TR EMERITUS

Metro Vancouver's astronomical real estate prices are caused mostly by high immigration and foreign investment, says UBC geographer David Ley, author of Millionaire Migrants. He shows how the problem is being tackled in four similarly skewed 'gateway' cities - Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and London. (27 June 2014)    Edward Yang is sad about the city he grew up in. His parents emigrated from Taiwan to B.C. without much money, yet in the early 1990s they were able to afford a small house in East Vancouver. But Yang and his wife, who earn strong incomes in Los Angeles while bringing up their child, doubt they will ever be able to follow a dream to return to the West Coast Canadian metropolis. “Vancouver’s become a city where no middle-class family will ever be able to afford purchasing a stand-alone house in the city. I find it sad that the only people who can afford the housing prices today are extremely rich, usually from offshore, and often able to buy in cash.” Yang is far from alone in his dejection. University of B.C. geography professor David Ley has found great “private anguish” among Metro Vancouver’s ethnically diverse residents, especially young families, struggling to pursue decent housing. “The generational issue is huge. So many young people are leaving the city. I’m surprised it’s not a public issue in B.C.,” says the author of Millionaire Migrants: Trans-Pacific Life Lines (Wiley-Blackwell), which explores how wealthy Asians have radically transformed real estate markets in Vancouver and other Pacific Rim cities. The data that Ley collected over decades shows Metro Vancouver has become similar to other Pacific Rim “gateway” cities in the way housing costs have been fuelled by high immigration-driven population growth and foreign investors. As he works on extensive new studies of housing prices in Metro Vancouver, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Sydney, Ley says, “In every one of these cities the market is being driven by something other than owner-occupiers. Not just new immigrants, but investors, including offshore investment.” Politicians in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Sydney are responding in more proactive ways to their housing dilemmas than the elected officials responsible for Metro Vancouver, Ley said in an interview.   Read more:  http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/06/27/why-vancouver-housing-is-unaffordable-and-what-to-do-about-it/          Read More →

Channel News Asia put out these two charts to compare the premiums that we will be paying for the new Medishield Life during and after the 4-year transitional subsidy period. See: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/singapore/medishield-life-how-much/1213402.html?cid=FBSG Yet the article has been so carefully worded to avoid mentioning the substantial increase that we will be seeing. Take a closer look at you will find that: 1. Even during the transitional subsidy phase, the lower income group will see at least a 20% rise in premium. 2. After the transitional subsidies phase, the premium increase for the same group is an alarming 100% from $50 to $98 per year. So how does this square with our understanding of a PAP that has supposedly moved to the "left" towards a building a more "caring society"? The Alternative View [source]: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Alternative-View/358759327518739    Read More →

MediShield Life premiums will remain the same for the first five years, said Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong today (28 Jun), a day after the MediShield Life Review Committee (MLRC) unveiled its recommendations and the Govt accepted them. He said premiums for MediShield Life will hold over the next five years after taking into account likely cost increases. Mr Gan said, "We will hold it for as long as we can. We have already taken into account the projected cost increase over the next five years in deciding the premiums." "We cannot preclude catastrophic changes to healthcare landscape - that is hard to predict. But all things being equal, based on our projection, we have already taken into account the likely cost increases over the next five years in our premium projection. We do not have the intention to vary the premiums." To ensure premiums are affordable, two-thirds of all Singaporean households will be eligible for subsidies. While MediShield Life will provide better benefits, there are concerns that health costs will increase among service providers. The MLRC has also recommended that the CPF Board and the Health Ministry publish more information on the MediShield Life fund. Mr Gan said his ministry will look into how they can provide more financial information to the public, such as how the fund works and what the relationship is between the Integrated Shield Plans and MediShield Life. Meanwhile, Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) head for Health, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, has welcomed the premiums announced by MLRC. However, Dr Chia said that subsidies can be further enhanced for other vulnerable groups of people. He said that the general consensus among Singaporeans is that they feel comfortable as long as the premiums are taken care of by their Medisave contribution. While he welcomed the range of subsidies to help Singaporeans with their premiums, he said there should be a subsidy scheme in place for those who go through an unexpected period of difficulty, such as a sudden illness or job loss. When a person is out of job, he will not be receiving income and hence, there will be no Medisave contribution, especially from the employer's side. Online [Link], some netizens are already criticising the criteria used in Medishield Life to determine the income group. Medishield Life classified that at per capita monthly household income of $2,601 and above, the household will be considered to be an upper-income household and its members will not be receiving any subsidies from 2019 onwards [Link]. For example, a household with only husband and wife working, each earning $2,601 and above will be considered to be an upper-income household. This is the same for the case when a couple are working with each earning $3,902 and above but with a child.  Read More →