| Relationships:
Father-son The head of the household Is it possible to own a $550,000, 140 sq. m apartment in Singapore and yet cannot afford to pay for your son's fees for the education in Australia? The Australian University permitted the young man to attend lectures and take the final examination, but he would not get access to the computers and library and he would only get his examination results once his father pays all outstanding fees. It was because of his excellent grades that he was given this arrangement. How does it affect him? Having to use friends' cards to get access to the library. The stigma of debt for a young man in his impressionable years. He should be proud to be one of the few Singaporeans to be able to study in Australia. On a father's scholarship, free of bond and obligations to serve the State for 5-8 yearsif he had been awarded a Singapore Government Scholarship. The father used post-dated cheque and his stamp books to obtain a loan to pay for the son's fees earlier. The cheque would bounce. Stamps were not worth much in a declining Singapore economy which was said to grow 9.1% recently but they were his 40 years of collection. The lender had to sell off his stamps as he did not have funds or give priority to pay by instalments regularly. There seemed to be no other way. However, he had no stable sources of income as his realty firm had become another victim to the declining stock market. The Straits Times Index hit an 11-month low on May 22, 2000. He was doing badly months before this. Advertisements of properties for sale drew no response usually and he would want to throw good money after bad. He relied on associate fees from his agents but they did not do well too. He was not too excited about finding homes for expats as he would have to compete with others as there was no guarantee of success. He seemed to be burnt out by financial worries as the head of the household. He would not or could not be an employee after being his own boss for so many years. He was not a graduate and was over 50 years old. Would he be employable? As a maid's agent, he could earn $100 commission, but he would need to get 6 cases done per month. That would be $600. Deducting $300 for car expenses, his net would be $300. At least, he did not have to pay for newspaper advertisements to sell properties as the amount could come to $1,000 without revenue generated. What could he do? Two brothers-in-law committed suicide and one was killed in Thailand for "promising" 100 Thai workers jobs in Singapore based on a fee of $5,000 per worker. He would not be suicidal, one hopes. Yet, the irony is that he has a $550,000 apartment which could not be sold. It was a HDB (Housing & Development Board) flat which could only be sold at market price 5 years after purchase. If not, the Seller would lose a lot of money selling back to the HDB. How about his stamps? To him, they were worth $5,000 but who would pay him that amount? They were good stamps from the colonial days of Singapore. "Stamps would be sold soon," said the lender as there was no indication of any payback for a loan lent on good faith to help the son pay his fees. What was the solution? Financial worries had caused him to be negative in the real estate work. To be the head of the household, one has to be able to support the family. He gets emasculated by the HDB's policy on resale only after 5 years but then HDB's apartments are the most affordable for most of the Singaporeans. There is nothing one can do, unless the Government revises its policies. Why rely on the Government for solutions? One feels for the son. It is hoped that he would rise above the fires of the father's misfortunes and be stronger steel. Will he have children and bear the responsibilities as head of the household? Is it worth having children? When the child is born, the father has such high hopes that he will do well in his studies. When the son does well and goes to the university abroad, his funds are now cut off by father's loss of income and he must be suffering from loss of face. Why have children in the first place? So much money has
been spent on bringing up the children when one can enjoy the amounts by going on holiday
or smelling the roses at the age of 50 years. At least, misfortune will affect only
one person and not the younger ones.
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