Source : Business Times – 15 Dec 2009
S’pore is fourth out of 26 economies, ahead of US, UK, HK
SOME people want to leave Singapore for greener pastures. But the city-state has some of the greenest around, according to expats surveyed by HSBC Bank International.
The survey quizzed 3,146 expats across 50 countries about their experience when integrating into local society and quality of life compared with that in their home country. And Singapore was ranked a respectable fourth out of 26 economies – ahead of the US, UK and Hong Kong.
Only places with at least 30 respondents were ranked to provide a more accurate indication of views and trends in each place.
Within the Asia-Pacific, Singapore was ranked third after Australia and Thailand, which snagged the top two spots.
Canada was ranked first among all countries in the survey.
Sebastian Arcuri, head of personal financial services at HSBC Singapore, said: ‘It is not surprising that expats ranked Singapore highly in the survey. Our expat clients from HSBC Premier have shared with us many anecdotes praising the efficiency of Singapore’s infrastructure and the high standard of living here.’
On individual components that made up the survey – such as quality of accommodation, health care, food, education and the like – Singapore was ranked in tops for setting up utilities, with 82 per cent of respondents saying this was fuss-free.
On transport, seven out of 10 respondents said travelling here easier than in their home country, putting the island in fourth place.
For health care, Singapore was ranked sixth, with over half of respondents here saying they think Singapore’s health services are better here than those in their home country.
On schooling for expat children, Singapore was ranked second after Malaysia, with 37 per cent of respondents here saying education and child care are better than at home.
But expats living here seem to find it difficult to make local friends – Singapore was ranked 18th out of 26.
And even more interestingly, Singapore was ranked a relatively lowly 12th for food, with only 43 per cent of respondents saying food is better here than in their home country.
Still, this was higher than the global average of 36 per cent.
The survey was conducted by third-party research firm FreshMinds from Feb to April this year.
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