A father's pain

[JadedBeach]

it's best to have adequate money for old age. i don't think anyone should depend on their kids to provide them with quality living / attention. it doesn't work this way anymore.


beach

Today I went to visit an old friend in Tan Tock Seng

He is very sick and it took so much energy just to put one coherent sentence together

No one has visited him in one week and he held my hand very tight

He cried. He wondered what he had done wrong.

He came from a poor background like me and he struggled to put his two children through university.

One of them has got married and migrated to UK and another is still here.

But the two youngsters abandoned their father who have worked so hard to educate them

What kind of society is this? When society is too absorbed in material growth at the expense of other values, more and more of these will surface.

Singapore is doomed if our youngsters are like that

If you are a youngster stumbling on to this site or a regular, please think about how you can give back to your parents, no matter how imperfect they are

Don't think about your wealth and status in society. These things are meaningless. Treat your parents well. Even if you can't spend money on them, give them a foot massage by yourself, it will make them feel good

Please be good to your parents

 

[lolabunny]

Your view is not wrong, but it is just so xtian, so ang moh ....

For ang moh, many people would have thrown their children out of the house once they turned adulthood as early as 16(?). The parents can then focus on their retirement savings.

In this fake ang moh place, children expect their parents to feed them through the university (some overseas) and their marriages, and after they fully settled down as late as 30(?), they turn around and tell the parents your story.

Yah your view is very angmoh.

Recently I was reading the news about the Bernard Madoff case where some 80-something year old guy and his wife had to move out of the nursing home they were in because they lost their life savings.

They had two daughters and somehow, "moving in with them was not an option". I was like WTF??? You have two daughter, you don't inconvenience them all these years, now you lose your life savings and "moving in with them was not an option"???

How can this be?? Only ang mohs think like that!! This guy and his wife is so damn old. They did bring their kids up right? How long more can they live? How much more can they eat?

As an Asian, I can't do that. Even when my aunt or uncle is ill, not just my parents, if I could (was free), and I did, I would bring them personally to see a doctor.

Afterall, you don't just want to give money, you want to talk to the doctor and know what's wrong with your "old folks".

I think it's just basic human decency to show concern for your aged relatives.
My relatives are poor, so trying to take care of them here and there can be difficult. I do have cousins, but they are mostly in blue collar jobs. So I try to help once in a while.

Even though people say that healthcare is expensive in sgp, I think it can't be more expensive than a branded handbag can it?

 

[JadedBeach]

it really depends on the type of illness and the brand of the handbag.

if one suffers from a long-drawn terminal illness such as cancer, healthcare could easily amount to 200 - 300K. a hermes croc birkin might be around there...

children are not obligated to care for their parents. filial piety is always a bonus but we should not take that for granted. instead of depending on one's children, it is always better to save up for old age.


juz beach

Yah your view is very angmoh.

Recently I was reading the news about the Bernard Madoff case where some 80-something year old guy and his wife had to move out of the nursing home they were in because they lost their life savings.

They had two daughters and somehow, "moving in with them was not an option". I was like WTF??? You have two daughter, you don't inconvenience them all these years, now you lose your life savings and "moving in with them was not an option"???

How can this be?? Only ang mohs think like that!! This guy and his wife is so damn old. They did bring their kids up right? How long more can they live? How much more can they eat?

As an Asian, I can't do that. Even when my aunt or uncle is ill, not just my parents, if I could (was free), and I did, I would bring them personally to see a doctor.

Afterall, you don't just want to give money, you want to talk to the doctor and know what's wrong with your "old folks".

I think it's just basic human decency to show concern for your aged relatives.
My relatives are poor, so trying to take care of them here and there can be difficult. I do have cousins, but they are mostly in blue collar jobs. So I try to help once in a while.

Even though people say that healthcare is expensive in sgp, I think it can't be more expensive than a branded handbag can it?