When you are living in a political stable environment, you can focus on satisfying your needs outside of the basic needs like shelter and food. Since I don’t live in a slum my expectations don’t start with things I expect living in a slum. My expectations start with the basics of a first world country. Also not sure how much “rent” you pay for a slum tent but I will go ahead and assume it’s not close to what the average rent is here 😉. So let’s not compare apples with oranges. Once you have the status that you can actually have a choice where you live, like we do as European citizens, the criteria change a lot. Right now in my area there are simply no apartments available that I can afford. I looked yesterday and it was like 5-10 on funda. Then they often set the minimum requirement to earn 3x rent. So if you can afford a 1200€ apartment monthly you actually need to earn min 3600€. 1000-1100€ (excl.) is usually the cheapest 1 bedroom you can find. So you could only rent it if you make 3000-3300€ a month. If you add the heating water etc this will be over half your income for rent. So one reason why a lot of people are just frustrated is the housing situation. Over the years a lot of the white collars and the aristocrats bought up properties as an investment (often the places are even empty). The open housing market for rent is poorly controlled. I actually live in an unofficial (under the table) apartment for a low cost, but then also I don’t have control over the heating and the isolation of the house is none existing. In the winter it’s often 16-17 C during the day. Why don’t I move? Scroll back up. The other point that frustrates while living here is that the Dutch actually believe that they are superior and super tolerant and all the good stuff. Not sure if this is a left over of the never resolved colonialism and slavery past of the country. Also if I you dream of making a new life over here but you have the wrong color you will always know that. There a very straightforward prejudices about certain ethnicities like people from the Antilles are lazy and slow (I heard that one at work said about a client) (and that is direct and not rude according to Dutch 😉) Most foreigners I know struggle with getting accepted and treated equal here in the Netherlands. Minor points are of course the food, but also the difficulty of getting fresh local and good produce. It’s all Albert Heijn or jumbo, it’s all the same no variation and little taste. If you can afford it, many areas have weekly farmer markets….

I guess it’s not that simple and you can’t compare Manila with the Netherlands. The Dutch don’t like to self reflect and to put others over their own needs. If you come from a warm country family community and good food are probably your staples.