Last night, I ended up at this round table discussion whereby Young NTUC has been gathering feedback from the many youths on their concerns between the balancing of social and economic priorities in Singapore, while maintaining the family as the foundation. Wait. How did I ended up there again? I'm not exactly a spring chicken... Oh! It's for the FREE dinner. (I'll do anything to get a free meal nowadays.) Hey! Lim Swee Say was there! Excellent speaker. Adept at using stories to put ideas across too. But enough name dropping! And  no worries, I won't bore you with the details; I'm not an activist or mouth piece. When I signed in, I saw there's an "Activist" designation next to my name. I crossed it out and wrote: "Pacifist".  Wink. 3 informal sessions were already held with singles, newlyweds, long-time married couples, single parents, etc. Last night was the presentation of their collective feedback and asking us at the round table to give inputs. I noticed one glaring omission - Time. The presentation was peppered with benefits and money, and the usual wish lists. I suspect those they interviewed must have been office executives working from 9-6 in 5 day work week. So I spoke up for those of us who are working in the service industry - from retail shop floors, to supermarkets, from fast food outlets to restaurants, from resort theme parks to hotels - 5 day work week for us too? Below is the internal thought process why I said what I said last night. Got money no time for what? More leisure time means more consumption - good for economy. (OK, those bloggers who advocate saving more will hit my head!) More rest and me time helps to reset the body and soul - less stress, less headaches; less headaches, more babies! (You need imagination here.) More babies, less dependence on foreign talent; less foreign talent, less angst! Less angst; less bile on internet. Better social cohesion? Everything is bullshit if our values are out of whack! 1 day off a week can do what? If our service comrades (and ALL Singaporean workers - foreign or local) have 2 days off a week, one day is rest - simply do nothing to re-set body and soul - then we have another day for family. When was the last time you had dinner with your siblings? How about ah kong and ah ma? They no longer around? How about mom and dad? What kind of values are you transmitting to your children through your actions? You have "no time" to have dinners with your parents and siblings, you think your children will have time for you when they grow up and have families of their own? Family as foundation is not something we put on our lips or what we "plan" to do at a later stage... Like when we have achieved financial freedom? We can wait; not sure our aged parents can... P.S.  Just to add about Values. I read the other day that a 18 year old young man wanted to achieve $1 million by the tender age of 25 through investing and trading. Hey! I'm a cheerleader and the last thing I would do is to pour cold water. But it gives me pause if too many young people think having money is the end all and be all of living. Thankfully, there were some entrepreneurs and CEOs with their own businesses and social enterprises present last night. Phew! Evidently we still have people with passion to build real products and provide tangible services to meet society's needs. Good, good. Now I need a hug badly. I feel like I'm a parasite of society being a full-time investor and speculator....

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Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!)