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This city is the best place to live in Asia: Survey

This city is the best place to live in Asia: Survey
Visitors feeding the fishes as a pair of mute swans swim by at the Swan Lake in the Singapore Botanic Gardens on March 31, 2013. PHOTO: Straits Times FILE

Singapore was ranked as the best place to live in Asia for expatriates and 25th best in the world in the 19th Quality of Living survey by consulting firm Mercer's released on Tuesday (Mar 14).

Vienna, Austria's grand capital on the Danube river, was ranked first for the eighth year in a row, while Baghdad is again considered the worst place to live.

Kobe, Japan | Remote Lands
Kobe, Japan | Remote Lands

 

Two Japanese cities, Tokyo and Kobe, were the next highest-ranked Asian cities after Singapore at 47th and 50th globally. Hong Kong came in at 71st place, Kuala Lumpur 86th, Shanghai 102nd, Bangkok 131st, Manila 135th and Jakarta 143rd.

The survey also includes a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each city’s supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services, and public transportation as well as traffic congestion and the range of international flights available from local airports. Singapore topped the list ahead of Frankfurt and Munich, while Baghdad and Port au Prince ranked last.

City infrastructure plays an important role when multinationals decide where to establish locations abroad and send expatriate workers, Mercer’s said in a press release.

“Easy access to transportation, reliable electricity, and drinkable water are all important considerations when determining hardship allowances based on differences between a given assignee’s home and host locations,” it said.

Vienna, word's best place to live | Lauder Business School
Vienna, word's best place to live | Lauder Business School

 

The survey of 231 cities helps companies and organisations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport, according to its website.

Global centres London, Paris, Tokyo and New York City did not make the top 30, lagging behind most big German, Scandinavian, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian cities.

San Francisco, placed 29th, was the highest entry in the US. Top of the list in Africa was South Africa's Durban at 87.

(Reuters | Channel NewsAsia)

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Akhyari Hananto

I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to More understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine. I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan" I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy Less
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