I previously helped a person to post here, this is another writing from this person via email:
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;" valign="top">Hey UY
here is another story from me
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;" valign="top">Hey UY
here is another story from me
Sinkapoor’s Decline – A True Story
I just visited the Katong area. The ‘real district 15’. The oo-lui district 15, Tanjong Rhu-Meyer Road-Mountbatten area. Wah lao, these are Real Houses sia.
I first saw them in the 1970s.
My parents took my brother there to look at Chung Cheng, so I tagged along reluctantly. As a kid, I was damn scared of Chinese schools because the teachers were famous for being fierce.
Those houses got real trees, got real porch that whole extended family can stand on and take photo, got real driveway that you can drive along, got real Chinese stone table with stone seats outside, got real swing, got real courtyard, got real balcony (those old style ones big enough to play badminton on), got real Chinese stone lion outside the house, got real little covered shed located some distance from house to park car underneath.
Readers, u know what I toking about? If you are young and non-elite, if you grew up in a Lesser Mortals’ HDB region, you may never have seen that kind of house.
I’m not talking about the Westernized people’s residences at Nassim Road or Caldecott Hill. I wasn’t brought up to aspire to angmoh houses. Especially now, all that angmoh glass-box houses, no privacy one.
I mean those old-style Chinese houses for prosperous Chinese businessmen in Nanyang. The kind that don’t have glass wall for the hall, but got metal sliding grille. The kind that use the small old-style mosaic tile for the floor. The kind that got the Chinese-style window grille, old style switch that you flick one, KDK fans from the ceiling. That is a house. That’s what I was brought up to think as a Chinese.
The key word from last paragraph is Prosperous.
Last time huh, if you work hard, have some friends or a few connections to help (not say high end connections lah, just some kang tao), got some brains or entrepreneurial mindset, after 20 years you can have this kind of house.
When I walked past, I never thought these people are gods. Like Chung Cheng high school, these people are inspirations for our Chinese values. Hard work, dilligence, self-restraint, deferred gratification, honesty and commitment = prosperity. Comfortable life, family, relax on holidays.
Now? Bu Ke Neng! (This is a reference to an old laundry ad in the 1980s, hehheh)
Social and income equality super high. The Greater Immortals have enjoyed their fengshen yanyi. Lesser mortals like us, how to aspire even to landed property? Can afford a basic HDB already tou1 xiao4. Can buy a freehold condo, fall on knees and thank heaven thank earth. Work 40 years also not sure of anything. Everything must compete with almost 7 billion people. Connections must run all the way to Singapore Cricket Club and Raffles Marina.
WTF!!!!
I think about one of my uncles, a doctor in Malaysia.
(actually he’s not my uncle but forgot the chim chim descriptors in Chinese, so luckily can use ang moh word Uncle as a cover all descriptor)
This uncle is a standard small-town doctor in an ulu place. His patients don’t pay him a lot. He has no connections and doesn’t por any lampars. He works, then goes home to relax. Very ordinary Malaysian Chinese, family oriented guy without tons of friends.
He is damn risk adverse. Never do risky investments, never ‘wan2 gu3 piao4’.
Ei, but his house damn tua.
Got land, got courtyard, got lots of fruit trees, got separate wings, you can actually walk from one part of a room to another part of the same room. You can actually stride across the bathrooms. Kids can actually sprint across the hall. Got multiple storerooms that you can walk inside.
The bedroom my family slept in when we visited him is much bigger than your average Shoebox apartment in Singapore. His hall is bigger than most HDBs now.
Yes, I understand the old mantra. Yes, under PAP Singapore was transformed from 18<sup>th</sup> Level of Hell in 1965 to 9<sup>th</sup> Level of Heaven in 1984. I don’t want to dispute the Conservative lao-bu-si argument.
But since 1984, PAP got improve our living standard meh? 90% of the population go downhill, 9% keeping pace with inflation due to Running Dog Civil Servant salaries, 1% elite become super rich.
The HDB Lesser Mortals, are they really stupid and brainwashed, or are they just Ah Qs?
</td></tr></tbody></table>I just visited the Katong area. The ‘real district 15’. The oo-lui district 15, Tanjong Rhu-Meyer Road-Mountbatten area. Wah lao, these are Real Houses sia.
I first saw them in the 1970s.
My parents took my brother there to look at Chung Cheng, so I tagged along reluctantly. As a kid, I was damn scared of Chinese schools because the teachers were famous for being fierce.
Those houses got real trees, got real porch that whole extended family can stand on and take photo, got real driveway that you can drive along, got real Chinese stone table with stone seats outside, got real swing, got real courtyard, got real balcony (those old style ones big enough to play badminton on), got real Chinese stone lion outside the house, got real little covered shed located some distance from house to park car underneath.
Readers, u know what I toking about? If you are young and non-elite, if you grew up in a Lesser Mortals’ HDB region, you may never have seen that kind of house.
I’m not talking about the Westernized people’s residences at Nassim Road or Caldecott Hill. I wasn’t brought up to aspire to angmoh houses. Especially now, all that angmoh glass-box houses, no privacy one.
I mean those old-style Chinese houses for prosperous Chinese businessmen in Nanyang. The kind that don’t have glass wall for the hall, but got metal sliding grille. The kind that use the small old-style mosaic tile for the floor. The kind that got the Chinese-style window grille, old style switch that you flick one, KDK fans from the ceiling. That is a house. That’s what I was brought up to think as a Chinese.
The key word from last paragraph is Prosperous.
Last time huh, if you work hard, have some friends or a few connections to help (not say high end connections lah, just some kang tao), got some brains or entrepreneurial mindset, after 20 years you can have this kind of house.
When I walked past, I never thought these people are gods. Like Chung Cheng high school, these people are inspirations for our Chinese values. Hard work, dilligence, self-restraint, deferred gratification, honesty and commitment = prosperity. Comfortable life, family, relax on holidays.
Now? Bu Ke Neng! (This is a reference to an old laundry ad in the 1980s, hehheh)
Social and income equality super high. The Greater Immortals have enjoyed their fengshen yanyi. Lesser mortals like us, how to aspire even to landed property? Can afford a basic HDB already tou1 xiao4. Can buy a freehold condo, fall on knees and thank heaven thank earth. Work 40 years also not sure of anything. Everything must compete with almost 7 billion people. Connections must run all the way to Singapore Cricket Club and Raffles Marina.
WTF!!!!
I think about one of my uncles, a doctor in Malaysia.
(actually he’s not my uncle but forgot the chim chim descriptors in Chinese, so luckily can use ang moh word Uncle as a cover all descriptor)
This uncle is a standard small-town doctor in an ulu place. His patients don’t pay him a lot. He has no connections and doesn’t por any lampars. He works, then goes home to relax. Very ordinary Malaysian Chinese, family oriented guy without tons of friends.
He is damn risk adverse. Never do risky investments, never ‘wan2 gu3 piao4’.
Ei, but his house damn tua.
Got land, got courtyard, got lots of fruit trees, got separate wings, you can actually walk from one part of a room to another part of the same room. You can actually stride across the bathrooms. Kids can actually sprint across the hall. Got multiple storerooms that you can walk inside.
The bedroom my family slept in when we visited him is much bigger than your average Shoebox apartment in Singapore. His hall is bigger than most HDBs now.
Yes, I understand the old mantra. Yes, under PAP Singapore was transformed from 18<sup>th</sup> Level of Hell in 1965 to 9<sup>th</sup> Level of Heaven in 1984. I don’t want to dispute the Conservative lao-bu-si argument.
But since 1984, PAP got improve our living standard meh? 90% of the population go downhill, 9% keeping pace with inflation due to Running Dog Civil Servant salaries, 1% elite become super rich.
The HDB Lesser Mortals, are they really stupid and brainwashed, or are they just Ah Qs?
... rid dat root of ze prob ... 
