<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>One man's decision to remain single
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HAVE worked hard at my studies. I did mandatory national service and then started work, realising women in Singapore have progressed much more quickly. With ageing parents to take care of, I made financial plans adequate to cover expenses and set aside emergency cash for major illnesses or job loss.
The women I dated were highly paid executives and chose to spend on luxuries rather than set money aside for the family.
Having women in the workforce has greatly boosted the country's gross domestic product, but the plan has worked so well that the cost of living has skyrocketed.
I am resigned to the fact that I cannot plan financially for a family. I am 33 years old and if I had a son now, I would have to bear his expenses and the cost of education until he was 24 (including NS), and I would be 57. I am certain working life will be no easier in future, with ever-increasing competition from the younger generation and new citizens.
Of course, there is the argument that my son could take a study loan. But if he were to take six years to repay his loan, he would be 30 and repeating the same cycle as me.
Just one generation ago, my uncles and aunt did not have that worry. A public flat then cost $10,000 and everyone could afford that without a hefty loan.
Are we becoming too money-minded at the cost of our social well-being?
Christopher Chow
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HAVE worked hard at my studies. I did mandatory national service and then started work, realising women in Singapore have progressed much more quickly. With ageing parents to take care of, I made financial plans adequate to cover expenses and set aside emergency cash for major illnesses or job loss.
The women I dated were highly paid executives and chose to spend on luxuries rather than set money aside for the family.
Having women in the workforce has greatly boosted the country's gross domestic product, but the plan has worked so well that the cost of living has skyrocketed.
I am resigned to the fact that I cannot plan financially for a family. I am 33 years old and if I had a son now, I would have to bear his expenses and the cost of education until he was 24 (including NS), and I would be 57. I am certain working life will be no easier in future, with ever-increasing competition from the younger generation and new citizens.
Of course, there is the argument that my son could take a study loan. But if he were to take six years to repay his loan, he would be 30 and repeating the same cycle as me.
Just one generation ago, my uncles and aunt did not have that worry. A public flat then cost $10,000 and everyone could afford that without a hefty loan.
Are we becoming too money-minded at the cost of our social well-being?
Christopher Chow
