Expats aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch of rents in Singapore rising at the fastest pace in the world.
The pain is trickling down to young singles like Sonam, who are largely shut out of the nation’s subsidized housing program and starting to question the government’s resolve to tackle the problem. The 33-year-old tech worker, a life-long supporter of the ruling People’s Action Party, moved to Thailand after her landlord raised her rent by 70% for a two-year lease. She plans to support the opposition in the next election.
"We’re all moving out in our early 20s and now there’s this: ‘oh, just go back home’” to your parents, Sonam said from Bangkok, declining to give her last name for fear of losing her job. "The fact that they’re so unaware of what is really happening to millennials and what we need to be able to survive in Singapore — it’s just bizarre to me.”