Opening example — illegal immigrants. Singapore is able to enforce. Landlords are scared of confiscation if they provide shelter to an illegal immigrant.

I have the impression that U.S. schools and subway rules are not meaningful if not enforced. However,

* Look at GS and other private organizations and how they enforce their private policies
* Look at the military. Must have effective enforcement.
* Look at NASA.
* Singapore also has some high-profile failures of rule enforcement
** Pasir Ris mrt worker death

** cable car stuck in mid-air

Suppose financial IT jobs across U.S. locations (Chicago, NC…) is 600 “units”, then

Among them, H1b-friendly jobs would be 60 to 120 including W2 contracts or FTE ..

Among them, c2c jobs would be 20 to 40. Outside financial, IT, there could be many times more but I am unsuccessful so far.

SG financial IT jobs would be 10 to 20 (30? I doubt it.)

If I had not gone to and experienced US in my early 30’s …

… I would most likely stay in Singapore for good. Perhaps would try China or Australia, but it’s unlikely with kids. The older the heavier the inertia.

… I wouldn’t even understand the meaning of tech specialization. Not needed in Singapore. …… I’m less likely to become local expert on Java or threading

… I would spend years between Unix administration and java/php/python dev. I would remain broad-based. I might even become a technical manager in a small shop, likely earning below $10k.

… I would probably try some even smaller start-up but may not take off.

… I would envy those older hands-on guys in US, Japan, Europe as I see myself in them.

… Kids would heavily influence my career direction but I would still have to make important career decisions based on the mega-trends, my situation (narrowing… stroll…)

… I would probably try pre-sales, like Guo Qiao.

… I would likely stay hands-on since management doesn’t look like my strength.

… I would try finance tech in Singapore, but probably fail, since the bar is too high.

… I would probably more seriously consider a Plan B — research/teaching, if my dev competitiveness stops growing.

Master copy? 610610 open. Nothing to do with knowledge pearl, and nothing private?

There’s significant costs to either choice — painful. Many people (including most of my Singapore friends) are put off by the pain so they stay with the familiar, the comfort zone, watching it deteriorate. Young people are more likely to accept change, adjust to change, embrace and exploit opportunities. Some middle-aged fathers in my situation also have this courage and flexibility. I guess these people are self-confident, resourceful, adaptive.

==US drawbacks   -ie-  SG advantage

1. wife difficult to find job — sense of purpose, self-worth, independence, her own life…
2. grandparents — can’t see them so often
3. drugs and bad influences — ##drug risk4boy: specific strategies
4. [c] 3 big burn rate items as described in my analytical letter to Melvin US compared to Singapore: high cost@living, rather few advantages #Melvin
5. — minor items:
6. wife has no friends, can’t visit/call her parents easily
7. Long commute…(driving) will eat into my available time, with profound implications, though most colleagues got used to it. It’s more of a culture than a national malaise.
   1. However, as mentioned in U.S. work-from-home opportunities, regular remote working is possible in many teams
8. fewer leaves – childcare leaves. However,
   1. if perm in the US, can take fake medical leaves when needed. I think overall, US workers work about the same number of days as Singapore workers.
   2. encashability — suppose you don’t want to use up that many (like 20+6) leaves and would rather “sell” (OCBC). Perm job offers limited encashability whereas contract offers 100% encashability. Once a while, weekends are also encashable if contractor required to work
9. wife taking care of 2 kids alone – what if falling sick or behavior problem? But in Singapore, in-law collocation brings big problems too.
10. [$] sick leave (family member?) Bad if contracting.  Need to work from home sometimes.
11. wife more likely to reach “breaking point”
12. street safety, gun violence – wife’s concern
13. pain of moving home (with lots of furniture), but I could possibly rent a room for myself (persuade wife to accept it)
14. [$] medical bx – not “free”  if contractor. Need to buy bx.
15. immigration issues. complications and concerns,  risks about GC
16. [$] home repair – have to DIY like Xia Rong, as professional service cost is too high. Be optimistic — I could learn it.
17. bullying
18. Chinese language education for kids
19. pain of finding new school, as most US primary schools are probably not great
20. stadium, swimming (boy)…I must exercise somewhere else – always possible. I actually did, in commercial gyms and HDB playground. What if we drive?
21. inconvenient – healthier food, grocery shopping (unless we drive), …
22. before we take up driving, perhaps less family fun activities, since wife feels more at home more familiar in SG
23. [$] involuntary furlough + rate cut
24. [$] rental cost until we buy a home, but with some effort SG home can rent out.
25. piano for kids? If interested then easy to continue.

[$=extra cost or reduced income in US, which is comparable to the income decline in SG]
[X=This is my real experience, not wishful thinking.]
[C=contract roles]
[B=big picture]

==US over SG

Hi Guo Qiao,

You asked an interesting question “Look at the numbers on price tags in US. Higher or lower than Singapore, ignoring currency?”

Transport — is a simple comparison. i don’t drive. New York Public transport “price figures” are lower — $76/month covering subway and buses. If I drive, fuel is cheaper, after currency conversion.

Telecom — friends use low-cost VOIP phones at home but I’m not sure. Mobile airtime is higher.

Broadband — can be lower — as low as $15/month for DSL.

Rental — is the biggest component (perhaps 10-30%) of total monthly expenses. My wife and I choose low-end, but safe, convenient locations. The “price number” is very routhly the same to SG, $700 -> $875 -> $700 -> $550 for a couple.

Medical — comparison is complicated by medical insurance and the huge variety of treatment options. I feel overall “price numbers” are higher. However, pregnancy/maternity can be cheaper — one-time cost of $10 from conception to delivery, everything else covered by insurance.

gadgets — Electronics and computer gadgets have lower price-tag numbers.

Brands — Famous fashion brands are cheaper, even after converting to SGD.

For clothing, food, stationeries, household items, I buy low-end but usable, clean stuff, often in $1 shops.

– Fruits and vegetables can, in special places, be cheaper, even after converting to SGD.
– pizzas, burgers, bread, juices, dairy, frozen food are cheaper, even converting to SGD.
– eating out — higher, because Singapore has such a hyper-competitve market of hawker centers, coffee shops and food courts.
– fast food — lower
– chinese food — higher

Computer books — lower

Haircut — higher, but can be $8 in New York Chinatown.

See other posts on American efficiency.

Overall, a wealthy city state (I guess HK …too) is often saturated with service providers. Standard of living and standard of service is higher than a big country like the U.S.. In the U.S., I would say the cheaper service providers tend to give poor customer service. In Singapore, even the cheaper ones are fine.

I feel the large service providers in the U.S. tend to have complicated policies or services, so the associates may not be well-trained.

Lawsuit culture – the service providers may be more risk averse.

–Some of the more efficient service providers:
United Healthcare
Blue cross
GS
BofA and Citi – not so much waiting

The government service level is much higher in SG, but how about other countries? This could be SG’s preeminence.