6/23/2007
Is it the fault of the CPF?
Let me look at the CPF from another angle and how it could be the source of other ills of our society. Traditionally children were the insurance of old age for parents. And children became a necessary item of all families. They are the provider for the parents when they are old and feeble and can no longer toil for a living.
What's that got to do with CPF? Yes, the CPF has become the substitute for children. People no longer depend on children for their old age. They have their own money to look after them. So no need to get married and have children. Does it make sense?
Why not? The CPF has unwittingly becomes a substitute and contribute to the no need to get hitch and no need to have children society. Now where have the children gone? Who cares?
This is only one social problem that the CPF may help to create. But the CPF can help to get rid of our oldies problem too. When the time comes, when all the oldies have a couple of hundred thousands in their CPF, and untouchable, what is the next best thing to do?
Cost of living is extremely high in this little island for the jobless. The few hundred dollars to be paid out by the CPF will only be good enough for subsistence level lifestyle. Why not take all out? Yes, denounce the citizenship, take out everything and migrate to a cheaper paradise. The oldies may find such an option a more desirable and practical way to spend their old age and their life long savings.
So the CPF will help to disperse our senior citizens around the world as rich old Singaporeans living out their golden years in wealth and in health. And our oldies and over crowding and welfare problems will be solved. Singapore will be forever young.
Is this part of a well thought out plan?
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7 comments:
Hi Redbean, I think you are being a little to simplistic in your analysis of the old age problem of Singapore. I do not think there is a mjor problem. There are some very filial sons and daughters who take on the responsibility to care for their parents when the latter get too old to fend for themselves. The CPF is just a safety net.
Dear redbean
why did u tell the government all this, they will tigthen the screw in due course, then u can never get your money for your golden years in cheap nice place.
Dear Speedwing
please do not hope to depend on offsprings, they will have their hands full if they stay & work in SG, unless they are the elite, they better get out of the sight of the elite face, plus the kind of education system, they will be so few filial sons & daughters.. and u think your CPF can give u a safety net, think again, inflation will eat up most of it, and with the age limit increase, u may not even see your cpf, it may be only available after your wake and funeral... sorry about that.
why did u tell the government all this, they will tigthen the screw in due course, then u can never get your money for your golden years in cheap nice place.
Do not assume for 1 naive minute that this is exclusive info, it is not. Oh gosh, you mean you are that naive? And redbean is no trail blazer either, he is just paranoid and entertaining as before. But watch out, he has been reformed by ... you wold noticed his resignation and sighs. He is sighing more in agreement than before. No one claims the credit, it is a group effort, well done!
hahaha, you guys.
please read my post in Social and Economic devt in Singapore in redbeanforum. i have just posted something in reply to Grunt which actually answers some of the issues that you guys have raised.
i like the entertainment part raised by anonymous. i will try to make it entertaining in my own weird ways by taking the wrong sides of a problem when you least expect it. it provokes people's thought and keeps people guessing : )
The CPF scheme generally mean a good form of saving for those who do not know to moderate their expenses or course not for those top management & riches b'cos they got better way to generate their wealth for retirement.
But polical maker has made it loss it initial mean by implemented foreigners policy (wages stagnant or worst till gone down to 3rd world salary for low & middle income(SME Firms)), by not able to regain it initial employer contribution (20%), by not able to control prices of property rise (majorities end consumed all their retirement fund to pay mortgage), by not able to control cost of living B'cos government are too concern about their own profit return & shares( their link government investment coy.), by not able to increase the interest rates for the ordinary account (presently @2.5% for many decades) since our investments company are making tons of profit as they claimed, why? I guessed MML & Ho Ching Knew.
Remember, they promised more good to come during election, only 66.6% dump dump believed their blanked cheques, more miserable years for you to support my millionaire dream.
The State is an invasive evil demon, and all who work for it are themselves evil.
When the idea of the State became one of "the great saviour" (ala Marx and Roosevelt's "New Deal"), the ideas personal responsibility and family values gradually disappeared.
For a few generations, young people grow up with the idea that the good 'ol altruistic welfare state will look after their parents when they get old and frail, and that this process is aided by schemes such as CPF.
In present day life in so-called "developed" countries—especially those rich western democracies with welfare states, no measure of personal responsibility is required. You can be totally irresponsible, and still get thru life better than some struggling university grad in a developing country. This is because of the immense level of WEALTH in western democracies—wealth which has been built up over centuries of industrialisation, production and exchange...and imperialistic conquest and acquisition in some cases ;-)
The reason the govt becomes so big and powerful is because the majority of people expect the government to SOLVE every problem.
... and thus, the people get the govt they deserve, and all the bigger problems caused by the state attempting to solve (instead of the people co-operating among themselves) at-one-time smaller problems.
The problems with CPF were caused by the very nature of CPF, which was created by govt (everything created by govt will eventually fail—no exceptions). Now it seems the government is called to "fix it".
You see, people just don't ever learn.
So fuck them all :)
the law of nature never fails. it always starts so innocently, beautifully. it grows stronger by the day. then it crumbles and returns to dust. no escape.
everything will destroy itself. self interest and greed will always surface after some time.
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