By Leong Sze Hian
I have just returned from a country which I have visited for about half a dozen times.
A country that has
- Free healthcare – you just pay a nominal $1, no matter how serious or major your medical treatment or operation is.
- Free pension from age 60 (they have a contribution pension plan from your salary, but the free pension from age 60 is given to all, on top of the contribution pension scheme).
- Free education.
- Education allowance for children from needy families.
- Financial assistance monthly allowance for the needy.
- Monthly allowance for orphans.
- Monthly allowance for the disabled.
- Free land to build your own house, or public housing from about $40,000 – interest-free home loans.
- Free house repair to houses caused by fire, natural disaster, up to a certain sum.
- No income tax.
- Inflation -0.2 per cent (H1/2012).
- Unemployment rate : 1.7 per cent (2012).
- Population annual rate of increase : 1.6 per cent (2012).
- Labour force participation rate : 66.6 per cent (2012).
- Classified as a developed country.
- Ranked 5th in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.
- Public debt at 0% of the national GDP.
- In the 2010 Human Development Report released by UNDP, it scored an HD Index of 0.805 and thus is included. in the list of forty-two “Very High Development” countries.
- Citizenship by birth only – foreigners and permanent residents cannot become citizens.
And this country is _______
References:
The country’s Key Indicators
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Wikipedia
