8/09/2012

The good life shifting further away




The latest COE bidding for small cars and big cars were $73.5k and $94.5k. In the mid 90s the number hit $100k but was no sweat as many could afford them. There was a super bull run and money was everywhere. Everyone was making a killing in the stock market and everyone was spending. No one was complaining that COE prices were too high. And they said, it is not how much but whether the buyers could afford it. It was like the Fed pumping money to encourage spending.

The price of COEs today is going to be very painful for those who want to own a car or who need to own a car. There is no bull market to make easy money. Someone has intentionally killed the market. The market is as good as dead, like Bidadari or  Bukit Brown. And some jokers were crowing how clever they were to bring down the cost of trading equities. Bloody fools. The few dollars of commission were the least of concerns to the retail traders when they were making handsome profits. It is when there are losing their pants that a few dollars became an issue. The cutting down of trading cost only benefited the big funds and their high speed computer trading when they muscle in to kill the small traders. They need the little advantage to generate huge volumes to disadvantage the small traders.

The liquidity in the market is gone. The average Sinkie is quite hard pressed to move around a hundred thousand for that car. Many are tied down by high mortgages to service. Ok, exclude the politicians, civil servants and children of the rich. And exclude the few exceptions that are doing well on their own. Let’s talk about the average Sinkie, the heartlanders.

What is so wrong to want to own a car or live in a better and bigger home? Now the spin doctors are saying the quality of life is better, in having no cars and living in shoe box apartments or 3 or 4 rm public flats. Is this progress? Who is kidding? Why are people now unable to own cars and have to live in smaller apartments?

What happens to the great inclusive growth in the economy? Why are the people (I qualify, people means heartlanders. I used to call them hardlanders) told to lower their expectations and live within their means? I know of families owning a few Ferraris and Lambos and some asses would say you work harder and you can have them too. They are having a good time. But why can’t the well educated average Sinkies be looking to live in better housing like their uneducated or lowly educated parents, and own a simple car like their poorer parents?

What is happening? Aren’t we progressing? Aren’t everything getting better, life gets better? And we have so much help from so many foreigners that our parents did not have the privilege to.

What have gone wrong? Nothing gone wrong? Everything is fine? The people are told to live better and to live well they must expect less. The people are told to buy smaller flats and go without their cars. The inability to own a car may seem a non issue, like the inability to buy a better home. When the reality sinks in, the people are going to rise and protest for being short changed.

When the govt can’t even provide the average Sinkie with a decent home that is better than their poorer parents without paying an arm or a leg, and can’t even own a simple car, it is not acceptable. This is not the good life that the people want. Many are still holding on to their present car. The pain will come when they have to give it up and could not afford another one. The withdrawal symptom is going to be very painful. The bigger pain will also come in the form of unaffordable housing. The next generation is growing up and many heartlanders don’t have that kind of money to buy a $500k home. And many can forget about owning private properties though private properties were quite easily attainable in their parent’s generation.

The lousy formula of a good life is going to be torn apart as it is simply a poor alternative for working so hard, getting better educated, for wanting a better life. Where did it go wrong? Dunno leh. The govt is still so happy about this great formula, which is the govt’s version of Swiss standard of living or its equivalent.

Just wait and see how the threshold of pain and tolerance is breached. The govt still have not a clue that it has shattered the dreams of the new generation. They think that they are creating a great life for the next generation. The COE is saying this is the end of the road unless your parents happened to be politicians or very rich. The good life is not a small little flat and taking public transport everywhere.

PS. I speaking from the viewpoint of the average heartlanders.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

Khaw tells me to be frugal. I have been frugal all my life and am now being screwed. To keep my 20-year old car on the road, I will have to fork out about $75K!!! Why? Because I have been frugal all my life. And this is how I am rewarded.

Anonymous said...

The real worth of my $100k in FD for the last 20 years is really worth only $10k now.

Anonymous said...

Because you guys love to suck cocks, that's why.

And that's the hard truth

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr Chua
An excellent summary of our thoughts and feelings.

But the leeders and their grassroot advisors are in denial.

Just imagine.
If THEY accepted your feedback.
Then how?
They will then have to actually work to find a solution that benefits Singaporeans.

So its much cheaper, better and faster to say that redbean is NOT constructive in his criticism.

What do you think?

Anonymous said...

What is the point of complaining? Did you people do anything to change all this during the last election? If not, don't complain, because you are giving them the mandate to screw you.

Anonymous said...

In 1979 graduate earns about 1200 and five rooms hdb cost about 35000. Now they earn. Pathetic 2700 but the same hdb is now 500,000?

So u tell me this is progress or regress? Knn

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

As usual, redbean fails to back up his long whiny posts with empirical data, relying instead his FEELINGS filtered through a negative cock-eyed worldview.

Here is some data. Singaporeans are earning more, the trend is UP for both average and median wages.

http://www.mom.gov.sg/statistics-publications/national-labour-market-information/statistics/Pages/earnings-wages.aspx

Anonymous said...

On our national birthday, I would like to say we are a shameless society of blind sheep.

Reading today's papers and the "good news" it dishes out makes you feel you had just attended a church service.

Once a year, the high priest will ascend to the pinnacle of the temple, not that he is not seated there any other day, and reinforces the church dogmas.

This time, there is a three proneed approach in sealing your fate.

First, a better future. Be the best.

Second, be inclusive. Be like us - best.

Third, a home that we all love. Beautiful and costly - nothing but the best can sell to you.

And after the chief priest delivered his sermon, the scribes, who writes professionally, or neo evangelists will anoint his golden words.

The congregation, hands raised and eyes closed and tears flowing, worshipped at the golden altar.

What a church service. Amen.

Anonymous said...

Of course, we have groups of ruffians outside of the service protesting which has been the situation for most of our human miserable existence.

But who can make out the voices from the wilderness?

The ruffians are out to tear down the establishment - pretty consistent in the history of man.

But this church is "well established" . Amen.

Anonymous said...

you gotta thank your scribes - most of them are women.

Anonymous said...

Mati it's not how many dollars u earn but what it buy. U better go spent your time sucking coco lar knnbccb

Anonymous said...

There’s an old Chinese proverb that warns, “Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me”.

To prevent him from fooling you twice, kick him out of parliment in 2016!

Anonymous said...

No idea say no idea lah :)

Anonymous said...

@Matilda
You are the one looking at the statistic in your rose tinted glasses. The figures are for "Residents" which includes PR and not for Singaporean as you claim.

Go figure why they have to lump PRs with Singaporeans in the statistic. Your photo says a lot about you. Let me guess, "SUCKER"?

Anonymous said...

I think men scribes are equally worst

Anonymous said...

Anyone who has been part of a "church service" will know of the power of camaraderie. The sevice has a powerful stronghold on adherents or subscribers of the faith. Hook, line and balls they will swallow and it tastes heavenly.

Look at how they continue to give and give even when the head has been indicted?

Undying support of the blind. Never seems to die throughout our history. They are still around, aren't they?

patriot said...

Matilah Singapura has been chilling his champayne for days. The rumour he heard from his fellow hotel mate(s) must be speculations and guesses from those who miss Lee Kuan Yew.
It could also be a rumour created by one or some who prefer to celebrate something else other than Independence Day.

Anyway, me am just curious, so many blogs had been made about the Rumour, but none QUESTION WHETHER LEE KUAN YEW IS MEDICALLY FIT TO BE A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT. AND IF HE IS NOT, WHY IS THE PARLIAMENT NOT INFORMING THE PEOPLE?

IF HE IS NOT MEDICALLY FIT, SHOULD HE BE PAID FOR HIS MP POST? AND WHAT IS THE ARRANGEMENT TO HAVE HIM REPLACED?

patriot

Anonymous said...

RB, you go girl. Thumbs up

Anonymous said...

Your banana got curry cumming out or not?

Anonymous said...

A 3 minute youtube video of Nazi Germany Nuremberg Rally in 1938.

SOURCE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ceLnMT0rps&feature=related

Veritas said...

Hi RB seems your blog is infested by senseless penis-vagina brigade as well. COE price hike may be a pain for middle class, the real fireworks is food price hike.

Today, food producer like US, AU, China, India are plague with extreme weather such as drought or flood which destroy crops. When crops fails, the elite of sovereign states fearing revolution of their people, may impose quota for food export. Then no matter how much monies you have, you will not buy a single grain of food.

With 5.3 million people, we are doomed. Assuming without FT, we will probably have stagnant population of 3 million right now. Without high tech and urban farming, we could be self-sufficient. Unfortunately, all these are destroyed by PAP.

Anonymous said...

Veritas, the next PM. Yay.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to the daft for voting themselves to be screwed, dragging the rest along.

Veritas said...

Very few people are aware that FOOD production is key to exploit the workers. Exploitation always come in few phases. First elite will need to rob land. In SG, its Land Acquisition Act. In PRC, land nationalization during 1950s. In Europe and India, through genocide and force eviction of farmers, and creation of feudal system.

Next stage is making asset price especially land as expensive as possible. Land price must be forever hiking faster than wages. This will make sure that no matter how hard workers work, they will be permanently condemn into slavery. Their fruits of labour will went to jack up land price, which benefits the parasitic elites who is man of leisure.

However, if food price increases, it is going to create alot of anger. In SG, PAP may have underestimate the gravity of situation. While a $100 monthly increase in food price seems little to elite, but due to our income inequality, this is going to put a lot of pain for the poor.

And violent revolution and uprisings, is often precede by famines. While famines could be from heaven, many disastrous consequence of famines and entirely due to elites.

In SG, the people can buffer food increase if PAP have not taken all their income through property. In summary, it is the elites, throughout histories, that have brought sufferings to people.

Anonymous said...

Matilah and Veritas gay couple?

Padaly said...

Veritas,
Thank you for the enlightenment about the elites and elitism. How could we solve this? What solution if any to counter it?

Veritas said...

The solution to counter parasitic elitism is through education. I see we need to focus on 2 main parts.

First - how the world system works.
Today, many Singaporeans are still buying the official propaganda that we have a meritocracy system. If we look at our top 10 Forbes tycoon, all of them add no values to society. There are either parasitic bankers, landlords, speculators and almost all of them inherits their wealth. We are already a feudal state.

We need to inculcate class awareness in our citizen.

Second - We must instil morale values.

The rot of India was in the minds of Indians. There is rampant racism, caste system, extra-judicial killings (you will never see western press talk bad about India, while everyone bad mouth China). This is in the mind of elites. The elites want division,ignorant and poverty, to better exploit the better.

Only through character building that we will create a leaders, that cares for its people. This is how Nordic society does.

Anonymous said...

HaHaHa

Anonymous said...

Vote for SDP. 2016 for a new political party

Anonymous said...

Long live PAP and RB too.

Anonymous said...

One of the paradoxes of Singapore is that the more we regress in standard of living, behaviour, the more we believe we are progressing.

Another paradox is that these days, what is termed as the best, was once considered mediocre.

Anonymous said...

"One of the paradoxes of Singapore ..."

No paradox at all.
The Leeders are getting more stupid and self delusional.

Anonymous said...

You love your church because it is a church service. There is love, sacrifice and success, what can be wrong?

Let your tears of joy flow. The old man turned up for the show.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

There are times that I totally ignore Matilah, the times when he simply talked cock. And today is one of those times when he claimed to know but is totally clueless.

Anonymous said...

Who is watching sasuke? That's how hopeless and a joke they are....lol

Anonymous said...

yah, the course is much easier than the Japanese version some more ....

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Redbean want o take issue some more. Hey man, I'm just the messenger. The data is the data. Nonetheless, your flawed human brain can make up any story it wants to. As if I give a shit. ;-)

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Goodness me Matilah. You quoting data as the data and gave the impression that the data is the truth when you jolly well know that most data are craps?

Now whose brain in flawed? I know you don't give a shit but you are carrying the data on your head like an authority and you are the authority because of your empirical data.

Stop being a joker will ya?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Redbean, you are moving the goal posts. (plus other logical fallacies)

How do you know the data are CRAP?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

If you are asking me to prove that the data are crap, then it is a waste of time for me to prove it.

So many data have been flashed in the media and everywhere and no one believe a bit about the honesty of the data.

Please go and believe in your truthful and accurate data. I can provide you with data from a survey where 100% of the participants believe the sun rises from the west. Wanna bet?

I can also produce experts that say Sinkieland is big enough for a 10m population or even 20m.

Anonymous said...

Data only tell one side of the story and so when used, other considerations must be noted. Personally, I do believe people earn more through years but sadly, the cost of living outstrips all the gain.

From data it is true that our per capital is higher than most first world countries but hey look carefully. Where on earth you have to pay so much just to own a car? Which country has higher healthcare costs (most think our is cheap because we can use Medisave but it is our own money).

And so as what RB said, data is data and may not syn with real life.

Anonymous said...

Matilah, you have never ceased to amaze me with your stupidity. I think you should do what you are good at and that is go do sucking whatever is your fancy

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