新加坡是个发达国家，为什么生活压力还那么大？ [美国媒体]

Why is life in Singapore so stressful even though we are a developed country?

新加坡是个发达国家，为什么生活压力还那么大？




Mohamed Danish, lives in Singapore
Answered Feb 11
Let me let you in on a secret. The local government in Singapore has made Singapore into a metropolitan city-state in less 50 years. That by itself is a major accomplishment. However, beneath that bubble, there are growing pains felt only by the lower echelon in this country. It is only felt by the elders in our country who has to scrape even at their golden years where they should be enjoying the fruits of their labours. It is only felt by the lower to middle income families whose paychecks mostly go to expensive housing and bills.
Here are my reasons.
First reason. Overpopulation. As at June 2017, our population stands at 5.6 million. The local government projects our population to be at 6.9 million by 2030. Our total land stands at only 721 square km. Our population density is 8274 people per square kilometer, or for our American friends, that is 21430 people per square mile. Imagine having to squeeze through everyday to and fro work. Imagine the queue at lunch hours.
Second reason. Transportation. In the peak hours, often times there would be train breakdown. Locals always joke about this saying that the government has never referred to the breakdowns as breakdowns. Instead, it is referred to as a train “faults”. Simply put, our train tracks was never built to support trains with a frequency 1–2 minutes. The reason our train have to have a frequency of 1–2 minutes is because there are too many people waiting at the stations. This is a picture if and when an MRT breakdown occurs. Frightening huh? Imagine seeing this sight once a week on average after a hard day at work.
Third reason. Retirement. Or lack of retirement. The minimum retirement age in Singapore is 62 years old by law. This means, your company cannot ask you to retire before the age of 62 so long as you are a Singaporean or a Permanent Resident. There is a saying by our elders in Singapore in our native Singlish, “Work until you die”.
To be able to eke out a living in Singapore, one has to work until one cannot walk anymore. Most of our elders are working as cleaners in shopping malls or at fast food joints. Some even collect cardboards on the streets, others sell tissues. These are but some magnified examples where most of us in Singapore accepts that in order to have income, we have to literally work until we die.
These are my reasons as to why the stress level in Singapore is high even though we are a developed country.

新加坡政府在不到50年的时间里让新加坡成为了一个都市化的城市国家。这本身就是个重大的成就。然而，在这泡沫之下，底层人士越来越感受到痛苦。这种痛苦只有这个国家的老年人可以感受到，这个年纪的他们本应该享受自己劳动的成果了，可是却为生活挣扎着。这种痛苦只被中低收入的家庭感受到，他们的收入大部分用来支付昂贵的房价和账单。
我的理由如下：

首先是人口过多。截止到2017年6月，我们的人口达到了560万。地方政府预计到2030年我们的人口将达到690万。我们的土地总面积才721平方公里。我们的人口密度是每平方公里8274人。想象一下日常下上班的拥挤程度，以及吃饭时的排队长度。
第二个原因是交通。高峰期，经常火车会抛锚。当地人经常开玩笑称政府从来不将抛锚说成抛锚。而是称之为火车“失误”。简而言之，我们的火车轨道经不起一两分钟就过一辆火车。而我们的火车频率这么高是因为太多人在站台上等待了。想象在一天的辛苦工作后发生列车故障时的那种心累，平均每周故障一次。



Kat Yu, lived in Singapore (2012-2016)
Answered Jul 2, 2017
I spent 3 years in Singapore as an expat and left it last year for Europe. Honestly, I am planning to come back. With all its stress and rules, Singapore is very attractive to me.
But I agree on the stress part. It starts from very early age, when kids (sometimes less than 2yrs old) have to start reading, writing, learning languages etc. There is a competition from such an early age! Then to go to a better school, kids have to study hard, go for extra classes etc. There is so much pressure on them to get into best university and study law/medicine/finance/business. After uni there is again a pressure to get a better job, get a car, get housing. Now pressure comes from the peer group. You have to drive the best car, stay in central area or buy expensive bags, clothes etc.
Even though the government provides people with safety, cleanness, efficiency, modern buildings, infrastructure etc, it comes at a high price. People have to work hard to pay their bills. Singaporeans say kids are too expensive. The life is too expensive. Thus, they have to work more to afford everything. And here the stress comes again.

我在新加坡住了三年，去年回去了欧洲。坦白说，我计划再回去新加坡。虽然有那么多的压力和规则，新加坡依然对我很有吸引力。

但是我赞同在新加坡生活的压力。从很小的时候就开始了，小孩子（甚至不到2岁）就要开始学习阅读，写作，学习语言等等。那么小的年纪就开始了竞争！为了去更好的学校，孩子们得努力学习，学习额外的课程等等。他们想进入最好的大学学习法律医药金融和商业，所以压力很大。毕业后，又面临找工作的压力，要获得更好的工作，买车，买房。现在压力来源于同龄群体。你必须开最好的车，住在中心区域，或者购买昂贵的包包和衣服等。

虽然政府给人们提供了安全，清洁，效率和现代建筑以及基建等等，但是代价是高昂的。人们必须努力工作支付账单。新加坡人说养小孩太费钱了。生活成本太高了。所以你必须更努力的工作来支付一切的费用。这就是压力来源。