By Gangasudhan
International Living, a magazine whose business for the past 30 years has been to inform readers on the best places to live and work, released its 2010 Quality of Life Index last month. This year’s index places Singapore at Number 70 out of 194 countries. From a statistical perspective, it has been ranked 21 (i.e. countries with the same score ranked equally) with a score of 61/100 with the highest score (France) at 82/100. The manner in which the index is tabulated is interesting, with firsthand perception given more weight than statistical figures. This means that if one of the editors happened to live in the country and disagreed with a certain official reported value, they would choose to go with experience rather than the value provided. To use an example, whilst the government may claim that there are no homeless in Singapore, anecdotal firsthand experiences of VWOs would suggest otherwise and would consequently overrule the official stance.
The editors of the index also make no apologies and are frank and upfront about their ‘bias’ – they declare outright that they favour their own judgement over any official figure. And with the experience in the field to back up such an approach, it seems a logical way in tabulating the index.
Singapore’s Poor Score
Over 9 categories, the countries were ranked in relation to one another – meaning, the best for the category was given a score of 100 whilst the worst was given a score of 0. The 9 categories then contributed to a total score over 100 – which is what determines the rank.
Singapore scored 61/100 (see image below) – the highest was France with 82/100 and the lowest was Somalia with 30/100 – with its well-documented security earning it a top score for Safety & Risk. However, its other notable pillars such as the Infrastructure (69/100), Economy (68/100) and Health (74/100) do not score as highly as one would expect. And perhaps most telling of all was the fact that the Environment (39/100) component scored more poorly than the Freedom (42/100) category.
Whilst it is well known that civil liberties here take a relative back seat to economic goals, the fact that our “population density per square kilometer, population growth rate, greenhouse emissions per capita, and the percentage of total land that is protected” can score worse than the level of “citizen’s political rights and civil liberties” is rather worrying.
In last year’s survey (see comparison below), Singapore scored 58/100 and came in at 80 out of 194 countries (statistical rank of 23) – which makes this year’s score a clear improvement. However, the salient point is that the Quality of Life Index reflects our general feeling that our cost of living has gone up significantly as our day-to-day comfort level has deteriorated – in layman terms, we (have to) spend more now whilst having to live in cramped or worse conditions.
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The full Quality of Life Index 2010 is available at http://www1.internationalliving.com/qofl2010
The full Quality of Life Index 2009 is available at http://www1.internationalliving.com/qofl2009
The Quality of Life Index methodology and report are also available for inspection.
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Not surprising Singapore is very unattractive place to be unless you’re an upper class or earn top salaries in the civil service. If you’re from middle class or the poor, get ready to be on the short end of the stick. Only obscenly overpaid expatriates and pro-MIW will say Singapore is the best place to be. Oh by the way, do you folks realise that recently there’re alot of pro-MIWs looming around internet forum and writing to shitty times singing praises of MIW and defending every single MIW policies till spat? Am I sensing the voting day is coming?
This should be renamed as the Westerner Quality of Life Index, since its designers admit that they are biased towards a Western lifestyle.
That’s why France can get a score of 87 for climate while Singapore gets a score of 39.
That’s why France can get an infrastructure score of 92 (no jams? lots of bikes? extensive train system for sure) while Singapore gets a score of 69.
France of course gets 100 for freedom (as do many other countries), while Singapore gets 42.
France, with all its big farms and its nuclear power stations, gets 72 for environment while Singapore gets 39.
The first non-white dominated country is Costa Rica with a score of 71.
The first Asian country is Japan with a score of 70. Taiwan scores only 64.
who says singapoor have no quality in life? we have the F1 race woah…we hav the casinos woah..heck even our geylarg hav froglegs and chicken that crossed the road with or without reasons nia…
don’t make excuses as can see cannot touched…this 1 borpian lark…till today i can only ear F1 race..no chance to see in realife..as for the casinos ley..played online lark…
~sigh~
if only the haze also appear in virtual mode just liked the rainbow…
We do not need statistics to confirm that quality of life in Singapore is bad.
want a better quality of life? prepare to pay more for it! is likely what MIW will say, but for most of the people, they have to be “cheaper, better, faster”…
Sorry for my ignorance, but what does MIW mean?
Moderating Editor: MIW = Men In White, referring to the affinity of PAP politicians to wear ‘Fab Boleh’ white attire (save the black belt, for some reason)
Well, do you think our all mighty MIW care about such ranking ?? Answer is of coz a resounding NO. Becoz we never hear or get to see any of the LEE clones or the MP aunties standing out to challenge all these rankings. Regardless of whether we’re ranked no. 7, 70 or 700, they will feign ignorance, go about their business and continue to live in their ivory landed property, drive their black merz and most importantly, carry on to reward themselves SHAMELESSLY with MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR SALARIES.
theonlinecitizen reader ,Feb 18, 2010 19:45 ” Sorry for my ignorance, but what does MIW mean? ”
Answer : The WHITE CLONES you see during national day.
Budget day is round the corner again… But has anyone, hopefully TOC, be able to roundup of last FY’s report card? Where have all the money to help the poor, to help the various SME industries, to help the unemployed, The old or the sick tt our grand leadership promised during the last budget day gone to? Have the monies really gone done to where these $$$ were supposed to be? Or was it just another case of lip service???? Someone should pull out last year’s budget promises & check if any of the KPIs been met!!!
Our MIW spent ten of thousand $$ to learn cooking in France, does that’s tell which one has a better qualify of life?
@Jason
“Our sources, staff, and contributing editors are all influenced by a Western bias. We have definite, preconceived ideas about what constitutes a high or low standard of living, what constitutes culture and entertainment, and what climate is the most enjoyable. We also consider the world from the point of view of the majority of our readers—Americans spending U.S. dollars.”
they openly admit it’s from a western bias.
I guess their opinion matters more than anyone else. :)
in scoring, sg did poorly in cost of living, enviroment, freedom and climate.
the first three are not new things.
what tickled me the most was climate- apparently it’s too hot for the ang mohs! :)
Hi all,
I don’t see the big deal in this survey – what is it saying? Let me give you an example, my friend Darkness 2010 wants to retire at 45. Is he right or wrong? Is he irresponsible? Is it a travesty of some kind?
The moral of the story is this: govt can certainly suggest; conditions may even set our happiness index, but who is to say you cannot just throw all these things out of the window? - very much in the way one may lead a horse to a stream, but whether it decides to drink, bolt or even give you a good kick is another question all together.
http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/saying-bye-bye-to-the-singaporean-god-of-delusions/
However, I do believe very strongly indexes are relative in the greater scheme of things. When the cows come home, only metric matters – whether its heaven or earth is entirely in your hands.
Good Evening all,
SD (Internet Liaison officer of the Brotherhood – sponsored by the Interspacing Mercantile Guild)
One has to admit that quality of life, while subjective, is not as good as it can be for some groups of Singaporeans.
However, it is also adequate as it is for most of us, though it could be better.
Ian Furst, eat your heart out!
I wonder what has all the PRs and new citizens got to say about this?
I am puzzled as to why the cost of living in Singapore is always deemed to be so high by rankings of this sort. Sure, Singapore is expensive compared to the rest of SE Asia, but it is much cheaper compared to similar cities in US, Canada, UK, etc. Having been on exchange for a year in the US, I know for a fact that I had to spend much more in the US compared to Singapore.
I suspect it is because these cost of living rankings are based on an expatriate’s lifestyle – which means accounting for the cost of food in restaurants, a car, a condo unit, etc. But the average Singaporean can live a reasonably well with public transport, hawker food and a HDB flat.
Thus, I can’t help feeling that Singapore’s cost of living is exaggerated by such rankings aimed at expatriates.
rank 70 is not just the issue.
The additional issue is it is not going upwards.
That’s for damn sure.
yeah, the pigs are not concerned with this ranking.
Because it means they have to do a lot more work.
They looked at the competitiveness ranking because :
1. it involves removinig a lot of government regulation which were there to protect the citizens, meaning they do less work by removing the regulations,
2. they thought they can use that ranking to attract investments meaning they get paid for it.
if one day, they realise they need people to vote them to get paid, I am sure, they will do things to make everybody happy.
//theonlinecitizen reader ,Feb 18, 2010 19:45 ” Sorry for my ignorance, but what does MIW mean? ”
similar to The white robots you see in the return of the jedi.
Cost of living in Iraq is 100 ? Free food or what ? China score for leisure and culture is only 59 ? Obviously they missed out alot of good stuff. Surprised also to see many strange countries that scored 100 for Safety and security. How come we did badly in climate ? (not enough rainfall ? temperature too hot ? high risk for natural disaster ?)
Hi Jamie, I’m not sure which part of City in US are you referring. However, I travelled to US almost once every quarter. Like you said, I spent much more in US because the goods there are really cheap. Let’s compare apple to apple, you walk into their Toy “R” Us and compare the price of Toy “R” US in Singapore, their price is average 50% cheaper than Singapore. Or you go their factory Outlet, Nike, Timberland etc etc etc….is damn cheap! I once bought a Fossil watch on behalf my colleague and when I check out the price sold in Singapore….is more than 100% higher here. Restaurant and fast food might be slightly expensive there but not forgetting they gave huge serving and their staff provides excellent service. 1/2 to one ounce of meat right in your plate!
My US colleague posted here for 1/2 yrs, always complained Singapore is damn expensive. His US house’s toilet is bigger than my living room but his whole house is around our HDB pricing. His second hand Porsche is cheaper than a new 1500cc japanese car. We live reasonably well here but they live quality life there. That’s the fact.
Rankings are one thing, and reality is the litmus test. If you give a young singaporean a chance to work in Europe, US or Canada, he’ll snap it up. In this sense, the ranking is fairly accurate about sinkapore.
It’s just like our local unis boasting they beat the Ivy League schools in some rankings. But would you send your child to NUS? Or Harvard??
Singapore. Top 5 in ASIA.
Keep it up you tiny, resourceless, red dot.
Singapore fares dismally on environment because of the following:
- too much construction, which is the most polluting industry of all. This is compounded by this en-bloc craziness where perfectly good buildings are torn down to be re-built, all in the name of money
- incredible waste of energy, for example the over-use of air-con. Having to wear a sweater in the office or at a movie because the air con is too low is just plain stupidity. Not to mention having zillions of shopping malls with doors wide open letting cold air escape
The increase of cost of living is a fact, even when you factor things like HDB etc. It was confirmed by UBS’ report on price and earnings, a study that is conducted every three years since 1971. There has been a steady degradation in Singaporean’s purchasing power since 2000.
Quality of life in Singapore is high only if you are part of the Singaporean elite, or high flying expats. For middle or low income earners, it’s crap.
Jamie
Did you compare it with real wages? If you increasing cost of living with a similar rising wages, then it is ok…and not to mention, US has min wage…
and look at SGP, wages has been stagnating…perhaps that can put your mind into the correct perspective
[i]Did you compare it with real wages?[/i]
i hav YET to increase my selfearnins let alone payin myself a 13th month bonus..i relied on mr TOTO for that small luxury EXTRA$…
what matters most is
do singaporeans actually care about this ranking?
I think they dun care at all.
@ hum
“I think they dun care at all.”
Don’t think. Prove it
Don’t be stupid. Singapore’s quality of living ranks 28th in the world. Drop 2 place from 2009 as two countries move up while our score stagnate. Top in Asia with Tokyo (which rank 2nd in Asia) far behind us. The title of this article should not be the quality of living in Singapore but the Singapore’s ranking in “best cities to live in” as cost of living and safety etc are used to indicate which city are better for people to live in.
@Nail on the head
Too much construction? So you would prefer our economy to stagnate or would you prefer us to lag behind the ever-changing world. As the world continue to globalize, those who has the qualifications would therefore be employed. Don’t be selfish and expect low degree with high pay.
Overuse of aircon? Have you not on air-con for once? Yes, I agree that it’s a waste of energy and Singapore is actually contributing alot of greenhouse gases given our size. But being a developed country in a hot tropical climate, I think that aircons are essential for attracting people to shop and dine in these malls. Without the crowd and the shoppers, investors will not come to Singapore and we will seriously face some troubles.
Cost of living. Yes, I also agree to the increment of the cost of living in SIngapore. But nothing in the world is free. You have to pay for quality and service.
I am not here for an argument. I am just here to tell you that everything has a double side and a balance between the pros and cons. Looking at the cons alone and complain loudly doesn’t seems a favourable thing to do.
If Singapore the city state were compared with other city’s like London, Athens, Cairo etc it would come tops every time.
I am a Singapore fan and love the place and lifestyle.
@jamie.
yes our cost of living is cheaper than US UK, canada BUT do you know their pay is on par with their living standards? A blue collar, plumber or carpenter even a construction workers earns much more than ours. We have High cost living but low cost wages. Either the cost of living goes down or our wages goes up. simple. Not asking much.
Oh pls, this ranking are derived from none other from the UN…They are considered the most undemocratic & baised organisation, which are ruled by vy minimum countries but controlled by mostly Americans. And guess what the Americans are famous for? For being IGNORANT about other countries!!..Most of the Americans never even travelled or lived in other countries before, only 10% of the Americans have passports, even their ex president Bush only started travelling OUTSIDE AMERICA after became president lol..To the americans, Singapore is another china city lol..Trust me, if this ranking is being rated by the Europeans, they would be more partial and open minded towards the rating on Singapore or other countries. I am sure they would rank Singapore in more REAL OFFICIAL FIGURES rather than just some prejudice side..I do know that UN has some problem about how singapore having tough laws..but that in exchange are giving the citizens and foreigners TRUE PERSONAL FREEDOM of being safe in the country! I rather be safe than be killed on the street in the U.S. with too much freedom of having guns and than able to get away with the lenient laws. I urge anyone to try living in both Singapore and U.S and then u can judge on yr own and really see which country really offer great quality living!!
Singapore is only praiseworthy of its safety.
Other than that, its oppressiveness is astounding.
I need only be in its education system to know this all too well. I am 16 this year.
The govt keeps harping on its previous successes and acts all smug just because their policies once worked.
Well the policies certainly worked… but at what cost besides statistical figures?
Have they imagined that if Singaporeans were as rebellious or not so willing to sacrifice their personal benefits,
they will have very little to be proud of?
They give themselves too much credit and pay for their small amount of effort. If anything, they should reward the people for their long, arduous and often uncredited struggle the people have made to make the government a success.
I think to be corruptible, it is harder to do that within a place like Singapore as we have no natural resources for people to mess around with.
There is very little that we can gain revenue from besides human capital which is harder to “cheat” with in its innate nature. So, it is not because our leaders are incorruptible, it is because they are chained to a fence that makes it hard for them to cheat.
Besides, it is well compensated on the normal pay. Our PM is paid better than Obama. For no risk of losing his job, it is a very attractive position in the long run. Who wouldn’t want this job that has almost perfect job security?
Singaporeans, I urge you to think before the next GE.
Vote for the opposition. I personally support WP but I just want to see PAP kicked out ASAP.