Statistics and damn lies Ramius.
Have any of these turkeys actually lived in these places, and what exactly do they base their " liveability " on ?
We had a modest flat in HK that cost 1.4 mil AUD, sure KA were paying for it but we could not possibly afford what we have in Australia. Milk was $3 a litre, bread double the price of Oz, I did my own little comparo and the average grocery bill was around 30% up on Coles or Woolies, that is to eat non Chinese fruit and veg and eat like an expat. Fuel was just under 2$ a litre. Yes u could by beer from the 711 for $1.50 which is great if you and your family live on beer. Even child education is more expensive than what is avail to Oz citizens, and that's with the education allowance.
If you want to talk simple " liveability " then I am earning 1/2 as much, have a house twice the size, 2 cars, kids going to good schools AND we get to breathe clean air, but hey, nobody seems to put health high on the " liveability " list (WTF?)
I almost wet myself when HK beat (I think) Sydney or Melbourne in liveability, one of the reasons being the Australian cities were too " sprawled " out. Who would have thought living in a city where the population density is well over 10 times that of Australia was a bonus ?
Cheers
PS the 3rd most expensive city in the world was based on expat living costs, not wether or not you thought living in a 50 storey hi rise was a good thing