Singapore Happiest Country in Asia?

[drakon09]

Then all the more reason why they should not be allowed to be exempted from doing something "not difficult". What are they afraid of? Why is the system so afraid of asking them to do so? 2½ years NS, 15+ years of reservist, about 17 ICTs, manys BCTCs, countless IPPTs, maybe RTs, recall activations, etc....

Hey, the NSmen I deal with are almost always happy to be back in camp to catch up with old friends, knock down cheap beer and stout.

A good few of them see IPPT as a 400-dollar bonus every year.

It is all about how people assimilate all these "features of Singapore life" into their lives.

As for the foreigners who have made Singapore their permanent homes - their children have been serving, and as far as I can see, are given the exact same treatment as everyone else. But it is a new phenomena, it is merely the first generation; and you never know, given the right attitude, they may perform better than "actual" Singaporeans (which is again, not very hard to do).

There is a perfectly good reason why guys complain about ICTs, BCTCs *publicly*...

 

[night86mare]

what has material acquisition got to do with being happy? i think many of us are mixing up the concepts of being 'fortunate' and 'happy'. you can be fortunate but not happy and vice versa.

for what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

that is precisely the point though. most of the complaints here are to do with material acquisition. won't you agree? it's all about $, and whether you like it or not, discussion always centers around that big sign.. in one way or another.

i once read a writeup about how people in the us were compared to those in singapore.. and it was found that the former could derive happiness out of many other things.. but the latter.. tended to equate happiness with materialistic gain. :dunno:

 

[night86mare]

Hey, the NSmen I deal with are almost always happy to be back in camp to catch up with old friends, knock down cheap beer and stout.

i am not going to say that ns was the best time of my life, but it wasn't quite the worst either. i guess at the end of it all i did learn something whether i liked it or not, and it had its fun and great moments.

 

[drakon09]

what has material acquisition got to do with being happy? i think many of us are mixing up the concepts of being 'fortunate' and 'happy'. you can be fortunate but not happy and vice versa.

for what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

To expand on this, a German friend of mine did mention on how amazed she was at the level of materialism imbued into the Singapore psyche.

For example, she was remarking that she cannot understand why photography hobbyists here change cameras every couple of years when their old camera works perfectly fine, as compared to Germany where people change their cameras only when their old one is unserviceable.

At the same time, she said it was extremely easy to be sucked into and swamped by this "need for the latest and greatest" mentality, herself notwithstanding.

I cannot help but agree with her.

 

[drakon09]

i am not going to say that ns was the best time of my life, but it wasn't quite the worst either. i guess at the end of it all i did learn something whether i liked it or not, and it had its fun and great moments.

I'm sure you made some good buddies while you were in-service. Common suffering tends to create strong bonds among peers.

Of course it helped having a common enemy, aka instructors and their ilk, to rail at.

Being at the mentor/instructor level myself now, I do see the importance of playing the bad guy, even if it's only to force a unlikely group of young men from varying backgrounds to work together and to form friendships, where outside of the NS environment it would never have happened.

 

[night86mare]

I'm sure you made some good buddies while you were in-service. Common suffering tends to create strong bonds among peers.

Of course it helped having a common enemy, aka instructors and their ilk, to rail at.

you cannot be more accurate than that.

yes, i think the one thing i have gained from that experience is at least a set of friends i know i can trust. if they never play you out during such perilous times.. then heh heh heh, that says something

 

[schon]

that is precisely the point though. most of the complaints here are to do with material acquisition. won't you agree? it's all about $, and whether you like it or not, discussion always centers around that big sign.. in one way or another.

i once read a writeup about how people in the us were compared to those in singapore.. and it was found that the former could derive happiness out of many other things.. but the latter.. tended to equate happiness with materialistic gain. :dunno:

money isn't the most impt thing in the world. love is.

i love money. :bsmilie:

 

[hazmee]

If you're happy and you know just clap your hands. *clap clap*

 

[sORe-EyEz]

To expand on this, a German friend of mine did mention on how amazed she was at the level of materialism imbued into the Singapore psyche.

For example, she was remarking that she cannot understand why photography hobbyists here change cameras every couple of years when their old camera works perfectly fine, as compared to Germany where people change their cameras only when their old one is unserviceable.

At the same time, she said it was extremely easy to be sucked into and swamped by this "need for the latest and greatest" mentality, herself notwithstanding.

I cannot help but agree with her.

can tell her its our "unique" asian values! e BBB virus is too powerful, we cant resist. soon she'll b jus like most of us in no time, BBB. :sweatsm:

BBB helps stimulate economy, keeps it chumming mah. :bsmilie:

 

[hongsien]

Then all the more reason why they should not be allowed to be exempted from doing something "not difficult". What are they afraid of? Why is the system so afraid of asking them to do so? 2½ years NS, 15+ years of reservist, about 17 ICTs, manys BCTCs, countless IPPTs, maybe RTs, recall activations, etc....

You are saying that the first generation foreigners here are afraid of doing Service? But isn't it the government who doesn't require them to do service? And now you blame it on the foreigners?????

I don't understand this......

I think one of the reasons to not having them to do service is their age when they come to Singapore, and also perhaps the government is afraid the foreigners would not come here if they have to do service at their usually already higher age.......

HS

 

[night86mare]

*disclaimer, i do not use myspace.com

 

[hongsien]

To me Happiness is being contended, appreciate what you have, what you are, and realising that wanting has no end.......

When is the D3 coming?

HS

 

[Tupi Guy]

To me Happiness is being contended, appreciate what you have, what you are, and realising that wanting has no end.......

When is the D3 coming?

HS

it oreadi here ah, just that it out of stock due to popular demand. I have one, u want? I can cut it out for you ;p

 

[Yappy]

Happiness will not look for you!

You decide,determine and look for 'Happiness'. Best of all it is freeeeeee!

 

[raincool2005]

To me Happiness is being contended, appreciate what you have, what you are, and realising that wanting has no end.......

When is the D3 coming?

HS

D3 good meh ? :think:

 

[Sion]

To me Happiness is being contended, appreciate what you have, what you are, and realising that wanting has no end.......

You sound like you're unhappy. :bsmilie:

 

[Sion]

it oreadi here ah, just that it out of stock due to popular demand. I have one, u want? I can cut it out for you ;p

You may ask the surgeon to cut it out but are you sure it fits us? :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[TMC]

Experienced poverty? Lived in a 3rd world country?

Chngpe01 not withstanding. Most prob have not and talked like they did. Stop using 3rd world countries as a benchmark. The government is already saying that they have world class facilities, comparison should be done with countries on the same level.

 

[theRBK]

You are saying that the first generation foreigners here are afraid of doing Service? But isn't it the government who doesn't require them to do service? And now you blame it on the foreigners?????

I don't understand this......

I think one of the reasons to not having them to do service is their age when they come to Singapore, and also perhaps the government is afraid the foreigners would not come here if they have to do service at their usually already higher age.......

HS

maybe Gov is concerned about foreigners infiltrating the SAF by flooding it with "new" citizens... :think:

me, I'm just happy I have the time and resources to actually post in this forum...

 

[theRBK]

Experienced poverty? Lived in a 3rd world country?

Chngpe01 not withstanding. Most prob have not and talked like they did. Stop using 3rd world countries as a benchmark. The government is already saying that they have world class facilities, comparison should be done with countries on the same level.

I'm happy (at the moment) I do not live in a 1st world country wrecked with violent crime, a ghettorized city, underfunded education system... the list goes on ... not to say Singapore is perfect, and definitely there is much to be improved upon, but there is much to be thankful about as well...