Thursday, March 3, 2011

DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS DIE WITH YOU

Source: Straits Times 2 March 2011
   "...We can each live our dreams, with or without help. If there is help, we get there faster. But if there isn't, we should keep trying anyway."

This was what Mr Sam Tan (Tanjong Pagar GRC) said in Parliament on Tuesday when he took the floor to debate on Singapore's fiscal policy. He was responding to complaints about the recent Budget. Despite the goodies promised in the Budget, there were people who complained that the government wasn't doing enough to help young Singaporeans buy property, get married and raise a family.

His speech titled "We don't need a fat Budget to live our dreams" drew inspiration from the video (see below) of a group of Taiwanese buddies, average age 81, who went on a 13-day motorcycle trip around the island to pursue their dreams.

I first posted the video a week ago under "Live life, love life, for who knows when our time is up". Here is the video again, this time with English sub-titles.



There is no such thing as the perfect Budget that pleases everyone. The world doesn't owe us a living. And in the case of Malaysia, neither should we depend on the government for hand-outs and subsidies, for these can easily become crutches - remove them and we stumble and fall. Nothing like learning to stand on our own feet.



So, do we want to see the rest of our lives as full of aches and pain, or full of hope and promise of better health and improved finances? The choice is ours, and ours alone to make. Ultimately, it's about how we choose to view what we have on our plate - goodies or measly crumbs.

If it's the latter, think of how we can transform those crumbs into pies. Personally, I think senior citizens in Singapore are getting a generous slice of the apple pie in this year's Budget.

2 comments:

Starmandala said...

Haha, I like your naughty cartoons at the top of your sidebar ;-) xoxox

foodbin said...

How I wish I can ride a bike.