passing by here, I want to share my few words. There are all sort of people on this forum - poor (but not too poor since you can afford internet), mid class and rich (but not too rich since the rich don't have time to come and post regularly on this forum).
First of all, I want to talk about equality.
There is no way in any democratic market society, that all people are equal. This means that there are haves and have nots. There is no way around it. Those who have usually have it becuase of hard work (studied hard or worked hard), skill and luck (including luck at work and promotions or in business - even facebook founders are in a large sense, lucky - ask him to start of scratch again and see if he can do it one more time). So unless we want to become communists (and even communists are unequal), there will always be inequality.
Second, I want to talk about getting on the right side of equality.
Since we are unequal, how to we get on the right side (the have side, not the have not side)? Hard work, luck and skill, as mentioned above. Know that Singapore is so small that it is a zero sum game. Because everything is relative, if you fall below the average, you will feel poor and frustrated. Hence you can have a car today but it is a different exclusivity from having a car in the 60s. So study hard and work hard, and try to be at the right place at the right time. The government is a way has tried to make studying hard pay rewards (like good paying jobs in the civil service). What you can't teach is skill - meaning the the character of a person - some people make good marketers, others make good doctors or lawyers or engineers - you need to be in your area of skill in order to be on the right side.
Third I want to mention challenges.
Life in Singapore and the world is only going to be harder. If you look at the world's population - India, Indonesia, Africa is exploding. Even Malaysia's population is exploding. And the fear is that everyone will want more and eat more - people will want to consume more, and they want fish and beef, not veggies. All resources will start to become scarce and more expensive. This will result in more opportunities for work, but more importantly, massive inflation. For those on the wrong side, they will slip further to the wrong side, unable to drag themselves to the right side as everything gets more and more expensive. Some clever people mention putting into S&P index or properties - these barely return more than inflation, maybe less. Forget about fixed deposits and sovereign bonds returns.
Fourth, I mention my ideas.
For the younger set of people, obviously, you need to study hard. That is the best thing you can do for yourself. Know that in China, millions of hardworking kids even from Beijing U, Fudan, do not get better jobs than those grads in
NUS/
NTU/
SMU. So thank the government for (so far) ensuring that first class honours grads are in demand. Be on the right side.
For those in their 20s-40s, you are either on the right side through previous hard work, so continue on; or you're on the wrong side. If you're on the wrong side, you need to either work harder (by now, there is less you can do - working hard often doesn't reap much rewards, when you are in a long queue of promotions and your boss is creating the traffic jam and not promoted), or be lucky (you can't control this), or take more risk.
So what is taking more risk? It is getting out of the comfort zone. It means leaving Singapore or leaving your job to start a business. Being entrepreneural. You can get on the right side by working in Myanmar or Laos or Vietnam (vietname is already crowded), or even Africa (not congo or sudan!), but assisting in trade. Singapore is a great trading hub, and you are blessed with English and Chinese (assuming you're chinese) speaking ability.
For those in their 50s and above, there is little you can do to increase your income. It is already too late if you are slipping into the wrong side, or are already in the wrong side. The truth is that the slide will only accelerate with time, unless you are generating income, or the government provides payouts.
The world is unfair, but there are things that one can control. Those who refuse to work hard, study hard, find their luck, focus on their skills, and take more risk, will have a hard time in this new age. This is the truth and no change in government will change that.
That's all!
Jeff