Think your pay is too low?

Just recently, I've had the chance to talk to some of my colleagues and classmates who come from other countries. There must be a reason why they choose to come to Singapore. Here are a few reasons I got from them:

They are from coutries like malaysia, vietnam and Philippines.

1) They think that the SGD currency is stronger and hence ita better to work in Singapore earning SGD.

When they convert back to their local currency, its really quite a lot.

2) They heard about how safe Singapore is.

3) The pay here is definitely higher.

4) It is quite easy to find a job here and get a work permit/pass.


These are the few reasons I found out. I went on to probe futher on how much is the salary in their home country for a degree holder.

For Malaysia, it is about MYR3000. This is about half of what we get in Singapore.

For Philippines,  it is only about S$1000. I can't remember how much it is valued in their local currency.

For Vietnam, this may shock you. It is 5000000VND. How much is it if you convert to SGD? It is only $295/month.

Well, we can say that the things in their country is cheaper. Not like Singapore where everything is expensive. However, the last time I went to Vietnam, I remembered their food prices have gone up quite a lot. It was reported that their inflation rate may exceed 8% in 2013.

In Philippines,  I heard from my colleague that it is very hard to get a job there. There are many university graduates but no jobs created for them.

Many come to Singapore in search for a better future. Mostly for the jobs and higher salary. Maybe Singapore is not so bad after all. But of course, we'll always want improvement. Things can always change for the better. Do you want higher pay and more expensive prices or lower pay and cheaper prices? How about higher pay and cheaper prices which many people wish to have? I think this will only happen in a fantasy world. The economy does not work that way.

Think your pay is too low? Think again. We're far more fortunate in our small island city.

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