input Optimization Concept to elaborate the changes description/ benefits and impacts.

(2) Release Engineering Change Order (ECO) to manufacturing plant.

(3) Document list changes to have respective department representatives to review the changes impact on R&D/LCM, GPS, SCM, PE, V&V, RA, etc.

(4) Change form LCM (Life Cycle Management) instrumentation should be filled too.

If the ECO cannot be released at the short period of time, a temporary deviation form can be raised, for example: ANF- Approval /Notification Form.

Most of the engineering changes are due to:

(1) Correction of the engineering drawings (be it drawing errors/discrepancy), production documentation (update on assembly build instruction), BOM correction (part quantities mismatch between the BOM and the exact usage on the production line, for example the screws quantities, etc.), packing list updates.

(2) End of life (EOL) part proposed by the vendor/manufacturer that leads to new MPN change. RoHS and REACH compliances must be declared. Electrical characteristics shall be reviewed. Critical changes like photomultiplier tube (PMT), rotor coupling, stepper motor will require trial report and evaluation report for careful studies and comparison. Such change will also impact the SP (Specification) document. It has DHF (Device History File) impact.

DHF impacted changes will also required re-validation. It depends from the scope of the change and impact to the end results. Such change can also impact the application side (chemistry, reagents and assays).

There will be no change in form, fit and functional.
FDA auditors always like to see such statement stated in the Engineering Change Order. It implies that you have gone through the changes carefully, thoroughly.

(3) Escalated customer complaints (from Global Product support) leads to investigation of the problem. Design change/ improvement will eliminate or reduce the occur rate of the incidents. For example, the cable bending for too long causes intermittent. It shall be replaced by higher class of cable materials that can hold millions of bending cycles.

(4) Production software updates. User manual CD, software updates (on the BOM level) or spare part changes, new spare part added into the list.

(5) New OEM implementation. (Different label information and cover colour for example).

(6) Cost reduction project. For example to reduce the instrument 48 hours burn in test to 8 hours run in test.

(7) Refurbish protocol update (for exhibition pool, demo units)

(8) Production transfer, for example from California to Malaysia. The Production Release report must be assessed and completed then an Engineering Change Order can be released accordingly.

My Exit Strategy on Singapore Real Estates: 99 years leasehold & 99 years lease

There are different types of real estate in Singapore, namely, freehold, 999 years leasehold, 99 years leasehold and 99 years lease.

Freehold is clear. You own it forever.

999 years leasehold, as the figure had indicated, it is yours for 999 years, that’s like 10 generations?

All right, let’s talk about the exit strategy on 99 years leasehold private property and the 99 years lease HDB. It is made clear by the government that once your 99 years lease is expired, we have to return our unit to the state and our property value will be ZERO value. We have to be mindful about this. So, what should we do?

Personally, this is what I will teach my children to do.
 

In the event the property reaches 50 years old, it is time to market to sell off the properties.

 

Unlike Malaysia, we were informed that we might be paying a small sum to extend the lease once the lease is expired. In my hometown at Sibu, Sarawak, almost all the properties are 60 years lease and we will see how all these leases are extended when time dues. It is near impossible that all houses will be returned back to the state while the 60 years lease is expired. I do not think so.

 

Anyway, back to Singapore. Singapore history is young too. There are no projects reaching the expiry of 99 years lease just yet but it will come one day for sure.

I like to give the example of Lakepoint condominium (99 years leasehold) at Lakeside. Even though it is a 35 years old condo, but it is still fetching a rocket high price today. The 4 bedrooms units at 12th floor (highest floor) are still transacted at S$1,600,000 level at today market while the price of the units in year 2006 was a mere S$530,000. I was the tenant by then in year 2006.

The interesting question is, what would be the market price when Lakepoint condominium reaches 50 years old, 70 years old, etc. I am pretty sure the price would still hold or increase by the time it reaches 50 years. But I would be concerned when it reaches 70 years old as the property value shall start to drop by then, not to mention, when the 99 years leasehold is up, it will become S$0 value. But , this condo is in good position for en-bloc. It has huge compounds and less units, I am pretty sure the condo will be demolished for a good buck before it really goes all the way to 99 years! That is my bet. Hence, the location plays an important role too.

So, a fact check myself, my HDB is 16 years old and the private property is 5 years old.

I would strategize to sell off my HDB unit 35 years later, by then I would be age 71.

I also will plan to sell off the private property 45 years later, by then, I would be age 81.

Both properties would still have 50 years on lease by then. Both units located at strategic locations at Jurong East and Clementi. I would seriously think there is still an upside of 150% to 200% at least by the time both units reached the 50% of the lease. Why? It is because it would be a mature second CBD area in Singapore and the bullet train station at Jurong East shall be a busy hub too after 40 years!

That does not mean you definitely MUST buy freehold or 999 years leasehold. Location still counts after all. So, that is my exit strategy on 99 years leasehold and 99 years lease. What is yours?

Below are the information taken from parliamentary debates official report dated on 20 January 2014.

Value of HDB Flats on 99-Year Leases and Flats Undergoing Redevelopment under the SERS Programme

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many HDB blocks are more than 40 years into their 99-year lease; (b) what will be the value of an HDB flat once it reaches the end of its 99-year lease; (c) what is the average number of flats undergoing redevelopment under the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) each year for the past 10 years; and (d) whether the pace of SERS is fast enough to redevelop all HDB blocks before they reach the end of their lease.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan : The Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) is part of the Government’s estate renewal strategy for older estates. It allows intensification of land use and revitalises such estates through new developments. At the same time, it offers an opportunity for flat owners to buy a new replacement flat with a fresh 99 year lease.

In the last 10 years, SERS has benefited the owners of about 18,000 flats. As the name suggests, the identification of suitable precincts for SERS is selective. The selection of sites and pace of SERS will depend on factors such as their redevelopment potential, and the availability of replacement sites for rehousing and other resources.

Currently, there are about 300 HDB blocks with 31,000 flats which are more than 40 years into their 99-year flat leases.

Like all leasehold properties, HDB flats will revert to HDB, the landowner, upon expiry of their leases. HDB will in turn surrender the land to the State.