4 ms·

He's already 79, which is older than the average man in a rich country lives. How about when he's 89 or 99? Is there no retirement age?

philliphaydon 5y ago
There is, but its difficult to gague if people work to live or live to work when they reach retirement. Alot of the taxi drivers are really old. But speaking to them I've had a couple say they retired, got bored and took up taxi driving. While others say their CPF is too low and they need to continue working to support their family.
baybal2 5y ago
Sing pension funds last at most 15-20 years for most of people of his generation without white collar job. People are expected to only "semi"-retire
pydry 5y ago
You are supposed to fund it yourself with a forced savings account. It works provided you earned enough in your working years, didnt get too sick, didnt buy a too expensive flat. There are legions of elderly workers who sell tissues in food courts to live who dont have enough saved. They have access to subsidized healthcare and apartments but they are still scrabbling for pennies to keep their head above the water. It's an interesting approach in that the elderly arent completely hung out to dry but they're expected to still participate in a rat race and be subjected to market discipline albeit in a lower gear. Macroeconomically, by expanding the labor pool it helps keep a lid on inflation. Hawker food, taxis, cleaners, etc. are all very cheap in SG.
- allisdust 5y ago
  That's so sad. Most of humanity is from hand to mouth through out their lives. Never having the luxury of doing nothing. There should be something beyond democracy to make people less of cogs in a machine. As it stands all its doing is perpetuating intolerable levels of inequity where some have enough that their next 100 generations don't have to do anything and others don't know where their next meal will come from. Democracy is a straight jacket where rich get security and poor gets the stick and nothing can be done to change the status quo.
  - pydry 5y ago
    There was a party in the 1950s Singapore who said things along these lines. They were unceremoniously tossed in prison in a political crackdown, but they still left a long lasting imprint on the country despite constant attempts to exorcize their ghost. HDBs exist largely because it was an idea of theirs that was popular and because Lee Kuan Yew was afraid of their popularity. Officially, though, it happened because of LKY's "pragmatism".
WastingMyTime89 5y ago
That’s the miracle of Singapore. Opposition made inelegible through bogus tax fraud charges, elderlies working at McDonalds, bus drivers paid differently depending of their ethnicity and forcibly deported when they strike, executions every Thursday, canning still part of the penal code, first ranked exams deciding your education tracks at six, everything is fine as long as the financial industry keeps happily churning benefits. A true paradise on earth.

philliphaydon 5y ago

There is, but its difficult to gague if people work to live or live to work when they reach retirement. Alot of the taxi drivers are really old. But speaking to them I've had a couple say they retired, got bored and took up taxi driving. While others say their CPF is too low and they need to continue working to support their family.

baybal2 5y ago

Sing pension funds last at most 15-20 years for most of people of his generation without white collar job. People are expected to only "semi"-retire

pydry 5y ago

You are supposed to fund it yourself with a forced savings account. It works provided you earned enough in your working years, didnt get too sick, didnt buy a too expensive flat. There are legions of elderly workers who sell tissues in food courts to live who dont have enough saved. They have access to subsidized healthcare and apartments but they are still scrabbling for pennies to keep their head above the water. It's an interesting approach in that the elderly arent completely hung out to dry but they're expected to still participate in a rat race and be subjected to market discipline albeit in a lower gear. Macroeconomically, by expanding the labor pool it helps keep a lid on inflation. Hawker food, taxis, cleaners, etc. are all very cheap in SG.

allisdust 5y ago
That's so sad. Most of humanity is from hand to mouth through out their lives. Never having the luxury of doing nothing. There should be something beyond democracy to make people less of cogs in a machine. As it stands all its doing is perpetuating intolerable levels of inequity where some have enough that their next 100 generations don't have to do anything and others don't know where their next meal will come from. Democracy is a straight jacket where rich get security and poor gets the stick and nothing can be done to change the status quo.
- pydry 5y ago
  There was a party in the 1950s Singapore who said things along these lines. They were unceremoniously tossed in prison in a political crackdown, but they still left a long lasting imprint on the country despite constant attempts to exorcize their ghost. HDBs exist largely because it was an idea of theirs that was popular and because Lee Kuan Yew was afraid of their popularity. Officially, though, it happened because of LKY's "pragmatism".

WastingMyTime89 5y ago

That’s the miracle of Singapore. Opposition made inelegible through bogus tax fraud charges, elderlies working at McDonalds, bus drivers paid differently depending of their ethnicity and forcibly deported when they strike, executions every Thursday, canning still part of the penal code, first ranked exams deciding your education tracks at six, everything is fine as long as the financial industry keeps happily churning benefits. A true paradise on earth.