A $6.4b happy mistake

Some said it was pleasantly embarrassing, while some said it was an astonishing surplus. Some even praised it as commendable, far sightedness and prudence. Really? Ask those who have been squeezed out of their few dollars which could buy them another meal. To those who have contributed tens of thousands to this $6.4b happy mistake, they would simply brush it aside as a non event. For those who are adversely affected by it, would they take it as a joke and laugh it off? Inderjit Singh was pointed in saying that all the affordable increases have contributed to a projected $.07b budget deficit to a $6.4b surplus. But some offered that it was all because of the adjustment of the value of housing. It seems that it is very difficult to understand how a little affordable increases here and there when added up can become a little mountain. Is it that difficult to understand or too tedious to understand? Or is it that such little irritating problems do not deserve to be looked at as they are very time consuming? Better to spend time assessing the benefits of buying a 80ft yacht or a 100ft yacht. Now that is a pleasant problem to spend time on. For those who still fails to see how a few affordable increases can bring hardship to the people and lead to a happy mistake, they should be punished to watch 100 hours of Moses Lim and Jack Neo's comic sketches on throwing a few bits of litter now and then. The moral of these comic sketches is that a little bit here and there will soon add up to become a big big mountain of rubbish. Whether it is a happy mistake or a pleasant embarrassment, the high cost of living is not going away, the GST increase is not coming down, all the affordable increases will remain and the poor will continue to be squeezed. Must be very pleasant experience, like sitting in an Osim chair.

Huang Lizhen's hospital bill

The MOH has put up an advertisement on the hospital bill of Huang Lizhen in the paper. It started with the first paragraph as follows: 'For the past seven years, Ms Huang Lizhen has been in and out of hospital, chalking up medical bills that have since wiped out her widowed mother's Medisave savings.' Medisave wiped out! Later her case was referred to 'medical social workers, who helped her apply for Medifund assistance.' The Medifund covered 100% of her bill after subsidy. And they were grateful even though the mother's Medisave was already empty. For 79 days in a C ward in Tan Tock Seng Hospital for Systemic lupus erythematosus, the bill came to $52,000! Govt subsidy was 80% or $42,000. After subsidy, balance $10k was fully paid by Medifund. They paid nothing. Or they will be in deep shit since her Medisave was already wiped out. How many people can afford a $52k bill? And this is C ward rate. It could be higher if in better wards. It is more than $500 a day. That's what it costs for world class medical treatment. Please don't get admitted to C ward if you can afford it. Huang Lizhen and mother are so lucky. For those who are not as desperate as them, please make sure you have money, and plenty of money, to pay your hospital bills.

Time to bring back the discards

With life expectancy going to 100 and with good medical care, it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that healthy Singaporeans can work till past 80, and still doing very well. The old practice of retiring people at 55 and the discards because of that policy should be looked at and those still in good health and able, should be brought back to the main stream of economic life. We are wasting a lot of talents and experience that these senior professionals have accummulated throughout their lives. Sad to see them ended up as taxi drivers and foodcourt cleaners or wasting their time in clubs drinking and merry making aimlessly. They have another 10 to 20 years of productive life to live.

A wonderful educational experience

As we get more influence and have more money to spare, we become more creative and innovative with what money can offer. Schools are increasinly organising overseas trips for their students as a badge of honour, as a wonderful educational experience for the children. We are seeing trips not only to neighbouring countries, but to the US, Europe, China and Japan. At the university level we have exchange programmes with other universities all over the world. Such experience will definitely make our students smarter and brighter. They will definitely be better than third world students who can't even afford a trip to town. Money sure can buy quality education. The more expensive the education fee, the better will be the education.

$100,000 mouth!

Singapore has developed a new mini tooth implant that could save the patients a lot of money. It was reported that the sum could come to $70k for a full mouth job. That could possibly put the cost of a full job to well over $100k using the old technology. Imagine putting $100k inside a mouth. The $6m bionic man is now a reality with so many parts to change and upgrade.