"Mummy, can i have another bowl of rice please, I'm hungry?"
Jill asks. "No, darling, You must learn to eat smaller portions. We
need to save money for a rainy day." Jill's mother replied. "OK
Mummy, nevermind, weekend i will eat more at Uncle Ah Yat's stall"
Jill happily smiled. Only to have her hopes dashed. Her mom
replies," We won't be eating out anymore. Need to save money. Daddy
may be out of work soon."
Mdm Halim stares at her packs of unsold rice in her shop. Her
customers, mainly from nearby hawker stalls, were no longer buying
or even in business. She herself may soon close her biz due to
overheads looming, even with all the help to reduce it.
She picks up the phone and cancels her orders for rice.
Mary, the rice distributor, answers Mdm Halim's call, and tried
to talk her out of it, but to no avail. She had already been numbed
by numerous calls from her clients. She had done all
she could to reduce prices so that she may just survive,
but no one is buying enough for her to stay in
biz.
She looks at her 50 staff and sadly checks up MOM's
requirement for staff retrenchment payouts.
Suthachi, the agent for rice exporter in Thailand, receives
another cancellation of orders not only from Singapore, but the
rest of the world.
There are too much stock on hand in her factory. She couldnt
meet loan repayments nor hold her perishable stocks any longer.
She walks out of her 100 year old factory, and continues to walk
straight onto the busy streets, dazed and not caring if a car hits
her.
Chikachap, a rice farmer, was shocked to see the milling factory
close down in his village. No one else will be buying his soon to
be havested rice. It spells disaster for him, for he only rented
the farm and payment was due.
He loaded his family on a bullcart and fled for the city.
Muang To, the landlord, could only see a rich gold rice harvest
on his lands, gently swaying to the breeze, but left unreap, for
his tenents had all fled. He didnt have the money to hire workers,
and couldnt borrow as the banks had no money left as everyone
either didnt have money or hoarded it at home. He alone couldnt do
the job, nor knew how to farm.
He tried to sell the land to manufacturing firms, but there were
none in biz, cause everyone was not buying or not enough sales to
make manufacturing profitable. He shakes his head and
surrenders to fate.
Million acres of padi fields continues to sway to the breeze, as
thousands of other landlord like him sold land at a pittance to
govts, the only ones with money, or the illusion of it.
The Thai govt then stepped in and forced many into labour to
farm rice, but their efforts were not enough to feed a now hungry
world, even with the steep price they commanded.
There were even unjustified protest marches on the costs
of rice, for the people had forgotten that thru their hoarding of
money, they were the cause of this misery.
This is only a simple example of what happens when money is
hoarded and not circulated.
Right, worry about "Chikachap, a
rice farmer" or worry about
the future of your own grandchildren and the future of Singaporean
children, the choice is yours.
If you worry about your own grandchildren's
future, send the email now.
Originally
posted by AndrewPKYap:
Send this email to everyone you know:
Dear fellow
Singaporean,
The way to stop the relentless rise in Singapore's cost of
living is to stop spending. Now is a good time for it to work.
There is an economic downturn and this is the best time to exercise
Singapore's People Power - stop spending, except for
essentials (and cut down on essentials as
well).
You will benefit from the lower prices. You lose out if you buy
now and the prices drop later. When everyone
cooperates and stop buying the prices will come down and those that
refuses to cooperate lose out, buying at higher prices now instead
of waiting for lower prices later.
Save
your money. Hoard it! Don't just
complain about the 21% rise in electricity and the erection of more
ERP gantries. The power is in the hands of the people but
individuals cannot achieve much and only the People Power of a
massive number of Singaporeans can do the trick. You will see costs
coming down! STOP spending for two months until the end of the
year. Then we see again after that.
Settle
all your loans and do not take up
loans for when prices fall, the amount
of money you have to pay back will buy much more in the future.
What you borrow today, you will have to pay back much more in terms
of goods and services. Don't be enticed by low interest rates, for
the amount you will have to pay back will be much more in terms of
goods and services over and above the interest rates.
Let
the year 2008 be the year that Singaporeans exercise our uniquely
Singapore style people's power, even as the historic elections took
place in the USA.
Thanks for reading and regards,
Your fellow Singaporean
(Please forward this email to as many others as
possible)
