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Time to inculcate values of thrift, modesty in children
I REFER to the article, 'Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy' (ST, Oct 31).
Credit-card debts and bankruptcies have reached record levels in Singapore. In Britain, many have been driven to suicide because of credit-card debts.
When a credit counselling service was launched recently in Singapore, it was deluged with calls. According to Monetary Authority of Singapore guidelines, only those who earn $30,000 or more a year can apply for a credit card.
However, some banks will give one a credit card even if one does not have any income. One need only make an 'unsecured' credit-card application after putting in a fixed deposit of $10,000.
The number of supplementary cards that a main cardholder can have is unlimited. Out of about 3.7 million credit cards, about one million are supplementary cards. I understand that our ratio of supplementary to main cards is one of the highest in the world.
When we were young, our parents and the Post Office Savings Bank gave us piggy banks to encourage thrift. Now, the young get supplementary cards.
As a society, are we not encouraging spending and credit, instead of thrift, when so many Singaporeans give supplementary credit cards to their dependants?
One can just walk along Orchard Road and apply for credit cards from seven banks, which would give one credit of 14 times one's monthly income.
No wonder more than 30,000 people in Singapore owe more than $20,000 on their credit cards. Three out of four have rolled over their debt during the last 12 months.
The loosening of credit policies - like no down payment for car purchases, and repayment of up to 10 years - is good for the economy but bad for the tens of thousands who have difficulty servicing their debts, and their families. Likewise a casino, which will undoubtedly be good for the economy and tourism but bad for those addicted to gambling.
Maybe our only salvation lies in inculcating the values of thrift, modesty and less materialism in our children.
Leong Sze Hian
In our quest for economic success, often it is measured by easily identified assets. One who owns a big house, an expensive car, CEO of a big company, club memberships, credit cards, gold cards, platinum cards, diamonds, Mont Blanc, LV, Prada, Mercedes, District 9, Bose....
Who knows about the economic success of the mult-millionaire living next door, wearing causal T-shirt and jeans, prefer to have coffee sessions at local kopitiam, and drives a cheap and practical car, but have lots of cash in the bank and other investments ?
Who can measure, by one glance, the value of having a group of friends that you can let your hair down without being looked down; of a loving and fulfilling life without marriage and children; of being free from the stress of work; of leading a life that is "happy and gay"; (to quote a friend) of a Berk A stock certificate.
When it comes to things that are not so easy to measure by one glance, comparison becomes difficult to do. As human nature tends to take the easy way out, material assets become the ruler.
How do all these stack into my tiny pea brain ?
On the one hand, trends like these makes it harder work for social creatures like me to get some decent respect from others. (At least, I am comforted to know that I do have a big bunch of great friends, from all walks of lives, so are really sincere to me and accepts me for who I am, not what I try to show the world to be.) It also makes it hard to control material urges.
On the other hand, I also swim comfort that the more of my peers falling into the rat-race and money trap, the better off I will be, behind the curtains. The better the odds of me achieving financial independence, and getting a fulfilling life.
But alas, materialism is addictive, just like cigarettes. I am glad I am only a social smoker, not an addict. The same luck that somewhere in me, I am just socially materialistic. I can only hope, and try very hard, that as time goes, I do not get addicted to any of them.
1 comment:
I did say measure at one glance the value of a Berk A Stock _certificate_. If it is not recognizable, it is not measurable ? Haha..
That is just me trying to justify misquoting you.
But ask 10, no, ask 20, Singaporeans, especially those whom you have not mentioned anything about Berk. See if they know what you are talking about.
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