The High Costs of Living Part 2

I feel almost obligated to clarify, just for the record, in case anybody read me wrong, that in "The High Costs of Living", I wasn't in any way implying that Singapore was expensive, and Europe was cheap in comparison.

I've studied economics, and given the simple laws of demand and supply, in any country with international trade, there will be some things that are expensive, and other things that are relatively cheaper than the rest of the world. Purchasing power parities (PPP) and The Economist's Big Mac statistics (as a dear reader alluded to) would show that stripping away the current world currency exchange rates, different countries continue to have different costs and standards of living.

My not very obvious points in my first blog entry are simple, IMHO:

1. We all have different basket of goods. Sure, comparing the costs of Big Macs, cars, houses and brussel sprouts (not necessarily cheaper in Brussels, might I add for effect) will get you somewhere - but ultimately, we should be comparing the costs of our individual basket of goods in deciding where we finally want to live, work and earn our money. For some this may be Singapore (where else can we easily find a plate of char kway teow for under $2) and for others, it may be London (where else can I fly to Greece for under 100 pounds), Munich, or Seattle (yes I want my Victoria's Secret accessories and Bath and Body Works toiletries).
2. My point is that ideally, we are aware of this, and we have a choice in deciding where we want to build our lives. My point is that we should be conscious that our basket of goods are individually different, and that with increasing globalization, it's no longer easy to define, even individually, a basket of goods that any one country would have a competitive advantage in. If I want my cheap European cars, my Bath and Body Works toiletries and also my cheap char kway teow, I'd be hard pressed to bridge the gap by being in any one country. Yes there are tradeoffs, yes there are choices, yes there is a need for prioritization.
3. My final point was one of surprise. Perhaps at my own choices, or the assumptions that I, until that point, subconsciously had. Without imposing a value judgement on anyone, any country, or any opinion, I was surprised to discover that in my cocooned world of choices, it could possibly be more expensive to procure my (self-defined) basket of goods in Singapore than elsewhere. I've always lived with the assumption that things were cheaper in Singapore. Even now, living in the UK, I default to Singapore in stocking up on every day essential items, I bemoan the fact that my rent is expensive, that eating out costs a fortune. But the truth is, I have discovered that some items in my basket of goods are mobile across borders and others are not. In the prioritization of choices, it only makes sense to go where the immobile basket of goods are relatively inexpensive, and the mobile ones relatively accessible. ie. to live cheaply day to day and personally import for personal consumption the Bath and Body Works toiletries on business trips.

At the end of the day, it's all about choices, isn't it? We choose to live dangerously (or otherwise). We choose to have our luxuries or live without them. Where did I get my numbers? They may not be the Singapore official standard of averages, but they are my averages. To be very honest, I've probably had the good fortune of having hung around people who chose to pay more than the official standard of averages in Singapore, but like I said, it's all about your individual basket of goods, not anybody else's. Could one be happy in Singapore without a car (that many people have), in a 3 room HDB flat (that costs about $300k), working 5 and a half day work weeks, with a spouse, two and a half kids and tuition bills? Perhaps. If this is what I wanted from life.

But for now, I'd like to highlight the importance and value of choice over affordability. It is one thing to say, this is what you are given, you can get by, you won't starve. You might even be happy. It's another completely to say that you have consciously purchased, through a real dollar value the option to choose another, perhaps indulgent, way of life.

The importance of choice, is the importance of stepping into things with eyes wide open. Knowing, consciously, whether one is living dangerously or not, and not simply making the assumption (as I was previously) that this is the only way of life that Singaporeans were leading, and everybody's doing it so it must be safe. I know only too many people my age who are committing to living la vida peligroso, without knowing what they are getting themselves into. Just because everyone around them is doing so. Just because that's the way life is in Singapore. Just because we keep up with the Joneses. I guess the way things are in Singapore isn't always culturally favourable to choice.

If you want halfway affordable Peugeots or Volkswagens, villas in the country, vacations to Greece, Morocco and Barcelona, then being in Singapore just isn't going to cut it. That said, I always find it amusing to hear envious tones from the Europeans I meet that I take holidays at random to a sunny beach in Phuket or Bintan. In all seriousness, it's a reminder that we win some, we lose some.