No Time To Die

Either you have lots of time on hand now or you have no time for anything else. Most working people now have to take on any jobs one can find in order to survive. It’s 手停口停 (no work no income). It’s really No Time To Die!

Cash is king for now!

Don’t say NO to any job offer too early.

Run your own race

Everyone is now running their own race.

For scientists, it’s a race against time to find a vaccine.

For the rest of the people around the globe, it’s a race to find income to sustain our living in this prolonged difficult time. 

If you still have income streams, congratulations! If you have deep pockets, bravo! No worries.

If you have holes in your pockets, need to do something immediately! 

We have to accept the reality that we cannot win all the time!

The key is not to win but how to survive this arduous journey. 

Old Path with New Scene

With the infection rate still high here, nobody would have imagined that such mass event could happen during this pandemic. When one has the power, anything is possible!

My ward’s white camp’s slogan was “Protect Our People. Build Our Future, Together”. I asked: Protect who? Whose future? Yours or mine?

Anyway, this would probably be the only race this year as all other running events have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. I bet on the wrong horses and lost big. The dark horse came home with big margin. My glasses dropped. Now he has been given the title of leader and a Chinese nickname, (必担心) probably given by the white camp to warn their members!   

Expect the Unexpected!

The outcome was out of my expectation.

There are two-thirds who still believe in the white team in my ward without any effort or did anything extraordinary.  

I can only suspect a big contributor belongs to the many private properties in this town.  

Either Left or Right?

Every year without fail, my boss demands that I set measurable goals for myself and my co-workers.  

When I don’t achieve them, my annual performance rating and reputation would look really bad on records. So I need to put in extra hours every week (without OT pay) just to ensure the yearly outcomes meet the set targets. You can imagine the stress!

My MP doesn’t need to set any goals. 

No annual reporting on plans or projects status. His performance is assessed only once every 5 years!  His boss sets the manifestos which are just broad plans with no measurable targets or timeframes. My MP just follows his boss’ instructions and executes them. No need to think also. He works part-time here with flexible hours. Most of the time, I don’t see him around. But he still gets a monthly allowance that is 12 times the pay of a full-time local cleaner who performs real hard work under rain or shine in his ward. What the ****   

This is how I explain our inequality problem here to my local peers.

Some just laugh. Some frown. Some just ignore me and quickly move to sit at the next table!  

It Could Be Better

This is not a propaganda!

Just that I’ve run out of subjects to practice my digital painting skills. Anyway, this is the highest skill level I could achieve unless I invest in the next level of drawing tablet.

But now money is very tight as this business is down a lot after many people ranked artist as non-essential job.

Many days, I went to sleep with empty stomach. Sigh!

Old Doesn’t mean No Go

Who says old means cannot?

Yet many employers still shun abled seniors who are finding it tough and challenging to find decent-paying jobs to meet the rising cost of living.

Perhaps, one way out is to get elected into the ‘House’.

MPs get an annual allowance of S$192,500, equivalent to S$16,000 per month. This is a dream part-time job with secured income for the next 5 years!

When I learned about this recently, my jaw dropped and my eyeballs fell and bounced off the ground like ping-pong balls!

To Tick or Not to Tick?

I still find it very weird and strange that every few years, I’m asked to vote for someone, I barely know into public office to represent residents here. This person never listen to me and do what I say. He/She just take and execute instructions from the top!

What the heck!

Anyway, before ticking the box, I’m forced to reflect and ponder again on the same old key questions:  

 

1)  Our Lives

Am I better or worse off than 5 years ago?  Why is cost of living, health care keep rising while real wage remains stagnant? Why is our environment more dirty and our spaces so congested these days? 

2)  Our Jobs

Why so many of our PMET jobs are filled by FT? What skill sets they have that we are lacking and we cannot do these jobs? Why are we always trying to play catch-up on new jobs' needs and urging our PMETs to ‘re-skill, up-skill’ to take these jobs? Why didn’t we prepare our students and workers in advance for these new jobs?

3)  Our Future

The future is quite bleak. Many senior citizens cannot retire and need to continue working to live unless one has deep reserves and financial resources. With little or no income, our CPF pension money won’t be enough to cover rising living expenses and health care costs. Worst if one has chronic long-term illnesses. Jia-lut!   

You may have your own set of questions to ask yourself before you head to the polls. Nothing would change unless the majority thinks and acts otherwise!