The Big Thing in Sin City

In this small little island of millionaires, everything is big. Even a small little nimrod will think very big and imagining that it is the most desirable big thing and women will beg to have it in their mouths. I think we are going to be the biggest customers of the US in the purchase of the most sophisticated aircraft of the future. It is flying but will only be ready in the future as it is not flying right yet. The thing big about this aircraft is the price tag.

I just read an advert that someone paid $147k for a Porsche 911. The Sinkies are so rich that they would not want to buy anything on the cheap. They would pay for a piece of worthless paper called COE for $100k to give them the privilege to plonk down another half a million for the same car. Why would they do that, I dunno. It must be a dignity thing. Things must have a big price tag to be good. Oh, they just raise the tuition fees for universities and polytechnics to make them better. The more expensive the better the quality.

Yes, the Big Thing in Sin City is the price tag. Everything has to be priced big to be good and saleable. A public housing flat with a 99 year lease, very likely less than 90 or 80 years left, was selling like hot cakes at $1m or more. And the millionaire Sinkies, I supposed, would congratulate themselves for such a good buy. The guy who bought the Porsche would probably get 2 or 3 landed freehold properties for the same price of one public housing flat. Across the Causeway one could buy several landed properties too, for that price tag.

And many will save a life time for that final visit to the hospital to empty their life savings. It must be a final charitable act, to donate everything to the hospitals and to tip the staff for the good service, or is it the hospital price tag?

And the citizens are so generous that they are happily paying their political leaders millions to keep them from corruption. Of course the leaders are the most dignified and talented people on earth, or at least in the island. Their forte is to learn from other countries, what other people are doing before applying what they learnt to the island. And if they failed to learn anything, they will pay for expert consultants to do the job. Or they may even ask the people, the ordinary men in the street for answers. The price tag for the ministers is not only big, but very big. Obama would have faint if the Americans decide to pay him half the amount being paid to his counterpart here.

Paying big, buying big, getting big pay are the norms here. The thought of how much to pay for the things we paid here can drive many people elsewhere crazy. Imagine how many life times will one need to earn a $100k in many countries. Here it is only good enough to buy a certificate only to be entitled to buy a car with a bigger price tag.

That is how big our money has become.