I watched the local film Singapore Dreaming today (www.SingaporeDreaming.com). I thought it was a pretty good show, and the best part about it is that the show is pretty realistic; there are really a lot of people in Singapore who live somewhat like that, believe it or not! Well, I don't mean to say entire families are dysfunctional, but the language and the characters are rather real. As in, watching the show for the first time would be rather shocking for a foreigner, especially if he is American, but to the local it wouldn't be a big deal because you see people like that pretty often.
The show is all about the Singapore Dream. I suppose the title Singapore Dreaming actually comes from California Dreaming, which is supposedly a great song but I've never heard it so I can't comment. I know people have been quite inspired to live in california after listening to that song, but I'm not quite sure they will get the same impression after watching Singapore Dreaming.
What exactly is the Singapore Dream? The American Dream is supposedly "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" but we all know that really it is to make lots and lots of money. What you subsequently do with all that money or achieve life liberty and yadda yadda is really inconseqential, but presumably one would live rather comfortably after getting a lot of money. The Singapore Dream, quite simply put, is the mindless pursuit of the 5 C's: Credit card, Car, Condo, Country club and Cash. At one point in time some people say that it's Career instead of Cash. But I think its quite clear in today's context that in Asia you go more places with lots of Cash than with a high flying career. Anyway, why do I say mindless pursuit? As you can somewhat infer in the movie, the goal is really the 5 C's, and people go completely broke and in debt just for the sake of achieving these 5C's, and often don't live comfortably at all. Which is completely different than the American Dream. But wait a minute, isn't one of the C's Cash? How can you get the 5C's without cash? In a minute I'll give you a lowdown on the 5C's and then you might understand why. Basically in Asia its not what you have, but what you appear to have....
Here's a lowdown on the 5C's:
1. C is for Credit Card. Everybody has a credit card in the US, but in Singapore you need to make $30,000 a year for a regular card, $45,000-60,000 for a gold card and $80,000-$90,000 for a platinum card (though the latter 2 have been lowered for many cards). So having a platinum card is (or rather used to, but there are still some exclusive cards out there) a sign that you've made it, even if you don't have much reason to get one. For expatriates the limits are higher, so an expatriate with a credit card must be quite attractive to local girls, though he might just be a bum who got his card for free in the US.....
2. C is for Car. And not just any car. Preferrably a Mercedes or BMW for the older folks and sporty cars (or upgraded cheap cars) for the younger ones. Cars cost a bomb in Singapore, and car loans are the biggest rip off here than anywhere else in the world, in fact it borders on extortion! Sure there are situations where you would absolutely need a car like when you have a family and all. But with public transport and taxis being rather affordable on a small island, it doesn't make sense to get a car when you are young single and can't afford to pay 3.5% on the principal for 10 yrs. and you have to keep paying the interest EVEN if you subsequently have enough to pay in full.
3. C is for Country Club. This one is a real bummer. You really shouldn't join a country club unless a) you like golf a lot or b) you are really rich. Country club memberships cost tens of thousands, and there isn't really much to do there except for the world-class golf resorts. Some people say networking, but seriously, the rich and famous aren't gonna network with an almost broke guy who just managed to save enough for membership. They treat such people as pariahs who make the queue at the buffet longer....
4. C is for Condo. Housing is expensive in Singapore except for public housing. The new / upgraded HDB point blocks are quite decent and cheap, but older-style long and wide HDB flats are an architectural disaster. Often lifts don't stop on every floor and all. And the long corridors meant for communal living are a privacy nightmare. Not to mention all the inconsiderate people who do inconsiderate things on the corridor such as throwing killer litter off the parapet. Condos appear much more desirable but the newer ones actually have very little floor space, and the security guards which are costly to hire are actually more like parking wardens. But I guess I could see why condo is important; housing is important everywhere in the world.
5. C is for cash. Or rather appearing to have a lot of cash by offering to buy drinks, offering to pay for meals (qia), and of course flashing that platinum card in front of the babes. But really all you need is a steady stream of credit lines, because once you've achieved items 1-4 you'd probably want to upgrade items 1-4 so you never really have enough cash to even live comfortably. Such is the nature of the mindless pursuit.
I guess locals wouldn't want to watch the show very much. TV dramas portray the same scenarios, but the characters are exaggerated, not real so we just laugh it off. Singaporeans hate to look at themselves in the mirror, because once reality hits you it gets rather embarrassing. Singaporeans just choose to follow the general mentality of the herd, and belief that the herd is World-Class society and so such a path will lead to eternal happiness.
And what exactly is World-Class? I mean the world is so big and there are different "classes" or standards everywhere.... Other countries who really aspire for greater things want to be the best in the world, to be number one and not to just be in the same class as everybody else. The term "world-class" hints of some kind of herd mentality, to some extent mimicking what others have yet never really achieving it or understanding the purpose behind those achievements. It's not difficult to be this kind of "world-class". Singapore is rather rich compared to many developing countries, and so by simply buying over all the goods and technology from the US and others, we can easily become "world-class"? Or not?
Singapore dreaming is just wishful thinking. If anyone thought that everybody can be very happy just mindlessly pursuing the 5C's, he'd probably only find peace when he hit's the 6th C, the coffin..... (that was from the movie by the way.)
