Life as I see it

Warning: this entry will give highly unfashionable opinions.

My dear fellow citizens,

Reading all the highly charged opinions in the Internet and mass media leaves me bemused why everyone feels so aggrieved.

Maybe it is because I had such an impoverished childhood, working part time through half of my education, I feel that now, life has never been better! ( yes, stone me if you will) No, I am not one of the elites, just a typical member of the sandwiched class paying off my mortgage.

And everyday what I observe reinforces this impression. There are retirees enjoying breakfast at coffee shops, and joggers relaxing in the park connectors in the evening. One can't help but think, ah, if this isn't peace time, I don't know what is. People even have to queue up to get into Gucci shops.

We all complain about rising costs, then how come during the weekends, restaurants are packed with my neighbors? As for transport, don't we all enjoy reliable mrt services? Even the buses are mostly air-conditioned! Some apparently have forgotten or never experienced the creaking, broiling buses we used to have. Well, public transport would probably be less crowded this month thanks to the June exodus, as everyone leaves for overseas holidays to exploit our strong dollar. A Malaysian friend once told me to be glad that I carry a singaporean passport because it is so easy to get clearance at customs all over the world.

I don't want to paint an unrealistically rosy picture, but I think we really need to season our aspirations with common sense, to temper our discontent with thanksgiving. Yes, of course life can be better. Life can always be better. But while waiting for our hard work to bear fruit, we would all be much happier if we learn to enjoy what we have in the meantime.