Source : Today - 18 Sep 2008
Young adults are placing their parents on the waiting list because they don’t want to live with them
TWO current issues should raise some concern among Singaporeans.
First, the tripling in the number of applications for HDB rental flats, as highlighted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally, and second, news that more families are facing difficulty paying their electricity bills. Are these signs of rising poverty? Or, rather, issues that if not adequately tackled will expose the community to other social ills?
In light of inflation rates, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that we are a poorer society. But the HDB stories are more varied than we think and not simply of applicants being unable to buy a flat, hence being left with no choice but to rent. There are cases of opportunists cashing in on soaring property prices and biding their time for the next kill. Some HDB flat owners have furnished palaces inside their abodes. It is a legitimate matter of choice.
What is disturbing, though, are cases of young adults placing their parents on the waiting list because they no longer want to live with them in the same house or apartment.
Apparently, this number is rising and signals a fundamental change in our social structure and values.
The issue is not whether it is right or wrong that children should no longer want to put up with their parents when they have their own families. Living apart does not necessarily mean the severance of familial ties and is nothing new in the West, where the practice has evolved from a culture of independence.
But our Asian makeup is quite different, and the real question is whether the HDB rental flat has become a less severe and more consolatory alternative to the old folks’ home.
The old folks’ home is a contentious issue in the Asian context. Due to different cultural values, it will take another generation or more before this becomes an acceptable facet of Asian living. Stories of abandonment, loneliness and the lack of adequate facilities ˜ not only for medical care but also meaningful, engaging social activities ˜ have made sending a parent to such homes far from being a favourable choice. But who is to say rental HDB flats for old parents will not bring the same dismal prospects?
Mr Lee told of young adults willing to pay to keep their parents out of their bigger homes, to dwell in HDB rental flats instead. Yet, at the same time, we read of Singaporeans who renege on their electricity bills, 35 per cent of whom are surprisingly from four-room and five-room HDB households. Is this another sign of rising poverty, or is it a case of Singaporeans living beyond their means?
It is difficult to picture a poor Singapore when the restaurants, crowded shopping malls and entertainment centres are packed with patrons. While the propensity to spend is good for the economy, indiscriminate spendthrift habits can spell social problems. We hear grumbles about rising food and fuel prices, yet there is a long waiting list for the latest model of a car or some dispensable electronic gadget.
There is nothing wrong with indulging in luxuries if one can afford it. Perhaps the seemingly better-to-do households that are not paying their electricity bills should be more circumspect about prioritising their needs.
Or has there been a fundamental change in the way we live? Are people embracing the philosophy of living for today and leaving tomorrow to take care of itself if it comes? Has a seemingly ceaseless cornucopia of plenty created a false sense of security, and has the consistency of Government handouts led to expectations that help is always at hand?
The HDB rental stories and the households not paying their electricity bills may be only two signals of a shift in our social values and how we are beginning to live differently. We have identified the issues, which may or may not become problems. Equally important are the steps to be taken to cope with these shifts, to pre-empt problems that go beyond the pecuniary.
LIANG DINGZI, The writer is a management consultant and freelance contributor.
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