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Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries

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To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (13513)	1/25/2002 11:29:47 PM
From: Moominoid	of 74559

Got back yesterday morning to sunny Australia. Some observations: Europe is a dump :) (though the Rhine gorge from Köln to Mainz is quite pretty - like the Hudson valley with castles). Singapore is quite nice :) It reminded me of a cross between Sydney and Tel Aviv, but not as crowded as either - I couldn't work this one out as it is very densely populated, but both the trains, roads, and sidewalks are less crowded. The weather is much more comfortable than Bangkok (at least in late Monsoon season when I've been there). Singapore has the bright, fresh, and clean feel of the US west coast and Australia. By contrast Europe is grey, grimy, and the streets are filthy. There is some sign of recession in Singapore. Building sites seem to have ground to a halt or proceeding slowly. Newspaper full of talk of rising unemployment and a tough job market. Only saw a couple of boutique offices for rent though (restored old terrace units). Hotel I was staying in was booked out though. But myself and others I met on the stopover deal were paying a fraction of the supposed full rate. Prices are very comparable to Australia, Public transport and food court food are cheaper, clothes more expensive etc. Fruit is expensive... A lot of the food on sale in the markets is from Australia (but newspapers are more concerned with British news). The fast food test shows that PPP is almost exact with Australia I also went over to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. This reminded me of going from San Diego to Tijuana. I met some Indonesians - one was begging on the waterfront because he overstayed his visa. Another was hanging out at the Sultan Abu Bakar mosque - we chatted outside, but when I tried to go inside he told me to leave for being a non-Muslim - I never encountered this at mosques elsewhere. Another was in front of me at immigration back into Singapore and was stopped... The Sultan's palace in Johor is very impressive - foreigners are charged USD 7 while Malaysians pay RM5. There were mainly Japanese tourists looking around. I don't remember encountering any other Europeans while in Johor Bahru. The bus ticket in each direction is exactly the same - it is marked $2.40. In Sing. you pay 2.40 Singapore Dollars and in Malysia 2.40 Ringgit (2.2RM = 1 $S)! I got some lunch in the Plaza Kota Raya shopping mall for RM2.50 (about US 0.60). Prices in Europe are higher than in Aus but not dramatically, unlike the US. House prices in villages in Eastern Netherlands are in the range E 400-500k which seems very expensive to me. Introduction of the Euro looks very smooth only got confused in a Brazilian bar in Frankfurt which still had DM prices. Deutsche Bank are relocating employees into Frankfurt from other European offices. I met one (American) relocatee (2 weeks since he moved from Geneva). My friend's friend works at DB too and she confirmed this consolidation impression. My Frankfurt friend teaches German. Most of his students now are Chinese who want to study at German universities. Chinese are already the largest group of foreign students at US universities and visas are getting hard to get (as I've reported before :)). Spillover seems to be happening into Europe even if they have to learn another foreign language. Netherlands seems to have a skilled labor shortage. Guy I met at Frankfurt airport who lives in KL (Dutch guy who works in optical disks) confirmed this. My friend's position (she is US/Aussie citizen) was advertised twice and not filled till she showed up. David

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