This Singaporean told me what he REALLY thinks of foreigners 

Are u sure this guy is a Singaporean? I doubt so..Either that or his life is very lucky and privileged.

Surviving in Singapore on $200-300 a month is impossible. Just paying the electricity and water bills is about that amount or even more. $2-$3 hawker meals is a totally unrealistic estimate, $6-7 is reality. Not to mention family daily necessities, children's school fees, parents medical bills, public transport etc. It requires a minimum of 1-2k to sustain a family even not considering home loan/rent. One of the reasons many people I know who are interested in entrepreneurship give up is because the loss of years of income and the high risks involved would be devastating to the family, rather than themselves. Its ok for us as individuals to give up luxuries like car but it pains people to watch their kids spend 1h going to school and parents struggling to walk to the bus stop and cross the road in time before the light changes. It really depends if one's whole family can and is willing to suffer for the short term in hopes of a brighter future.

OMG he is out of touch, hawker food $3...its more like basic $5. Nothing is cheap, you fall sick its $50-60 at a GP.

Watch next 👉 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iZuizUbSh5I.html The story of a foreign woman who obtained Singaporean citizenship. Will she ever truly belong in Singapore? 🤔

His rough calculations on daily living expenses are off the mark. Example, nowadays very rare to find $3 meals even in hawker centres. But agree on the overall point of how "technically", yes daily expenses in SG can be manageable - I myself probably spend $300-450/mth just on food if I mainly eat at hawker ctrs for example - but as is in any country, it depends how much of a "quality of life" standard are you willing to tolerate. So yes, $2k/mth for daily living expenses is definitely more than enough for 1 person. Of course this excludes luxuries like if you want to take holidays, medical expenses etc.

I think some things said by Ben (which have been already pointed out in the comments) are quite misleading/over simplified. 1.It's very very rare to find/eat $2-$3 hawker food in Singapore now.. don't even mention CBD/town, but even in local places where I stay (AMK), you have to like hunt hunt for it, the nearest hawker to my house doesn't have it. 2.Living with parents : well it depends on how big your parents house is.If u're family is staying in a small condo, or 3 room/4 room HDB, you can if you're single, but if you're married, and with kids.. it's going to be very difficult. If you have sibilings/grandparents staying in the same household too, it's almost impossible. 3.The view of foreigners living in Sg is not just a Singapore problem, same in Japan, Europe, America etc etc ..majority of the locals are very wary of foreigners going in to get jobs, I do agree that there needs to be a balance but I'm just saying when there's a recession/inflation/economy is bad, the first "scapegoat" will probably be the foreigners , and that applies is most countires , not just Sg. But having said all these, Ben does raise up some good points too, currency is strong, security/safety is def. there, and Singaporeans do need to "keep up" and "upgrade" themselves to stay in touch with the Global market/economy and keep ourselves relevant/or even ahead. But this post feels more like a presentation of Singapore from a local perspective but very touched up/super postivie light to foreigners, wheather it's realistic or not .. depends on who you mingle with I guess..

You are out of touch. If you are a JC students or may undergrads or even new member in the workforce, then you may be able to survive with under $2K understanding that you are staying with your parent. This is because you are not the sandwich working class. I can't agree with you.

It’s a shame that we’re seeing a growth in the popularity Gary Vee-esque characters. What an odd thing it is to say that you acknowledge the fragility of life, and then arrive at the conclusion that you should focus on making more money instead of spending quality time with your parents. Not to mention after making a speech about living with your parents for “free”. There are Singaporeans who are struggling just to pay for their parents bills, and would very much prefer to spend whatever time they have left together. Benjamin here already has the luxury to spend time with his parents, but has arrived at the conclusion that he should be instead focused on making more money so he can afford more lavish vacations for his parents. Time is fleeting. Singaporeans spend their whole lives grinding for that “ideal” life. And before they know it, they’re lying on their deathbed with the realisation that with the pursuit of said life, they never actually got to appreciate what they already had.

Is Ben even local? Stopped watching when he mentioned kids taking Uber. Err... Uber has ceased to operate in sg for long long long time. Loll.

He sounds like hard selling salesman. LOL You are like very competitive mice in a lab, sounds very positive to me.

His rate of speech truly represents Singapore's pace of living. Dude doesnt even pause to breathe 😂

Love this video 👍🏻 Thank you, Max 🙌🏻

Max, thank you for the multi-faceted content you are putting out about Singapore!

IMO, it's absurd and more stupid for Ben to whine about the immutable characteristics of the land than other Singaporeans whining about the valid concerns of immigration policy. Singaporeans are not afraid of competition and most are not xenophobic. What Singaporeans dislike are dominant foreign cliques suppressing the opportunities of locals of which there has been ample evidence of it happening. That is a valid concern.

I believe that he was born with a silver spoon, he is not from a 3 or 4 room hdb home. Most people here might not relate to him

This young man has a lot of right values - like it is more blessed to give than to receive, looking after his parents, working hard, etc. All the best to your future, Ben.

There's not much of $3+ food in hawker centres nowadays. Minimum is $4+. Living with parents isn't entirely free. Many of singaporeans give their parents monthly allowance

Thanks for this video and all your other videos. Very informative and interesting to see so many diverse views and perspective from different people. And always nice to see people who are positive and inspiring!

1:06 $6 x 30 days is $180 a month, not a day. Talk slowly and your brain will catch up with your mouth.

Really like your contents Max! Keep continuing the good works! 👍

This guy really love poverty porn. Listening to him speak makes me think of Oscar Wilde’s quote “To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less”

Very positive attitude. But wee bit detached from reality. The sentiment towards immigration is not always driven by protectionist mentalities. Singaporeans I know are competitive but also prefer a level playing field. With regard to living in the heartlands among Singaporeans, there are structural barriers to this - hdb quota on foreigners, low prioritization by local schools, etc.

I don't agree with Benjamin on everything he said. For one, inflation is causing almost every cost to increase and quite rapidly. While public transport remains relatively affordable, most hawker food cut on portions or raise their prices by 30% or more, compared to just few years ago. In general, we still manage to live our lives but it's increasingly difficult even for us locals. However, I'm grateful that I'm born and bred here. Benjamin comes across as a charismatic public speaker. He kind of rattle his words.

Yea nah, I got to check out after he said you can live with lesser than 2K SGD.

He is a very good chatter box. In good way. If you have a friend like him, you wont get bored if you switch him ON.

Lastly you produced so kany valuable videos. I haven't seen them all, but I see your channel is so precious. 😊

Firstly, sad to inform u that there ain't many $3 food anymore~ Everything is $4 - $5.50 even in heartland areas. Secondly, the perspective u failed to mention is that while our currency is stronger than our neighbouring countries and we get more value overseas etc., it is the same reason why we get out-competed in the job market. Even though foreigners need to pay rent while most Singaporeans live with their parents until they get married, the leftover money they have (though possibly little) could be tripled when sent back to their own country. As such they are willing to settle for less in order to beat the local to the job. Good news for bosses hiring. More supply, lower wages. I'm all for it if the foreigners bring real value to Singapore in certain sectors where there is a lack of manpower or skilled workers. But if foreigners are allowed into sectors where we have talents equal to them, then there is no value add for the competition they bring. So its not as simply as learning to be more open-minded, but rather something more tangible.

Ben, you are on right track, best wishes to you!

1) His cost of living is not reality. He is transferring a lot of cost back to Parent to hide the actual cost of living for a Single person living on his own. 2) Singapore is safer because we have more manpower like Police to cover the population and territory compared to other countries. This is because majorly of our servicemen like Police are Conscription rather than Professional. Singaporeans are unhappy because while we are protecting Singapore, Singapore are opening up to Foreigners at the expense of Singaporeans' job opportunity. That why there is a term call 'Jobs for FT (Foreign Talent), NS (National Services) for Sinkies (Singaporeans who are sinking)'. 3) Singapore Government (SG) like to make things complicated like education and it is not easy to explain especially to Foreigners. I would like to share that Singapore education is bad is a simple way. For example, Singapore raises the standard above Singaporeans' age capability (what you see in other country like Malaysia Secondary 2 will appear in Singapore Primary 5 standard) and based on your Primary 4 result (10 year old) will determine your future education pathway since Singapore created a lot of streams to phase off Students from advancing to higher education. For example, you can be a Secondary School Graduate with NT GCE N but it is considered as NA Secondary 2 (Year 8 Standard). With a Year 8 competency and a ITE Certificate like Nitec, you will have a hard time to cope even if you are advanced to education like Polytechnic Diploma. 4) The successful Singaporeans that he quoted are all working overseas and not in Singapore. SG favor Foreigners over Singaporeans. For example, SG hire Foreigners (with PR or work pass status) for public sector job like MOE Teachers even if it come with vocational training and there are a lot of Singaporean Job Applicants. To add salt to the wound, SG even hire Foreigners (with PR or work pass status) as WSG career Ambassador to teach Singaporeans how to find a job in Singapore which is an insult to Singaporeans.

Ben is one of the minority, open minded Singaporean. He has a great attitude and perspective. No doubt, most Singaporeans are warm and friendly but not so open minded. Singapore feels ‘clinical’ after a few years. Most foreigners will not tell you what they actually feel or think on camera especially if they’re still living in Singapore.

3 meal about $6 a day? lol, i think he was thinking of his childhood days

Not all competitions are the same once your age comes older you really don't like competition.

3 dollars per meal is not possible enough...at least $4.5 per meal now

As for this guy, he just want cheap labour!

Upgrading is always a must, but the trouble is we are facing unlimited competition, while disadvantaging Singaporeans. For example: - Very expensive cost of living, and we need more wages to survive. I hire Filippinos and people from third world countries, and there are entitled people there too. The big difference, is that a one room apartment in 2015 used to cost 50k, but something like that then would cost 500k. Then there's rhe 99 years issue. That is to say that there are entitled people everywhere, but we need 10x more income just to survive. In fact, former GIC economisrs Yeoh Lam Keong warned that if our cost of living keeps going up like this, we may be pricing ourselves out of the international labour market. - NS takes away 2 years of job experience, and if a job requires 10 years of experience but you have 8... you've just lost out on that job to a foreigner. Let's not forget that reservist is also a minor disadvantage because it's a minor disruption to operations. I think it's pretty BS if anyone wants equal opportunity, but asymmetrical liability

Yeah right. Most countries don`t have their citizens serve military consccription for 2-2.5 years and reservists retraining till 40-50 years old as officers. That`s suck. Sing dollar is only good to some extent in Southeast Asia, but not in Japan or Australia or any other first world. so most cannot travel to places like Japan for more than 2 weeks as they can`t afford even a week without burning a big hole in their pockets.

This guy has playback speed of 2x -.-

Ride bicycle everywhere , eat maggie mee and drink 3 litres of water every day for a single person only. For shower , east coast free PAP toilet . You won't die lah.

Very interesting posting.

$3 for meals ???

Hawker food 2 -$3 where sia??

Ben is very optimistic and this is the type of young people that can move Singapore forward. Sadly we have quite a number who whines and complains when things don't go their way. Only by opening up the economy ,then Singapore can flourish. The day that Singapore is closes its door,its the day that Singapore is doomed.

This guy is a typical Singaporean dude, having lived a sheltered life in tiny SG. He lacks exposure.

Life has its many forms at different stage of life. I believe it's so for many people around the world, let alone Singapore itself. At the end of his interview, you could feel his life perspective was giving the best he has had, or maybe it was edited to be like that. But I do believe that many of the Singaporean's core is very simple; to live out a comfortable life as much as possible. As for aspiration, I think it's not so easy for a native Singaporean to build on, unless he/she was born to a good start, financially and educational wise. Meritocracy way of environment can really push its people to work really hard in order to achieve the best in life. But how many would have the energy to go forward daily without any hiccups in life. But sometimes, with hiccups, it can also be the driving force for entrepreneurship to happen. There’s no one size fits all, we are all just wandering around in a big world looking for meaning in life. And as for Asian families, we are usually tied down to family obligations. Or perhaps it’s the same for everyone in the world…

Good points are brought up but some issues are addressed too simplistically or naively ideal. The costs of living in Singapore is really crushing as most foreign guests on this channel have voiced. Being able to survive and to live is 2 different things. As with most complex cities in the world it comes with its own unique difficulty and challenges for locals and foreigners living there.

We are global citizens and jobs competition are global.

While I agree that we don't need a lot of money to live in Singapore, eating $3+ hawker food everyday isn't going to be healthy... since most of the food there are very oily and salty. You still have to make sure you eat healthily and that usually means spending more.

More interviews with locals like Benjamin? Or stick with foreigners mainly?

Singaporean graduates studying so hard like f, many foreigners just buy their degrees from mills.

I switched off after this guy mentioned hawker food available for 2 to 3 dollars

Where can find $3 ones haha

I quite wonder what he means by spending $200-300 a month. He needs to add on the caveat “as a dependant” I take the train daily, each ride is about $2, so to and fro $4…20 days of work (or school?) is $80. Assuming that I eat a $3 bowl of noodles twice a day daily with probably 2 fishballs and spring onions for veg for 30 days a month, that’s $180. The total is now $260. Mobile line $20 subscription. $280. You’re left with $20 to buy your stationery, shoes, socks, uniforms, school books, cold drinks and your hobbies, or save up to get a phone. When you’re an adult, you save 50% (ideally) give your parents 10% (conservatively) and spend the remaining 40% on life - mortgage utilities groceries consumables like soap even…can’t do any of that for $200…so yes, affordable if you can live off someone else 😂

Somehow I don’t find Benjamin authentic. Feels like he’s projecting a positive image for the camera

Don't know how you get the idea of $3 per meal. Nowadays even at Bukit Batok, you are looking at $4.50 and above. In CBD areas you are looking at $6 and above. That's excluding any drinks. Other than that, you are quite spot on.

is just a tiny piece of island to make into a country. tiny itsy-bitsy kingdom. Singapore is excellent is due to their tiny easy to manage island lifestyle but when come to long term living is a big No-No.

When you interview them.. check and ask who they voted at last election.. you'll hear different stories for sure

A plate of noodles now at neighbourhood coffee shop cost at least $4 to $5. No longer $2 to $3 anymore.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Well spoken and agree with much of what Ben shared. Fair enough that most Singaporeans are too comfortable in their status quo and are unwilling to step out of their comfort zone to take on new adventures and thrives in the new adventure. Most Singaporeans also need to travel and interact more with people living in other countries to form their own opinion instead of brainlessly accepting wholesale information from the media. Kudos to Ben to find the right motivation and work out to achieve his objectives. It is a good angle to provide this positive vibe and encouragement that one can succeed us with the right attitude and mindset. However, not everyone, even with hard work and dedication, gets the returns/rewards after years of efforts. Some unfortunate souls just have to work doubly hard to survive, let alone thrive. I believe most Singaporeans do not mind fair and decent challenges from foreigners. However the lack of control of foreigners coming into Singapore with dubious credentials and the fact that certain race can dominate certain sector of jobs go against how we have been conditioned. If Singaporeans want to take up the above 2 challenges, what can we do? How can normal Singaporeans control this unnecessary domination of certain race in certain sector? Personally I am agreeable to open up the country but there is a lot more to improve in controlling the quality of people coming into the country. What Singapore needs is quality and not quantity. Set minimum standards for employment permits, reject dubious credentials.

Benjamin’s entrepreneurial spirit is so strong!

this video is great for a drinking game, every time he says "amazing" take a shot.

This week, while Singapore government is cutting down sugar-consumption of the residents nationwide to reduce diabetes, Thailand government has just promoted more alcohol-drinking, after allowing more weed-use a year ago.

$2 a meal in spore???

Don't think "living with parents" is fair when making a comparison to other countries cost of living... Assume that you will need to rent. That's the kicker

Thank God I am in India with such a nice job. Our land is generating so many opportunities that I don't need to look towards foreign land.

Living in the tropics has it's pros and cons. Firstly we dun have to buy winter clothing and we also save on electricity for heating during winter. You dun have to dress up nicely when you are out and about except for work and formal occasions. Yes I agree life can be boring in the tropics without the four seasons. There is no snow or winter scenery to speak of. There is no change of seasons and the scenery is basically the same whole year round.

No matter how succesful u're,real man always put their family first especially parents,so this guy got 👍👍👍👍👍 from me

Let's get one thing straight Singapore is a city state It's not typically a country because it's only made up of urban areas. Even developed countries in the West have rural areas and rural communities.. Having rural and urban areas doesn't not mean you are poor. It's just that it means that the concentration of urban households tend to have a higher income but the cost of living is also higher. So it's artificially distorted to compare a city-state with neighboring countries that's pure nonsense. Secondly if you listen to him he's really talking about survival and basically how cheap it is in neighboring countries. Nobody in their right mind if they had a choice would want to live like that. The idea of thriving not surviving is what is also part of Singapore's branding but here we end up talking about survival so there's a lot of inherent contradictions. I suggest you talk to the newer immigrants like the Filipinas, the maids and others who are challenged. There are many Singaporeans who work two jobs. You have been to Malaysia so you know you've heard from expats in Malaysia, you know recently about 2 years ago KL was ranked as the most livable city in the world and it displaced Singapore. Now these rankings are for expats at least in this particular episode you're talking to a Singaporean which is actually more authentic

No doubt Spore is a 6 star hotel. Contrast a home - delve deeper pls. Superficiality is good for advertisement and propaganda. It offers different experiences and fortunes for different types of people that go in there - and they depend on his position like in any hotel like whether you are the owner, board of directors, the GUEST , the supplier or a poor, toiling worker who doesnt own a stake except for a 99 yr public rental flat priced out of this world whc takes a life time to pay off and whose value depreciates to ZERO at the end. There goes your retirent CPF and family inheritance wealth after slogging for the hotel whole life.

Lol. $300 to $500 can survive in Singapore? Why not he lead by example 1st? Or he NATO? Singapore is small is because we're a island country and we only got 1 season is because we're near to the equator. Heck, i never studied geography also know but he as entrepreneur he doesn't know?

really ah? 2 to 3 dollah per meal and 2 meal per day? stay home no need internet no need electricity no need watah ah? stay with ah pa ah ma 4 eva for 99 year ah? this joker want to tell ah gong we have it too good izzit, want to make our life difficult more ah?

I really like this guy! So well-spoken and an awesome global perspective.

Max, great refreshing interview with local Singaporean, Benjamin. Could see that it’s Love that lifted Ben ands given him the strength and the importance of family love and upbringing by his parents. May God bless him and his endeavors. Max, Hope u could also have interviews of the average employee Singaporeans to see their perspective of live in SG.

This guy got the gift of the gap, good salesmanship!

Where to find $2 to $3 hawker food in Singapore?? Pls elaborate..

There's no $150 in public transport. That means he don't know what he's talking about. MAX is $128 with a adult monthly unlimited pass. And I'm a driver for more than a decade.

Interesting

Great to have a enthusiastic Singaporean come with his positive views as opposed to a lot of the negativity from many keyboard warriors we see. 😊

Awesome fella. Thanks for the episode!

This interview is powerful 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Perhaps because i have been living too long in Singapore but certainly such mindset should be adopted about how we are being inspired to move forward each day no matter how crazy a situation can be at times. Not many would like to speak the low points in their life, but to me, he shares it out with positive attitude. Thank you very much, Mr. Chernov 🙏🏽🙇🏻‍♀️

Is not totally truth… there is no such country to have so much rainbow and sunshine

Huge respect to the man for bringing many perspectives into this conversation. I'm on the different side of the coin when it comes to the discussion on filial piety. I get where he's coming from given the sharing of his experiences with his parents. Perhaps $$ is the fundamental consideration when our parents are ill since any treatment or even caregiving needs money. Those with more resources will definitely be able to treat their parents better financially. That's undeniable. But to build on that, when our parents get older, they also want more quality time and conversation with us rather than being showered with gifts, money and overseas trips. And that's the values that I hand down to my children too that we might not be wealthy but we are emotionally and spiritually rich in terms of being contented with what we have and treasuring the memories we make together. Overall, I agree with most points that he shared. However, I disagree that even hawker food are as affordable as what he claims. You really don't get $3 food as a norm in our neighbourhood. It's even worse with the current inflation rate. So I decide to raise this misinformation.

Funny the first thing I notice about Ben is how fast he speaks and the number of 'perspectives' and jargons used. Other than that, as a Singaporean living overseas, I can identify with some of the points he has mentioned.

This guy is very smart

Hi Max, you have 2 videos interviewing a rich lady in Singapore who owned a landed property, but it is no longer in your playlist. Can I know if you had deliberately taken it down? She gave good advices and I would like to view it again. Thanks.

This is great!

Benjamin’s very much an inspirational leader just by how he speaks. Very insightful as well.

I like how Benjamin is so enthusiastic! Good dude!

Sometimes its the attitude of the employee, be it foreigner or locals. Foreign workers are not cheaper than locals in many cases, the levy, lodging, salary etc. I rather pay it to a local if there are willing locals.

I wish more Singaporeans are like Benjamin. He is practical and forward looking, with a global outlook.

Great video ❤

With regards to the honoring the law in SG that is ONLY true to a certain extent. But if the govt keeps changing the goalposts of the policies be it CPF , HDB, foreigner inflow, new citizens or even increase of taxes be it property or personal, then we cannot say it is honoring any agreement. So if you see in this way where the govt change the rules and goalposts which makes the people lives more difficult, then i think its not at the best interest of its people. more at the mercy.

Why is Benjamin so far away from the camera and standing in the middle of a field and not sitting comfortably like your other guests?

Excellent guy

I need to add to the powerful dollar thing. Unlike Malaysian who earn in SGD and spend in Malaysia, having a powerful currency means nothing if it doesn’t translate.

SG has a dynamic economy, how many times each have to upgrade themselves?I dun see expat upgrading themselves here. Some work here as long as 20 years and working same field different company. And if one look carefully, there are "certain" industries predominantly occupied by certain race, once they reached the management level, they get their own kind. And surprisingly some are sub-con to government projects. Their HR had the audacity to tell you they employed singaporean for getting quotas.

Benjamin gives me a headache.

Briyani kambing at Tekka market costs $7.50....add a coke to that... you'll hit $10

Oh dear Benjamin .. you need to breathe. This is one of the very first thing Singaporeans need to learn - breathe and speak slowly.

it sounds like a job interview 😂