Cost of Living 1970’s vs 2020’s Buying a house in Singapore is getting harder and harder. Kumar(the comedian) made a joke on making ends meet. He said every time we try to make ends meet, the government will make the ends longer. I wondered if this was true. An uncle told me his starting salary was only $800. This was in 1970, some 50 years back. He proudly said they managed to get by. After which I asked how much it cost to buy a new HDB. It costs $30,000 to buy a new 5 room HDB. This means to fully pay off the house, he only needed to work 3.12 years. These days, houses are more expensive. The average fresh grad makes $3,600 now. However, the same 5-room HDB flats cost an astronomical $448,000. It would take the same fresh grad today 10.37 years to pay off his...