The housing and immigration issues faced by Singapore have
unexpectedly led to discussions about broader social values including that of
family, which is a fundamental unit of society. Through conversations with friends and colleagues alike,
many shared that they found life in Singapore to be very transactional. In
other words, most activities appear not to be very far from calculations of
opportunity cost and expected benefits from participation.
As I was having dinner yesterday, I noticed something very
interesting from the table across ours. It was occupied by a typical family who
seemed to be enjoying their food and each other’s company. A short while later,
one member called the food stall owner over but instead of asking him for the
total bill, she actually asked him to calculate the bill only for her portion.
Each member (barring the children of course) then continued the process. Although this is a single observation and may not be representative of the entire society, I
cannot help but question whether transactional lifestyle is so entrenched in
the way of life here that it is even practiced among family members.
There’s no doubt that life in Singapore is getting tougher
economically and each member probably has difficulty paying for other family
members. But surely, there is at least one way to do so less explicitly. What
about one member paying for all first and the rest to pay him/her back just
before they part?
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