Stop, when too much, is just too much

The political leader, the founding father, the prime minister, the minister mentor. A leader, some say non-populist, some even say, notorious. A lawyer, proficient in languages.

But fundamentally, a man. A man with blood, tears and sweat. A man, with his vulnerabilities; A boy, named Harry. A man with his strength and iron will. A man with a family, A man with three children, and A man with his dignity and pride.

So give the man and his family some space. And stop, when too much, is just too much.

Toe the line

Toe the line – he is not only a public figure. Toe the line, respect him and his family as a man. Toe the line between being concerned and intrusive. Intrusive are some sites who registers each and every of his family’s moves to the hospital and create a spectacle out of it. Toe the line between being concerned; and being an intruder, a predator stalker – one in need to be in control, in need of power. Don’t let this incessant need to show you are informed rule over your humanity. Knowledge does not necessarily triumph humanity. Respect the man’s privacy.

Selfishness

When perpetrators forget that many children of the state are worried about this man. Too much is when perpetrators capitalized on the concern of the citizens. Too much is when these faceless perpetrators doctor a statement from the PMO’s site, the same statement which brought grief to the man’s family when Mrs Lee passed on almost five years ago. Too much is when they hide behind these computer screens, to bring news to sensationalize, to shock. Too much, is when they hurt these children of the state who are worried about this man.

Forgetting your humanity

Too much, is when you curse this man, when you utter foul words to a man. When you rid yourself of your humanity, of your decency. When you forget that you do not wish for others to wish such harm on you, yourself, your father, your mother, or any living being. Too much, is when you forget words hurt.

Stop, when too much, is just too much. 

Remember to stop those fingers on your keyboard. 

Remember to think, and feel. smile emoticon

‪#‎SGlovesYew‬ ‪#‎WEKuanXinYew‬ ‪#‎wearewithYew‬ ‪#‎noyewnous‬‪#‎nothingwithoutYew‬ ‪#‎YewandMe‬

Simi Left, Right or Center?

Recently, we’ve been hearing about our government is leaning slightly to the left. What exactly does it mean by leaning left or right or staying in the centre? Here is Hosaybo’s attempt to explain and simplify it for you:-

A leftist government aims to
- Support you if you cannot support yourself.
- Provide certain things such as free education and healthcare.
- Everyone will have access to essentials such as gas, electricity and water as these industries are nationalised and provided on a not for profit basis
- Tax people more in order to maintain the above

A rightist government aims to
- Help people to look after themselves and not burden others (i.e. don’t need to pay for someone else’s education, healthcare or retirement.)
- have little involvement in people’s lives
- privatise companies so people can buy shares, have a wider choice in services, enabling everyone to progress and prosper.
- Help people by cutting taxes and encourage business growth

With the recent announcements at Budget where both people and businesses have something to take away, we think our Government’s position is somewhere in the middle and they are working towards striking a balance between the 2 wings.

To return or not to return our CPF, that is the question.

NMP Chia Yong Yong spoke about CPF at Parliament during the Budget 2015 debate. She is against the growing call for greater flexibility in the withdrawal of CPF funds. Her speech sparked an online debate on whether CPF should be returned to us upon retirement. Hosaybo extracted some of the views and suggestions by netizens on what they think will happen if CPF is returned to us. 

Disclaimer - ‪#‎notwesayone‬ and our Hosaybo writer pleads guilty to #4!

1) We live in a society where it is built by each and everyone’s dream and hard work. Splurging our CPF might implicate our children as they will end up having to support the society.

2) Sure! Take all your money. You just need to give up your citizenship so you don’t burden the rest who choose to stay behind if you squander your money. Who is going to pay for you when you cannot afford your daily meals?

3) HK is planning to follow Singapore’s system because they realised after the retirees get their funds back, they splurge and now the children have to bear the brunt.

4) The trouble is that if nobody force or help you save, most will never save.

5) I have withdrawn my CPF except the Medisave account. You won’t smell your money if you go before your retirement age, but your family will benefit from it.

6) People tend to forget that they can use the CPF money to purchase property and invest in equities that generate income for them which enhance their wealth. Upon reaching 55, if their CPF balance exceeds the minimum sum requirement, they can withdraw the excess balance. The group of people who do not have enough to withdraw tends to be vulnerable as they have no other income source, therefore, it is with good intention that the government provide them with an interest higher than what they can get by depositing in the bank.

7) We find security and comfort in Singapore, our homeland. And this emotion and security is built by community effort by our pioneer generation who worked hard and supported each other. That is why it’s not an easy decision for the government to just say you can have your CPF back when some might spend it unwisely leaving those whom are working hard to bear the bring brunt to support them. If this happens, we will lose our security and comfortable stable lives.

8) Like it or not, the silver tsunami is going to hit the world. And this is something that the world has not come to understand. It could be the next financial crisis. As it is now, Japan being the economy that has the most elderly, is facing this head on. And they are financing it through debt, which means the next generation is paying for it.

9) It remains a fact that we cannot depend on CPF money for retirement. We must continue to save for our retirement

10) So what happens when you use up all your CPF money and you are still alive but unable to work?

Suggestions by Netizens

1) Allow those who have been proven to be frugal and have managed their CPF investments well to withdraw more, but not those with less than 50k and retire at 55

2) Perhaps the retirees can be given financial counselling with the return of their CPF?

And the most epic suggestion.....
3) Go and look for a job that does not pay CPF. All the money is yours and yours alone.