Around eight days ago, our Ambassador-at-Large, Professor Tommy Koh gave a speech in which he described Singaporeans as being “snobbish” for looking down on the poor. Professor Koh argued that Singapore overpays its “brain” workers and underpays its “hand” workers. The report can be found in the following Channel NewsAsia podcast:
As expected, Professor
Koh’s remarks got the chattering classes chattering. His remarks have drawn the
ire of the Singapore government’s favourite poodle, the “Fawning Follower,” who
is a Polish blogger who calls himself the Critical Spectator.
The Fawning
Follower has written a Facebook posting in reply to Professor Koh and has
argued that the real snob in this story is not the Singaporean but Professor
Koh himself.
https://www.facebook.com/CriticalSpectator
As a matter of
full disclosure, Professor Koh was my father’s neighbour when he lived in a
condominium opposite the Shangri La Valley Wing. Based on that, I can confirm
that while Professor Koh is not on the Forbes List of Billionaires, he is in a
very comfortable position. As has been pointed out, his sons are also doing
well.
According to the
“maid’s network” in the building, Professor Koh is a decent man who treated the
domestic help well and was generous on special occasions. As my ex-wife (who
felt that everyone I knew was a snob) said “The one person in this building who
has the most right to be a snob is not snobbish at all.”
Leaving aside Professor
Koh’s manner, I will argue that Professor Koh has a point when he talks about
snobbery. Whilst I cannot speak for every Singaporean, I have become
exceedingly snobbish when it comes to people who think that the worst
characteristics in society are virtues and then spend time and effort to expand
and glorify the cracks in society.
Unlike the
Artful Arse Kisser, I hold a Singapore passport and served national service in
a combat unit and combat vocation (155mm Gunner). I have lived in Singapore for
nearly 20-years, mostly in an HDB flat. While I am by no means a roaring
success (some might call be a total loser), I am not starving or begging on the
streets.
As such, I am
aware that Singapore measures up well against most places (including the
developed economies of North America and Western Europe) in most things. Having
said that, I am also aware that Singapore is far from paradise (a fact that one
becomes painfully aware of whenever one must lie in a hospital bed). These are
the things that need to harp on if one wants to have a decent enough life.
Focusing on the praise only increase the complacency of those in power, which
in turn produces rot and decay.
When people in
power start telling you things like “It’s much worse elsewhere,” you know that
you are building a problem because just because its worse elsewhere, it does
not mean that it is morally correct and more importantly it doe not mean that
there is a problem here that needs solving. If you read what the Artful Arse
Kisser writes, you will notice that his underlying argument is “Singapore is
heaven – it is worse everywhere else – grovel and thank God you are here and
not elsewhere.”
Let us face
certain realities. Singapore has issues. We are on paper doing well. Our homes
are valued in millions and our per capita GDP is among the highest. The days
when the immediate comparison was our neighbours have long since passed.
However, despite the enormous paper wealth Singaporeans are supposed to have,
we are a miserable lot when compared to many places.
Like Singapore,
there are problems in the Nordic countries. Taxes, for example are famously punitive.
Sweden and Denmark have had issues integrating migrants. However, contrary to
what the Artful Arse Kisser may tell you, the Nordics enjoy one of the best
standards of living around and consistently rank among the top of the happiest
places on earth as this report from the Straits Times states:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/happiest-countries-in-the-world
Why do
countries that tax you more than half of what you earn rank so highly in
happiness indices? Singapore for all its achievements ranks 31 on the happiness
list. While we’re in the top 50 of the 197 odd countries in the world, that
ranking is pretty bad for a place that is one of the richest and more crime
free in the world.
Let us start
with the obvious, life in the Nordics is good. Donald Trump summed it up when he
complained that only people from s**hole countries wanted to migrate to the US
and people from Norway. Well, answer is obvious, people from Norway and the Nordics
are happy to be where they are whatever the Artful Arse Kisser may tell you.
To be fair, the
Artful Arse Kisser has a point. Wealth is an important factor in society.
Wealth is also something that the Nordics have plenty of. Norway’s Sovereign
Wealth fund is the world’s largest and best managed. The economies of Sweden,
Finland and Denmark are innovative. The Nordics get tech.
How is it such
that countries that famously tax the living day lights out of you end up having
functioning economies? The truth is tax is invested in the people. While the
Nordics have not produced a global top ten university, education systems in all
of them rank highly:
https://leverageedu.com/blog/best-education-system-in-the-world/
Parents do not
worry about the costs of sending their kids to school. The result being you
have a population that is highly educated and curious enough about the world to
become innovative.
As well as
being educated, the populations of these countries are also healthy and have
access to good healthcare:
https://ceoworld.biz/2021/04/27/revealed-countries-with-the-best-health-care-systems-2021/
Educated and
healthy people tend to produce better work than uneducated and unhealthy
people. Whilst the Nordics don’t have a lot of people, the ones they have are
productive.
The assumption
that critics of “equality” make is that the aim of equality is for everyone to
be the same and earn the same and have the same standard of living. This is not
accurate. Equality is about ensuring equality of opportunity, and this is what
the Nordics have done. Everyone gets the same access to quality education, and
everyone gets access to equality healthcare.
Sure, the cost
of living in the Nordics is very high that was famously displayed in Drew
Binsky’s $10 challenge in Oslo where US$10 was only enough for a cup of coffee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNrPo-DnorI
Wages, are however,
noticeably higher. A bus driver in any of the Nordic countries earns around
S$5,000 a month. Not enough to create a millionaire but enough to live a comfortable
life.
This is not the
case in Singapore. We have on average a good system in education and health care,
but the range of quality does depend on who you are. In healthcare, you have
hospitals that are hotels with healthcare facilities. These places cater to the
rich from elsewhere and should your healthcare provider charge you high, the
government may step in and sue you for overcharging. By comparison you have clinics
that are struggling, and the doctors are effectively qualified pill salesmen.
If you are in the government healthcare system and can’t afford to pay – the government
might even sue you when you die if your bills are not paid.
For all the talk
about our only resource is human, we waste it by focusing it on the elite or
the rich and powerful from elsewhere. Sure, things look good on paper but there
are too many people who feel that the system caters to everyone else except
them.
Our taxes may
be lower than the Nordics but too many worry about what happens if they get
sick or lose their relatively low paying jobs in their old age because that is
their only source of living. If you only look after some of the people, you will
inevitably end up having an economy that depends on people from elsewhere
because the people you have don’t trust the system to take care of them while they
work to serve it.
No comments
Post a Comment