Singapore; My Country, My Home

The toughness of being ...

There are cries about the tough lives and living conditions in Singapore.
Does anyone bothers or its just 'noises'?
Why & how did we reach this stage and how long can the people hold before they act to change their destiny?

Education, health costs, housing, transport and, to some extent, food are getting expensive and becoming less & less affordable to the poor, less able and bottom half of the population.

The stagnation of wages resulting from the onslaught of inflows of cheaper substitutes (foreigners who cannot find jobs back home & global unemployment, coupled with favorable exchange rates) have caused undue depression and stress to the body, the mind & the pockets. Statistics released showed that unemployed PMETs figures were higher last year.

When the economy was smaller, the pace was slower yet everyone was happy. Or at least, not unhappy.  Life & living were stress-free. The corporatisation of Singapore Inc had monetize everything; land, labour, capital including emotion - 'no money, no honey'.

Class division is a norm despite denials.

The elites & the mandarins get choice deals and jobs.
The entrepreneurs grease the economy while the working class work support the system & feed themselves. Many dread the possibility of displacement.
The poor, less able, less fortunate and the fallen ones pick up the crumbs. Worse hit are those who are geared; living on borrowed time & resources.

What has become of our sunny island nation?

Boys at their economically & educationally prime are conscripted to serve & defend the country while foreigners their age are en-route to finish their Uni education. By the time our boys finish their education, the foreigners are, and have, already gained two years or more of working experiences.

Jobs are hard to come by; good paying jobs are the exclusives of the elites & the 'connected'. Alas! Our boys fight, defend & die for the nation while the elites & foreigners feast. I pray this is fiction!

The rich cannot live in a sea of poor. Similarly, the hungry soldiers cannot win any wars. No generals, leaders & tycoons can be an island unto themselves.

I am born, live (& will die) here. I love my country & this is my home. I will not allow my country to go down the drain. If words & cries fall on deaf ears & nothing changes, we must act to save our little sunny island-nation called Singapore for our future generations.

Saying "You are free to pack & go", "It's cheaper to have retirement homes in JB", "Gang rape, afterall, is democracy in action" or "That welfare will breeds dependency & it's some form of scam" may mean well, or nothing, to some but these statements are very short on EQs, care & concern.

Again, I pray that whatever I have written is fiction & my understanding of the real situation is completely different; how silly & shallow I was - still deep in my dream?