Fee Facade

In my previous post regarding local media/productions scene, I didn't mention a salient but annoying aspect of it - the TV license fee. It's some sort of tax that one have to pay in order to own a TV set. Even if you are using your computer to watch local channels, this fee still applies. If you are to write in and ask for the rationale behind this fee, the most likely respond is somewhere along this: "You need to pay S$110 per annum... works to to be S$0.30 per day, which is cheap/affordable... used to support local production... blah blah blah"

Why should I pay for shoddy local production that is showing similar shows all the time? And come on! Who are you trying to kid? The advertisers and sponsors are the ones "supporting" the production, not us! Or why is the TV company charging them exorbitant rates for a primetime slots? Furthermore, the primetime slots are full of foreign shows. So think about it, are we financing the acqusition of foreign media or are we really supporting the local sitcoms/soap operas?

I can see it from the media company's viewpoint too. I make you pay a S$110 a year, so you better maximise your money and watch TV 24/7. To which I say, sure! I'll gladly do that if you provide us with better quality shows. And that's a big "IF" that we're talking about here. Just for the record, I find local productions to be lousy and I honestly do not wish to watch them. So, why am I still paying the fee? I feel that it is underhanded, unfair and insidious to make me pay for something that I'm not using.

To extrapolate further, think about those who owns a TV set, uses it solely for viewing of VCDs/DVDs but does not watch any local channels at all. By virtue of owning a TV set, they are liable to pay the fee because they may potentially accidentally switch to a local channel and catch a 2 sec glimpse. How is this any different from the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) for cars? I think they should really call it "TV Entitlement Fee" or something more apt.

In fact, I think the TV license fee should be made more flexible, if not scrapped. Convert this fee into a "pay-per-view" basis. If I want to watch certain channels, I pay for them. Otherwise, I pay nothing. This concept is nothing new, really. In the US, major events e.g. WWE Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble, etc are all operating on a pay-per-view basis. I suppose it's possible to adopt this and implement here.

It simply doesn't make any logical sense if, I as a consumer, am paying for something that I do not use nor value. Furthermore, since the media company is considered a private entity, it should not rely on the government or legislation to force its customers to pay for a service, regardless of their usage. Let the market forces decide if it shall live or die. If the media company is truly of certain calibre, it will survive. There's really no point in propping it up by mandating some fee that is cleverly disguised as tax.

My point is clearly expressed and shared by another. A slight difference is that he proposed the abolishment while I prefer a pay-per-view system. The below appeared in Online Letters section of the electronic version of the local papers.

March 13, 2006TV licence fee should be abolished
DURING the Parliamentary debate on the TV licence fee, Dr Balaji Sadasivan (Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Health), Non-Constituency MP Steve Chia and Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong all missed the point.

If the subject is about funding public service broadcasts, we should not expect a commercial enterprise to fund the programmes. The funding should come from the government if the service is for the public good.

As it is, the annual TV licence fee is a regressive tax and should be abolished as the lower-income group is the hardest hit by it. To solve this shortfall it is better for the government to provide the funding.

The government can, if it wants, recover this source of expenditure from the personal income tax, which is a more equitable tax.

Dr Balaji mentioned that the licence fees for countries like Britain, Germany and Japan ranged from $245 to $627 ('TV stations don't make enough to fund public service shows'; ST, March 4).
I suppose he was trying to put the cost of our licence fee in perspective.

I believe the median salaries in these three countries are higher. I would like to point out that most countries in Asia do not levy a licence fee on TV owners.

In Australia, the TV licence fee was abolished in 1974 on the grounds that it was an unfair and regressive tax. The Australian government in turn funded part of the expenditure through a government grant.

New Zealand abolished the licence fee in 1999. Tan Swee Keng
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Why? - Epilogue

I guess it does help if you talk when you feel troubled. After typing so much and shedding a few tears, I feel somewhat better, simultaneously somewhat worse too.

From seething anger to frustrated sadness, I think there's an improvement in terms of lesser intensity of negative feelings. I need a good sleep... And in my dreams, good parents.

Why? - Chapter 3

I guess what I'm really looking for is closure - an answer to all my "whys". I only realized this when I in the shower an hour ago, squatting on the floor with tears welling up in my eyes. They did not flow out then but they aew now.

Why am I out with my aunts when other kids were out with their parents? Why can't you spare the time? Why did my cousins get the chance to eat with their parents while I don't? Why were you not there to comfort me when I was frightened and scared? Why was it my grandma (maternal)?

Why were you not there when I was ill and vulnerable? Why were you not the one who carried me to the doctor's? Why was it my aunt instead? Why were you not the one who fetched me from school? Why was it again my aunt?

Why were you not the one who taught me how to write? Why was it my grandma (maternal)? Why were you not the one who taught me how to read? Why was it my aunt? Why were you not the one who answered my queries? Why was it the books, television and my own imagination?

Why do I have to live the life of a prematured orphan when both of my parents were alive and well? Why abandon me? Am I really "picked up from the trash", as what grandma (maternal) said? Why were you not there when I needed you most but appear when I wish you were dead? Why can't you be like any other parents?

Why must I bear your debts? Why didn't you buy insurance for the flat in the first place? I don't mind if you left me no inheritance but why leave me debts, Dad? Why must I take a loan from the bank to study for university when others have their fees paid for by their parents? Did you plan for me, at all?

All I'm asking for are"normal" parents; is that too much of a request? OK, perhaps it is now, given that one is 6 feet below.

I want reasons, fricking reasons, dammit!

Why? - Chapter 2

A few months ago, I had this thought. My mother is getting on in years and would it really kill me to oblige her every now and then and make her happy? For some reasons, I thought a reconciliation might have worked out. Not anymore.

The letter that she showed me was the stark reality of what is to come. Do I deserve this burden on me? Why am I shouldering this? "Because I'm her son?" C'mon, you gotta give me a better reason than this!

Thinking of how I was treated when I was a child, it really didn't made sense for me to care so much about my parents. Quoted from one of my previous postings:

"Parents are suppose to take care of and love their children, isn't it? Parents are suppose to ensure that their children have a happy childhood, isn't it? Parents are suppose to make sure that their children gets the best, isn't it? Why aren't mine doing so? Why don't I have parents like everyone else?"

I guess prolonged exposure to my mother made me soft. It weakened me. It made me forget that it was my parents who caused me to be in this state. And I don't want to forget. I had this grand scheme to put them up in an old folks' home for 17 years, starting from the day I got married. Why 17? Simple, that's exactly the number of years that abandon me at my maternal grandmother's place. If at the end of 17 years, both of them are still alive, I'll then bring them back, just like what they did to me. Now that only one of them remains, I can't say for sure if I'm going to abort the plan or carry it out as planned.

But what I can say for sure is that I'm really not going to visit my father's tomb this year. Forever, maybe. Again, quoted from my previous post:

"As I told myself some time ago, I'm never going to the graveyard to visit his tomb again."

As much as I tried to keep my word with others, I betrayed myself; I went along with the little charade last year. I'm going to make my intentions known to my mother - no more graveyard trips during the graveyard hours. Hell, even if it's in the day, I'm not going either. Lest she complains of me springing a surprise on her at the eleventh hour, I'm going to tell her within these few days.

If she's going to ask me for reasons, I'm going say, "Look, it makes no sense. I don't go, he appears in my dreams. I go, I get no benefits out of it. He's my father for fuck's sake, shouldn't he be blessing me or something, if I made the effort to go? Sure, go on. Brand me an "unfillial child" and I'll tell you how much I suffered at the hands of my equally useless parents."

Why? - Chapter 1

My mood has not seen the best of days recently. More specifically, since yesterday.

I was reading up on the Suez Canal on Wikipedia yesterday when my mother walked into my room. She showed a me a letter, stating that she owned the HDB (Housing Development Board) some $50 611. The HDB demanded that she make monthly repayments of $377.00 for a period of 13 years. She didn't quite get the letter and I had to interpret it for her. After my brief and somewhat inaccurate translation, she said she was going to appeal to the MP (Member of Parliament) for help in getting a reduced payment scheme.

Before leaving me alone, she asked when I had to repay my study loan to the bank. I muttered, "As soon as I leave school..." She raised an eyebrow and asked if I was going to work after my studies. I nodded slowly. She then said that as soon as I get a job, I could foot half of the monthly repayment for the housing loan. While this didn't come to me as a surprise, still, I wasn't pleased to hear it.

Debts, debts, debts... Why am I paying for my parents' debts? This is bullshit. I got to finance my study loan in future and telling me that I got to pay for the house is not really heartening. For the first time in 9 years, a thought that has never crossed my mind since I got rid of it 9 years ago, crossed my mind - suicide.

When I was 15, I had the first encounter with the subject that really daunted me - Physics. I had absolutely no idea what was going on and I despaired. I thought of calling it a day and ending things for myself. Then I figured out that that probably isn't the solution. I die, I still sucked at Physics. If I live, I may be able to overcome it and live another day, so to speak. If I tried and still sucked at it, then jumping off the 11th floor of the building still isn't too late; the thing is at least I tried. Quite evidently, I made it.

This time round, things are a little different. If I'm dead, I'm free of all these lousy debts; someone else will bear the burden. Whoever it is, I don't really care. After all, I'm dead, aren't I? Then I realized that I will be just as irresponsible as my father. All he did was fall ill, tax me emotionally and leave me a pile of debts. And I'm not gonna follow in his footsteps. Sure, he did have admirable traits but this is one thing I'm not going to emulate.

More importantly, I need to keep my word. I have made many promises to you-know-who (*wink wink*) and I intend to fulfil all of them, to the best of my abilities. It would be against my principles to intentionally break my promises.

So, don't worry about seeing my obituary in the papers anytime soon. As the character, Juba, in the movie, The Gladiator, said, "Not yet, not yet..."

Thus, once again, the thought is banished from my mind. How long will it take to come back? I hope never.

Why? - Prologue

When I was in Tango Wing of the OCS (Officer Cadet School), the Wing Commander used to show us a clip about leadership to inspire us. What it contained was a compilation of thought-provoking and inspirational quotes about leadership. One particular quote that caught my eye was this: Leadership is about keeping your word. I don't remember the exact words but the meaning is there.

I think keeping one's word is not only important as an officer but it applies to all aspects of life. I've tried to live by this, as far as I could. Though I could not always do what I said I would do, the reasons are largely due to circumstances, rather than intentional.

To quote an example, I woke up late this morning, at 9.18am. I had to attend a meeting at 10am and it required at least 1 hour's worth of traveling time. I could have gave some excuses like, "My neighbour's apartment caught fire and my valiant attempts to rescue the trapped children were hampered by the choking smoke and fiery blaze" or "A meteorite decimated my residence's immediate area and I had to make a big detour" and turned up really late. I didn't. I said I was going to be there at 10 and that's it. Thus, I took a cab, blew $12.10 and was 5min late.

You anin't cheating me

Yesterday, I was approached by a bespectacled, elderly man. He had short hair, similar to mine, ecxcept it's all white. Holding an open black umbrella, which was leaning on his right shoulder, and clad in a simple white shirt and black shorts, he looked like any elderly from the neighbourhood.

He asked if I could speak English. I replied with a curt "Yes". He began by telling me that he lived nearby and had a leg operation. To corroborate his tale, he pointed to his right leg, which had a linear patch that somewhat resembled a scar. Then he popped the million dollar question, "Uncle forget to bring money. Can you give me $2?"

I replied incredulously, "You live nearby, right? Then you can walk back and get the money." To which he said, "Ya, but Uncle leg pain and it's a far walk." At this point, I was pretty sure any more talk would lead to nowhere and I employed the one of the best strategy from the 36 Strategems: Retreat. "Look, I'm in a hurry. Sorry," I muttered and scurried away like a manager faced with new management paradigms.

I encountered countless strangers asking for money. From can-toting kids to pretty ladies to elderly who looks as if they are hit by some incurable disease, I treat them with equal disdain. I see all of them as con men, or con women, if you prefer; swindlers would be a more politically and gender-neutral term.

Seriously, that old man I encountered yesterday needs to brush up on his lying skill, assuming he is a conman. Kudos for his life-like scar but he shouldn't have said, "I live nearby"; hardhearted people like me will simply ask him to trudge all the way back. He could have:

1) Come up with a more credible story, e.g. "I got cheated by some foreign prostitute who claimed to love me. Now, I'm penniless.";
2) Used incentives, e.g. "I've a stash of white dollar bills hidden in a leather case. I need $2 to buy some "special fluid" to wash the bills and make them become real. You can have a share too.";
3)Try something innovative, "Here are some naked pictures/videos of my nubile, 16 year old grand daughter. For $2, you can have exclusive distribution rights to the entire series."

Let's say he is not faking it. Would I have spared him the money? No. He forgot to bring money out and that is his fault. I am not obliged to suffer any monetary loss for his absentmindedness and irresponsibility.

Some people would actually say, "C'mon! What is $2 to you? Just give it to the poor man." This is exactly how these conmen work. By asking for petty amounts, they prey on the vulnerable human psyche of giving up small sums of money. I have never encountered anyone asking for more than $2. Why is that? Simple, if they are to ask for $5 or $10, people are likely to scoff at them and scurry away just like me. Try it for yourself and see if it's true. Of course, remember to return the money to the good Samaritans who are willing to part with their money for your little experiment.

Generally speaking, people who got cheated fall into one of these three categories: Gullible, kind-hearted or greedy. Swindlers may use a combination of techniques but basically preys on these three aspects. For the first two, it's pretty easy to cure. Just be more discerning (easier said than done but it's do-able) and less trusting towards strangers. For greed, let's just say that if it's easy to overcome, it won't be listed as one of the deadly sins.

May I spend, please?

In Parliament yesterday, there was some debate over the latest Budget, specifically the Progress Package. It's basically some wealth-sharing package designed to distribute cash to poorer citizens. I doubt that's the true purpose but I shan' t go to the extent of speculating here. Come to think of it, what's there to speculate? If you live/stay in Singapore long enough, you would have understood the true motives and acknowledge the message that the government (or the ruling party, if you prefer) wants to send.

I seldom take interest in what is being discussed in Parliament. Yes, yes, label me an "apathetic Singaporean". What do I care? I can't vote (not now anyway), my opinions will probably be given a "Oh! Thank you for your insights. We appreciate them and will take them into consideration" and I don't want to end up being political refugee, so the best bet is to smile and "move on" - a new catahphrase used frequently after the NKF fiasco.

Anyway, what caught my attention was what one MP said. Below is an excerpt from Channel News Asia:

Others were concerned that the money would not be well spent.

Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC, said: "I am a bit concerned about the different ways in which some Singaporeans intend to spend their Growth Dividends. There's even one person who was quoted as saying he intends to buy 4D.

"But it is better to save this money to use during a rainy day as jobs are now more volatile. It's uncertain and it's possible for us to leave our jobs anytime."

For the uninformed, 4D is a national past time enjoyed by scores of people, who would brave the elements, sickness, endless queues and probably the riot police, just to indulge in it. Click here for more about 4D.

Singapore was seen by some as a nanny state by some. I didn't see how bad it was until this MP said this and I was hit with the stark reality that I probably didn't have as much free will as I thought I had in spending the money assigned to me by the government. Say, why can't we spend as we like and why should there be any cause for concern?

Then again, perhaps she is right; we should save and contribute to the reserves of the local banks. I would like to save too but the interest rates offered by local banks are too paltry. Hell, I think I'm better off leaving my notes scattered randomly at home. Well, at least this gives mean uplifting feeling of being so psuedo filthy rich that I can afford to leave notes lying around, and not rolling my eyes when I update my bank account and see the mediocre interest.

When I got wind of this Progress Package, I began hatching a little plan on how I am going to fritter all of it. Below is a totally fictitious scenario that I imagined. It essentially outlines how I would spend the money on some fabricated causes. Assume I get $800 for the following exercise.

$200 - Bet on soccer. I would want to actually spend all $800 on it but I have more financial sense than to do that.

$200 - Settle part of my debts with the friendly neighbourhood moneylender, so that he will refrain from knocking on my door at odd hours, with gritted teeth and waving his clenched fists menacingly.

$100 - Have a wild night at the local night spots. *wink wink*

$100 - Film a local version of Girls Gone Wild. The money will be used to entice unwitting girls to display some of their "assets". *wink*

$100 - Have them in small change so I can perform a magic trick, similar to that of G.O.B's in Arrested Development. I'd perform near Singapore River, making coins appear from seemingly nowhere. I guess it would be amusing to watch people scramble to pick up coins on the ground. It would be nice if some people actually make a splash in the river in their crazed attempts for coins, while I dance to Europe's The Final Countdown being played in the background.

$050 - Buy friends rounds of drinks. Not that I drink anyway.

$040 - Procure a fake medical letter from a general practitioner to certify that I need consume chewing gum for some obscure medical reasons, so that I can legally buy gum from pharmacies and chew in public.

$010 - Essential items to prevent contracting some incurable or embarrassing STDs.

That's it; all 800 of it. *gasp* I didn't save a single cent! What am I going to do when "I leave my job" due to "volatile jobs"? Argh! I should have saved up and fatten the local banks!

OK, now seriously, how long would $800 last, even if I had saved? A month? Maybe two? Regardless, it is not going to last long. To quote lyrics from Jon Bon Jovi's "It's My Life",

It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive

I think the lyrics aptly describes the majority of Singaporean's reaction towards the idea of spending the Progress Package money VS saving it.