I don't doubt that they exist ($10/nite in Singapore). That's not the issue. I lived in SG for a year plus, including a short stint in the north-central HDB heartlands. I've seen tenement-like rooms around Desker Road and Geylang. It's just not my idea of fun. YMMV, of course. Lots of foreign construction workers and sex workers in SG who save every little penny of their salary so they can send money back home. There bottom-rung lodging in Sg, no question about that...