In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: ‘Whilst boom time in the public sector is never as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget that boom time is eventually followed by slump time.

Slump time in the public sector is always less painful compared to the private sector.’ Slump time has arrived with a bang.

While I worry about the poorer Singaporeans who will be hit hard, perhaps this recession has come at an opportune time for many of us. It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.
Decades of the good life have made us soft.

The wealthy especially, but also the middle class in Singapore, have had it so good for so long, what they once considered luxuries, they now think of as necessities. A mobile phone, for instance, is now a statement about who you are, not just a piece of equipment for communication. Hence many people buy the latest model though their existing mobile phones are still in perfect working order.
A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or a Porsche is deemed more appropriate.

The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories. I still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying handbags that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus driver, and many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in the hot sun, risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will never have a chance to live in.

The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption.
Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will prevent the recession from getting worse.

I am not an economist, but wasn’t that the root cause of the current crisis – Americans spending more than they could afford to? I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don’t believe in the supernatural and I don’t think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once told me: ‘Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.’

My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal.
My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house by today’s standards, but it is simple – in fact, almost to the point of being shabby.

Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.

Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate. But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970
who have never lived through difficult times. No matter how poor you are in Singapore, the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter and food. Nobody starves in Singapore.
Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.

Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy.
Enjoying the fruits of one’s own labour is one’s prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously. But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering.
After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to? Neither an Aston Martin nor an Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.
When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we found it?

We know which is the correct choice – and it is within our power to make that choice.
In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.

To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and we should not follow the herd blindly.

The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute
–
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Forex News.

ownselve cook ownselve eat.how no life is that.

this is kind of thing that touched me.Forget about movie, this is REAL!

oh ya. don’t just look at the surface people, stop being cynical.

feel like so many things yet to be done:

apply CPF for sch fees ( Pa~ is nagging abt it )

tidy my room ( say say only . its free anyway  )

FYP ( read up )

preparation for NAPFA ( damn it! no discipline )

find another job ( i cant survive much longer )

do sth to my com ( delete the OS )

.

.

.

well, of cause there are things that i over done :

Clubbing ( powerhouse almost every sat )

Drinking ( lots of beer )

Supper ( panjang chicken feet , 323 ba chor mee . . . . . )

SPENDING MONEY! ( ok i gonna save i gonna earn i gonna save , when school reopen )

.

.

.

And there are things i wanna do :

Get as many license as i can ( Bike , Scuba diving , PPCLD )

Go on vacation with friends ( any one? )

MORE MONEY!

Cos i cant do much without it!

.

.

.

this is not a complete list and it will never be

finally achieved soemthing from that something..

its the only thing that makes u feel good..

make u feel you are something

gives u confidence..

keeps u happy..

keeps u motivated..

makes u life meaningful..

its the only thing u wanna do for the rest of ur life..

its the thing that changes ur life..

but something happen and u are force to stop doing it..

u just went blank..

helpless..

useless..

demotivated..

no more confident..

discouraged..

but..

life goes on..

so lets look a “half full” point of view..

since i’m borned a nothing . borned with nothing..

i do not lose anything at all.

right?

Blog : Pa~ wow long time no see..finally wanna come find me le ar?

JA : no one to talk to le..thats why!

blog: zhi jie no one to talk to den come find me.. BXL!

ja: who ask u to be just a blog but i tot i wont have to talk to u anymore  but..hais

blog: yalah yalah..so long no see how are u?

ja : i can even come talk to u what do u think ?

blog: GOOD!

ja: then u leh?

blog: no good..need to listen to ur nonsense liao.

ja: WHO ASK TO BE MY BLOG! YOU SWAY LO! WAHAHAA

blog: haha..yaloh unlucky me..so hows ur day?

ja: working lo

blog: with?

ja: 3 other friends

blog: hu?

ja: i dun have much frens what..u guess lo..guess tio i update u everyday

blog: give clue la

ja: M… M… I…

blog: Hmmm.. M***** M***** I*****

ja: WRONG! WAHAHA WEAK!

blog: -.- den hu?

ja: Me Myself and I

blog: nonsense -.-”

ja: as usual right? get use to it can le la

blog: yalah yalah..then u worked at where?

ja: actually is chandra one..then they ask someone go chandra den ask me go geylang cos tt guy dun wan go geylang den i go lo

blog: geylang where?

ja: cheers at 12 haig road

blog: good leh..zhi jie got smiley looking at u confirm happy one

ja: like that happy den no one sad le

blog: then hor..fun ma?

ja: fun..get to talk to 2 guys..

first guy everytime see him den he will wave at me..but he is those metally not so strong de

blog: sot de.like tt u also can talk to?

ja: ok de what. at least he enjoy talkin to me

blog: how u noe

ja: guess lo..he keep smile smile..maybe he dun even understand what i saying just smile only.maybe he see the Cheers logo.haha

blog: they very naive thats why dunno u talking nonsense to him

ja: like tt also wan suan me.

blog: ARR! then the uncle leh?

ja: he waitin outside Cheers for his wife.Then he keep looking at me so i just smile smile lo.Then he smile back and walk towards me. “i can see you are a good boy.must workhard and study hard.life is not easy now not like mine.old already just wait for death.dun smoke dun drink…….”

blog: wahaha..den u still go drink and smoke

ja: wa lao like once a week only

blog: ENOUGH LIAO!!

ja: thats why la! scarli is something send him help pass message

blog: wahaha? GOD!

ja: AR!! i think is guan yin transform de..hahaa

Oh ya..got one more guy keep talking to himself one..i got thought of go talk to him.

blog: SOT AR!

ja: maybe he just cant find someone to talk to? u think everyone got blog like me to talk to ar?

blog: now u noe how important am i already? without me u will be like him..sot de!

ja: since when i say i not sot de? my relative did think i could be ” zhi bi” den this morning i like sot de.i think i having despression or anxiety disorder?

blog: aiya u dun think too much la.u still got me..wahahaa..

u sot leh..keep talk to stranger..how u start the conversation one.

ja: aiya easy de la..JUST SAY

HI!!

cant believe im so fuck up that im doing this

Believe it or not..i still keep all this thing with me..some comments from my friends during secondary school.

I kept them just beside my bed.Everytime I look at it, it make me smiles.

BUT!

now?

maybe these comments don’t apply on me anymore

fuck myself

i think this is the “main” activity for bonders

but recently our activities not bad

not only clubbing or pubbing

we did picnic and i think someone sugguest going fishing

while researching what else we can do.especially for xmas eve which is today

came across this

http://www.weplaypaintball.com/index.html

http://www.bottletree.com.sg/

i think its not a bad idea

russia is getting excited over it

HOW ?!?!?!?!?

You all must be thinking i’m trying to suan Hong Fu here.

But i’m not!

many of us think to have good life to enjoy we need $ , $$ , $$$ or even more

but how much is enough? $ is NEVER enough

but do we need that much to really have a good life?

People gamble TRYING to win $ .

more $

ok. maybe a small sum of money ok .maybe it does add excitment to life.

but to the extent of putting more than u can lose?

maybe that is too much excitment for life to take.

BUT then again , if all you have is not even enough to feed yourself , maybe take that money go gamble is a good idea.

Its not how much we have, its how we use it

If everyone think like HF, got enough money get food = enjoy life already , most of us will be enjoying life for a long time!!

we should learn from him!

wahahaa

ps :

maybe whatever i post is nonsense . don’t come suan me pls! hahaa

hopefully more research and discussion will be done on this topic