Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Archive for February, 2008
Can we practise what we preach, please?
Feb 29th
It seems like Singaporeans might be allowed to hold outdoor protests and demonstrations at the Speaker’s Corner (see this article).
Of course, this being Singapore, the fine print has to be read. Buried down the article, it is said that there is a “need to maintain certain fundamentals even as society opens up more”, and I would like to highlight the third “fundamental” which reads:
“Third: There should be no foreign interference in domestic politics. “
So, what constitutes foreign interference? A bunch of singers apparently constitute foreign interference. An academic speaking about gay legislation is also foreign interference. But, our Minister Mentor is famous for commenting on other countries. For example, a couple of years back, he infuriated our northern neighbours with comments about their ethnic minorities.
Can we practise what we preach, please?
Home ownership as a hedge against inflation
Feb 28th
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in a Straits Times report that home ownership helps to hedge against inflation.
“The 95 per cent of Singaporeans who own their homes are not affected by inflation in the rental market, which is especially worrisome if you are a retiree householder.”
On its face, what Tharman said is valid. If indeed so many Singaporeans are owning their own home, the effects of inflation is already mitigated. However, I do wonder, how many people own a fully paid home?
For example, I would fall into the category of Singaporeans who own their homes as I signed the lease agreement with HDB. However, I don’t exactly own my home, at least not until December 2037, because I have a 30 year home loan to pay off.
Only people who have either finished paying their home loan or who bought their homes when the economy is in a slump some years back would have the effects of rental inflation mitigated. If you just bought a piece of property in recent months, technically you own your home and do not suffer rental inflation but, you are still suffering from inflation in property prices.
Add in the loan interest over the next 20 – 30 years and you probably are not any better off than those who rent their homes. The good thing for those who rent is that their rental drops when the economy dips but if you have a home loan, you have to pay the monthly installment regardless of whether the economy dips or not. Of course, I must qualify that you eventually get to own that piece of property but that doesn’t mean that home owners don’t suffer the effects of housing-related inflation.
Considering how hot the property market was in the past year, I’m quite sure there is a fair number of people who are now saddled with huge loans to pay off as a result of a bouyant property market. Certainly, one can make the argument that it’s not the government’s business to tell people whether they should or should not sell their homes and saddle themselves with fresh loans. However, if the government is serious about home ownership as a hedge against inflation, I think there should be policies that encourages people not to sell their homes and land themselves in fresh debt.
One possible way would be to revise the current subsidies system for first time home owners to one that is such that the longer a person owns a flat, the more housing subsidies a person can enjoy, of course, subject to a maximum cap. The subsidies will be paid out yearly, with low subsidies in the initial years and higher subsidies as time passes. This system is flexible and allows home owners who wish to sell their flat within a few years of purchase the option of doing so, which is not possible under the current system.
The problem with this system is that it makes the buyer pay full market price initially and this results in a whole new set of problems for certain groups of people so this idea might not be very feasible after all. However, if we truly desire for home ownership to be a hedge against inflation, we have to create incentives (I favour incentives over disincentives) for people to own a fully paid home and get them to stay in that home. If people are going to keep on selling their homes and taking out fresh loans, it will be difficult to escape the clutches of housing related inflation.
What’s wrong with women expecting some chivalry?
Feb 25th
I was rather amused reading this Straits Times article, “Love me, spoil me“, because there seems to be rather negative opinions about the Singaporean women expecting chivalry from the Singaporean male, and the negative opinions are coming from both genders.
Who says that ‘independent’ women don’t need or deserve some male chivalry? If being treated in a chivalrous fashion makes the woman feels happy, what is the problem? And guys, what is wrong with expecting some male chivalry? I’m sure all of us have certain expectations of women as well, with the top of the list being sex, no? If we feel that being expected to carry out acts of chivalry is a chore, then we should expect women to feel that it’s a chore to have sex with us. 
The crux of the problem is probably pride on the part of both genders. Women (to be more accurate, the career women and ‘independent’ type) demonise other women who ‘succumb’ to chivalry because they feel that they’ve been oppressed by men from time immemorial and to indicate their newfound ‘independence’, they reject everything of the past, including acts of chivalry from men. To accept acts of chivalry would be tantamount to allowing themselves to be oppressed once again. Honestly, if you ask me, it is only because these women want to think they are being ‘oppressed’ and that they are losing their ‘independence’ by accepting acts of chivalry from men.
As for my fellow Singaporean men, I would say that I don’t think women are applying double standards. In fact, I think many Singaporean men are conflating the two issues of female equality and chivalry, which is why they are complaining about double standards. When talking about female equality, it’s more about equal access to opportunities in life, which has nothing to do with chivalry. It doesn’t mean that more of the former has to result in less of the latter.
Ultimately, it is up to the individual how much chivalry to accept and how much to give. You draw your own guidelines and comfort zones. I don’t think it makes me any less of a man to carry my wife’s bag and I don’t think it makes my wife any less of a woman to accept me pulling chairs or opening doors for her. It’s all about your own perception. If you want to perceive something in a certain way and believe that perception to be true, then it’s true.
It should be obvious by now that I am a proponent of chivalry. I believe that men should always pay for dates. I believe that men should help pull the chairs and open the doors for their dates. I believe that men should offer to send women home after a date. Even if it is not to the doorstep, at least to the block or the nearest street. In case you are wondering, I do all things I’ve mentioned as far as possible. The only times I don’t do them is when I suffer from the occasional male blockhead syndrome (but I have never forgotten about paying for dinners, even after marriage).
I believe that my wife isn’t a weak person because I do all these for her. I know that she’s more than capable of fending for herself. It’s just that I want to treat her like a princess because I believe the woman I love should be, as far as possible, treated in the best way that I can offer. And, her small acts of gratitude (a hug, a peck or a word of thanks) make it all worthwhile.
Of experience and judgment
Feb 22nd
I’ve been following America’s progress towards the presidential elections. In particular, the tight race between Democrat rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has been particularly interesting to watch.
Clinton is generally selling herself on the basis of her experience and has tried, on numerous occasions, to discredit Obama on this count. In response, Obama and his supporters have responded that experience and judgment are not the same.
Indeed, I would agree with Obama that experience and judgment are fundamentally two different things, and if I have to choose, I’ll choose a leader who has better judgment but little experience over one who has more experience but less astute judgment. The reason is simple: the former can make sound decisions in any situation but the latter can only make sound decisions in situations that are similar to what he/she has previously experienced.
That being the case, picking the right candidate is actually quite easy, if not for the fact that it’s almost impossible to know who has good judgment and who doesn’t. And besides, whether a given judgment is good or bad is often situated, be it culturally, socially, economically, politically… (the list goes on and on). Whether someone has good judgment or not probably all boils to a matter of personal belief.
It’s quite obvious that I have sympathies for Barack Obama. I think Clinton should stop harping on the experience issue. At the end of the day, even if the so-called ‘inexperienced’ Obama becomes president, he will not be governing the country alone. He will assemble a team to help him and, in that team, he can get the most ‘experienced’ people in the country. He doesn’t need to be ‘experienced’. All he needs is to be able to assemble ‘experienced’ people to work for him.
And, I think this is Obama’s strongest point. He has proved that he can rally different groups of people around him. Clinton may be more ‘experienced’ but she can’t do everything by herself, no? Besides, by harping on experience being an essential pre-requisite for being a president, Clinton is opening herself to attacks on mistakes that she has made in the past. It’s a double-edged sword.
Applying my argument to local politics, it should be no surprise that I don’t buy the rhetoric that political parties in Singapore other than the PAP are not capable of governance because these parties lack experience. Civil servants can share the experience of governance with an inexperienced politician. What is more important to me is whether I believe that politician I’m voting for is able to make a correct judgment.
Innovative divorce solution
Feb 19th
The following headline grabbed my attention instantly:
“Florida pastor challenges married couples to have sex everyday for a month“
It turns out that the pastor was trying to stem rising divorce rates.
Now, the pastor’s challenge does seem like a possible campaign to address Singapore’s declining birth rates, and of course, decreasing divorce rates as well.
Question: Why stop at 30 days? 
Is it odd that a guy cooks?
Feb 19th
I’ve moved into my own place a month and a half back and when people learn about it, without fail, they ask about how my meals are settled now that I’ve moved out.
Well, it depends. If either my wife or I end our day late (say past 7.30pm), we’ll usually eat out. If not, I’ll cook. And when people hear the words “I’ll cook”, they give a very surprised expression, and they will usually follow up with asking, “You can cook?”
Is it anything strange that guys can cook? I think anyone can cook if they want to. Of course, you can’t expect me to whip up restaurant standards but I can do decent home-cooked meals. A couple of dishes and a soup really isn’t rocket science, just that it does take some time to prepare, cook and clear the dishes.
The learning process isn’t all that hard actually. As a kid, I would watch my mum cook and after a while, you pretty much get the idea behind cooking. All that’s left is some trial and error to put to practice what you’ve observed (which I did when I lived on campus during my undergraduate days) and you are capable of doing decent meals.
Actually, cooking isn’t all that fun to me. I don’t dislike it but I am not particularly fond of it either. But, what I like is the enjoyment of a home-cooked dinner at my dining table with my wife. The enjoyment of eating home-cooked food that I cannot explicate but I like that feeling.
Of course, coming up with ideas on what to cook can be pretty bothersome. You won’t want to repeat what you cooked last week. Now I understand why my mum complains that it’s difficult to plan a meal. 
Greedy Singaporeans
Feb 18th
I just heard over radio today that some Singaporeans are grumbling that the government is giving out only $1.8 billion dollars back to Singaporeans, considering that the budget surplus was $6.4 billion last year.
Sometimes, my fellow countrymen just annoy the life out of me. Give them money, they complain it’s too little. However, if they are not given money, they complain that the government is squeezing them dry. *shakes head*
Overall, I don’t think there’s much to complain about the budget in 2008. The Singapore government has shown that good times, the government will share some surplus with Singaporeans. I’m sure the skeptics will have something to say but I think that Singaporeans should be fair to the government and give them credit for this Growth Dividend.
While the distribution of some surplus back to ordinary folks is a good thing in principle, I believe more can be done in reality when times are good. I’m not as greedy as some of my countrymen. All I ask for is that employer CPF rates be further increased. I’m sure that this can be done since the economy is doing well. I can accept that we need to cut employer CPF contribution rates to keep business costs down to save jobs when times are bad. However, this should be matched with a corresponding restoration when times are good.
If we can react quickly to cut CPF contribution rates to save jobs when times are bad, I sure we can react with the same speed when times are good. If the government wants to pursue the principle of sharing growth with Singaporeans, I think there’s more that can be done other than a one-time handout.
Why I would leave Singapore
Feb 16th
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has acknowledged the alarming problem of Singapore’s brain drain. While I do not profess to be a talent, I profess to be someone who has given very serious thought to leaving Singapore and giving up citizenship.
Singapore is a good place to live in. The food is good, infrastructure sound, safe and it’s a global aviation hub. However, I cringe when I saw Martin See’s video, Speaker’s Cornered. I feel indignant for Francis Seow, and even more so for Chia Tye Poh. I am saddened by the execution of a Nigerian boy for drug trafficking. I am disillusioned by defamation suits by the ruling party against their political opponents. I shake my head in disbelief that there’s more interest in reviewing minister salaries than reviewing public assistance to the poor.
There many other things I can probably add on to the list of reasons why I’ve been contemplating giving up my pink IC. It seems to me that the Singapore story is becoming the story of Animal Farm. And, before I end up like Boxer, I’m going to get out of here.
Self-portrayal and relationships
Feb 5th
This week is Chinese New Year week and the mad rush of spring cleaning (I know, I got a new flat and you must be wondering what is there to spring clean but I assure you, I did ALOT of cleaning) and other preparations for CNY have caused fatigue, both physically and mentally. So, I’m just going to ramble about what I consider a very interesting contradiction in life.
My brain’s anger fuse is weird. It’s unusually long for most people, except when it comes to immediate family. For some strange reason, I’m like a tinderbox with family. I lose my temper much more readily, either at them or in front of them.
My wife and I have talked about this before and we have wondered why we are usually so patient with others but less so with each other (she’ll probably say it’s just me and I shouldn’t extend things to her). My guess is that when you’re emotionally close to someone, you are not so self-conscious and more comfortable with self-expression. We’re probably not afraid of being looked upon negatively by the person who we are emotionally close to and as a result, we express both positive and negative emotions more readily than usual.
Then again, shouldn’t we be treating the ones who mean the world to us much better than people whom we don’t know so well? Isn’t it odd that we are more likely to vent our frustration and anger on people who are closer to us? I mean, why do we want to use hurtful words on or look really upset in front of people we care about so much?
While it might not make much logical sense, I guess that’s the way life is. It’s only when you are close enough to someone that you let down your guard and express all your emotions freely and openly. While I do lose my temper much more readily (but I get over it really fast), I too laugh much more readily, engage in small pranks on my wife very often and do all kinds of funny things to cheer her up that I’ll never do in front of other people. I guess it’s a two way street.
I recall hearing a marital advice that prescribes quarrels from time to time. The logic behind it is that couples should let out some steam from time to time. The worry is that one party might just be letting it all build up inside in a bid to have a more ‘harmonious’ relationship so it’s better to play safe and argue from time to time. Well, I guess I don’t need to deliberately create a quarrel with my wife considering that I’m pretty much a tinderbox when I’m with her.
Of course, one might be tempted to reason that too much of arguing can also cause the relationship to fail. Well, I think that will happen only if the couple does nothing other than quarrel all the time. I fight with my wife, but I take her out for good dinners, mop the floors, clean the toilets, iron the clothes and cook and wash the dishes much more often than I fight with her. In fact, I ban her from doing lots of housework because cleaning agents will cause her hands to dry and no woman would want her hands looking like raisins (nobody really cares about how smooth a guy’s hands are). Besides, science has proven men to be physically stronger so I have no excuse not to do housework.
Anyway, I digress. What I’m trying to get at is that a relationship fails not because of constant bickering but rather, there’s nothing solid that undergirds the whole relationship. If there’s a strong emotional bond between two people, both of them will come to realise that the expression of ‘negative’ feelings is part and parcel of a strong relationship (of course, this will be appreciated only AFTER cooling down).
Ok, enough ramblings for now. I would like to wish you a very happy Chinese New Year. And, if you want to come visit me in the hopes of getting an angpow, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’ve yet to do my tea ceremony so I won’t be giving out angpows.
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