It's only comprehensible for Humans to feel this way. We are not immune to the successes of others - those born rich who flaunts their wealth & those whom had been intelligent enough to take risks to seize opportunities & succeeded. But this is Singapore, & each had been given the opportunities of life, thanks to our visionary founding & forefathers whom had sacrificed so much, so much, in a world in turmoil during their era, & gave us our todays, from cradle to grave thru sharing & ingenious re-distribution of wealth for everyone.
How much is enough to make one happy? 1 million dollars, 1 billion, 1 trillion?
In truth, may each just sit down & CALCULATE in simple maths, as Singapore had EVIDENTLY proven each year our MOE teaching standards had proven consistently - 98% passes at GCE 'O' levels. Food, water, shelter, are the basics for the sustainability of life. How much in dollars does that cost in Singapore? For the young living in Spore is almost nothing. For the married & with kids, it will not cost more than 30% of one's salary, based upon incentives we taxpayers had funded for every citizen such as child, education, transportation & HDB housing, there's still 70% of one's salary left over, let alone combined between the couples.
None can live without recreation, but how much does recreation costs in Singapore? A cup of coffee was only 30cts during youthful LKY time, now $1.20cts, but so had our salary increased- from $300/mth to avg $3,000/mth.
Is 30% of our salary deducted for basic necessities, leaving 70% not enough for recreation & savings?
Do we need cars, when we have efficient bus & mrt transportations in a small country?
Do we need trips to see the wonders of the world in Europe, when wonders of world lays within our backyard - the Buddhist shrines of Cambodia, the Great Walls of China, the idyllic isles of Indonesia such as Bali, the snow capped mountains of New Zealand, etc?
At the end of day, each whom are dissatisfied with life, must ask what is that they really want without using brains or brawns, & how they can achieve it thru HONEST endeavours that hurt or harm no one. Buying that 4D ticket may help, as some say - to have a ticket is hope, without it there is no hope, BUT others will say - if you don't gamble, you had already won.
To desire for more is only natural, but when one had achieved such, what is next in life without challenges & pride - a motivational factor to live - in overcoming such? And then one will ultimately realized finally - that they were better off at the start point, with no stress or pressure, than to strive & hunger for the illusive more when all had been provided at the start point....
The fisherman tale.
One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman.
“You should be working rather than lying on the beach!”
The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”
“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!”
“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.
The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said.
“And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.
The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!”
Once again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I’m doing right now?”