Before we continue, it is necessary to ask ourselves what standard of living is. Is it simply the GDP per capita? Or how rich we are, how much we can afford? Well, that's only a part of what makes up the standard of living. The standard of living is defined by the amount of comfort, wealth, material goods, and necessities in a certain country or class. A few factors that contribute to that would be the availability of employment, GDP, accessibility and standard of education and healthcare, political and economic security and freedom, and even leisure time. Therefore, the standard of living and the cost of living would differ! Standard of living essentially refers to the quality of living, while the cost of living actually refers to the price of living, or to sort of 'survive' in a particular country. What do we need to 'sacrifice' to maintain/produce the country's living? For example, if we want air-conditioning, the cost of that would be the pollution! In this case, we 'sacrifice' unpolluted air for the cooling comfort. What, therefore, is the comparison of the standards between Singapore and China? Sure, Singapore has a high GDP per capita, but do we have enough leisure time? Or do we school, work overtime, leaving virtually nothing for family or friends? Do we even know what relaxation time is anymore?
The high cost of living evokes worry. For example, many Singaporeans are worried about the fact that their pay is not rising in tune with the increasing housing prices. Stress to earn more can lead to less family time and more time at work. If one is unable to purchase a flat because of financial difficulties, yet do not want to accept the help of the government, many turn to the streets for 'shelter'. Many other examples can support that. Economic stress can lead to social issues, be it personally or the society in general.
In a recent EIU survey, it is reported that Singapore was the most expensive country to live in the world. At first, I was really surprised, because Singapore's food and transport fees are of a relatively low price compared to many of the developed countries in the world. Then, we learnt that this survey was targetted at companies who send employees overseas to work so that they know how to give their salary based on the standard of living. Therefore, this actually does not apply to the regular Singapore, who may eat their meals cheaply at hawker centres and take public transport. Singaporeans do not even spend as much as what the survey seems to suggest.
An important takeaway from that lesson was to determine the purpose of a survey, or article before we start of assume things. Take another example: The Big Mac index, or, the cost of big macs in different parts of the world.
Now, things look different.
Singapore's purchasing power isn't that high after all. This survey takes into account more of the local pricings and spendings rather than spending that of the richer foreigners in the country. This shows something more relevant. We may be an expensive country to dispatch people in, but what locals spend is far from that.
Therefore, when reading things online, we need to be more discerning and think about what the purpose of something is. Singapore is the most expensive country to live in? Nah. It's just expensive for companies.
Internet literacy is essential, especially in the age and era when everything seems to be online. Absurd information we can discern easily, but half-truths are concealed well, and sometimes, we blindly take in other's opinions without giving a second thought. What is relevant to us and what is not? If we cannot properly discern that, do we actually know what, then, we are reading?
