We have failed to progress

After so many years of trying to restructure our society, we have failed miserably in the most important quarter, the purpose of life. Today the front page news is about saving jobs, create jobs, create employments so that people can work until they die. And everyone is singing this tune mindlessly. This is a sick society alright. In paradise, a true paradise, there is no need for people to work for a living. That must be the goal of all societies. The more prosperous we are, we should need to work less and enjoy our lives the way we want it. We have forgotten. I still remember that some 10 or so years ago we were trying to restructure our society to eradicate jobs. We were on the right track then. Now we are so confused with the purpose of life. We think working to death is the only thing in life. Slave drivers! We have the technology to give humankind the freedom from work. We can mechanise, automate, use robots, use the computers to think, plan and do everything for us. Humankind deserves better, to live life and enjoy life of plenty, without worries and without work. Shouldn't that be the goal for working so hard? Have we gone crazy? Creating more and more jobs to work the people? We should be planning on how to pay people a million a year without having to work. Then everyone can spend their time flashing around in their newest personal commuter or personal jet. And for those who still enjoy blogging, they can continue to do so without a worry, 24/7 sitting in front of their latest model personal entertainment system. What is the point of having the IRs, the flyers, all the theatres and fine restaurants and facilities when we have to work and no time to enjoy them? Do we pay millions to super talents who can only think of creating more jobs to work the people to death?

My tummy ache is more complex

I used to visit the dentists quite regularly in the past. Today I see them less frequently. Not many teeth left to give problems. But I still have tooth ache occasionally. The same tooth ache I had 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago. And my tummy ache is no different today then 50 years ago or 40 years ago. So were my flu and sore throat. And I think this goes with many other sicknesses, migraine, heart attack, artery blocks, piles, or whatever that our bodies can inflict on us. I protested to my doctors and dentists. Why are they charging me 10 times, 20 times or 30 times for the same ailments? The panadol and vitamins are still the same except for the branding. After repeated protests the doctors finally gave in and explained. He agreed that they were all the same. He agreed that the only thing that was different was the bill. And he said the medical condition probably made up 10% of the bill. The rest were other costs. At least now I know that my medical conditions are not more serious, not more complicated, not more complex, not more heavenly that require a medical maverick to heal them when the ordinary doctor of the past could not. And I pay more.

The new Singapore success story

Ting Kah Ting is a very happy man. As a contractor his income is inconsistent. He had problems paying his mortgages for his 4 rm flat but HDB was understanding, agreed to stretch his payments in smaller amounts and at one time allowed him to postpone his payment for 6 months. Today he has no more outstanding loan. Peace of mind. He sold his 4 room flats for a tidy profit and downgraded to a 3 rm flat and live happily with his 4 children age 11 to 21. The morale of the story is that Singaporeans can live a happy life if they know how. The trick is downgrading. Singaporeans are downgrading from bigger flats to smaller flats. And the demand for smaller flats is exceeding supply. HDB is rushing out a programme to build more 2 and 3 rm flats. The other kind of downgrading for a happier life is downgrading jobs. Many Singaporeans are finding a new life, new contentment by going for training to acquire new skills that can fit them into lesser paying jobs. And of course the lifestyle needs to change a little. Take public transport or buy a smaller car. Eat more at foodcourts or hawker centres instead of restaurants. Life will not be the same again, but without worries. An anonymous blogger here posted that many young girls are earning more than $10k pm. These are real. And many more are earning 6 figure salaries per month, too big that they don't appear in the statistics, just like when you type in 10 zeros into a calculate, it cannot be shown. The calculator cannot capture too many zeros. Some are even more fortunate. On retirements they were given directorships that pay them double or triple or quadruple their incomes when they were fully employed. And all they need is to attend a board of director's meeting once a month. But the best goes to those who retire with a pension good enough to buy a private property every year. But the pension is only the appetiser. They will be moved from running a full organisation to one that practically does nothing and continue with full pay plus pension. Now that is the real success story. They can now live life to the fullest, enjoy what they missed as little children and buy the Porsche or Ferrari that they dreamed off in those fairy tales. Singaporeans have different success stories.

Why be mean when no need to?

I have spoken enough of mean testing. But I must say it again and again to show how detestable is this thing called mean testing. By the way, how many of you think that mean testing is an acceptable and decent thing to do to another loser? If you think it is ok, then you must be prepared to be mean tested when your turn comes. Not everyday is a sunny day. There will be cloudy days, raining days and thunderstorms. Your sunny day may be over without you knowing and thunderstorm may be here tomorrow. The idea of mean testing is simply that the poor can be humiliated, that they can be paraded in public, to any strangers to prove how poor and what a failure they were in life. This kind of thinking can only be present in the minds of the rich and powerful who have no qualms in treating the downtrodden as useless bums, deserving to be abused. It is an elitist concept. It will not happen to me because I am rich and successful. And I will not be a loser. So it is ok to line up the losers and subject them to despicable acts of verifying how poor they are. Make them show you how miserable are their incomes, open up their bank account books to reveal that there are only a couple of dollars left, make them reveal how useless their fathers and mothers were, all losers. Then give them a pat and say ok, you poor bastards, you deserve the handouts. It is a sad day if our elite show this lack of compassion and kindness and subject the poor to such disgraceful acts in the name of kindness and compassion. Oh this is in place to catch a few cheats! I regard this as a failure of good policies. A good policy should be able to do it without the humiliating experience. It is totally devoid of human kindness.

Market Pricing and market economy

I have posted many times, and most of you are aware of my views and orientation with respect to market pricing and market economy. I always believe in moderation, market pricing with a little govt interference without allowing extremism to push things too far. The pricing of HDB flats, medical fees, and all kinds of services are gradually moving towards full market pricing in a market economy and it is something I don't agree and don't feel comfortable with. My position is that the govt must always work for the betterment of the people and a market economy running along market pricing is only as good as long as it is good for the people. If it is good just to make more profit at the people's expense or causing more hardship to the people, then it is not good no matter how fair it is claimed to be. The govt must always be for the people. The profit made must also be for the people. The money made from the people must not be excessive. There is no point in hoarding a huge reserves when the reserves are not managed for the interest of the people. As the govt edges further and further towards a full market economy, many policies will eventually be market driven. Good or bad is not an issue. Here we have a govt that makes it very clear of its philosophy and policies. There will be people who agree and support such philosophy and policies. There will be people who don't agree. It is good that the govt takes on such a position, clear and transparent. It allows the people to understand how such policies will work out and how they will be affected in the process. The people can then make an informed choice of whether this is what they want. And it will be good if there are alternative parties presenting alternative models for the people to choose from. For the dogmatic and party loyalists, they may want to view the alternatives as a for me or against me ala the idiot called George Bush. This is a very narrow minded way of how a country and its people should evolve. In a democracy, it is the people's choice and not a matter of you are my friend or my enemy. I am not sure how many of you are in favour of this trend of market pricing. I know that some are for it and some are against it. While we are discussing such issues, let's be more objective and mature and avoid behaving like kids. It is not a crime to disagree with the policies of market pricing. Neither is it a vindication of goodness to support it.