4 ms·

> The Singaporean lifestyle is one of the most stressful, competitive and insecure in the world. I'm curious about this. Can you point me to any resources to l

by cblum 8y ago

> The Singaporean lifestyle is one of the most stressful, competitive and insecure in the world. I'm curious about this. Can you point me to any resources to learn more about that? Or could you elaborate on why it is so, especially the "insecure" part?

ungamedplayer 8y ago
The insecure part may mean that there is almost no social protection. And the city changes so very frequently.
sn41 8y ago
Many jobs on offer in Singapore tend to be limited-time contractual. Also, there are no pensions. If you do get fired, it is not a large country with a lot of alternative opportunities.
- tim333 8y ago
  On the other hand unemployment is 2% in Singapore vs 15% in Spain.
whack 8y ago
I've spent many years living in Singapore. People are very hard working, competitive, materialistic and status conscious. A combination which leads to long works hours and work-stress. The fact that there's minimal social safety net, certainly doesn't help either. I recall reading some studies that came to the same conclusions as above, but I don't have them handy at the moment.
- cblum 8y ago
  I didn't know the safety net was minimal there. For whatever reason, I thought it was more like Western European countries. Does that lead to a lot of homelessness and crime?
  - whack 8y ago
    Panhandling is literally illegal, and I'm reasonably sure that anyone who's "homeless" gets picked up by the authorities and taken away somewhere. So it's hard to assess how common either is. That said, because the police are extremely effective at keeping out drugs, I don't think it's nearly as common as in America. Regarding crime, Singapore is one of the safest in the world. A lot of that comes down to effective policing and extremely strict sentencing that puts criminals behind bars for a very long time. Family ties are a lot stronger, so a lot of people falling on hard times do get substantial help from their family members. But there's minimal governmental safety net of the type you find in Western Europe.

by cblum 8y ago

ungamedplayer 8y ago

The insecure part may mean that there is almost no social protection. And the city changes so very frequently.

sn41 8y ago

Many jobs on offer in Singapore tend to be limited-time contractual. Also, there are no pensions. If you do get fired, it is not a large country with a lot of alternative opportunities.

tim333 8y ago
On the other hand unemployment is 2% in Singapore vs 15% in Spain.

whack 8y ago

I've spent many years living in Singapore. People are very hard working, competitive, materialistic and status conscious. A combination which leads to long works hours and work-stress. The fact that there's minimal social safety net, certainly doesn't help either. I recall reading some studies that came to the same conclusions as above, but I don't have them handy at the moment.

cblum 8y ago
I didn't know the safety net was minimal there. For whatever reason, I thought it was more like Western European countries. Does that lead to a lot of homelessness and crime?
- whack 8y ago
  Panhandling is literally illegal, and I'm reasonably sure that anyone who's "homeless" gets picked up by the authorities and taken away somewhere. So it's hard to assess how common either is. That said, because the police are extremely effective at keeping out drugs, I don't think it's nearly as common as in America. Regarding crime, Singapore is one of the safest in the world. A lot of that comes down to effective policing and extremely strict sentencing that puts criminals behind bars for a very long time. Family ties are a lot stronger, so a lot of people falling on hard times do get substantial help from their family members. But there's minimal governmental safety net of the type you find in Western Europe.