‘Money brings happiness’: Singaporeans give YouTuber their honest take on life here

SINGAPORE: When a YouTuber asked Singaporeans on the street whether she should move to the city-state, many of them enthusiastically said yes. 

However, many of the interviewees said that living in Singapore comes with a price tag.

As one man told her, the “most important thing is to be rich.”

In the May 25 video from Popping SG, the host Christina, a woman born and raised in Boston and Taipei, sought answers to the question “Moving to Singapore… is it really the dream everyone thinks it is?”

The first woman Christina spoke to was a Malaysian who’s been living in Singapore for 12 years. She told Christina that local food is affordable, but renting is expensive. If she were to get her own place, she would need to pay at least S$2,500 a month, and it wouldn’t even be in a central location.

She added that while she may stay another 12 years, “I won’t be retiring here for sure.”

An uncle, whom the host spoke to, said that S$1 million would be enough to retire on and that he believed saving that much would be achievable. A younger man told Christina that the “first pot of gold” in Singapore would be between S$100,000 and S$200,000, but said he hasn’t reached that amount yet.

When Christina asked an auntie if she should move to Singapore, the auntie said yes. “The food is good, people are good, government is good.”

Another uncle said that living in Singapore is not too expensive if people stay within their means. “Stay in Singapore if you want to earn more, go to Malaysia if you want to retire,” he advised.

A group of aunties listed Singapore’s advantages to Christina: it’s clean, no earthquakes, and nothing to worry about. When they were asked what they spent the most on, one auntie said overseas trips, and another said it was buying 4D lottery tickets.

However, when the YouTuber asked what they do on weekends, the women said they work, and have only one day off a week.

As one auntie put it, “No working, no money.”

“We work till we are 70,” said another, adding that she’s turning this age soon.

And when Christina said, “Money brings happiness,” the women agreed wholeheartedly.

One of the most fascinating interviewees was a 90-year-old former quartermaster who said that people need at least S$3,000 a month in Singapore.

“The most important thing is to be rich,” he told Christina. His secret to long life, he added, was to wake up at 5 am and work until 10 pm. /TISG

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