Source?
Excuse me? That’s absolutely ridiculous. Everyone is on 4G now. What’s your internet provider? I haven’t seen anyone on 3G in a long time.
I think the consensus here is, Korea is wealthier. At least in income.
4G penetration is >90% in Taiwan. That’s top 10 in the world. Yes Korea’s is higher, but top 10 penetration hardly warrants a “shit” review. It says more about your phone plan.
The thing is no one bothered to take a look at any of these reports. Everyone is arguing irrelevant stuff like which country has more scooters on the road or which looks better when it’s about who’s got more money in the banks and bought more insurance policies. The bank assets to GDP ratio in Taiwan constantly stands at around 270% whereas in Korea it’s only around 150%. 150% is already high amongst all countries, 270% is amongst the top tier in the world and that’s including countries that harbour tons of foreign money like Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the UK.
https://www.fsc.gov.tw/ch/home.jsp?id=717&parentpath=0,8
The reason why Korea generally fares poorer in these wealth metrics is because it was hit hard by the Asian financial crisis 20+ years ago. Many Koreans went bankrupt then and the effects still carry on up until today.
Here is the original Allianz report:
Holy cow, in terms of wealth, it’s not even close.
NET PER-CAPITA FINANCIAL ASSETS
- USA 177,210
- Switzerland 175,720
- Japan 96,890
- Sweden 95,080
- Taiwan 92,360
- Belgium 92,080
- Singapore 89,570
- Netherlands 89,980
- Canada 87,580
- New Zealand 86,030
- UK 84,080
22. South Korea 28,180
Korea is more “developed” as far as living standards go. Taiwan has a bunch of money sitting in bank accounts.
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These are from 2017. 2019 is:
- USA - 184,411
- Switzerland - 173,838
- Singapore - 100,370
- Taiwan - 97,850
- The Netherlands - 97,345
- Japan - 96,308
- Sweden - 92,317
- Belgium - 89,543
- New Zealand - 87,621
- Denmark - 85,895
…
20. Korea - 29,354
According to this report NZ is also wealthier than Australia but it’s pretty obvious that people would say that Australia is richer. Salary is a lot higher in Australia and AUD is stronger than NZD, but the reality is what you own =/= what you make. If you make 100k and spend it all by the end of the year you’d end up with far less than someone who makes only 50k and spend half of that.
That’s a lot of year-to-year fluctuation. In 2018 Taiwan was #8.
In absolute terms the differences are minor. Euro is volatile so the ranks change all the time. If the trend persists next year Japan would jump up a few slots and UK would go way down as JPY is really strong now while GBP is at its weakest. Taiwanese dollar is usually more stable.
So, Taiwan has a lot of money in the bank. China is in money trouble. China wants to take over Taiwan because of ancestral ties? Makes sense.
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So they are actually poor unless they stick themselves on a tiny island eating fake food?
Coming back to my own thread. Wow, what a ride!
Please note that the statistics are published by an insurance/wealth mgmt company, not by a government agency. And it is about financial assets, not net worth, no real estate and it’s not about income. And it’s the average, pushed higher by high net worth individuals (who did not necessarily create their wealth in Taiwan). The median will be lower.
Will put the key info in bold next time.
From the experience of someone with a chronic condition, doctors and nurses at clinics and hospitals large and small are overworked and underpaid.
From someone who reads papers and watches news every day, doctors and nurses at clinics and hospitals large and small are overworked and underpaid.
I went to Tzu Chi last week, expecting doctors could have more time to spare to listen to my ailments. Nope, one young doctor has to see over 200 people in 3 hours. Seriously?!
If you want to trigger a doctor, tell them how glad you are that medical services here are so affordable. There is a hidden cost: their lives.
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30 seconds doctor 
Does she have a Chess clock?
Literally. And it was not because she was some famous specialist, but rather average mid week patient load. Imagine this every day, 6 days a week, with a doctor´s shift schedule…
HK is the easier target for that, they would just lend it to China and not get the money back.
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I’ve found as a foreigner there is one foreigner privilege I’ve noticed. The doctors were always willing to spend upwards of 20 minutes with me explaining everything but everyone else gets 2 min. I felt a bit guilty each time.
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I do notice that in Taiwan infrastructures, public stuff like roads and stuff seem to be better kept up compared to the US (where they’re built and not kept up at all). I never been to Korea so I wouldn’t know whether or not they kept up their public stuff too.
maybe there could be a problem with the habit of visiting the doctor everytime somebody has a cold…
