Quora Answer: What Has Contributed to a Greater Class Divide in Singapore?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What has contributed to a greater class divide in Singapore?”

There is no one factor that has lead to this.  There has always been a class divide, and this is normal in any developed society.  What has made it apparent in recent years is social media, allowing the masses a peek into the lives of the wealthy.  This has generated some level of resentment.

Another consideration is the difficult economic conditions, leading to a slower growth of wages relative to inflation, the pressure of competition from imported talent, and the restructuring of the economy leaving an entire generation of middle managers underemployed or redundant in the near term.

As long as the economy is growing and wages are increasing, people have no reason to complain about wealth disparity.  They see a means to climb that class ladder, and they aspire to be those people.  But if they see themselves struggling while the wealthy seem to suffer no repercussions, we will have resentment, and if that resentment is not addressed, then social upheaval.