This news will come as a shock to many who are living in London. The city of £8 congestion charges and £15 cocktails has only been ranked the 16th most expensive city in the world to live in for expatriates, according to Mercer LLC’s annual Cost of Living survey.

I still remember where I was when I first heard the news that he was dead. I was almost sound asleep in bed, in that moment between consciousness and dreamland, just before one truly falls asleep and enters another world spiritually. It was then that my Nokia E71 beeped-beeped on my bedside table, dragging me back into reality. It was a friend who had sent me a message. Apparently, Michael Jackson was dead.