im for meritocracy if everyone have an equal chance.
but somehow the system seem to be rigged against those at the
lower rungs of the social ladder.
the rich are getting richer, and the poor, getting poorer.
lets not talk about the extremes cases of rich and poor. just
from the perspective of an young adult entering the work force.
the baby boomers generation had it good, being the majority of
house owners and car owners. they lived in a time where they are
able to clear off their housing debt in less than a decade. around
5-8 years. and they also live through a period where they see their
property rise astronomically, from a 60k 4-rm flat, to close to
400k.
they also lived through a period of cheap cars. cheap condos. in
other words, it is easier for them to fulfil the singapore dream of
attaining the 5Cs.
today, young adults face stiff competition from foreign
counterparts, which are chiefly responsible for the artificial
depression of wages in singapore. just take a look at australia,
where the supply of cheap labour is limited, and generally everyone
have a higher standard of living. according to the straits time, a
bricklayer could earn up to $5k per month after 5 years of work.
and australia doesn't seem to be crumbling without cheap labour.
everything is still functional.
imagine, this too can be the case in singapore, if cheap labour
is limited.
and the argument that big countries like australia have natural
resources to rely on. but ask ourselves, how many of their people
actually work on farms and mines? in fact, most of them live in
cities just like we do in singapore, working the same jobs as we do
in singapore. if they can afford to pay that kind of salary, and
still have a functional economy, i don't see why singapore couldn't
do the same.
competition aside, the cost of living has also spiral out of
control. just a few months back, 40k could buy you a mitsubishi
lancer. today, it is barely enough to buy that piece of paper
called the COE.
while housing prices have risen astronomically over the past 10
yrs, the wage of the average singaporean remain stagnant.
housing loans are now calculated using a 30yr-repayment scheme, a
far cry from the under-10-yr payment scheme of our parents'
day.
this mean that young singaporeans are unlikely to see the
agressive asset enhancement of their properties unlike in their
parents' generation. while their parents are able to make a profit
selling off their house after completion of housing loan payments
in 10 yrs, youngsters today will still be stuck with 20yrs of loan
repayment, making it hard for them to upgrade to a better
property.
to sum it all up, the system is now rigged against young
singaporeans. young singaporeans will have to bear the brunt of
having to cope with higher housing price, higher transport cost (be
it private of public transport), higher cost for rearing children
and higher cost of upkeep for their parents, while earning not much
more than their parents.
