The passions of Singaporeans

Ask me about Singaporeans' passions, and I could name you FOUR.

Eating;
Shopping;
4-D and Toto; and
More eating

Yes, we Singaporeans simply love to eat. Many eat to live, but many more like me, live to eat. We eat wherever we go and whenever time permits, in between shopping, work and even in the wee hours of the morning when we should be sound asleep. To say Singapore is a food paradise is an understatement. And is it any wonder that most of us are out of shape, with many men carrying pouches paunches of all sizes? In my company's annual medical screening last year, more than 60% of the employees were found to have high cholesterol. But does it make any difference to any of us? I doubt so. Food, the doctors failed to understand, is our passion.

Ahh... shopping. Don't we just love blowing our money away? Retail therapy is not only good for our souls, it's also good for our economy. The exchange of money helps to generate income for various sectors in our economy. How nice to think that we're doing a "charitable" act when we shop, shop and shop! It doesn't matter that I have THREE MP3 players in my possession. I'm thinking of getting Creative's Zen Vision which allows me to watch movies (IPOD be damned). And my wife, God help me, has promised Junior, who is in P2, a laptop (yeah, you read it right, a NOTEBOOK) if he scores Band 1 in all his subjects in the current CA1 exam. My wife This is insane. No, I'm not trying to justify my wife's extravagance (ok, so I just bought a car; but it's really more out of necessity than anything else), but Singaporeans really do shop till we "drop". Let's not keep too much money in our POUCH, I could almost hear Victor dispensing his sound advice, and let's live today like there's no tomorrow. LOL

When it comes to 4-D and TOTO, my sentiment is that as long as one doesn't go over board, buying 4-D is also some kinda charity. Singapore Pools is known to have done its part in donating money to various charity bodies. But there's no denying that this is a form of gambling, albeit a legalised one. Truth be told, I'm not really into buying 4-D or TOTO, mainly because my luck has never been good in them. The last time I won any money was last year, after having spent money for several weeks on a number I can't even remember. And struck I did, to the amount of $65000. I thought lady luck is starting to smile on me, until I realised that amount was just enough to cover what I've spent "invested" over several weeks. Still, you can't deny that I've won. Hee.

Since I took delivery of my car, I've been told by well-meaning friends that it's unforgivable not to buy my car number. Some people say buying 4-D is fine, as long as it does not become an obsession. We're buying a hope. If we don't buy, there's no hope (所谓买个希望，没买就没希望). But I know of relatives and friends who easily spend hundreds of dollars each week on 4-D. My aunt is one of them. She buys a lot and she wins a lot, but she also owes a lot of money to many people, including some loan sharks. My uncle "bailed" her out a few times. But her children, all grown-up, refuse to talk to her. The end result? A broken family. Therein lies the danger of gambling.

But there's no explanation on this thing called LUCK. Some people simply have all the luck, especially those with "ruddy" hands like Chun See. Others, like me, has to slog hard as an ox in the office to accumulate my "wealth". But I know God is always fair. Whatever is yours, will be yours.

And the thing people do to get lucky. My colleague, MJM, advised me to place an orange each in the four corners of my car the day I collected the car. And it has to be done BEFORE anyone, including the sales agent sit on my car. The last time he did so with his new car, he struck thousands of dollars in the 4-D. Victor followed his advice when he got his Scenic. I'm not sure if he's been lucky. If he has, he's certainly keeping mum. But I know Victor, he'll throw a feast if he's struck any money at all. Such is his generosity. So maybe the oranges didn't work for him? Maybe it's just all hot air? Or maybe lady luck is still waiting for the right time to strike?

Did I do as told? Placing the oranges in my car? This borders on the superstition really; but it doesn't harm anybody in any way. So why not?

Category: Musings