> My house is shabby, but it is comfortable
>
> There is no end to wanting - after the Ferrari and the Birkin bag, what next?
>
> By Lee Wei Ling
>
> In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National
> Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: 'Whilst boom time in the public
> sector is ever as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget
> that boom time is eventually followed by slump time.
>
> Slump time in the public sector is always less painful compared to the
> private sector.' Slump time has arrived with a bang.
>
> While I worry about the poorer Singaporeans who will be hit hard,
> perhaps this recession has come at an opportune time for many of us.
> It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.
>
> Decades of the good life have made us soft.
>
> The wealthy especially, but also the middle class in Singapore , have
> had it so good for so long, what they once considered luxuries, they
> now think of as necessities. A mobile phone, for instance, is now a
> statement about who you are, not just a piece of equipment for
> communication. Hence many people buy the latest model though their
> existing mobile phones are still in perfect working order.
>
> A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For
> millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or
> a Porsche is deemed more appropriate.
>
> The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories.
>
> I still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying
> handbags that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus
> driver, and many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in
> the hot sun, risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will
> never have a chance to live in.
>
> The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption.
>
> Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will
> prevent the recession from getting worse.
>
> I am not an economist, but wasn't that the root cause of the current
> crisis - Americans spending more than they could afford to? I am not a
> particularly spiritual person. I don't believe in the supernatural and
> I don't think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view
> the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once
> told me: 'Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.'
>
> My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal.
>
> My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents
> and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big
> house by today's standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the
> point of being shabby.
>
> Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister
> Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's home is so humble. But it is a comfortable
> house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared
> to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the
> comparison.
>
> Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic
> downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will
> undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate.
> But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for
> many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never
> lived through difficult times. No matter how poor you are in Singapore
> , the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter
> and food. Nobody starves in Singapore.
>
> Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a
> luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they
> might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000
> a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.
>
> Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy.
>
> Enjoying the fruits of one's own labour is one's prerogative and I
> have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously. But if
> one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and
> hankering.
>
> After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin
> handbag, what can one upgrade to? Neither an Aston Martin nor an
> Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like
> dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away
> in the twinkling of an eye.
>
> When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret
> the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or
> would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have
> lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have
> helped some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have
> tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we
> found it?
>
> We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to
> make that choice.
>
> In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that
> has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.
>
> To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and
> we should not follow the herd blindly.
>
> [The writer is Lee Kuan Yew's daughter, and director of the National
> Neuroscience Institute.]