APEC 2024 Peru. Biden shafted to a corner in the back row. Xi in front row next to Peru's President
8/30/2007
Too much of goodness and TLC
Singaporeans are the most fortunate people in this world. It has a world best govt that is providing them with so much goodness and tender loving care. Singaporeans are living in a country with first world infrastructure, world class homes, and living in a resort environment, world class entertainment, schools and medical services.
And the govt does not stop at that. It continues to plan for their retirement and their final days in this world to ensure that all the Singaporeans will be amply provided for without a single day of care and worry in their golden years. All the Singaporeans are expected to live to a ripe old age, maybe 90 or 100, with a lot of money in their savings. It is truly a paradise on earth.
Now isn't that a beautiful dream? Why should Singaporeans, or some Singaporeans, be crying for mercy? Why are some pleading to the govt not to be so good and so kind to them? Why are these Singaporeans begging the govt to let them be, let them live their lives the way they want, let them make the mistakes in life so that they can learn, let them fall and pick themselves up, let them have some freedom in how to use their pocket money to have a few wild weekends out to do the things they want to do?
All these Singaporeans are asking is for the govt to loosen the apron string, and allow them to grow up and look after themselves. Is that too much to ask for? Every child will grow up and want to grow up. And when they start to work and earn a salary, they would want to manage their own finances, spent a little, indulge a little and mess up a little. And they only ask the govt to have faith in them that even if occasionally they become naughty, pain the town red, they will manage their money carefully. After all they have been given a world class education and should know how to be sensible.
Please can we have our money back? Please don't ration my pocket money. Please let me grow up. I am now 80.
That's the way it works in Singapore. DOn't like it, please emigrate.
ReplyDeletehi PR, you are back.
ReplyDeletei pa si buay chow one. no need to pay me millions to dig in.
rottweiler the king of dogs
ReplyDeleteFor me, I pah si buay zao.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely NOT pah si buay chow*. Like Red beanee!!
* Chow = stink!!
you are confusing many things. you don't use hanyu pinying on hokien dialect. and pah si buay chow, in your interpretation is referring to the undead. those that can jump up from the grave.
ReplyDeletetalking about rottweilers, they are still dogs. the owners will call them, 'come doggie, come.' and they will wag their tails happily.
but they will bite anyone that the owner dislikes : )
A country with sovereign wealth in excess of $600,000,000,290 helps their poor destitutes with $290 monthly handout is a true paradise on earth.
ReplyDeleteyou are confusing savings with charity, bro.
ReplyDeletejust liek reddie beannie is confusing chattering with contributing.
;P
or are you confusing saving with robbing?
ReplyDeletechattering without a purpose or with a wrong purpose, is wasteful chattering.
chattering with a purpose is meaningful chattering.
dogs will just bark mindlessly. thinking is beyond them. they just obey the command of their masters. and the master can be kings, princes, druglords or mafia chiefs. doggies are instinctively loyal with no sense of right or wrong.
Funny, but I felt the policies on aging made perfect sense to me.
ReplyDeleteBy nature most do not plan their finances well.. thats why there are financial advisers to teach abt financial planning...
And the ones that are most in need of help in sorting out their finances must belong to the older age group where many cpf savings were squandered overnight either with or without the help of china mei-mei(s).
Finally it is a fallacy and a poor generalisation to think that one is wiser at 80; I for one believe that the opposites is USUALLY true.
redbean said...
ReplyDeleteor are you confusing saving with robbing?
chattering without a purpose or with a wrong purpose, is wasteful chattering.
chattering with a purpose is meaningful chattering.
For once, redbean has a point. People without meaningful purpose should spent their idle time chatting somewhere else please instead of disturbing the rest of the forumers (like/including Matilah..) here. :-)
the annuity scheme is a good scheme. just like any life insurance scheme or saving scheme.
ReplyDeletelike i said earlier, the pressing problem is now when the 'lost generation' of illiterates are in their twilight years. these are the people that went through lives in the worst ever ways. they grew up in poverty and some may want to have a last fling.
but we cannot generalise too much. many in the 70s and 80s are rich beyond your imaginations.
and many are so rich that they don't need financial planners. they have money flowing out of their ears.
we must not accept a few oddities to justify a solution, especially a compulsive one, for the rest of the people.
we cannot treat every singaporean as foolish, unthinking and irresponsible just because of a few bad hats. many have made all their plans for retirement. why should they be punished for the foolishness of a few odd ones?
or why should the govt treat you as a foolish one? do you give the govt reasons to do that? or you think you deserve to be treated as one and needed compulsory annuity to save you?
I think there are some half truths there.
ReplyDelete..................................
but we cannot generalise too much.
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PRECISELY
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"many in the 70s and 80s are rich beyond your imaginations......
and many are so rich that they don't need financial planners. they have money flowing out of their ears......"
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TRUE as MANY has become filthy rich as they journeyed with SG from 3rd world..
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we must not accept a few oddities to justify a solution, especially a compulsive one, for the rest of the people.
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A FEW.. just a few? Where did you get that assumption?
If you shud go places like chinatown, jalan besar to observe the people in the 60 to 80 years age group, you would know that they are not financially adequate for retirement, and they arent just a few oddities either.
For people of that generation, it is still top 20 and bottom 80 percentile; and that 80 bottom NEEDS help.
The facts must have been properly collated so that the authorities know the situation before making up the policies. If it is just a few oddities, I doubt they would waste their time and resources to implement the changes.
TRUTH is there are plenty of financially successful dudes above 60 years, but they are only the minority. There is an OVERWHELMING majority of retirees belonging to that generation who is likely to need some form of help in today's high costs living environment, IF they live into their 80s and 90s.
you must read my post on the lost generation. and better still, go to the online petition where the statistics of the age groups are given.
ReplyDelete