General Elections -- Cost of living

General Elections – cost of living

Firstly, we have the topic of the cost of living. There are many people that believe the cost of living is directly proportionate to the standard of living. As the standard of living improves, the cost will inadvertently increase as well. That is one misconception that most Singaporean have and this is epitomized in the Peoples’ Action Party Facebook Page whereby few people commented on PM Lee’s status, mixing up the cost of living and the standard of living.

Now what is causing the constantly increasing cost of living? There are many pertinent problems that has caused this issue that is implanted in many Singaporean’s minds. First up, we have the inflation in the global economy. The Singapore dollar is getting stronger and stronger against the US Dollar, which is the mark for comparison in this global market. Why? The US economy has obviously not been able to recover from its economic slump ever since 2008. This has caused the Singaporean dollar to become stronger and therefore this has caused the cost of living to rise.

With the cause of it out, what are the effects you may ask. Well housing has increased. GST is going to increase, apparently. Birth rate is going to decline. Well, well, well, what do we have here? Unhappy Singaporeans… as always. The government has done well in the global market, making Singapore currency more valuable and making it stronger than ever. However has the government ever thought about what will happen to the Singaporeans who are affected, in which all Singaporeans are affected. What will happen from now on? Coffee will constantly increase in prices, and there are no more 70cents kopi-o. HDB flats will constantly increase in prices, with 5 room flats being around 500,000 at this current moment.

Birth rate will also be affected. As the cost of living rises, who gives a d*mn about giving birth when they can’t even survive and lead a luxurious life on their own by their own salaries and by their own abilities and capabilities. Thus I empathise with them. Even though the government has provided various incentives for the people to give birth and have babies, however it will not be beneficial for the people to have children in the long run. Money and financing is not the only benefit in which the government can aim towards to do.

Thus what everyone was looking out for in the GE 2011 was mainly about the cost of living and how the government was going to solve it. Looks like the PAP has gone back to government again. Sighs Everyone please work harder and earn more money cos the government ain’t gonna help you solve ya problem :D