Singaporeans are paupers. Says Temesak Review

Shocking...shocking indeed....the other day, while on our way to buy 4D (which I didn't win...argh), Ah Meow shared that she read this interesting review by the Temesak Review on Singapore's economy. And the findings are shocking and discouraging! It says that our economy has the highest GDP (PPP) per capita in Asia at $49,288 according to a World Bank report, but our people do not enjoy a quality of life which commensurate with it. The 3-Part article sums up following (I cut & pasted the most salient points):

• Singapore has a GDP (PPP) per capita higher than Switzerland, but our wages are way below the Swiss. Zurich and Geneva have wage indices (gross) of 119.8 and 107.5 respectively. In contrast, Singapore has a wage index of only 31.3, comparable with Moscow (30.9), Tallinn (28.7) and Johannesburg (26.7). In the Asia-Pacific region, it is exceeded by Tokyo (83.0), Sydney (74.1), Auckland (44.1), Hong Kong (42.3), Taipei (35.5) and Seoul (32.3)
• Singaporeans have a low purchasing power of only 39.9, comparable to Kuala Lumpur (39.5), Warsaw (34.0) and Bogota (33.7). Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region which are ahead of us are Tokyo (82.2), Auckland (68.9), Taipei (58.9), Hong Kong (58.1) and Seoul (57.4). In other words, though the cost of living is higher in Tokyo, the average Japanese has a domestic purchasing power more than twice that of an average Singaporean. Though Malaysia is still a developing country and has a GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of ours, the ordinary Malaysian citizen has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean.
• Instead of moving towards the government's goal of having the Swiss' standard of living, Singapore's economy is becoming like that of Russia

Now you can read the full report below:
Part One: Singapore has the lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among the Asian Tigers
Part Two: Moving towards a Russian standard of living and way of life
Part Three: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy

Oh no...in view of the grim economic view of us veering towards Russia instead of the much-coveted Swiss Standard of Living...maybe I should drown the money sorrow by drinking lots of Vodka...very Russian eh?