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In the race to lure talent for global firms’ regional headquarters, Hong Kong and Singapore have long been neck-and-neck. While many companies make their managers locate in one or the other city — often depending on whether their duties focus more on Southeast Asia, or on China — others give top talent a choice.
Back before Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong had an edge due to expectations of the opening of China’s economy, the city’s role as the entrepot on the border, and the banking industry poised to capitalise on it. Now, Singapore’s push into innovation and technology has the Lion City on an upswing.
The salaries
The top salaries in Hong Kong for jobs in the financial industry are about 25 per cent higher than in Singapore on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the 2017 salary survey of recruitment firm Robert Walters Plc. That trend carries across most industries.
Personal income taxes in the two cities are relatively low. The top rate in Singapore for income above the first $230,500 is 22 per cent; in Hong Kong, the top rate is 17 per cent.
The lifestyle
Those extra dollars don’t necessarily get you as far in Hong Kong, however. The city has overtaken Tokyo as the most expensive in the region and second overall in the world for expatriates. Singapore, by contrast, is 24th on its list.
The survey tracks the cost of goods ranging from groceries to beer and tobacco, while excluding spending such as rent and school tuition.
Taxes on alcohol mean the price of imbibing is higher in Singapore. A pint of beer in a Singaporean pub goes for about $9, while the same will set you back $7.70 in Hong Kong, according to Deutsche Bank’s 2017 report on global consumer prices using data gathered from Expatistan.com, which compiles input from thousands of people reporting the prices they pay in various countries.
Paying for housing
For most people, the single biggest cost, though, is housing — unless companies still offer housing packages, which have been increasingly dwindling.
Expat packages for both cities have been sliding for the past five years, down 2 per cent to $265,500 in Hong Kong and 6 per cent to $235,500 in Singapore, according to ECA’s MyExpatriate Market Pay survey. While salaries have risen in Singapore in the same period, the decline in benefits has reduced the total package value, according to Lee Quane, ECA’s regional director for Asia.
Monthly rent for a 900-square-foot furnished residence in an expensive area costs about $2,600 in Singapore, while the equivalent in Hong Kong costs almost $4,900.
Business and investment
Those looking to park their cash in local investments have done better in Hong Kong over the years. Real estate investors have seen secondary home prices soar 400 per cent since the last property slump in 2003. Hong Kong’s stock market has beaten Singapore’s over the past five years, too.
International companies based in Hong Kong rose 53 per cent since 1997, totaling almost 1,400 as of last year, according to government data. Singapore, which tracks total investment by foreign companies, recorded a 12 per cent decline in the 2011-2015 period, with U.S. companies the only ones to increase their presence.
Yet Singapore beats Hong Kong as a more attractive destination price-wise for companies, according to a report last year from DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield. Hong Kong suffers from higher costs, while Singapore boasts cheaper office rent — about half the price on a per square meter basis, the report said.
The price of driving
Singapore is possibly the most expensive place in the world to drive, due to regulations and fees designed to keep traffic from turning into the chaos that befell Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok and other Southeast Asian cities as incomes rose and more residents could afford to get behind the wheel.
Drivers must bid for a limited number of special permits, as well as pay a slew of taxes and recurring fees that can more than double the cost of car ownership.
An Audi A6 luxury sedan costs, all-in, about $70,400 in Hong Kong, based on manufacturers’ suggested pricing, which includes a First Registration Tax, annual fees and insurance. In Singapore, the car would cost about $168,100 based on quoted prices from authorised distributors, according to the government’s vehicle registration website.
The air you breathe
Hong Kong became notorious for its high levels of air pollution, so the government began enacting curbs on emissions — from vehicles and heavy cargo ships using its port — as well as cooperating with officials in Guangdong province to try to reduce smog blowing across the border.
These measures have shown results. Since 1999 Hong Kong has curbed roadside levels of nitrogen oxides by 56 per cent, and fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, by 52 per cent, according to 2016 government data.
Singapore, despite stringent vehicle emissions standards, is occasionally plagued by trouble from across its border as well: haze from Indonesian wildfires. The city suffered from another spike in 2016.
Singapore reported good or moderate air quality for 87.5 per cent of the year in 2015. That’s lower than the 97 per cent of the previous year, due to the wildfires. Hong Kong reported 67 per cent clean air days.
If you have children
The cost of private school rivals rent as the biggest cost in each city. Tuition for a new middle-school student at Singapore American School costs about $36,200 if the student comes from a non-American family. At the American School Hong Kong, a similar new student entering grades 7 or 8 will need to pay about $25,200, including the entry fee, plus either a recurring annual fee of $2,600 or a refundable debenture of $77,000. It’s also difficult to get a spot in a number of Hong Kong schools.
Yet Singapore’s secondary schools beat Hong Kong’s in the global Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, ratings. Singapore ranks at the top for math, reading and science. Hong Kong is No 2 in reading and math, but fell to No 9 in science in the latest test.
Most young families will also hire a domestic worker to help out. Minimum wage for such workers in Hong Kong is currently about $550 a month, according to the government. In Singapore, wages for Filipino maids and nannies are mandated by the Philippine government. As of last year, they were the equivalent of $400 a month.
