Budget 2024 - Cocktail party gossips versus kopitiam talks

The Budget 2024 is now going around the circuits of cocktail parties and kopitiams with the rich and the ah pehs having a say on what it should have been. In cocktail parties, the key words of the rich are handouts, dependency, weaning, fine tuning, crutch mentality etc etc. Let me just deal with these rich words before lowering myself to join the ah pehs in the kopitiams where I am more comfortable with.

I must say it is a privilege to be rich when one has no worries about the price of kopi or chap chye png. In cloud 9, looking down at the hoi polloi, the pathetic lot, it feels so good to make judgement about how they should live their lives better. And the Budget, this is dangerous as the pathetic ah pehs are going to develop a dependency on it, a crutch mentality, expecting govt handouts. This is bad. They must be weaned from such expectation of getting handouts from the govt. And the handouts must be fine tuned to make sure only the really needy gets it. The rest, they better wake up, find a job to look after themselves and stop waiting for handouts.

Now what should ahpeh60s do when he cannot work, or cannot find a job, for some reasons? How is he going to help himself? More trainings? Yes, more training would help ahpeh60s. At 60s, still can learn a few new tricks and maybe some employers would take him in. What about ahpeh70s, ahpeh80s and ahpeh90s, would training help, would they get hired? This is not an issue. No one should be living on govt handouts and expecting this to be forever. The only thing they should be expecting that is forever are tax hikes, fare hikes and fee hikes, as money is needed to pay the employees. If no money how to pay them in the millions? And they must have more money to allay the high cost of living cost by inflation that are imported. Who actually is behind the inflation, the high cost of living? Must be the hawkers in the kopitiams, hawker centres and food courts for anyhow raised the prices of food.

What do you think the ahpehs in the kopitiams are kpkb about? They also say, the rich must not develop a crutch mentality, expecting that they will always be paid in the millions. They must be weaned from always thinking that they will be receiving millions as a right. Also, paying millions is ok, but must be fine tuned. Not everyone having the same job title should be paid the same millions. Some have tougher jobs with the same job title while some are like working in a holiday camp, nothing much to do and have to figure what to do as there is nothing much to do.

What do you think? Should the ahpehs be weaned from the crutch mentality to expect handouts from the govt? Who is raising taxes and hike fees and fares that the ah pehs must pay, got money or no money it is their fault if they cannot pay, cannot afford fee hikes, fare hikes, food price hikes, cannot afford a cup of kopi or pay for $6 chap chye png. Not to be over reliance on the govt?

PS. The trillion dollar reserves were created from the contributions of the senior citizens. This is the indirect savings of the senior citizens. It is only fair for them to be rewarded with some dividends for what they contributed in the past. Who do you think are the greatest beneficiary of the nation's reserves? Be grateful. Why begrudge the seniors for having a few dollars from their hard work in the past? KNN!