Wednesday, August 30, 2006

How much does ten cent worth?


The debate in importing foreign talents has turned on. We have a deficit in the population and there is a need to augment it by actively encouraging a policy of selective immigration , otherwise in the future we will face a demographic nightmare in the shape and form of the law of minimum.

The debate in cost of living is on-going. Cost of living is a tremendous subject to grapple with, especially when there isn't an obvious social safety net to help to battle the loss of income.

The fear of majority of the foreign talents who have no root nor heart to stay on to help the local, but only grab the goodies and go is something real. The 1999 Asia financial crisis was the major setback of the Singapore economy in the recent years. Foreign talents packed up and left. The local weathered the storm.

We sank in multi-million dollars to fund John Hopskin. We have yet to measure the true return. We sank in huge sum of money to perform fire work every national day and other occasions. How could this money be channeled to help people to weather the rising living cost?

Is 10 cent fare rise considered a lot?

In the 1970s when I was a poor student, I felt the impact of every 10 cent rose in bus fare and every 5 cent rose in coffee on my daily life, let's alone the 50 cent rose of hawker food and 50 dollar rose in tuition fee. How to minimize the impact? Alighted two bus stop earlier to save that 10 cents, drank less ate less to save that 50 cents. Having said that, tuition fee could not be avoided. Study was the way to get rid of poverty.

In the 1980s when I returned to school as a mature student funding my own study to realise a childhood dream, I still felt the impact of 200 dollar rose in tuition fee. I drew from reserve, which was the CPF saving to finish the university education.

Am I complaining? From a macro-level, controlled cost rise is beneficial to the society. The upper rung would benefit most from it. The rich would become richer. This is the fact of life. From a micro-level, you have to take care of those who are directly facing the impact. To them, every 10 cent counts. This is the opposite fact of life.

How about the middle income group who is sanwiched in between? The policy that makes the rich richer does not apply to them. The policy of subsidizing the town council charges and utility bills does not apply to them either. They better to be on their own.

To survive on your own. I thought that is the right sentiment. Does anyone owe you a living? Probably not. 自力更生, self-reliance, that was what my dad told me when I was young. I am passing the same message to my children. Equip yourself with the right skill, knowledge and passion, there you go. Passion, Passion, Passion. With passion, you will see light at the end of the tunnel. That definitely worth more than 10 cents.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

10cents 在中文裡被说成 ‘一毛钱’。
我记得我作为 ‘小学生’ 的 1950s 年代,5cents 可以在学校的食堂
买一碗 ‘鱼圆面’ 或 ‘拉沙米粉’,‘一毛钱’ 可以换一碗 ‘叉烧面’。
在1960s 我用 ‘一毛钱’ 学生价乘 ‘STC’ 12号巴士由 ’老巴杀‘ 到 ’巴耶利峇机场‘。
1970s 我用 ‘一毛钱’ 的邮票由 新加坡 寄国内信件给本地的亲友。
1980s 到 1990s 新加坡的 ‘计程车’ 每跳从 ‘两毛钱’ 降低到 ‘一毛钱’,但随着日子的
流逝,调整还是每跳 ‘一毛钱’,但越跳越快,而且除了计路程长短之外还加上了计时,
还记得当时全速奔驰在高速公路上,咪表的跳速与心跳比快,经常被吓出一身冷汗!
‘一毛钱’ 的价值几何我不知道,但我的一位 ‘发小’ 作为一位新加坡计程车司机却能将
孩子最终送到国外留学,孩子大学工程毕业之后不但没有回 ‘新加坡’,最后连父母也
永远到国外与孩子 ‘团聚’,一去不回头,…..
‘一毛钱’,how much does ten cent worth ? 其价值有时真的 ‘不可小觑‘ 呀 !

Anonymous said...

生活在一个 ‘NO one owes you a living’
的 “ ’一毛’不拔 ” 的冷酷社会,无所不用
其极,纵然父母(官) 拥有九牛却不甘心
拔其 ‘一毛’ 以利天下,虽 ‘腰缠万贯’ 又
与蚁民何干?

Anonymous said...

我看不懂英文,也不知道本文说了些甚么,但当我看到文中仅有的四个中文字:
‘自力更生’ 时,我笑了!我必须指出的是要 ‘自力更生’ 首先必须有公正平等自由
的社会条件,当四大源流教育唯 singlish 独尊的时代,其他源流的余孽就只有
靠边站的份,一切的社会资源都与他无关!又或者在一个讲求 ‘背景’ 的社会,
‘艰苦奋斗’ 不如 ‘靠山雄厚’,‘学识资格’ 不如 ‘生时辰八字’,‘千军万马过独木桥‘
不如 ‘直升机飞跃‘,’努力拼搏‘ 何如 ’色酒财气’ 暗渡陈仓 !
话说在自命 ’亚洲世纪‘ 的亚洲,年来兴起一股消极的 ’趟平‘ 之风,暗潮汹涌 迅
速蔓延,暴露了年轻人对 ’自力更生‘ 的绝望,无声的抗议与呼喊,你听到了吗?
古往今来,攀 ‘关系’ 者国之栋梁,无 ’关系‘ 者国之kayu,面对现实吧!

Anonymous said...

雅虎新闻9月21日报道:瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)全球财富报告显示,澳洲成年人个人财富中位数高达$40.9万
(合27.39万美元),为地球上最富有的人群, 紧随其后的是比利时(26.789万美元)。
澳洲表现强劲的部分原因是2020年和2021年当地房产价格大幅上涨。低利率可能是房地产市场繁荣的原因之一。
不同寻常的是,2021年没有一个国家的房价出现下跌。
以下是成年人财富中位数(以澳元计算)最高的10个国家或地区:
1. 澳洲 - $409,055
2. 比利时 - $400,080
3. 新西兰- $345,375
4. 香港- $302,244
5. 丹麦- $255,633
6. 瑞士- $251,019
7. 加拿大- $225,884
8. 荷兰 - $213,548
9. 英国 - $211,397
10. 法国 - $207,843

Anonymous said...

2022/10/20 “BBC中文网” 报导:“好莱坞华裔女星黄柳霜:登上美元的第一张亚裔面孔”
女演员黄柳霜(Anna May Wong)将成为美元上的首个亚裔面孔。她将作为女性名人的代表之一出现在25美分硬币上。
黄柳霜被认为是好莱坞第一位华裔电影明星。该硬币的一面是美国总统乔治·华盛顿(George Washington),另一面
是黄柳霜。硬币将于2022/10/24发行。黄柳霜1905年出生于洛杉矶,1960年,她入驻好莱坞星光大道(Hollywood
Walk of Fame),并在次年去世,享年56岁。她是中国移民的后裔。她后来采用了艺名安娜·梅·黄(Anna May Wong)。
( https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-63325515 )

黄柳霜是最早在好莱坞走红的华裔女星。曾被布什总统称誉为“最早在美国电影界赢得盛名的亚裔美国人之一”。在1942
年息影前,黄柳霜共在60部影片中饰演过角色。她以华人演员身份走红,以美丽冷艳的面庞表现含蓄、精湛的演技,
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的华裔女性,在中国人眼中,她是好莱坞用来丑化华人的傀儡。虽然好莱坞为她的美艳折服,但给她的大多数角色却仍然是
蛇蝎心肠、妖冶放荡的反面人物。1928年黄柳霜解释她离开好莱坞的原因时说:“我已经对我在电影里饰演的角色感到累了,
为什么在银幕上中国人总是一些坏人、恶棍,而且是一些极端残酷的反面人物--谋杀、狡诈、一条藏在草丛中的毒蛇。我们
中国人并不是那样的。我们的文明比西方历史悠久,我们怎么能是那样呢?我们有我们自己的一套严谨的行为方式和属于我
们的荣誉。为什么它们从不在电影中展示这些呢?纽约高露洁大学(Colgate University)历史系教授霍奇斯曾写过一本传记
《黄柳霜:从洗衣工的女儿到好莱坞的传奇人物》一书,展示了这位华人移民的女儿曲折艰难的奋斗历程和许许多多辛酸故事。
书中给人印象最深刻的莫过于种族偏见对黄柳霜演艺事业发展的桎梏。尽管她亮丽动人,表演才能有目共睹,在种族歧视盛行
的排华年代,她却只能饰演娼妓或为爱牺牲、没有任何社会地位的女人,在影片中一次又一次地死去。
可以说从黄柳霜开始,好莱坞便开始了对华人女星表演才能的限制。好莱坞为华人女星设定了两条道路:“诱惑的妖女”和“等待
救赎的天使”。前者阴暗、堕落、充满了“性”的诱惑和致命的吸引力;后者美丽、纯洁、但又无助,等待这白人骑士把她们从
邪恶的黄种同胞中拯救出来。但两者共同具备了令西方观众感到新奇的异国情调。具有某种气质的“异国情调”成为后来各个时期
华人女星进入好莱坞的通行证,而黄柳霜时代的设定的“两条”道路则成为后来制约许多华人女星的“框框”。
( http://www.chinaqw.com/hqhr/hryj/200608/11/40375.shtml )