Feeling alright I guess...
Quite a number of things happened.
The number one subject for the past few weeks and perhaps still ongoing has to be the general election. PAP rules for the next 5 years again...I'm neither complaining nor celebrating for I'm not very interested in the government/politics and stuff.
Though I have to more or less know something due to the solid fact that I'm growing older and there are things the government does that will affect me.
Well, I do care about one issue regarding the Aljunied GRC. Sad to say (happy for most people I guess), WP claimed the Aljunied GRC.
Sad because I felt like I lost a friend. Not that he bought me candies or anything every time we meet, but Mr Zainul has always been a great guy who would put up a big smile and interacts with people very well. There had been many occasions in which I got to meet him up close because my mum's into the whole RC thing and they tend to organize events with him being the guest-of-honor. I got to shake his hand, exchanged brief words and turns out that he's a really jolly fella'.
I dunno if people will be saying that he's merely putting up a front to rally support prior to the next election, but from my point of view, the way he interacted with me and the residents seemed genuinely out his heart, and I still wanna believe that.
People sang praises of Mr George Yeo, even pro-opposition citizens. I can't comment much, because I'm pretty oblivious when it comes to the contributions and stuff until I read them up. But the people know.
So perhaps you can say that I'm a pro-PAP for now despite my earlier statement expressing my indifference. Another reason that I'm pro-PAP for now is because Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's aging, and let us be frank, he doesn't have many open chapters left in his life.
So like I said before to some of my friends, I would like him to at least "go in peace".
But of course, not everybody thinks likewise. Many Singaporeans started criticizing his statements and way of running things in the government.
I've read posts and comments regarding how PAP's lining their wallets at our expense, I acknowledge some of them but just couldn't help but feel disheartening to see people, especially my friends using extreme terms to discredit PAP, and even the ministers, when the people themselves possibly have a part to play in those issues. I mean, you can question their management but you don't have to scold them like they killed your dog...
I'm not blaming the people for their resentment...but what I don't like was that many people are angry and are voting for the opposition for the wrong reason from my perspective.
There are people who are angry because they are not satisfied with their lives now with so much to pay for a.k.a high standards of living.
But there are people who voted for the right reasons (I hope), as in they want more opposition in the parliament to voice out, so things would be somewhat balance out, and matters can be looked into more efficiently.
True the government has to hold certain responsibilities for the arousing problems. But the most important thing to do before people start pointing fingers at the government, is to reflect on oneself...
Had a long talk with my bro, and we started analyzing the issues...
The following are both my brother's and my thoughts, if you think otherwise...well, that's fine. One can disagree but I have no intentions of starting a heated debate here.
***
Foreign talents "stealing" jobs:
Singaporeans get paid to work. DUH?! But as time goes by, and the employee left the company for various reasons, if they intend to continue in that field, they would look for the jobs and request for a pay equals to, if not more than what he was paid previously.
That's reasonable considering you had gained more experience from working in another company before.
Then, my bro and I assumed that someone triggered a trend whereby one would work in a company and as soon as the contract ends, he would decline to renew his contract (if he had the choice) and start looking for a job in another company, requesting for a higher pay...
He would then work till the contract ends, and off he goes to another company asking for a higher pay than the former. This cycle goes on...and more people sees this opportunity to earn more money, and thus started doing so.
"I had to do it due to the rising standards of living", they thought...
The employer sees the trend and they would of course employ the foreign workers who can deliver as much but at a lower rate.
The unemployed grumble and asked, "Why?".
The employers answered, "Why not?"
So regarding the increasing numbers of foreigners getting employed instead of Singaporeans, both the employers and the employees are to be responsible...
***
The road tax:
The number of cars is increasing in Singapore and I doubt nobody noticed this.
So the government erected ERP gantries, initially around town areas to in a sense control the number of cars getting in and out. As a result, there were lesser congestion in those areas.
Granted...
So when people feels the pinch to spend some bucks going through the gantry, they've decided to take a detour which would land them in the same place but escaping the system.
It wouldn't be long before most people realized that, and more people started using the the roads free from the ERP. Now those "free roads" would have heavier traffic because nobody wanted to pay the toll.
Government raised new gantries on those roads.
People will start looking for "free roads" and as a result, congestion will build up again on those roads and gantries will be implemented. This kept up and thus almost everywhere we go, we see the ERP.
Again, people blame the government for taxing them too much. Well, why can't they blame the ones who contributed to the congestion unnecessarily? There are those who really need a vehicle to travel long distance nearly everyday, but what about those who don't really need it but still owns one?
What I heard from my bro, is that now more people are capable of driving a car courtesy to the COE or something that pertains to it.
So as many people wanna enjoy the luxury of driving despite not necessarily needing it, the number of cars is definitely rising mad.
***
I can't really remember everything that we talked...I was kinda sleepy that night.
Anyway, a lot of problems boils down to 2 choices..."Need to Have?", "Want to Have?"
People tend to not make the correct choices at times. A good example my bro stated...
Food, is it a "Need to Have?" or "Want to Have?"
I said "Need to Have?"...and he corrected my way of thinking. He said both.
People need to eat, but people CHOOSE to eat good food that are costly, but still serves the same purpose as a plate of chicken rice which costs so much cheaper. You eat, fill your stomach and you defecate...
Regardless of what you eat, no matter how expensive it cost, it will still exit your body as nothing more than a pile of shit.
But people sometimes would still choose to eat expensive good food which at times can barely fill your stomach, rather than something more filling and inexpensive.
That's why I feel that Singaporeans should really think about things before pointing their gun barrels at the government. It's always easy to point fingers at other people, but never ourselves. We, the Singaporeans contributed to the costly standards of living. Vendors sees the rising demand, damn right they will exploit the opportunity to earn our money we so willingly pay, and this rule applies for many things around us.
As business picks up, and with the resources required processing them thinning, the price would definitely go up, and yet people are still willing to pay.
Although I do agree that the government has a part to play, we the people should also start making things right.
The above are my thoughts and I'm putting them up despite having a feeling that people from different standpoints will be flaming me for my comments.
Something I've experienced over the years...
If you are in support of something, you'll find 100 ways to praise it. People who didn't like it, would come up with 100 ways to criticize it, and 1000 ways to make it sound as worthless as possible. The supporters will then find 1100 ways to give it credit, and more to fight back...
That is when disagreement builds up and eventually a push would come to a shove.
No matter, let's hope for a better tomorrow.
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