A Daunting Job

 

Recently both the ruling party and the opposition party in Singapore disclosed to the public that 2 members of parliament in each of their own camp are having extra marital affair. The man in the ruling party is also the speaker of the house. All 4 submitted their resignations. For the opposition party that only has 10 members in parliament, 2 is a great loss. 

These 2 affairs which coincidentally came to light at the same time stir up controversies and bring some excitement to the otherwise mundane squeaky clean political scene in Singapore.

To be honest I am quite surprised at the lack of tolerance for extra marital affair for our MPs among a large segment of the public. It must be noted though that the opposition party's rationale for sacking the 2 MPs was more because of their dishonesty in denying the affair earlier on. 

I guess in terms of morality telling a lie and cheating on your spouse are both forms of dishonesty. However I view the later as involving feelings and affection, so more like a human weakness. In fact after learning that the speaker of the house was told by the PM to discontinue the affair some time back but fails to do so, signals to me that the love must be quite deep such that he is prepared to sacrifice his career. I also feel that if the MPs have been doing a fine job serving their constituencies they should be allowed to carry on the good work and allowed space to sort out their personal affair over time. I mean if they have divorced their respective spouses, the public opinion would have been different right? 

I really don't think I am too liberal in not holding our lawmakers to higher moral standards. I have a more practical view. In Singapore where it is so difficult to get 'good' people to enter politics expecting our lawmakers to be saints and behaving like one throughout only makes entering politics daunting.

"It is getting more difficult to persuade people who are dedicated, able and honest to join politics and serve Singapore, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong...... It is a national problem. If the PAP cannot persuade honest, dedicated and capable people to serve Singaporeans, and neither can the opposition, it will have grave consequences for everyone," he said on Saturday (Aug 17) 2019

Better to be Rich!

 

Today's ST runs a very interesting article from Bloomberg describing with humour how billionaires and the ultra rich are privatising specialised services. It gives an example of renowned chefs quitting the stress of running their restaurants to become private chefs of the ultra rich. It applies to other professionals as well including fund managers, nurses, nannies and veterinarians.

While "85% of the world's humans live on US$30 a day.....Forbes says that millionaires (estimated to be 62.5 million ) control about a quarter of the world's US$431 trillion total wealth. That's roughly US$105 trillion, more than the combined GNP of the US, China, Japan, Germany and India.....The richest 25 families in the world alone control more than US$1.5 trillion).The article also mentions about the mushrooming 8 thousand family offices in the world including 1,100 in Singapore.

In Singapore it is quite common for those who can afford it to engage a confinement nanny for one month after giving birth to a child. The experienced nanny will provide good care of the new born baby and mum, giving the mum a restful month to recuperate. A one month stint of a confinement nanny is about S$4 to 5 thousands. 

Recently my daughter engaged one confinement nanny for a month. The nanny has worked for her friends and known to be very efficient. The nanny related to my daughter about past engagements when she worked for rich mums for 4 months at a go occasionally accompanying the mothers for overseas holidays too! With the increasing numbers of the ultra rich coming to Singapore, I can envisage this nanny being "privatised" by some family offices such that ordinary netizens would not have access to her sterling services! The article describes it as "the super-rich...can afford to wall them  (the experts) away from the rest of the world".

Indeed in my mind these ultra rich people are living like royalties of the past. No wonder the article describes them as "people so wealthy their families can operate as virtual fiefdoms".

In a comical ending the article narrated that the renowned chef quitted after 6 months working for Richard Branson as making Shephard Pie (his boss' favourite) will not land him far in the culinary hall of fame.

"Too much comfort leads to heedlessness"

 

"Too much comfort leads to heedlessness"- heard this statement in a podcast. It is an interesting and mind provoking statement. 

Heedlessness in my mind is being unaware or oblivious. Living heedlessly to me is like living with little awareness of the state one is in externally and internally. 

When I search the web I came across many topics about comfort leading to complacency. The most striking being Derek Doepker's : "Comfort leads to complacency. Complacency is the cause of stagnation. Stagnation in your life leads to bed sores on your soul,"

A person who has a smooth sailing life has little opportunities to overcome difficulties and may not be as resilient as one who grows up in more challenging circumstances. They may also be less appreciative of the world around them. For example a child whose parents cannot afford to own a house and is forced to live with relatives will truly appreciate a home no matter how small and basic once the family manages to own one. Compare it with another child who takes for granted having his own room and sees no cause to be glad for it.

We often chase comfort and pleasantness and push away negative experiences. However if we accept and live with the negative emotions that arise from challenging circumstances, we grow stronger and feel more confident. In fact we may even want to seek out the next challenge to spurt our growth. For instance when tasked to do something really stressful , for example when engaging a very difficult client, a  retiree therapist like me would feel "Oh No why am I doing this?" in between brainstorming how best to handle the case. However the satisfaction from a fruitful session is rewarding and can inspire one to do more.

Similarly a person who engages in addictive pursuits to suppress the unpleasant voidness or emptiness they feel inside will just be kicking the can down the road. Being aware of the emotion and accepting it as part and parcel of being human is a form of catharsis leading to initiatives to manage it better.

Looks like embracing discomfort is part and parcel of growing and living a richer life.