Rant: A Rocky Road Ahead: The Tough Realities for today’s young Car Enthusiasts in Singapore

[RadX]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:22 AM, Fcw75 said:

Same clothing? 🤣

Why he siong you? You same age as him leh. 🤪

🤑 trouble maker lo

 

same clothing as he wore the same yellow shirt...walau you boomer ah...England no understand...no wonder @inlinesix like to educate u.....lucky not fornicate

[Soya]

On 5/19/2023 at 2:42 PM, Mockngbrd said:

Simi dynamics? EV all elephants/hippos in weight. Their only party trick is 0-100 sprints. 

Wait hantu scold u 

[RadX]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:52 AM, Soya said:

Wait hantu scold u 

Is ok

 

let these berries steam ownself😂

[Unfazed]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:43 PM, serenade said:

@Unfazed

2. You yourself has said you worked hard saved hard to get to where you are. How would feel if your children are exactly like you but still have difficulty owning even the bare basics of things? It's not just cars.

>>> I have travelled to many countries for work. SG is fair because of the meritocratic system. There is no artificial barrier put up against an individual's progress because he is of minority race, religion or born in a different country. If my own children are willing to work harder than their peers and FTs, they will have opportunities to own premier properties.  

>>> A car should never be an entitlement given our reliable public transport. Affordable housing, probably. But then everyone has a different expectation of "affordable". To some it means pay off the mortgage in twenty years. To others, a generation to pay is still OK. There is a choice of cake sizes to set the threshold of pain. A new 3-room in Canberra will be affordable. A 5-room in Queenstown is less affordable but may result in less commuting time to work. To some, a 5-room in Queenstown is still affordable overall when a condo next door costs few times more than the HDB, and smaller floor area. It comes to the individual knowing what they want, and what they are willing to sacrifice to own it. Will the YP sacrifice 10 years of overseas holidays to own a bigger home? If yes, good for them as they are on the right path towards resilience and got their priorities right.     

3. YP are not like what you describe them to be. You may see that in your children but that doesn't mean YP are generally like that. I do see flaws but I also see the drive in certain sense. Let's not label them too soon. Healthy competition is fine but we have to ask ourselves if the paying field is fair and level. Yes, we may say nothing is fair but if there is no fairness in competition, then there is nothing meaningful to talk about. And like what others here said, suck it up.

>>> I was wrong to generalise. If a YP from any background has the determination to earn their wants, and not see it as an entitlement, kudos to them. I wish more are like them. Know what they want, then take responsibility to work towards it, even if it means to work overseas at hardship locations to further their careers. Too many YP from my circle of upper-middle class friends are taking the easy route. Work in comfortable get-by jobs, knowing that their parents' valuable private properties will eventually go to them. I worry for them, and the following generations. Will they know how to bounce back and fight when the hard knocks come?

4. If your children are like what you described them, educate them regardless if it goes into their mindset. At the very least, you did your part as a parent. The rest is up to them. But perhaps let's also ask why do they have this mindset? Is it an issue of lifestyle or developed into a helplessness of just-give-up phenomenon? Let them be posted abroad like you said and score their own merits. Their expectations with aspirations will not meet if they are not on solid ground.

>>> My two adult children got the same upbringing and given the same education. One is motivated to work hard, spends sensibly, buys her own expensive bags/watches and volunteers with the less fortunate. The other one works in a get by job, thinks luxury and a soft life are entitlements. It is the individual, shaped by peers that determine attitudes towards livelihood. Both got a head start in life by virtue of their nationality and safety net which I provided. One took the opportunity to soar, the other took the head start as a crutch. The good times of the last 40 years has made a generation soft.

>>> I see YP supporting and working gig economy jobs like GRAB food delivery.  Just now I saw two YP in their prime ages delivering food. These jobs do not pay CPF, have no medical nor insurance benefits. Unless they are savvy and disciplined enough to buy own insurance, contribute CPF and save for their later years now,  they will be short of funds to care for themselves in old age. GRAB delivery is great for part-time extra earnings, a school boy to earn extra pocket money, a retiree wanting more. But for those in their prime years, work at an easy job with "own time"? Hmm.  I encountered a local YP, a lady. She works as a "spider-man" on jobs requiring her to dangle at  height at the end of a rope, to clean or paint buildings. She has my respect and admiration for willing to work in uncomfortable conditions for the deservedly high pay. To me, she is a successful person who rose from a humble background.    

 Where is all this leading to? We (myself included) have to instill into the YP whom we can influence that they have to work and be prudent for what they want. If you want something, work for it. The one who is able to soar above the competition (local and FT) reaps the rewards. Look at the recent GCB purchases by young technopreneurs from Razer, GRAB, Tik-tok. Hyflux's Olivia Lum made it too, but stumbled when she got greedy. 

You are absolutely right about the meritocracy that nothing can stop an individual progress. I am and still proud of our multiracial management that even my teacher migrated many years ago still agreed today even though she does not like the way this place is being run now. But in term of leveling the playing field which leads to fairness, I shall keep to my own reservations if FT really complement us or compete with us, cos I have seen for myself the different situations. I do agree the positive FT are hungry and eager and that gives them an advantage which is totally fine.

Yes, a car should never be an entitlement, period, not in any era. It is the correct mindset that one should cultivate, even for needs like a house. We should strive to work hard even for needs, not to mention wants. But the question many are concern here is the at rate of things are increasing and the effectiveness behind of the policy. The COE today with the various CATs no longer draws the clear line between mass and luxury, if you know what we mean. And I think it is right for anyone to question these effectiveness. Not for one to argue about if one should be entitled to own a car. A bread and butter bread should not be labelled as a luxury. We can surely have a fair system, just that we want to have it or not. And that is what many are discussing about in a healthy way. Not every passion needs to go down that ultra-rich route. We just become overly elitism over time that's all, but do we want to move in that direction or be known as an inclusive society?

Yes a house in our suburbs today are still more affordable than one near strategic locations. Like I mentioned, the word affordability is an understatement nowadays, just that one still has to be debt-ridden till a later age that is all. I am willing to give a higher loan and allow a longer repayment period which can also qualify that affordability bracket, even when one is willing to settle for less by moving to the end of tip to lamp post number 1 (Tuas? 😉), if you know what I mean. Certain things need not have to increase at such alarming rate but is one income increasing even at comfortable level?  

No worries, please do not say you are wrong to generalise in any sense, we are here to share and discuss amicably. My son in his poly phase isn't the least keen in cars as well but he agrees on the part that he should still take his CL3 as a skill, just that he can take it in his own relaxing pace, he even hopes he can have the opportunity to take CL3 during his NS in order to save that amount of cost. There are pockets of time where I sense huge generation or rather communication gap. He just has not reached a stage yet where having a car may compliment his life at that stage of time, but still a car is not an entitlement. A 1000cc or a kei boxy van-like car would be of great convenience though should he have a small family in future which he could bring his family out to places where not having a car would be hard to reach. I love bringing him to farms and nature park when he is small. But I also realise now or in future his lifestyle maybe very different from my thoughts, that is where generation gap comes into, I am wrong too. When it comes to inheritance, yes I agree with you that we fall into a situation now that my parents can leave me with something and we are still in an era where we can still leave something for our next gen, and that is sometimes the crux of the problem where many are small families today. But let's not forget any family that has 2 or more children, the inheritance just gets thinner, but that is another topic another domestic family affair that many can argue until dunno how many cows or COEs did not return.

Thank for sharing you have 2 kids and sorry to hear you get to see and compare the differences, I hope it is just more of a laid-back style you see in the other, but I cannot comment more. I just hope the more motivated one strikes a balance with her materials possessions, though it is good that one is motivated in order to gain his or her own materials. I only have one which our G probably will say I am not doing my job to even have a breakeven so I am guilty of our fertility rate (maybe due to I stay in an old house which is not small 🙃). I am also motivated in my own sense to buy something within my means. No mercs never mind, boxy ugly reliable car can-already cos I want my slow family road trips to places like Camerons or natural beaches, but I guess that is alot to ask for in our local context. TS started this thread with emotion and it also leads me to think I will also be sad if I see my bread and butter car going to scrap yard when it is still running well but left without a choice.

I encourage my kid to work after his O levels, and he should find something closely connected to the ground so that he sees the "ugly" side of life and it is sad that our society reeks of elitism which he sees for himself. He knows he is fortunate in some way that at least his laptop is brand new and his parents are willing to come up with a slightly higher budget for something he wants rather than needs, but there will always be a gap which I feel he did not went through or experience hardship enough. Well, maybe it is a cycle where due to different era, one cannot choose to live through all cycles in order to experience enough. I am born with black white TV era but not without electricity. My mum went through the post-war era but lived in a kampung with no electricity with soil as floor in their attap house.

For Hyflux for example, the mismanagement is there, their heydays was their water treating technology in the right place right time which became sought-after, but this tells us heydays are not forever.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Unfazed