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Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012
Money talks this week.
Big money or, $3.4 million to be exact.
That's the sum of Monday's Toto jackpot, which has gone to one lucky winner.
And the news has set many abuzz in the heartland, as this columnist has learnt from her jaunts around Tiong Bahru and Serangoon.
Most are curious about who the winner is. A man or a woman? A Singaporean or a foreigner? Young or old?
They are also abuzz with hope that they could strike it rich one day.
And that is what I think the lottery really is to many heartlanders.
It's hope. In their dreams maybe, but hope nevertheless.
Hope for a sum that many may never be able to earn in their entire lifespan.
Except this heartland aunty found out that this hope seems to have been... shall we say, tempered, by the reality of living in Singapore these days.
Three friends are mulling over the topic at a fast food outlet in Tiong Bahru Plaza.
That's where the winning ticket - a QuickPick System 7 entry - was bought, at the mall's FairPrice outlet.
Miss Alesia Chai, 30, a salesgirl who works in a shoe shop, asks: "Eh, you are a reporter? So you know who won the prize?"
Her boyfriend, Mr Gabriel Lim, 31, is more curious "if the winner is rich or poor".
The banquet sales executive says: "I wonder if this person's life has changed overnight.
"Does this mean he or she does not need to continue working? Times like this, I wish I was living this dream."
The couple's friend, Mr Leow Chee Ming, 30, laughs at Mr Lim's statement.
He takes a bite of his burger and says in Mandarin: "Well, if I won the prize, I'd buy you a really expensive meal instead of this burger, and then guess what, I'd continue to go back to work."
Mr Leow, who is a store manager in a hypermarket, adds: "I don't think $1m, or even $3m, is a lot of money these days.
"A million dollars these days can maybe buy you only a new executive condominium (EC) unit."
He is making reference to the recent news that a double-storey EC penthouse at 1 Canberra in Yishun sold for $1.61 million. It set a record for new ECs.
Indeed.
What can $1m buy you? Or, in the case of the most recent winner, what can $3m buy you?
Coincidentally, someone I know was one of five winners who shared the Toto jackpot of $5m in May. The money, says a mutual friend, is still "sitting in her bank" because the winner "does not know what to do with it".
The winner has not quit her job, even though she has more money now than her boss will see in his lifetime. She still readily submits to his dressing downs, relates Mr Lester Koh, 36, a business development executive.
At last count, 36 of the 38 heartlanders I approached are adamant that their lifestyle would not change if they won the money.
Only two of them say otherwise.
I feel some sadness as I listen to one of them, Mr Tan Yong Seng, 47, a logistics clerk, explain his hope for a better life.
He is the sole breadwinner for his family of eight, which includes his elderly mother and grandmother. He says in Cantonese: "I have been working all my life, and there have been times when I get so fed up at work but I just can't resign.
"Having the money can relieve us of our financial tightness and maybe, we can even finally go for a short holiday to Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok."
For fruit seller Ronnie Oh, 56, life will go on as usual. He says: "One million put in bank earn interest also not enough (sic) to live a luxurious life.
"Maybe I can save half and use the other half to invest in some shares. But how long can a million dollars last?"
Others generally say the same thing: You can't retire with a mere couple of million dollars.
And that is a sobering thought.
While it used to mean a great deal to be a millionaire, the term has little meaning these days because people no longer feel that that kind of money would make a real impact.
And if you have a family, like this heartland aunty, you have to worry and look ahead.
I would like to be able to send my children for education without having to rely on external help, like scholarships.
Right now, we live in an executive HDB flat. But if I can help it, I'd like to be able to buy for both children their own starter homes.
Quitting my job - even if I strike $3m - will not help me realise that.
So, it's back to this laptop.
And my Ground Zero jaunts.
And of course, saving up for the kids.
