We refer to the article “Sleepless in Singapore: Why are we not getting enough sleep?” (Straits Times, Aug 20).
Sleep very little?
It states that “A recent study by Jawbone, maker of a digitised wristband that tracks how its users move and sleep, shows that Singapore is among cities in the world with the least hours of sleep, clocking an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes a day. Why are we not sleeping enough and what are the effects?”
So, why are we ranked third in the world for sleeping the least?
20 possible contributing reasons:
1) We are number 1 in the world for the longest work week hours
2) We are arguably number 1 in the world (developed countries) for having the most people earning very little – For example, 114,000 full-time workers earning less than $1,000
3) More than 200,000 full-time, part-time and self-employed persons earn less than $1,000 a month. We estimate about 400,000 and 600,000 earn less than $1,200 and $1,500 respectively
4) We are stressed by the rising cost of living – Government from a cashflow perspective – does not spend a single cent on healthcare, HDB or CPF
5) We have the most expensive public housing in the world
6) We have the lowest public spending as a percentage of GDP (1.4%) in the world
7) At about 67% – our private health expenditure is the highest among developed countries
8) We also dipped in the health index, from 56th spot last year to 59th this year … high levels of out-of-pocket health expenditure
9) According to the Mercer’s 2012 Cost of Living Survey, Singapore is the 6th most expensive city out of 143 cities in the world
10) … We take the highest excess returns from our citizens in our CPF system (over 6% returns historically but only give 3+% CPF average weighted interest rate?)
11) We have the lowest real return of all pension funds in the world
12) Singapore ranked a poor 125th spot for income equality, worse than the previous year’s 117th place, in a retirement index study
13) Singapore’s quality of life index, which measures the level of happiness and fulfilment in society as well as environment factors, dropped to 75th place from 39th last year
14) Singapore has been ranked as having the 2nd highest work stress in Asia
15) the the lowest fertility in the world – out of 224 countries
16) ranked the 2nd lowest libido as compared to over 40 countries
17) Surveys such as the Gallup rank Singaporeans as having the least positive emotions, most emotionless and least optimistic
18) the Happy Planet Index ranks Singapore at 90th – most unhappy
20) Singaporeans are second least likely to help a stranger, out of 135 countries.
Need we say more? We rest our case!
S Y Lee and Leong Sze Hian