GUTS 1: Moving towards Singapore 2.0. Part 3: Enterprising Singaporeans

The Grand Unified Theory of Singapore (GUTS) today 

and what We need to move to SG 2.0

Part 3: How to Get Singaporeans to take more Risk

Part 1 covered the problems of Singapore today - An Ageing population, rising costs of living, Inflation from an emerging, rising China, the problem of home ownership, falling birthrates, rising healthcare costs, and the Sandwiched Generation.

Part 2, considered what Singaporeans want. Or need rather. And why we are so kiasu. And why Meritocracy leads one to the Just World Belief, and why that leads to justifying inequality.

In Part 3, we ask, "How to get a Singaporean to take more risk?"  You may also want to read "The Third Freedom". which ends with the same question.

My Dental Surgeon - A cautionary tale?

The only certainty in life is uncertainty. Disasters, natural or unnatural, domestic or global can strike at any time and affect everyone, good or bad, smart or not, deserving or undeserving. Perhaps there is a role for government to provide a social safety net not because people are lazy "takers", but simply because misfortune strikes us all.

My dentist (or dental surgeon), who's in his sixties, had heart surgery a few years ago, recovered, but found that he had to carry on with his practice in order to pay off his hospital bills. Yes, he did choose to go to a private hospital, but it struck me that this was a doctor of dentistry (or whatever is the official qualification of a dental surgeon is), running his own business, presumably making a lot of money (or not. His rates were rather reasonable. Low even), but who still have difficulties when a medical or health crisis struck.

The Third Freedom

Singapore has been criticised for not having "Freedom". Specifically, Freedom of Speech/Expression, Freedom of the Press, and maybe freedom to chew gum.

Calvin Cheng rebuts this criticisms, pointing out that we do have Freedoms - Freedom from Crime, Freedom from poverty, Freedom from Religious Intolerance, Freedom from Unemployment.

This was, in turn, critiqued for conflating Freedom (or civil liberties) with Security (the Freedoms Cheng argued that Singaporeans have).

Previously I have argued that the first Freedoms, a.k.a. civil liberties are instrumental freedoms. They are a means to an end. They are intended to support the democratic process to ensure good government (this is a hope, a theory, not a guarantee)

The second Freedoms, or security, are what people REALLY want - Freedom from deprivation, Freedom from economic uncertainty, Freedom from crime and danger, Freedom from abuse, harassment, predation. In short, the Freedom to live our lives in a civilised manner, without having to deal with rudeness, intrusion, uncertainty, and fear.

Which is probably enough for most of us.

Nothing is Impossible (On Freedom of Expression Part 3)

I think it is incredibly sad that when it comes to Freedom of Expression, nothing is impossible.

But I an getting ahead of myself.

In Part One of this series of posts on Freedom of Expression, my point was that Freedom of Expression is over-rated.

Especially if the Freedom is also free from Responsibility.

You may have heard this wry observation about raising children: we spend 18 month encouraging them to stand up, walk, run, and speak. And then the next 18 years telling them to shut up, sit down and stop running around.

And the reason simply is this: Having the ability is one thing. Using the ability responsibly is the next thing. As Spiderman's uncle told him: "With Great Power comes Great utility bills".

Or maybe it was "Responsibility".

Why HKers are not as crazy about cars as SGers

During one of my lunch conversation with my colleague, he noted that HKers are not as crazy about owning cars as SGers.

He suggested that perhaps it is because HK has a good MTR system and people find it very convenient to use public transport so they do not feel the need to own cars.

Alternatively, he also suggested that HKers spend more on getting their homes so they can't afford to get a car. Which may be true (see chart below).

From "Home Prices and Inequality" 

The Chart shows that HKers pay 17 times their household income to buy a home. Singaporeans just pay 5 times. Our median household income is higher and the median home price is lower in SG than in HK.

So that may be a factor.

Freedoms, Liberties, Democracy - Why Everyday Singaporeans don't give a fuck about two of these.

A follow-up of sorts to this previous post on Democracy.

To be honest, I really do not want to write about Democracy. Again.

Most people don't understand it, and trying to establish common understanding of Democracy tends to make any post I write rather long.

Nor am I interested in writing a primer for Democracy. Most people won't read it or if they did they probably won't agree with some or all of it and you end up in a semantic argument over WHAT is Democracy.

Then there is Freedom. And Liberties. Or to be precise, civil liberties. (Which suggests that somewhere out there are uncivil liberties?)

How to plan for your retirement

Step One: Decide how much you need on an annual basis.

This will be easier when you are closer to retirement. However, you need a figure to work with when you are younger, cos retirement planning should start as early as possible.

So this is the first problem.

The second problem is that you can only think in terms of today's dollar. Today, Chicken Rice costs $3.50. In yesteryears, it was $1.00 or $1.50. By the time you retire there may be no chicken rice. Or it will cost $8. Or $10. So whatever you estimate you need would be in today's dollar. Factor in 30 - 40 years of inflation, and you have no way of knowing how much inflation would have affected the amount you need.

So you should just give up trying to plan your retirement. With your luck, there may be no retirement in your lifetime anyway.

The End.

Democracy First!

You may have read this before:

The CEO & The Fisherman

The CEO is looking to have a really fresh meal so he goes to the docks in the town and finds a man unloading his fishing boat with his morning haul. He buys a great looking fish and starts talking to the fisherman. The fisherman says “every day I fish for a few hours in the morning, then I eat lunch with my family, take a siesta, visit with friends, have dinner and go to bed.” The CEO says “Well if you fished for a few more hours every day you could buy a bigger boat. Then you could manage a team of fishermen and buy more boats and then move to the United States to manage your company. Then you could build your business until you can sell it to a major company and retire!”