“Look for the bare necessities, the
simple bare necessities. Forget about
your worries and your strife.”
Baloo the bear, from Disney’s “The Jungle
Book”
What is the best way to live your life: living
entirely in the moment, trusting your animal instincts – or planning
every move as carefully as a lawyer or accountant? If you don’t own your own home and aren’t
financially secure, should you quit worrying and just start a family, or hold
off and save some more?
The Singaporean government is very
clear. With a low birth-rate and an
aging population, they would very much like young Singaporeans to stop worrying
about the future and just hurry up and make babies.
The Minister of State, Josephine Teo, said
this week, “In France, in the UK, in Nordic countries, man meets woman... They
can make a baby already. They love each
other... They also don’t have to worry about marriage. That comes later.”
I’m not quite sure if this is complimentary
towards the French, British and Scandinavians or not. I am sure she is trying to hold these
societies up as good examples for Singapore to follow, but she makes them seem
completely driven by instinct. I picture
bear-like, hairy men prowling the streets. Although Britain may be more relaxed about
relationships, this image might be a little unfair.
The minister contrasted this supposedly
easy attitude towards making babies in the West to that in Singapore. “In the case of Singapore, man meets woman,
falls in love, proposes, and then they plan the wedding and a house.”
There’s not much bear-like about that image
of Singaporeans. I instead picture a
nation of accountants, carefully calculating every penny of profit and loss
before making a decision. I don’t know
Singapore very well, but I wonder if this image is also unfair?
In the same week, Janet Jackson announced
that she had become pregnant at the age of 50.
Which just goes to show that even with money and a big house, some
people still take their time.
the bare necessities – the absolute minimum
required
to live in the moment – to concentrate on
the present, not the past or future
instinct – of animals, natural desires or
behaviour
an accountant – a person whose job is to
keep financial records
to hold off – to delay
complimentary – expressing praise or
approval
to prowl - to move like an animal,
especially one searching for prey
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