Why is getting that bachelorette pad such a big deal in Singapore?
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Why is getting that bachelorette pad such a big deal in Singapore?
Home ownership is a pregnant adulting milestone, but not an easy ane for unmarried Singaporean women to reach.
Home ownership is a pregnant adulting milestone, but information technology'south non easy for single Singaporean women. (Art: Jasper Loh)
04 May 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 10 Jul 2022 11:17PM)
Information technology's funny that in Singapore, it's perfectly normal for singles to remain in their parental home well into their thirties, and even beyond.
In contrast, in Western countries where teens usually wing the coop once they hit higher age, this might be perceived as a failure to launch or an inability to do #adulting properly.
A large part of it is cultural. Hither, as in many parts of Asia, it seems that merely marriage and parenthood are considered equally legitimate markers of being a grown-up – if you're not there nonetheless, sad, you are nevertheless considered to be a child.
Women especially, are largely expected to motion from parental dwelling house directly into marital home, such that some people tend to get really judgy about females living solo.
Is it considering of a huge family rift? Her want to come and go equally she pleases? Or is information technology because she can't notice a guy who wants to date/ally her?
What makes it harder are the practical constraints. Public housing policy still heavily favours those getting hitched, to the extent that "Let's utilize for an HDB?" has get synonymous with "Will you lot marry me?".
Oh, when did romance die?
Singles, on the other hand, have to wait until they turn 35 to buy an HDB flat. If non, they demand deep pockets to be able to purchase individual property in one of the earth's most expensive real estate markets.
CAN Y'all AFFORD It? WHY Non Hire?
Affordability is also definitely a huge issue.
"My pocket-sized scattering of single female clients buying private property are all 'nu qiang ren' (a Chinese term used to describe successful women) in their 40s, either entrepreneurs, or working in highly-paid industries similar finance," noted belongings agent Carollyn Ong.
"Even and so, near of them are buying for investment purposes, and still choose to live at home with their parents."
The boilerplate Singapore household (read: dual income) needs to salvage at least four years' worth of income (including CPF contributions) in society to buy a new 2-room HDB BTO apartment, or a resale flat, which costs more than. For private apartments, it requires savings of at to the lowest degree vii years' household income.
Assuming one follows the common-sense financial aphorism not to spend more than xxx per cent of one'due south monthly income on housing, and that working women earn on average 16.three per cent less than men (yes, the gender wage gap is very real), a bachelorette with dreams of dwelling ownership would need to exist prepared to service a hefty mortgage for the next two or three decades singlehandedly.
With the pandemic causing concerns about job security, how many would be willing to have the plunge?
Going the rental route is as well frowned upon. The general mental attitude that Singaporean parents with adult children hold is: Why burn cash on rent, when that money can be saved in a rainy solar day fund, or for the purchase of a future home when you finally get married?
Or put towards fulfilling your filial duty by giving Dad and Mum an allowance, while 1 continues enjoying nutritious dwelling-cooked meals and free housekeeping and laundry service?
Many unmarried women accept this arrangement, equally being mortgage-complimentary translates to more dispensable income to spend on their millennial, social-media-led lifestyles – think fancy gym memberships and checking out the chichi-est and nigh Instagrammable cafes, bars and restaurants around town with their #girlgang, and, when travel channels open up once again, overseas holidays.
A STATE OF ARRESTED Development
Simply if setting up one's ain domicile seems then unattainable on a single income, would the increasing numbers of Singaporean women getting married afterwards, or not at all, remain suspended in a state of arrested development?
In 2017, singlehood population figures for women in Singapore were: 68.1 per cent in the 25-29 age group, 32.8 per cent in the thirty-34 age group, 20.8 per cent in the 35-39 age group, 18.ane per cent in the 40-44, age group, and 15.9 per cent in the 45-49 historic period grouping.
What these figures seem to suggest is that if you don't get married past your mid-30s, yous're unlikely to go married at all – especially if you lot're highly-educated. In 2019, a quarter of women between 30 to 39 years old, with a university degree, were single.
Which leads united states of america to a spooky conclusion: If you're waiting to get hitched so there's a husband to help comprehend half the mortgage, you might end up waiting forever.
Ling, who works in luxury fashion PR, was 30 when she bought her bachelorette pad in 2016: A 903 sq ft, South$1.2 million ane-chamber maisonette in Buona Vista.
"Information technology was an early-onset mid-life crisis that led me to do it," said the now-35-twelvemonth-quondam. "Even though at that place was ample room at abode, I missed the independence and responsibility of living away from home at university. My parents are liberal, and my older sister encouraged my mother to push me to become my own identify, as a distraction and focus/goal to move forward".
The all-time office nigh owning her own place, Ling said, is "having full autonomy in terms of its design. And definitely, the joy of filling the space with items I'd accumulated over the years, such as artworks and chinaware. I had had to keep them in cupboards or under the bed in my chamber when I was still living with my parents, every bit they were things meant for a habitation, and not a room."
And the worst part? "Every bit a unmarried-income single-person household, I'g solely responsible for paying all the bills. I take to bargain with household pests without any help, and there's no one to carve up household chores with," she said.
WHAT Will OTHER PEOPLE THINK?
Then in that location's also having to deal with people'southward perceptions.
"Moving out of a family domicile whilst single is notwithstanding a pretty taboo thing here, but thankfully I don't have overbearing relatives. In add-on, almost people presume I'g an 'ah sia kia' (a derogatory Hokkien term implying someone is a spoiled brat from a wealthy family unit) on hearing that I live alone. I take to brand a conscious effort to clarify that I service a mortgage," said Ling.
"To me, my bachelorette pad signifies growing into my ain shoes, and knowing what shoes I similar. I'd definitely recommend to other singles the feel of moving out of the family home, whether to a rented apartment or to co-share with flatmates. I feel it's a shame to motility from a family home to coupledom without first trialling life alone."
Hour manager Tina, 49, bought a two-sleeping room apartment in Newton in 2002 when she was 28, using a combination of savings, CPF and a loan from her parents to cover the downpayment, even though she was engaged to get married the following year.
She lived in the apartment for a year, so moved into her husband'due south rented condo afterwards their wedding. They divorced 13 years later, and accept no kids.
"I had always aspired to own my own identify, so I started saving for information technology as shortly every bit I started work. I was a lot more careful nearly how much I spent on shoes, makeup, holidays, cocktails – the sorts of things single women waste then much coin on. Paying off my bachelorette pad was a great way for me to learn, and exercise, financial responsibility every bit a twenty-something," she said.
"It was a grade of forced savings, likewise as an investment. I rented the flat out while I was married, so it kind of paid for itself quietly over the years. Afterward my divorce, my bachelorette pad was at that place waiting for me to option up my single life from where I left off," said Tina.
"At present I'yard in a long-term relationship, I programme to move in with my fiance and rent out that bachelorette pad again … information technology represents maturity, discipline, independence, stability. Now it will provide passive income for the balance of my life, or make a overnice nest egg if I sell it."
She added: "Whether it was 2002 or 2022 (the year I got divorced and moved back to my Newton flat), whenever I had unmarried girlfriends over for dinner, they would walk effectually, wistfully stroking my lamps, cushions, house plants and paintings. They all lamented that they're not sure they're ever going to be able to afford their ain place, and worry they'll never find a husband to share a mortgage with."
"At the aforementioned time, they mutter they're sick of living at dwelling house considering their parents nag them for staying out late, inquire intrusive questions about who they're dating, or they just hate that their parents have different ideas almost home decor and arrangement, and so on. It nigh feels as if they're overgrown teenagers waiting for their real lives to begin – even though they're in their late 20s, 30s, or even 40s."
Her advice? "If you're in your mid-20s and not already in the HDB queue with your fiance, start saving towards dwelling ownership anyway. Most likely, it'll be worth it, whether yous live in information technology, rent it out, remain single, go married or sell information technology off in future."
10 THINGS EVERY Mod BACHELORETTE PAD NEEDS
i. A queen-sized bed, because you're non a kid anymore.
ii. A walk-in closet with lots of space for clothes, handbags, shoes.
iii. A home role with lots of natural light, because yous might be WFH forever.
4. A primping station with all your baubles and makeup within easy reach.
5. Artwork.
6. Plant babies, and maybe even a fur baby.
vii. A kitchen tailored for your dietary preferences and cooking abilities.
8. A fitness/wellness area for your Peloton/Yoga With Adriene dwelling workouts.
9. Entertainment area for when you invite friends/dates over.
10. Insta-worthy backdrops and so you lot can hashtag your fabulous home with pride #housetour #currentdesignsituation #smallspacesquad.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/women/single-women-singapore-bachelorette-pad-258181
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