Retiring Retirement - A New Way of Life

Before the invention of the retirement age, people did not think of retiring from work. They would just carry on working until they could no longer do so. Then in 1881, Otto von Bismarck presented the idea of a pension scheme to a newly formed Germany that was premised upon a retirement age when people could choose not to work anymore and be financially taken care of by the state. It was a brilliant political move and soon Britain and Europe were buying into the idea of Bismarck's pension scheme [Read More].

During our colonial times, the British implemented a pension scheme in Singapore and civil servants could comfortably retire at the withdrawal age of 55 and enjoy social security when they no longer have to work. Back then, life was a lot simpler and the cost of living and healthcare was more manageable. With the rapid advances in modern medicine and technology over the last few decades, people are living longer and healthier lives. But, with escalating prices from food to transport, those on pension schemes are finding it harder to cope financially. Today, aged poverty stares in the face of millions of retirees living in rich countries. In the United States, more people are working past the age of 65 [Read More]. 

Pension schemes are turning into fiscal hot potatoes for governments with an ever-growing silver population. The cost of funding state pension schemes is taking its toll on government coffers. In 2013, it was announced that our civil servants will no longer receive pensions [Read More]. While pensions have been removed, the retirement age was not. There is a statutory retirement age that was previously set at 60 and our laws have since moved to provide for a "minimum retirement age" of 62 [Read More]. In other countries, legislations on retirement have either been abolished or amended to  push up the retirement age [Read More]. The writings are on the wall. Retirement has to be retired.

The current working generation has to learn to face up to a future without retirement. In the context of today's high costs of living and healthcare, it is no longer glamorous nor affordable to retire and it is certainly better to be ready to keep working than being sorry about it. Not retiring from work 6seems to have its advantages. Modern scientific research has shown that retirement may in fact be bad for your mental health [Read More]. 

Without retirement, work and leisure will take on new meanings. For the employee, they will learn to take pride in being economically productive despite their age [Read More]. For employers, they will recognise the value of the silver workforce and its capacity to enhance productivity and to meet any labour shortage The responsibility of creating job opportunities for the silver workforce eventually falls on the government's shoulders. Our public sector could take the lead by employing more older workers on fixed or flexible hours and without discounting their wages or CPF contributions because of their age.

As working becomes a long-lasting commitment, attitudes towards planning for regular leisure activities and holidays will change. That long holiday in a dream destination which would have been put off until retirement need no longer be delayed that long. Living the moment will no longer be seen to be just be a mantra. It will be the way of life. For everyone.

Social Conscience - Unlocking Our Positive Energy

These days, there isn't a day that passes without some tragic news. Terrorist attacks, mass killings and homicidal "lone wolves" are making newspaper headlines and every government is beefing up security measures to avert another tragedy. However, even the best security system cannot guarantee absolute protection against the fanatical forces that wreak havoc in the lives of ordinary folks and cause mayhem in peaceful societies around the world. Only recently, we were told to brace ourselves for the day when our security net may be breached (Read HERE). Besides concentrating our efforts on security measures and enhancing civil, police and military vigilance, we need to ask what else we can do in our struggle against the impact of ideological radicalisation and extremism.

In the deep recesses of our subconscious minds lie a powerful inhibitor of wrong-doings. Each time we are about to do something that we shouldn't be doing or hold back from doing something that we should, it makes us feel queasy. When this queasy feeling intensifies, we feel a prevailing sense of guilt or regret and then promise ourselves not to let it happen again. That natural inhibitory reflex inside us is our "conscience" and it also has the power to make us do good. In psychoanalytic theory, our conscience is identified as our "super-ego", that part of our subconsciousness that aims for human perfection.

As people live in communities sharing common values and aspirations, those innate feelings that restrain us from doing harm and spur positive behaviours in troubling situations, develop into a sort of social conscience. A moral compass that we rely upon to navigate through many moral dilemmas in our lives. This social conscience encapsulates social consciousness, the latter being a form of conscious awareness of our society's well-being that is merely knowledge devoid of the energising force of social conscience.

A strong social conscience will move us to respond to our sense of right and wrong. It makes us display our best human values, those that build the best traditions of a mature, peace-loving society. In one online dictionary definition, it is said that if you have a social conscience, you worry about people who are poor, ill, old, etc. and try to help them (Read More). It is more than that. Social conscience can be perceived as a form of positive energy that is sadly diminished in those of us who pursue selfish gains and fanatical idealism. The negative forces of greed, jealousy and hatred can only be subdued through unlocking that positive energy in each of us. In order to do so, we need to develop a strong social conscience that forces our humanitarianism to the surface. And the way to go about is to constantly learn and understand our own humanity and how decent human beings ought to treat each other.

Unlock that positive energy in you and help change the world for the better.

The Businesses of the State

The world is again caught in a state of flux and many changes which are beyond our wildest expectations are taking shape. From ISIS to Brexit, there is a looming picture of gloom and the impacts in socio-political-economic terms are wide and extensive. In the tiny state of Singapore, these tumultuous occurrences taking place in the middle east and Europe are far away from the minds of ordinary Singaporeans. Their immediate worries are about bread and butter issues. 

 

 

The economic slowdown does not seem to recover anytime soon and retrenchment exercises are back. In the early 60's when Singapore was emerging as a developing nation, the state took control of economic development and charted a course which had state-owned enterprises taking the lead in opening up new industries. State capitalism intensified even after Singapore ascended the ranks and became a developed nation in the 80's. In the next 3 decades, the state continued to expand and acquire substantial business interests either directly under its statutory boards or indirectly through state-linked companies. Today, it has become the biggest landlord and business owner. It is also the biggest employer in Singapore and a major international investor with an enviable sovereign wealth fund.

When every citizen is gainfully employed and is able to afford a roof over their head, no one really cares too much about who owns what and how much money is made by the businesses and their management. In the minds of a people deeply accustomed to letting the state take the lead in almost everything, the business of running our economy, including what investments to make overseas, belongs to the state and not the people or even private enterprises. However, as at every critical point in our growth as a nation, past solutions invite serious questions when they no longer appear to be effective in dealing with present day problems. Ever-rising rents and costs of doing business, increasing unemployment, retrenchments and slower economic growth have become recurrent topics in our daily news. When state capitalism in our past as an emerging economy could create jobs, homes, higher incomes and hopes for a better future, these times are considered hard times. A fundamental question relating to market economics has to be asked. Is a state-owned and controlled economy, with its current breadth and depth, still a viable solution for the challenges that Singapore faces, given that the dynamics of doing business today requires greater innovation and creativity?

It is not suggested that state capitalism per se is undesirable. For instance, state capitalism in China has brought sterling economic growth for the Chinese economy in the last 20 years and it would be hard to find any no pure free market economy in the world today. The state is always involved in some economically strategic matters, such as regulating the banking system and lending activities and ownership of what are considered important national assets. However, to the extent that state capitalism is essential in order to protect its people from a wayward economy, the logic falls short when it goes beyond that. Heavy-handed state intervention in free market forces creates serious distortions of the market, generating misinformation and unrealistic expectations. Extensive business interests of the state also unwittingly compromises good political governance when the state chooses to protect its business interests over the rights of the people . Unfair competition may also breed disenchantment and stifle entrepreneurship in areas seen to be dominated by state-linked businesses .  

Is it time for our economy to be driven more by real private enterprises than by state-owned businesses? If so, how can we achieve a better balance between state capitalism and free capitalism? These are questions that need a rethink at higher levels.