6/18/2012

The silly rationalisation of Sinkies



At one time they were saying road congestion was good, a sign of progress. Without road congestion, when the roads are wide and empty, it means no progress, not enough cars on the road. So people cannot afford cars. Then the same kind of reasoning was used to show progress in train services. Trains must be crowded, the more crowded the better. Tokyo was then the role model. If trains are not packed enough, something is not right. At least profit is not right. So trains must run packed like sardine. Then we have achieved Tokyo’s train service standard.

And in the same mouthful some would talk about gracious living by taking trains. KNN, how to be gracious when everyone is squeezing with everyone, and pushing and rushing to find a place to sit? Now that is too much of a luxury. Everyone should get use to pushing and squeezing just to board a train, or would have to take the next or the next train.

Now the famous call, small flats are good. It would not lower the quality of life. But it stops short of saying the smaller a flat the better the quality of life. There is no need to move around. Turn your head and there is the tap. Turn the other side and there is the fridge. Turn another way and there is the TV. Turn around and there is the toilet. So convenient. Don’t have to move. Save on energy to get around.

This stupidity made Liew Mun Leong so angry that he made it known that small flats are inhuman. He could never be so right. Just look at the dog and its kennel. It is a dog’s life. Now how can people disagree with the king of property developer? But not to worry. Some will come out with better argument to say Liew Mun Leong is wrong.

Last time 10 or 20 people lived in a single cubicle not bigger than a HDB room also no problem. Today, putting two people in such a room cannot be a problem right? It is very spacious and comfortable, a luxury.

Some will say, last time people lived next to the pigsty also no problem. Why should people be complaining about nursing homes, hospices or foreign worker’s quarters next door? Last time Eve hung a fig leave as her dress.

Sinkies are damn good at self justification or to make silly things sound good or right just to win an argument. $1000 pm can buy a public flat and came out with a lot of statistics to prove it some more. When are they going to prove that a $1m 3rm flat is cheap and good even when the lease is only 30 years? It is going to be if they are going to make expensive public housing more affordable. First cut the size, then extend the repayment period, and next shorten the lease. They make sense and very logical. The flats will only get more affordable.

If a 3 rm flat with a 99 lease is too expensive, shorten the lease and it will become cheaper. A 3 rm flat of 80 sq m is too expensive, build one that is 50 sq m, it will definitely be cheaper.

What else will they be justifying next? More people in the island are good. One can learn to live with people of different cultures without having to fly to their countries and without even having to leave the flat if they are invited to live in the same flat. The life experience will be so much richer, learn different languages, cultures, cooking, and the idiosyncrasies of foreigners. We will be able to understand the people of the whole world better. For what purposes I don’t know. Maybe to become the Secretary General of the UN. The experience will be an asset when apply for such a job. Or as ambassadors of the UN, if they need such people.

14 comments:

patriot said...

Watching TV Serials and reading some blogs leave me the impression that many top executives' and political rulers' offices are many times the size of HDB Unit. And it is all just for one top dog.

It is a sin to waste resources such as space and electricity, but, top dogs can afford to waste. And if they are not paid in the millions, they have no face to look at others in the eyes. Watch carefully at your tv screen, there are people paid in the millions, however You can see that they never look at You. Maybe shy lah or the millions is not enough to make him/her look at others.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Beware the Millionaires-in-White.

Is the following true?

The number of golf courses in land scarce Singapore will never go down?

But the size of HDB flats will always shrink?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

No one is stopping you from buying a home of the right size to suit your needs.

People in HK and Japan have lived in flats smaller than HDB for decades.

>> More people in the island are good. <

Definitely.

Anonymous said...

You and your doggie mentality.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@anon 1141

You and your loser attitude. ;-)

Anonymous said...

i do believe a minister's office is the size of a shoebox flat. dunno why the minister needs so much space. after all, if you are meeting with several pple, can just use a meeting room isn't it.

if they had smaller offices, more pple can be hired. or they can rent out more space in a bldg, make more money...

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@anon 141:

You want the govt to hire "more people"?

Not me. Singapore govt is far to big for a tiny city state. With an area that size, the govt of Singapore should occupy no more than 3 floors of a modern office building, and the payroll should be no larger than a local medium enterprise.

Parliament house is unnecessary, and the cabinet an unnecessarily expensive. Sell parliament house to Far East or some other outstanding private developer.

Anonymous said...

Cannot also. They will be accused of selling out sinkie land to outsiders.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Come on Matilah, our govt is the most creative in creating many good paying jobs for Sinkies. They have created so many that they can't find enough people to take over the jobs and it ended with many having to wear 10 or 20 hats, all very well paying ones.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

I agree. They are too creative. When criminals get creative, that's not a good thing. The can not only circumvent laws, but are able to create new "edicts", brilliantly argued and justified.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

You are digressing. What criminals are you talking about?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

All government is potentially criminal in nature. Not all the time, and everyone in government...but the potential is always there due to absolute power.

Got conscience?

Anonymous said...

Justice is in everyone, including Matilah_Singapura.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

You have to be joking mate. Sometimes there is justice, often there isn't. Justice, administered properly, must be done thru a neutral 3rd party. If you try solo, or one-on-one...good luck...you're into "law of the jungle" realm.