It's not perfect, but it’s home
Gilbert Goh Keow Wah, Today Online 3 Jan 09;
I RETURNED to Singapore last week from Sydney. I was away for a few months and was shocked at the drastic transformation here.
The first thing that struck me was the masses of people moving around me. I saw so many people on the streets, malls, MRT, buses and even in the parks. Maybe compared to where I lived in Sydney — where people are seldom seen on the street, especially after dark — Singapore is truly a city that never sleeps.
In Sydney, I lived a half-hour train ride away from the city. Shops close at 6pm except on Thursdays, when they close at 9pm. I could not buy a bottle of soya sauce one weekend when my supply ran out. Parks are also sparsely populated and I remember once jogging a good 2km before I bumped into someone else.
Back in Singapore, I’m finding it difficult to cope with being surrounded by people when I am outside. I feel giddy when I visit McDonald’s, from the constant stream of people filing in for a bite. The cinemas are also usually full and it’s tough to buy a ticket during weekends.
In Sydney, one can buy a ticket anytime on a weekend. (Perhaps the pricing, at $15.00, does not make it an attractive prospect; many prefer to rent DVDs for $3.00. I mostly did that when I was in Sydney.)
The next thing I noticed was the increasing number of foreigners in Singapore. At times, I felt like a foreigner in my own home.
Am I back home or what?
The last thing that hit me when I returned home was the constant talk about money. I have met a few friends and at least half of their conversations seemed related to money. One asks me to partner him in an online bookstore to make money; another has some money problems.
There is a Chinese saying that money can’t solve everything, but without money you can’t do anything. In Singapore, money matters, from putting food on the table to being able to send your kids to school. A friend once told me that the only time he doesn’t think about money is when he is alseep!
Yet another friend said that perhaps the reason Singaporeans get very perturbed about money is the lack of unemployment benefits here. We all want to be financially independent and do not want to be seen as dependent on any other source helping us.
Does money matter that much?
Strangely, the Australians are all very casual about money matters. I have spoken to a few of them and our conversations centred primarily on family, church, hobbies and music. I had hardly any Aussie friends who spoke at large on money issues —except those of Asian descent. Even so, we spoke mostly on the implications of the economic crisis, rather than of the obsession to accumulate wealth.
I have yet to see a pawn shop anywhere in Sydney.
A friend told me once that he is always trying to find ways to make more money even though he is adequately compensated at work. This obsession with creating wealth comes at the expense of time spent with family members; at times, we will even betray our ethics to this end. Money seems to rule in our society and many have been ruined by greed, as witnessed in the aftermath of recent investment scandals.
I may stay in Singapore for a few more months. It is not easy to adjust back to life here after having enjoyed the nice weather, quiet environment and uncrowded train rides in Sydney.
Nevertheless, home is still home especially when I can see old friends and find myself in familiar surroundings.
I long to visit friends and catch up over a kopi while watching live English Premier League games with my kakis. In Sydney, weekends were mostly spent at home with my family watching DVDs and soap operas on television.
I guess one will not have a perfect place in this world live. More importantly, as we age, we will feel more at home with our loved ones by our side — wherever we are.
Sensible Singapore
The island, lacking in natural resources, has come so far by being financially prudent
Letter from Ho Kong Loon, Today Online 6 Jan 09;
WHILE reading Gilbert Goh’s I Say piece, “Not perfect, but it’s home” (Jan 3), I was reminded of the Chinese saying: “One should never forget one’s source of water.”
Australians pay a very high premium, in income tax, for the unemployment and retirement benefits they are entitled to. The funds to operate the welfare system have to be systematically accumulated and professionally administered to ensure fairness, continuity and transparency.
Singapore is a tiny island nation that lacks practically all its needs, including basics like water and food. Wide open spaces, panoramic views resplendent with snow-capped mountains, beautiful placid lakes or awesome landscapes — many locals work hard and save assiduously to travel abroad so that they can get up close to nature’s wonders.
Singaporeans understand and accept that almost everything in life comes at a cost: Food, housing, transport, medical treatment, education, entertainment and so on.
Try talking to an unemployed or poor Singaporean about hobbies, music, church, nice weather, a quiet environment and uncrowded train rides. He will surely give you a royal roasting for talking crap.
Mr Soh also talks about the rising number of foreigners here. Sure, we have more foreigners in Singapore now, what with the thousands of workers who help keep the environment clean, or build modern skyscrapers and facilities, others in the service industry, and those who brave the damp and claustrophobic conditions to construct the MRT underground tunnels, et cetera.
