Ramblings

It seems that there are some people who are quite concerned that the government is setting a precedent (and it seems to be a negative precedent) by signaling its intention of dipping into the reserves during this year’s Budget announcement. I don’t see what is there to worry about. Maybe a little story will illustrate my thoughts better.

Once upon a time, there lived a rich old man. He had a poor and difficult childhood but through a combination of persistence, hard work, shrewd actions and a dose good luck, he managed to build up a business empire and became a billionaire.

Even though he was extremely rich, he kept all his riches in bank vaults. He was so afraid that once he started spending his riches, he will not be able to stop. One day, he had a heart attack and died. As he looked down from the heavens, he realised that he had been a stupid man his entire life. Even though he had accumulated so much money, it is all sitting in the bank vaults and he can’t bring them along with him to heaven.

The moral of the story is that it is seriously stupid to hoard money for the sake of hoarding it. This doesn’t mean one should be a free-wheeling spender, though. Rather, if the situation calls for savings to be spent, then it should be spent. The number of zeroes in the bank account book is meaningless unless the money is actually used to do something.

I think the government is correct to signal that it’s prepared to use the reserves to help Singapore weather the storm if the need arises. This is not an issue of whether it’s a good precedent or bad precedent. It’s an issue of whether the money will be well-spent, and I think it is justifiable to tap on the reserves in a global recession if the need arises.

I’m currently typing this in Detroit airport. I’ll be traveling in USA for a month so I’m not quite sure how updates will be like but I’ll try to update as often as I can.

The newly unveiled measures to encourage Singaporeans to have more babies is about the best that the government can offer to help couple remove financial hesitations with regards to having babies. Of course, some people will say that more can be done and should be done but I think the government has offered a fairly generous and reasonable package of incentives and there really isn’t much left that can be done.

While money is no longer a big obstacle to having babies given the rather generous handouts, there are other concerns that I have which the government cannot possibly address, and I don’t expect the government to even try. It’s a personal battle that I have to fight together with my wife.

Unlike a few generations ago where the mentality towards having kids leans towards “have them first and worry about bringing them up later”, I think these days, particularly among the more highly educated Singaporeans, the mentality has reversed. One can point to many factors that cause this reversal but the point is, the reversal in mentality is here to stay. And, I am unable to (at least not yet) convince myself to adopt the mentality of the folks from my grandparents’ era towards having kids.

There are a couple of personal reasons for this. The biggest reason is the high level of competitiveness in schools and I’ve seen for myself the kinds of tremendous negative consequences such competitiveness have on people I know. I will not provide details to protect the identities of the persons I am referring to but it scares me. Seeing such cases have enlightened me and while I might not pressure my future kids in school, the level of competitiveness in schools might just make my kid voluntarily pressure himself/herself.

I would hesitate to blame the education system for providing pressure on students, though. I think it’s more of parents who are causing voluntary pressure in kids. Some parents send their children for all kinds of tuition and enrichment classes and children do share such experiences with classmates. If the majority of the kids in the class have extra tuition and enrichment classes, kids who don’t are going to be seen as an anomaly and they will feel pressured even though these kids might have enlightened parents who are trying their best to avoid pressuring the kid. Such a pressurized education environment isn’t something the government can address with policies.

And of course, there’s National Service for boys. I’ve been through National Service and it’s not completely bad. I learned quite a few things out of it. However, I didn’t have a choice. And I want my son (if I have one) to have a choice. If I cannot let him have a choice, then I rather not have him in the first place. I understand the rationale for having compulsory military service but I don’t want to have my kid already have the decision made for him. I didn’t have a choice and I don’t want him not to have a choice as well.

So, the bottom line is that while there are no financial disincentives, there are other personal reasons not to have kids. The quality of childhood life is an important consideration in having kids, and now that I think about it, it is perhaps a more important reason than the financial cost of bringing up kids. I guess Singapore is a great place to work in but when it comes to raising kids, I am not quite certain.

Anyway, I think I still have a few years to think. Maybe I will change my thoughts in time to come as I experience more and learn more but right now, I don’t think I want to have kids, at least, not here.

It’s been more than a year since I’ve gotten married (you would know if you’ve been diligently looking at the counter to your right), and it’s more than half a year since I’ve got a place of my own and moved out. I’ve also graduated for a year now and have been working since I graduated.

Looking back at the past year, a lot has happened, and the transition from being a student to a working adult is certainly a big one. When I was a student, there are many things that I never had to concern myself with but now that I’m a married and working person, I realise there are many things to juggle by myself which my parents used to take care of.

A large number of things that hit you when you’re working and married concerns money. When living off parents, mortgage repayments, utility bills, conservancy charges, tv licenses and other expenditures are in the furthest recesses of the mind. Only when you move out to a place of your own you realise how much all these add up every month, and you wonder why you have to incur so much costs each month just for being alive.

And before you even start wondering about incurring these monthly expenditures, you are already hit with the 10% down payment for your home and a five-figure renovation bill (these days, given inflation and all, the cheapest renovation will set you back at least $10,000). For someone who just started working, you find yourself penniless, or worse, in debt because you have to take a home renovation loan.

It gets even worse if you took a tuition fee loan and computer loan during your university days. Now that you’ve started working, the financial institutions are all too eager to start you on your monthly repayment. The end result of all these is that you never seem to be able to accumulate much in your bank account. The pay comes in and then in a week, 50 percent or more is gone.

When I was young, I wanted to grow up so badly. Now that I see and feel the price of growing up, I wish I can be a permanently carefree teenager.