A Nation’s Birthday And My Disenchantment.

Two momentous events – the Beijing Olympics and our nation’s 43rd birthday – occurred over the weekend. As usual, our mainstream media were filled with feel-good articles and especially for Singapore’s 43rd birthday, patriotic write-ups extolling the many remarkable achievements of our nation since Independence.

But somehow or rather, I found it difficult to join in the celebrations. In fact, the overriding emotion in me is one of pessimism and bewilderment. Perhaps, it is only me but with record inflation and the stratospheric cost of living in Singapore, especially for food, utilities and transport, I am definitely struggling to put food on the table for my two kids and provide them with a decent standard of living on my meagre income. There is actually nothing much to celebrate about on our nation’s 43rd birthday, not for me anyway. Besides, I spent the day toiling away for the miserly forty bucks that is so needed to survive.

I sometimes wonder why we spent such an enormous amount of money putting up a grand show celebrating our past achievements – and we do that every year – during our National Day, money that could be better spend on helping the poor and the increasing number of people struggling to cope with the ever-rising costs of living. How would that one day of spirited celebrations changed or lift up the lives of the many poor and disadvantaged that are increasingly been seen in our society?

On a macro level, Singapore is indeed a remarkable economic miracle and supposedly one of the richest nation in the world. Yet, on closer inspection, when one lifts up the carpet, so to speak, you get to see a different picture from that painted by our leaders.

At the crack of dawn at 5.30am when I go to work, one get to see many of the elderly behaving like the proverbial early bird getting the worm – scavenging at dump sites and rubbish bins for cartons, drink cans and anything that can be sold for cash. You get to see people rummaging through the rubbish bins of the nearby Sheng Song supermarket for any thrown-away vegetables and fruits that are still edible. And by my observations, their numbers are increasing over the years in the area that I reside.

You get to read about the increasing number of people, employed or otherwise, turning to temples and charity organisations for free food to fill their stomachs. At MRT stations, foodcourts and coffee-shops, you get to see an increasing number of the elderly toiling as cleaners and plate collectors, tolerating petty humiliations on a daily basis, all for that miserly $650 to $750 monthly pay cheque so needed for their survival.

You get to hear about your neighbours’ utilities being cut off due to non-payment of outstanding arrears when there was hardly any such instances before and host their children for the evening in your house – like what I did recently – so that they can do their homework. You also noticed increasing occurances of strange knocking on doors at odd hours of the day, likely the result of debt collectors and the serving of legal summons for non-payment of this or that fees.

At the factory where I worked, you get to see the elderly struggling to cope with the physical demands of their menial tasks, clearly in the wrong job yet not complaining because the meagre wage that they earn is their only means of survival.

And above all else, if you look close enough – from their downcast eyes, expressionless faces and the hunched shoulders – you will detect a common look on the faces of the poor and elderly : a look of resignation. Resigned to their fate and a life of misery, humiliation and toil till their deaths.

Scenes like these have become a regular part of our landscape and differ very much from the beautiful and optimistic picture painted by our leaders and the mainstream media. In fact, I am downright pessimistic about the future and am especially worried for my children’s, and unless our highly-paid leaders whole-heartedly tackle the woes of the poor and drastically reduce the cost of living in Singapore, it hardly puts me in the mood to celebrate anything, Singapore’s birthday notwithstanding.

*Related articles :

- Whose Future Is “Shining” ? by The Online Citizen

- Poverty Looms In The Isle Of Riches by The Star

- The Relentless Rising Cost of Living by The Online Citizen

- Singapore’s Poor Turn To Temples To Fill Their Stomachs – Reuters

- One United People by Insane Polygon

Out Of The Blue.

Life can sometimes be pretty strange. After so many years of estrangement, I suddenly received an invitation from my half-sister to attend her Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner.

To say that I was surprised will be a gross understatement. Mixed feelings swamped my mind – many whys? clouded my mind. While the reasons for the estrangement have been mired in history, I honestly loved this half-sister of mine, so much that the word “half” have never popped-up in my mind, except in this post.

I did not turned up for the reunion dinner but encourage my partner to bring my kids to attend, as it’s time for them to know my side of the family.  My kids, from their expressions, had a whale of a time and obviously enjoyed the amount of doting showered on them by their grandparents and my sister. I am happy for them.

As for me, the reasons for not attending have as much to do with the reasons for estrangement – largely centered on my father – and the current dismay financial state I am in. While the feelings of discomfort and anger are still there, these have largely been overshadowed by one singular and over-riding  emotion – shame.

You see, my half-siblings always have high hopes on me but look at me now.  I just can’t faced them.

A Year Of Nought.

The year is coming to a close and looking back, things are no better than it was at the beginning of the year. In fact, life has actually got worse despite trying my damnedest and it was a year best to be forgotten.

Articles about the big bonuses that Singaporeans are getting this year and recent headlines in the Straits Times and other media, about departmental stores like Robinsons and Tangs and other retail outlets doing roaring business during this Christmas season, due to the buoyant economy, depresses me even more. The cheer and joy of the festive season are beyond me and it got me wondering what’s wrong with me? Why am I living at the fringe of society, not partaking in the largesse? Why am I unable to celebrate Christmas just like everybody else and afford those presents for my daughter and son? Why, despite trying my best, I just cannot seem to get out of this cycle of poverty?

So many whys, yet the answer is so simple – the sad reality that our society has changed – much too rapidly and people like me has been left out of the gravy train, perhaps permanently. We are no longer able to land those middle-management posts – like those we had prior to the economic crises our country went through from the late 90s to the early 2000s – that pays a meaningful salary to allow us a decent standard of living. For one reason or another, with the most likely being age and cheaper foreign alternatives, I did not land a single job for middle-management posts, despite sending zillions of resumes and willing to lower my salary expectations and even entry point.

What is actually left to people like me are menial, daily-rated contract work in factories, warehouses and shipyards. Jobs that are physically demanding and do not commensurate with the efforts but are needed just to survive. Jobs, whose real worth, due to their “pao-gar-liao” nature, has been driven down by the uncontrolled influx of cheap foreign labour. Jobs, who pays no more than $900 to $1,100 a month, that is if you work 6-7 days a week. With a year of record rising costs of living in Singapore – from food, medical to transportation costs – $900 to $1,100 is barely enough to support a family with 2 kids. And jobs like these, due to their menial nature and the environment one worked in, have a tendency to destroy one’s health.

Am I the odd one out? Unfortunately no. I have met so many fellow Singaporeans, reasonably well educated, have hold middle management posts in the past, yet like me, found it extremely difficult to get out of our rut. A recent article by Yawning Bread, “CPF & Its Creaky Assumptions”, about this social displacement and difficulties faced by this group of people aptly sums up the situation. And one can forget about doing your best, hoping to get noticed and promoted in such jobs simply because such attributes like “doing my best”, “working hard” and “working smart” are not needed in the menial industry. In fact, I have a feeling such attributes are no longer even relevant in our society.

But the biggest worry in my mind is my children. Besides my inability to provide them with a decent standard of living, they are disadvantaged when compared to better-off children whose parents are able to give them the necessary enrichment classes, tuition and additional resources like books and educational software, so necessary in giving them a leg-up in the competitive educational system in our country and hence, their future. For crying out loud, I can’t even afford to pay the full amount needed for text books next year for my daughter but instead had to adjust by buying the books for the 1st semester first. One article by Mr. Wang Says So about two years ago, “The Perils Of Being More Affluent”, very aptly described how the limitation of resources limits the potential of children from less well-off families.

Against this backdrop, what should my course of action be to get out of this poverty cycle and improve the standards of living for my family? I guess the only choice left is to set up simple enterprises with low start-ups costs like push-cart retailing or setting up a food stall, especially with my background in the retail industry. But finding that $7,000 to $8,000 capital needed for such a venture was an extremely difficult and uphill task, to say the least. Besides having no siblings to fall back on or friends well-off enough to lend this amount, no banks or financial institutions in Singapore will entertain me unless one have collateral or a job with an income that meets the borrowing criteria, a situation I wrote about in my post “The Search For Micro-Financing In Singapore” sometime back.

Against my better judgement and with much reservations, I recently wrote to most of the charitable organisations in Singapore, asking for a loan to set up simple enterprises but sadly, not a single organisation bother to reply. How I really wish Grameen or even Kiva has an office in Singapore to cater to borrowers like me, just like they do in Bangladesh and the United States. That would really be a Christmas wish come true because it will provide me with the one and only solution left to improve the standards of living for my family. It will give me the one chance to better our lives as compared to the never-ending cycle of coping with short-termed menial jobs that pays a pittance. Sadly, the dream of starting a simple enterprise to improve the living standards of my family will be just that – a dream.

Struggling daily to survive, struggling to feed a family, dealing with questions of self-worth and managing the guilt that one has to contend with in not being able to provide a decent standard of living for one’s children, is not a nice feeling, especially in Singapore where everything is measure by one’s status and income. It is not easy nor is it pleasant and I can now understand why some have succumbed and chose the easy way out by either ending their lives or resorting to drugs and alcohol to numb the harsh realities of life. I just hope I will not end up like them and add to the sad statistics of living in a highly competitive, increasingly expensive and cold Singapore because there is only so much that I can take.

The Irrational Section 377A.

I hardly write about socio-political issues in Singapore unless they affects my family and me directly e.g. the recent CPF changes and the ever rising cost of living. But the recent buzz and heat generated about Section 377A both intrigued and compelled me to write this post.

While i have already made up my mind, once i had digested the nature of this piece of legislation, about where i stand on whether to repeal or keep Section 377A, there was also a need for me to look at the arguments and reasons of both camps in order to gauge whether the position i adopted was sound.

It has always strike me as odd that while there were many repeal-377A blogs, like Yawning Bread, Molly Meek, Mr. Wang Says So and Dunkin Dohnut to name a prominent few, there has been an almost total silence and absence of keep-377A and anti-gay blogs, until recently that is. “Great, let’s take a look at what they have to say,” i was telling myself.

Having gone through the many arguments and reasoning that the repeal camps have brought to the table, i have to say that the reasons suggested by the keep-377A camps was terribly disappointing. An example would be this : “Why It Is Not Discriminating To Criminalize Gay Sex”. What made my disappointment even greater was that the same thrust of argument was used in the recent parliamentary debates.

To me, whether to keep or repeal Section 377A is primarily a legal issue, a point of law and combined with its ambiguous and discriminating nature, its relevance and place in our Penal Code. It is not about religion and moral values as espoused by the keep-377A camps. Using religion as the main thrust of their arguments is not only totally irrelevant but is actually doing a great disservice to Christianity.

Besides being disappointed, i was also extremely upset with the religious biases detected in all the arguments of the keep377A camps and especially NMP Thio Li-Ann’s speech in Parliament. I was appalled by the amount of religious rhetoric and the depth of her hatred for gays, in her speech in Parliament. Why? Because it threatened a sacred belief of mine – the separation of religion and state, especially in a secular state like Singapore.

When one of the founding fathers of our nation, S. Rajaratnam, wrote the pledge of the nation, with these words of commitment “…regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality”, he believed, and so do i, that becoming a Singaporean was a conviction that transcended all divisions by respecting differences among the many diverse peoples here on this little dot we called home. Idealistic? Maybe, but i like to believe that it is a goal worthwhile pursuing.

Regardless of whether homosexuality have a genetic basis or is a result of environmental influence, we just simply have no right to discriminate against homosexuals and the way they choose to live their lives. We certainly have no right to criminalize what essentially is private consensual sex between consenting adults. Isn’t “not to judge” our fellow human beings a basic tenet of Christianity?

While laws cannot be made or repealed in total isolation without considering their relevance and impact on society, the very discriminating, ambiguous and archaic nature of Section 377A would merit their removal from our Penal Code. The very fact that Section 377, which governs anal and oral sex between heterosexuals is being removed, would make retaining 377A, unfair, inconsistent and irrational. Laws must be clear, concise and effectively enforced. To quote MP Hri Kumar : “The Penal Code is an important piece of legislation. And in the long run, making some conduct criminal under our Penal Code whilst stating that the law will not be enforced simply invites attacks on the integrity of the Code.“

With the government’s stated position that it will not actively enforced 377A, then what exactly is the purpose of retaining this piece of legislation? It’s very existence implied that adult males engaging in consensual sex in private is criminal. The law, to a layman like me, cannot be selective in whom or what it chooses to criminalize. It either is or is not, an offence.

While the many fallacies in the views of the keep377A camps have more than been sufficiently rebutted by the repeal blogs, what especially irks me is actually their stand that their views are the views of the majority and keeping 377A is a reflection of the sentiments of the majority of our society. Well, it is not.

Section 377A is a piece of archaic legislation left over from the British when we were still under colonial rule and it most definitely is not Asian in nature and hence, does not represent the views of our society at large. How can something enacted in our Penal Code in 1871 still have relevance in today’s society? Furthermore, the majority of Singaporeans are heartlanders and heartlanders are Buddhists and Taoists, not fundamental Christians. Besides, if history has taught me anything, it is that the majority is not always right vis-a-vis apartheid and slavery.

The often-used slippery slope arguments of erosion of family values, corruption of children mindsets and endorsement of homosexual lifestyles if Section 377A is repeal, cut no ice with me either. I honestly cannot see the logic of these arguments. If 377A was repealed, an act of decriminalizing consensual sex between adult males, would this affect our society so much that it will lead to a breakdown of the family unit? Would it lead to a corruption of our young? Would it lead to mainstreaming and interpreted as an endorsement of homosexual values by the government? None of what i had written in the past three sentences made sense simply because you cannot force homosexuality onto anyone. As for the young, the thought of the abomination of homosexuality is not inherent in their make-up but planted in their minds as part of their upbringing by parents, and is not a part of what they actually are, a human being.

Four doors away from me live a homosexual couple, surrounded with Malay, Indian and Chinese families and while there are occasional snickers at their peculiarity, we live and let live. We do not espoused holier-than-thou sediments nor do we condemn them for what they are. We just accept them for what they are. My neighbours’ children and mine greet them as “uncle” and so far, no questions were ever raised by my children about them, unless i started preaching. My daughter and son aced their exams because of the tuition they have received from one of them at ridiculous low fees. They are invited regularly to our festive occasions and as part of neighbourliness, to the occasional birthday gatherings and weekend dinners. In the six years that i have live here, i had never come a across a single derogatory or holier-than-thou comment condemning their lifestyles. Does these social behaviours described an erosion of family values or does it espoused acceptance of all human beings, regardless of their sexual orientation or religion? And all these taking place right in the heartlands, an HDB estate. It requires a great leap in logic to accept that homosexuals, doing their stuff in the privacy of their bedrooms, are an abomination and undermining our nation.

Homosexuality is not a disease, it is not something you can get by being near someone who is gay. It has also bothered me that nary a whimper was raised when Section 377 was repealed but when 377A is concerned, we suddenly have all these holier-than-thou arguments being bandied around. Perhaps their religious teachings have so blinded them that they have forgotten that homosexuals are also human beings but with a different sexual orientation.While one might frown on homosexuality, there is a big difference between frowning on an activity and criminalizing it. Though i felt that the arguments by the keep377A camps are wrong, i am also glad that not all Christians think this way, aptly addressed by this gentleman’s e-mail about how, as a Christian, he does not agree with the position taken by some of his fellow brethren.

Like all politicians in the world, our government has adopted a pragmatic approach of “wait and see” and “live and let’s live”, not wrong, but certainly not the position that i had expected. A simple piece of redundant legislation requires an equally simple act of removal. Undue worries about upsetting the so-called conservatives and traditional values would just lead to questions about our government leadership, decisiveness and it’s ability to be relevant in today’s fast evolving world.

Related articles :

-Turn our backs on prejudice, discrimination, intolerance and hatred by NMP Siew Kum Hong.

- Section 377A is inconsistent by MP Hri Kumar.

-377A – To prevent what harm? by Michael Hor

-The loonies are marching by Yawning Bread.

-Hiding behind rhetoric – A rebuttal of Thio Li-Ann by pleinelune

How NOT To Be Parents.

A mum of my colleague passed away recently and having received the news when he was at work, i can see the grieve in him. It got me wondering whether i would feel the same way if my parents were to pass away and sadly, the answer was…no.

I am, what most people would called, an abandoned child. The first time i saw my father was when i came to Singapore when i was about 9 years old. The preceding years, since birth, i was fostered out to various nannies in Malaysia even though i was born in Singapore. I hardly saw my mum then and those childhood years, when i was fostered out, were not exactly very pleasant which is an understatement. At one foster home, I remembered being tied up and force fed chillies, all because i farted at the dinner table. At another, i was manhandled and threatened with a chopping knife, that my fingers will be chop-off if i did not own up to a theft that i did not commit. At another nanny, i was severely lashed with a leather belt whose buckle caused a deep scar in my right arm that i still carry today. Plus many more incidents that emotionally scarred me. Remember, all this took place when i was just a child and more than forty years later, the memories are still so palpable and vivid. During those tough times, i always longed for my parents to come and bring me home. So imagine how happy i was when i realised that i will be going to Singapore and meeting my dad for the first time.

But things did not turn out well even though i was with my parents in Singapore. In fact, it got worse. I do not particularly mind that i was largely left to my own devices, with dinner being just rice and baked beans while my parents are out most of the time, as i was just contented to be with them and happy that there will be no more beatings at the hands of strangers. But one day, when i was about eleven years old, none of them turn up to fetch me from my tuition teacher’s place. I waited for days without any news from them and you can imagine the fear and uncertainty in me.

I was finally brought back to my paternal grandmother’s place where i was confronted with two unpleasant realities. One, that my father actually had another wife, with three children that would become my half siblings. Two, that both my parents have flee the country as they were wanted by the police for kidnapping with their faces splattered across the local newspaper.

To cut a long story short, they were finally caught and two of my uncles, on my mother’s side, were hanged as they were found to be in possession of fire-arms with intent to kill. My mother was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and was deported upon release as she was a permanent resident. As for my father, he was sentenced under President’s pleasure and was released in 1985, after serving 15 years.

In all those years that they were in prison, i refused to visit them as i hated them for abandoning me and in fact, if i were to somehow meet my mother in the streets today, i would not recognize her and neither would she. As i had shifted out of my first mother’s place since i was 19 years old, i was not around when my father was released in 1985 and had steadfastly refused to have any contact with them ever since.

Against this backdrop lies the reason for this post. Once we become parents, our children must be at the top of our priorities and is the reason and meaning of our lives. No children should be make to suffer the ignominy and pain of abandonment, no matter how tough times are. As for my parents, i have long since forgiven them but finds it hard to forget the pain of abandonment.

A Double Whammy.

I actually waited for a week to go by before writing this post about the compulsory annuity scheme for those under 50. This is to allow time for me to cool down or this post will be full of unreadable expletives if i was to write about the topic at the point of reading the sketchy details about the compulsory scheme. And i am still angry and disappointed!

Another adjustment, another tinkering, another impediment towards accessing my CPF funds. When will it end? Combined with the recent increase in draw down age for the Minimum Sum from 62 to 65, this compulsory annuity scheme represents a double whammy for me.

Forcing me into an annuity scheme that pays me a pittance of between $200 to $300 monthly when i am 85 ( what will that be worth with adjusted inflation at about 1.5 per cent per annum? $150 to $180? ) and zilch if i was to die before that, with all past contributions confiscated and not going to my children, is something that is extremely difficult for me to accept.

It is actually diluting my Minimum Sum and reducing my monthly payout at a point when i need it most, i.e. from 65 onwards when both my kids will be at an age when they will need funding to further their education. Together with the expected decline in my income when i carry on working in my elderly years ( My post: CPF and Me), provided there are still jobs available, i can foresee that life for my family and me in my elderly years is going to be very tough. Is there no other alternative?

Both the increase in Minimum Sum draw down age and the compulsory annuity scheme are largely based on unproven and baseless presumptions of expected and exaggerated increases in life expectancy. Besides, increases in life expectancy, if any, will largely be confine to those who can afford better health care, have access to cutting-edge medical technology, better nutrition and a lifestyle that does not require them to constantly worry about surviving in competitive Singapore, none of which applies to me and i believe, also to a substantial segment of our population.

The compulsory scheme essentially has Singaporeans funding fellow citizens retirement needs and benefits only a small segment of the population who lives to a ripe old age. Outsiders, who do not know better, will think that Singapore is an oasis of calm, a stress-free environment where everyone live past their 100s. As pointed out in my post : CPF and Me, with the stresses inherent in our pace of life, i doubt i will see past 70, much less 85. While there might be some exceptions, the menial nature of the jobs that the lower income group engages in, generally does not and will not result in longer life expectancy.

While I accept that there is a pressing need to deal with the twin issues of insufficient retirement funds and the increases in the elderly population due to the spike in births of the late boomers ( those born between 1955 and 1965 ) , I cannot help but wonder where was the foresight? Surely somebody in our highly vaunted and talented government should have spotted it earlier and come up with viable solutions years ago. After all, they have more than 40 years of statistical warnings. Isn’t foresight one of the key quality of good governance? Imagine an annuity scheme that starts paying out at age 60 with premiums deductable when we are at 40! Now that will be good foresight, great governance and a beneficial financial instrument for our retirement needs.

I could go on and on about my rejection of the compulsory annuity scheme but my conclusion reached in my last post : My CPF…Where are thou?, will be my guiding light from now onwards. That is, not to depend on my CPF for my retirement planning because i am very sure there will be further policy changes and tinkering in years to come. And for the first time in my life, i am seriously thinking about migrating, not so much for myself, but for the sake of my children. As days go by, i am feeling more and more alienated and disillusioned in this little dot i called home and it most definitely does not feel….inclusive.

For further commentary of the compulsory annuity scheme, the following are excerpts from the Singapore blogosphere regarding this issue :

Here is a piece by Insane Polygons whose tone, tenor and substance would be very close to mine if i had written this post when i was very angry :

“Recently our PM announced plans for a compulsory annuity plan to prepare for those will live beyond the age of 85. I have to admit, I haven’t really paid it much attention. Somehow, I didn’t think it would make me a happier person. The reasons given will be condescending at best and insulting at worst. PM does what PM wants anyway. So frankly I don’t give a damn.

Nonetheless, I find it saddening the PM, the government do not trust the people enough to think that they will be able to plan for their own retirement. Nope. The nanny state decided they must make it compulsory for everybody to buy an annuity plan.

Is that sad or what?

Government don’t think we are smart enough, or mature enough to prepare for our retirement. And if they be proven right, then wouldn’t it be doubly sad that the majority of singaporeans really do not know how to prepare for retirement and need the government to actually hold their little hands right up till the ripe old age of 85.

Of course there will be no shortage of anti-pap analysis and conspiracy theories out there explaining how this is just another plot by the government to hold on to our money. I am not here to debate the validity of their points, but again its sad to see people don’t trust their government and they see everything as a ploy to squeeze another few cents out of us.

Read more…

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A thought provoking piece by The Yawning Bread :

CPF and It’s Creaky Assumptions.
…I can’t recall who said it, but someone pointed out that it’s all very well to say, work longer, retire later, but it all depends on whether there is work to be had. He hit the nail on the head.

Passing a law to raise the retirement age to 65 and requiring an employer to offer some kind of job till 67 is only good if you still have a job at 64.

In fact, this question partly explains the hue and cry over the pushing back of the CPF withdrawal age. Many Singaporeans fell out of work in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the dotcom bust of 2001. We have plenty of stories of middle managers becoming taxi-drivers overnight. As a result, for many years, they either stopped contributing to their CPF accounts, or if they were lucky enough to find a new job, albeit at a lower salary, they contributed less than before.

There were many caught in those circumstances, as evident from the fact that 10% of Singapore households have no income. Another 50% saw their household incomes fall or stagnate between 2000 and 2005. See the article Income inequality widens markedly.

Ten years on, many of those who were made redundant in their forties, are now in their fifties. To them, it’s academic to say, keep working to 65 or 67. If they are not working now, what are they going to do for income until the CPF withdrawal age? Even if they are working, how secure are their jobs? Would their employer try some way to get rid of them before they get too close to 65?

Read more…

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Old Age Is Not A Blessing by Seah Chiang Nee

“..Many Singaporeans are unhappy with the government retaining any part of their life-long savings, preferring to be repaid in full at 55 as originally planned. “It is our money and we should be allowed to use it any way we want,” posted one writer. “Trust people to do what is best for themselves.”

But by far the loudest protest is reserved for Lee’s proposal to start a compulsory annuity scheme to finance people who reach 85 years old. This is how it works. A small portion of the CPF minimum sum will be used to buy the annuity that will pay out nothing for 20 years. At 85, if he lives that long, he gets a monthly payout of S$250 – S$300 (RM571– RM686) until death. Should the person die before 85 the money goes into a pool to help other 85-year-olds, not to his next-of-kin.

The concept of the government compelling hundreds of thousands to buy an annuity and get nothing in return if they do not live longer than 85 has angered a wide section of the population.

Read more…
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Views by Leong Sze Hian The Online Citizen:

‘Those with the full CPF Minimum Sum should be okay. But if you make those who don’t even have the full Minimum Sum buy annuities, they may not have enough left to survive,’ he said.To illustrate, he estimated that based on a CPF Minimum Sum of $120,000, a CPF member would get $1,180 by drawing down his CPF but only $900 from an annuity.

The Government will raise the Minimum Sum in stages until it reaches the target figure of $120,000. Currently, it is $99,600.

Mr Leong worries that those without the target Minimum Sum will get less from an annuity – maybe even too little to sustain themselves.

Perhaps it is just the issue of whether the government should be deciding for us how we should deal with our retirement, or whether we should be left to our own devices to plan for our old age. While the annuity scheme might be a good idea in theoretical economics, forcing it down Singaporeans’ throats is politically questionable.” Read more…

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An article that debunked the exaggerated increases in life expectancy by Singapore Peasants :

“THE BIG QUESTION: is this compulsory annuity scheme justified in any way?

In the first 50 years of the 20th century, the Average Life
Expectancy of the USA increased approximately from 47 to 68, an increase of 21 years. The following 50 years (1951 to 2000), the Average Life Expectancy increased from 69 to 77, an increase of only 8 years.

Clearly, the Average Life Expectancy of humans is not going to increase at a faster rate or even the same rate as the past. The spectacular increase in the longevity of humans is mainly attributed to reduction in infant mortality rates, proper sanitation, success of vaccinations in controlling infectious diseases, discovery of antimicrobial agents and so on.

In developed countries, infant mortality rates are less than 5 deaths per thousand live births. Compare that of a developing country such as Angola, which has an infant mortality rate of 184.44 deaths per thousand live births, according to wikipedia . Clearly, any further reduction in infant mortality rate will have negligible effect on the life expectancy in a country such as Singapore.

The implementation of proper sanitation, the concept of vaccinations, discovery of micro-organisms as the cause of many diseases and the subsequent use of antimicrobial agents against them are all once-off events as well. You can’t keep using these same old tactics to prolong the life of a population perpetually.

 Read more…

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Online reactions and comments :

“-ask the poor to chip in 7% GST to help the poor.

-ask the mass to pay annuity to get $300 for a handful after 85.

-makes one wonder where the heck they got their mega-salary?

-That’s brilliant, dear Rich Ministers and Scholar Civil Servants. Brilliant.”

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“As we have more than $250 billion in Temasek and the Government Investment Corporation, why are Singaporeans being required to pay for those who live beyond age 85?”

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“As the reason given to raise GST was to help the poor, isn’t the additional estimated annual $1.5 billion revenue enough to provide for Singaporeans who are over age 85 and destitute? Wasn’t raising the GST supposed to help the poor?”

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“In any case, I think 85 is set such that the number of people collecting the insurance cannot be very high, nor should they be expected to live for very long past 85 (the very idea of insurance is to cover less likely event). Otherwise premiums will be quite costly.”

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“..but how did the No.1 workforce in the world for 2 decades end up without sufficient funds to retire comfortably vs a govt that accumulated the highest reserves per capita in the world?”

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“If they apply their strict standards across the board we may be somewhat sympathetic, but they bail out that loser of a company Chartered Semi with several billion $ cash infusions….do they scrutinise spending on defense as tightly as they do aid to 85 yr-olds. Do heads roll for debacle in UNSW, John Hopkins etc.?….the billions they lost in Shin Corp can be used to help 85 year olds for decades….do the reserves belong to us?”

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“This annuity thing is yet another tweak…ever since they liberalised CPF for every thing besides retirement, we had this problem. The HDB has huge surpluses thanks to changes in CPF usage. Risk pooling?…I think the biggest risk for Singaporeans is they voted for a govt that makes sure they will never see a single cent from vast reserves even in the moment of greatest need.”

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“I’ve not seen a single person speak positively about this annuity thing. They are generally bewildered how a govt can make $10 billions in upgrading promises before general elections finds it so hard to give the small number of 85 year olds $200 per month.”

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“..notice that the pay out age of 85 is also set above the average life expectancy.”

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“…mandatory participation would in fact disadvantage the poor since they have a lower life expectancy and the scheme would be actuarially unfair to them.”

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“…there has been talk of a planned organised silent protest on
sometime soon! Things are getting exciting! Read more :”

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My CPF…Where Are Thou?

While there should be plenty to be happy about since PM Lee’s National Day Rally speech, from the 1 percentage point increase in CPF returns albeit only for the first $60,000, to allowing low income and older folks to “sell” the remaining years of their lease on their HDB flats back to Housing Development Board to free up much needed cash for retirement, the cheer was dampened by the Government decision to increase the minimum sum draw down age from age 62 to 65.

Notwithstanding the coming re-employment legislation in 2012, whose effectiveness i have reservations about, it is this particular policy decision that i had a hard time accepting as it has a tremendous impact on me and my family and none of the offered reasons for the age increment holds water for me.

Most of my objections were covered in my earlier post “CPF and Me” but i just cannot help wondering whether i am flawed in my arguments against the age increment as this time round, the response from Singapore bloggers regarding this was strangely…muted. Very unlike the response from socio-political bloggers when it was first proposed.

Anyway, it is a done deal. No point rehashing my arguments in “CPF and Me” against the age increase. Besides, i am tired of asking “why can’t i touch and manage my own money?” and “why must somebody else control access to my own money?” Best to start thinking on how to survive and provide for my family in my elderly years and with the constant tinkering of the CPF scheme, leaving CPF entirely out of the equation in my planning. Ironically, i have the distinct feeling that is exactly what our government want us to do.

There is also the proposed annuity scheme for those under 50 to ponder about but i am not expecting any ground breaking policy or instrument that will be highly beneficial to me, given the paternalistic bent of our government. All i am hoping for is for them to stop putting impediments towards accessing my CPF funds in my elderly years. Now, is that too much to ask for?

A Forgotten Joy.

Having asked myself : “What have i done for my children lately?” in one of my earlier post (10,000 Fathers and…One) and deciding to start with reading activities, i came to realise how much fun it actually was, the joy that simple activities like reading with your children can bring and sadly, that i had forgotten about the joy and happiness of past reading sessions with my daughter when she was young.

I can see and feel the joy and happiness in my children eyes and laughter, especially with the drama and role playing that i had injected into these reading sessions. I can sense their thoughts : “This was the father i used to have” my daughter would be thinking, and “This is FUN!” will be my younger son thoughts, who never had these sessions since he was born.

But all these was only possible because of the working hours of my latest contract job, a steel piping fitter in a local shipyard, where i work from 8am to 6pm, thus allowing time to spend with my children in the night. Very unlike all the odd jobs that i have undertaken the past three and half years where i always took the night shifts as the pay is better. (Nothing ever came out of the countless interviews (My Journey to Recovery) for middle management posts that i had gone for but not giving up though.)

However, after a certain amount of self-examination, i came to the conclusion that timing of work was but just one factor for not having spent time with my children and the biggest culprit was actually my inability to go past my sense of rut and uselessness in view of the setbacks in the last couple of years. Well, no more such ruts. Time to press forward!

As it has been sometime since i last posted, i hope some of my regular readers are still around as all of you have been a source of encouragement to me. Please leave a comment if you happen to drop by.