Not a mindset issue

Ridzwan Dzafir wrote a book encouraging the Malays to change their mindset to climb the educational and socio economic ladder. This is the same advice that the other communities, including the Chinese, have been told by the govt. What the Malay doyen was saying is a conventional wisdom. One needs to help himself to climb the socio ladder. There is no short cut. This elicited a reply from an Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim in the Saturday paper. It is easier said than done. In our highly competitive educational system, the playing field is not level. The rich, with their resources, can do that much more to help their children. The poorer parents, ‘even with financial assistance, could not match the investment made by richer ones.’ I agree that the poorer families are at a disadvantage. But not all is lost. Personally I too grew up financially very disadvantaged, socially and academically handicapped in a very poor quarter of the society. I crawled all the way back, without any tuition or assistance from anyone, not even my parents or kin. Then came my children. They too did not benefit from any tuition or special conditioning to assist them in their studies. They went through schools as any average family children did. The only thing we did was to be at home, no drug taking, no clubbings, no havoc and heavy drinking or partying and leaving them at home on their own. We were just there as parents, to keep the family functional and intact. We provide the emotional and psychological support. I have witnessed many well off families with plenty of tuitions but not benefiting their children. The only advantage they really had was to pay for their degrees from an overseas university as they were not good enough for a place in the local universities. Poorer families are disadvantaged but not to the point that it is beyond hope, that they need a miracle to do well. I think any above average students with enough parental care and encouragement should be able to climb the academic ladder on their own. A little assistance would be welcomed, but without them is not the reason for their under performance academically. There are enough assistance schemes for those who need them. Poverty and underprivileged are not the exclusive rights of the Malay community.

Properties are up for grabs

Melvin Chua, a businessman, sold his 4rm flat in Jalan Membina for $550K and bought a 5rm for $638K. He only needs to top up $88K for a bigger flat. No sweat for a successful businessman. Sales of HDB flats have surged due to demand from young couples, upgraders, downgraders and PRs. It looks like the prices of properties will continue to rise, fuelled by demands from people who can afford them. The prices must therefore be reasonable. In the facing page of the ST was an article by Fiona Chan asking whether the property rally is sustainable? I can simply answer that with an affirmative yes. The pool of flats built by HDB is stable, no new flats are being built unless they have been booked in advance. This is a new concept compare to the old when flats were built ahead of demand leading to oversupply at times. And if the locals are not there buying, the huge influx of PRs and new citizens will be there to make up for the slack. We need them to shore up the CPF scheme. Anyway, what is $500k or $600k? Jet Li bought a bungalow for $14m or $16m. And in the Life page there is a huge bungalow of 7,500 sq ft sitting on 16,000 sq ft of land or the equivalent of 15 5rm HDB flats. The value could be more than Jet Li's. The PR hedge fund manager owner did not disclose the price but it is a handsome house in the choicest corner of Singapore. The rich are living very well here. And so are the average Singaporeans in their affordable 5rm flats. Those who cannot afford it, the losers, need not fear. The govt will look into their needs and build more affordable 2 and 3 rm flats to suit their pockets. And for the real losers, there will be more rental flat built specially just for them. Actually we should not be wasting our time talking about the losers. They make their lives that way, lazy, stupid, and failed to seize the golden opportunities to make more money to buy bigger and affordable flats or landed properties. Shall we say good riddance?

Not too long ago

I wonder how many of you remember the school days when a bus from the Institute of Health would arrive at the school weekly to fetch students for dental treatment. All the scalings, extractions, fillings and dentures were provided free to the students. And after each treatment, the bus would send the children back to schools, all the time accompanied by a nurse. It must be a very costly operation as there were many schools and many school children needing dental care. Those were the early years of our nationhood when the country was not that rich. But we could afford it. It was govt taking care of the people. Today, we don't even bat an eyelid for losing hundreds of billions. But healthcare is no longer free and no longer cheap. We could not afford it. Or it would lead to abuses, the country will go broke. Strange tale isn't it.

I am branded, not like Prada or Luis Vuitton

Matilah has branded me as alarmist and even irresponsible for highlighting the high cost of H1N1 test. My fear is that some people will not seek treatment or test because the fee is too prohibitive. You only need 5 people infected and walking around, not seeking treatment, and you will have an epidemic in your hand. This is alarmist? Denis Distant also wrote to the paper on the same issue of cost. Not everyone can throw away $85 or $214 just to confirm if one has contracted H1N1. It is not cheap. Let me list down a few things of what alarmist is. 1. Voting an opposition party into govt will chase all foreign investors away. 2. Voting an opposition MP will turn the estate into a slum. 3. Holding a party in a park can be a security issue, maybe rioting going out of control. 4. Our wives and daughters may become maids if we vote the opposition in. 5. If we give handouts, the people will develop a welfare mentality, a crutch. I could go on and on. If I am alarmist, I am in great company. I am not in the naming game or else I would give matilah a brand as well. But that will be cheapo. When has matilah joined the branding clique?

Was it $214 or $124?

A couple of days back a forumer wrote to ST, I think, to complain about having to pay $214 for a H1N1 check in a govt hospital, or was it a privatised hospital? H1N1 is an epidemic that is going to affect the whole population. What if everyone finds this too expensive and refuses to seek treatment, how would the situation develop? What would happen if the people find our medical fees too high and choose to skip treatments for all their deadly diseases and sickness? Can we say, well it is their own health and it is their own problem. If they die, we can replace them with more migrants or with new citizens. What if the diseases they are infected were highly infectious? Would it become a crime for not seeking treatment?