Beyond statistics

This post is dedicated to Sunflower.

Thank you Sunflower for sharing your problems with me :) Thank you for sharing the youtube video titled "Bastards bullying Singapore senior citizen" too.

Before my course on Sociology, my reaction would naturally be that of anger against the "bastards". However, now that I have learnt that most people are a product of their environments, it puts me in a dilemma as to who I should side: The old trishaw rider or the caucasians.

Conversely, I can choose to dismiss it as being mere statistics, something that happens all the time and is probably constantly recorded in Sociology class-power relationships etc, research statistics. Likewise, Sunflower, you my readers and I are the same to a stranger: Mere statistics. However, it ceases to be when we look at ourselves from our own perspectives, as well as from our family and friends'. This is because there is enough love vested in us. Vice versa.

You are statistics to a stranger, but to your loved ones and yourselves, you are not. Therefore, lift your family and friends from being mere statistics because you are special and you have the power to intervene.

Don't tell me who isn't coming. Tell me who is!

This post is dedicated to Mei Ching.

I appreciate the wonderful dinner we had. I appreciate your messaging me the moment you came back for good, from your overseas studies. Thank you Mei Ching :)

I also appreciate that you shared about your friendship experiences with me. Would like to share this with my family, friends and my readers. Please do remember to look at who is always there for you and not at those who is never there for you. Put yourself into your friends' shoes; your friends who care. If you do not focus on them, the table is now turned on them. They will be looking at you as one of those who never cared, even though you did not intend for it to be so.

Whenever you organise anything, never look out for who isn't coming. Look out for who is!

Love,
Ke Ching

Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

Had a great lunch with my client and his girlfriend on the 11th October 2007. The three of us major in Sociology. What dominated the bulk of the lunch session is the topic below:

I honestly haven't got an idea what kinds of classes, perceived to exist, are out there in the working world. "Blue collar", "White collar", "Middle", "Lower", "Upper" seems common enough. However, as far as I see it, there are only two classes in society that really matters. They are the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

The society's view of classes appears to be as such:

- Upper / Elite
- Middle
- Lower


This is how I view it:

Bourgeoisie:
- Upper / Elite
Proletariat:
- Middle
- Lower

We will now take a look at the middle class, which forms the majority of society. It matters because the majority of the cream of the crop of our schooling system, ie University students, are fighting to enter this class. Examples of vocations or jobs in this class are Teachers, Engineers, Doctors etc. They are indeed a cut above toilet janitors, hawker centre cleaners, construction workers etc. However, I put forth to you the fact that middle class workers have to turn up for work the following day, from 8am to 5pm or 9am to 6pm or any other figures, anyway. This question follows: Have these people the autonomy or freedom of choice to stop working?

In a world where the medium of exchange for goods and services is money, I present to you the following scenario: I swim often. And I swim often enough to imagine money entering my pocket even as I am swimming or taking a dip in the pool. Dear reader, replace the activity with any that is of particular passion/ interest to you. Can you stop working? With money entering your pocket while pursuing your passion, definitely, you can stop working.

Let me now draw my line that marks the difference between the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. The line is The Freedom of Choice, in the most general sense.

The phrase "Middle class" is merely a phrase constructed, perhaps socially or politically, with the sole purpose of giving hope and pseudo-status to poly graduates, ITE graduates, any other graduates and ironically, University graduates. Why have our cream got to fight with the supposed lower classes for exactly the same status?

The Middle class is merely an illusion. I reiterate that the only two classes that matters are the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

Bourgeoisie has freedom of choice.
Proletariat does not have freedom of choice.

Lastly, there is no point engaging in such academia work if it does not apply to you, my reader.The only way to enter the Bourgeoisie class is to have automatic-income-generating business or investments, which allows you to live the simple scenario as presented above.

I do what I do because I am able to pull my friends and family from the Proletariat into the Bourgeoisie. It is possible to become a Bourgeoisie. You can too.

Already part of the elites

Had a joke with Bright tonight that freshies should be getting used to C's in NUS. "Noooooo!!!" he exclaimed.

There is no need for frustration over the inability to score consistent A+'s and A's because University undergraduates and graduates are already part of the elites of society. Being average in University is being the best in society. Therefore, a job is guaranteed for the most average University undergraduates, except in times of harsh economy where most everyone is affected.

Exceeding average-ness, it reveals a particular talent for a particular field. Referring to my earlier post titled "Hardwork", dated 20th October 2007, innate in everyone is a unique ability that can be developed and honed to perfection. For example, a consistent A-taker in the Social Sciences should probably consider a career in the area of Academic research. This is because it is a unique skill, not unlike that of a sniper or dancer. A certain amount of talent is required. Therefore, it is perfectly alright being average in grades, for one is a distinction elsewhere.

In conclusion, while grades are important, they are not everything. My dear readers, please do follow your heart and passion, for you can :)

Having said all these, it is crucial to realise that there are many non-University graduates who succeed and many University graduates who do not. Clear and plain fact. It goes back down to the accumulation of assets**.


** Please refer to my article on "Bourgeoisie and Proletariat", dated 11th October 2007.

Time flies

Sunday after Sunday. Issue after issue of Fortune magazines. Book after book from Catherine Lim to Frankenstein. From National Service to University.

Tests after tests. Exams after exams from Secondary Two streaming to Prelims. Semester reports after semester reports. Parents' signature; one after another.

Today marks the end of the two and a half years with my tutee. His O Level examination starts tomorrow.

It has been a pleasant experience with him. Six years junior to me in age, he is like another younger brother to me. In fact, I spend more time with him than with some of my best friends.

I wish you all the best, Emerson :)

Hardwork

This post is dedicated to my brother and Ai Fung.

When my brother was streamed into Normal (Academic), it was the first time I pondered about the word "hardwork". It is unfair to him to say that:

1. He has failed, because

2. He is lazy.

Looking at my brother's achievement in the Scouting movement till the present day, his position in the committee of his interest group in Temasek Polytechnic, I know my brother is due for success. He stands for everything that takes to become successful: hardwork, determination, perseverance, open mind, the continual honing of leadership skills.

Today, for the first time in a long while, I came head-on with my weaknesses. To reveal that I get B-'s and C's for my Sociology essays hurts, but only a little because I am immediately placed in my brother's shoes. It took me 22 years to experience what my brother experienced at age 15: The social stigma associated with poor grades. He must have suffered alot, being only 15. However, having pulled through and is still in continuous search for himself, I am proud of you my dear brother :)

While there are indeed lazy students in school, lazy people in the society, they only form a minority. It is in my personal belief that most people would love to give of their best, and they do. Singaporeans are by no measure lazy people. What remains is the direction towards which the hardwork should be channelled.

Innate in each and every one of us is a unique skill that we can hone to wonderous perfection. World class footballers and their tricks, sportspersons, military snipers with such amazing accuracy, dancers who make people go, "Wow!", even brilliant academics and scholars with marvelous grades are but only a few examples. My brother will be a great leader. My dear readers, what about you?

Dear Karen

This is a post dedicated to Karen.

Attended my "Sociology of Education" tutorial today. The discussion was fantastic, with Eunice, someone and I dominating the discussion. I was in a dilemma on what to focus on for this post until I read my best friends E & S's blog. Karen wrote about having to face the working world in a mere two years. Yet she remains directionless at this point in time. Coincidentally, this was something I voiced out about in tutorial today:

In order to illustrate better the "Achievement Ideology", my tutor picked five random students from the ground and asked them what their directions were in life. One replied that she wanted to be an Astronaut (whether it was a joke or not I honestly do not know), and the other four said that they did not know. It is reasonable to believe that of the 25 students in class, at least two-thirds of them are directionless.

Karen, you are not alone :)

However, the problem remains. The number of directionless University undergraduates is alarming. With this many directionless students all around, it makes it simpler for an individual to shrug the problem off without further consideration when his/her peers say, "You are not alone :)". The students remain contented to say, "I don't know." The immediate consequence is that such self-fulfilling prophecy and social reinforcement of such negative ideas reinforces social inequality.

Therefore, during tutorial, I argued that with so many fellow students directionless sitting in my class there and then, it only takes me to be sure of my path and goals to be a cut above the rest. Whether it incurred everyone's wrath I do not know. Let us keep the argument simple. The social hierarchy is such that it has a small triangular point at the top consisting of the elites. If the majority says, "I don't know," then the minorities must be saying, "I know."

Realising where the line is, it is possible Karen and you, my dear readers, to enter the equal side of inequality. Cliche as it may sound, I draw my line of equality for you: Dare to Dream! And as atrociously as possible. Negative actions begins with negative thoughts. Positive actions follow positive thoughts. A fair analogy would be writing an essay. In order to determine a direction, you must throw in as many ideas onto the paper as possible. Some are dumb, some are stupid, some are worthless. So you think. Upon looking back, they may be great ideas after all. Ideas out of the box. Upon determining a direction, begin with your end in mind.

Dear Karen, you are capable of growing so fast in thought and in action that allows you to comfort our peers, and create values in their lives, beyond that of merely saying, "You are not alone :)" And you are capable too, my dear readers.

Karen, in the same shoes as you, I would like to be as free as possible. And I see my future self swimming, still with money entering my pocket as I swim, as free from worries as an undergraduate now. My end is that simple, and am working my way there. You can too :)

Love,
Ke Ching

A simple comment

I sat through my "Sociology of Education" lecture today, and the topic was on Sports Education. My lecturer gave an example about how a sportsperson representing Singapore would receive $1 million from the state if he/she became a Gold medallist in the Olympics. Rounding off this example, she said, "$1 million from the state. It is alot. But (how about) over Life?" Most students laughed. It was a smart joke, or was it not?

I probably left the lecture with less than what I should on Sports Education. However, I left the lecture theatre with a few important lessons from the particular example stated above. These are the issues that arise as a result from the lecturer making a statement such as above:

1. The lecturer has an authority over students in terms of knowledge pertaining to her expertise, which is Education and its impacts on society. There is a problem when this authority spills over into areas beyond her expertise, and in this case on wealth management. She is clearly wrong and I will demonstrate why later.

2. The lecturer has indirectly sent out the message that even "striking a windfall" is of no use. This further implies that one has to work for the rest of his/her life, in vain. It has an air of pessimism.

3. Subtle messages such as those above are subconsciously accepted by the students.

4. This is another example of how powerful the school serves as an institution that restricts social mobility and reinforces inequality.


I believe why my lecturer thinks that $1 million is unable to last a lifetime is because of economic problems such as that of inflation. She probably hints a little about an alteration of lifestyle to that of luxury, I do not know. However, I beg to differ. Consider this simple scenario:

I put the $1 million into a well diversified portfolio** which yields an annual return of 5%. This is a figure that is sustainable in the long term.

$1,000,000 X 0.05 = $50,000/yr = $4167/mth

This is monthly income for no work done. Note also that the $1 million is still present.


Clearly, my lecturer speaks from the point of view of a spender, rather than a money-saavy investor. Without an intention to mislead, my lecturer's simple and seemingly harmless comment is that capable of reinforcing wrong perceptions about investments. What about statements such as these:

1. I just lost $______.

2. Investments is risky.

3. I am not interested in such things.

These are rife. Instead of engaging in such a topic with people whose vocabulary on investments are as such, seek those out who are financially literate and a whole new world of possibilities will open up before you. If there are financially illiterate people, there must be those who can take you to wealth you never knew you had.

Finally, a simple comment as above is capable of reinforcing a whole audience's social positions, unless their conscious attentions are brought to this problem. My dear reader, please do remember that words are this powerful, and be consciously selective of what you digest.

**It is important to note that acquiring assets for strategic long term purposes and speculation are two different things. The latter is gambling. The former is what should be done, ie through discipline, system and consistency.

Dear Sharon

I agree with you that most people are nice, except certain conditions prevent others from interacting at that simple level. I also agree with Alicia : )

alicia: anyway, nice post on human r/ships (: so totally agree with you. especially the last line too! hahaha!

Most certainly hope it was just a short, low period in your life that sparked you off into your post. There are times when we doubt ourselves and our genuine-ness, but with regards to whether you should hate yourself or not, there isn't a need to. No one should hate you too.

1. It takes a crook to catch a crook.

2. In Arts training, in order to arrive at the "truth", you have to read widely from differing points of view, both "negative" and "positive".

Lastly, I quote from King James Bible (John 8:7)
3. "So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

In order to know what is "correct", sometimes you need to know what is "wrong". I believe you hold knowledge to both sides of the fence and you do your best to remain in the "correct" side. If at any point in time you did something that was not quite you because you weren't in a condition to act rationally, please don't blame yourself. Any normal person can identify with you. Smile!

Love,
Ke Ching

Speaking Good English

I recall an interesting lecture from my "Sociology of Education" module. I learnt that there are a few kinds of capitals that each person possess. They are: Economic Capital, Cultural Capital and Social Capital.

Economic Capital, we will leave aside for the time being. It quite literally means money and all income generating assets. At present moment, you either have it, or you don't. We touch on this later.

There was a particular 10-mins period during the lecture when we were given a juxtaposition between English and Singlish. It was hilarious! This is one particular example that was the most impressionable and the only one that I can remember, goes something like that:

Scenario: There are many people in front of you and you have to walk through the crowd.

British: Excuse me Sir/Ma'am. I would like to get across, could you make way for me please?

Singlish: Paiseh / Sorry / Siam! / SKIUS!

Laugh! The whole lecture burst out in laughter! However, before we get drowned in the fun, we have to sober ourselves and think of the lesson behind it. This is a module on Education, and Education is a topic that is intrinsically linked to the word "success". This is an example of Cultural Capital. English educated, English educated, English educated. We have heard this phrase a gazillion times. The issue in our refusal, or inability, to use "proper English" is not about compromising the closeness between us Singaporeans. The issue lies in our lack of possession of the Cultural Capital that enables us to move up the socio-economic ladder.

I believe each of us have our own experiences of being able to form close friendships with some, and merely be acquainted with others. "Birds of the same feathers flock together". How about rephrasing it "People of the same Cultural Capital come together". This leads us to Social Capital.

Social Capital is the social network that you possess, ie who you hang out with. Pageant competitors, models and celebrities dominantly hang around with each other precisely because they possess similar cultural capital. An example would be the similarity in the level of attention they receive from the public. How about "nerds"? Scholars? Businessmen who have a similar thirst for the risks and excitement involved in business? What is the Cultural Capital that you possess? Look around you. "You are who your friends are".

Economic capital is the most obvious capital. It matters to most people and ranges from basic subsistence to a lifestyle of luxury. Once again, you either have it or you don't.

I have a friend who commented upon seeing one of our fellow students drive off in his Mini Cooper from the school carpark, "Basket, our school has so many Ah Seah Kia (rich kids)."

I replied, "You always look at the car and not the reason why they can afford to."

His reply was, "The reason, you will know the moment you are born."

Most definitely, I had to correct my reply by asking him to look at how the Ah Seah Kia's dads or grand-dads became prosperous.

Looking around you, are you in the company of the rich or people living from paycheck to paycheck? You may or may not be rich even though in the company of the rich (Let us be more specific. It is easier to understand when I mean self-made rich and not those born with a silver spoon in the mouth). Now, I put forth to you that if you already are, you possess the qualities that will take you to prosperity, just like how it took your peers to it. The question now lies in whether your conscious attention has been brought to these qualities that will allow you to do something about it.

Economic Capital, Cultural Capital and Social Capital are closely linked with each other. Too closely. There is no saying which capital will lead to the further development of the next capital. The causality can be in all directions. Personally, I do not possess the Economic Capital. Therefore, my strategy is to explore and acquire qualities that will allow myself to associate with the successful and great men.

Success I will attain one day. When I do, and when people ask why, the best indicator will be the Great people around me, themselves. And why am I able to surround myself with these Great people? It lies in the positive habits I seek to form today. This most definitely includes eliminating the "ahs" and "lahs" from my conversations. What are the positive habits you will form today?

Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

Had a great lunch with my client and his girlfriend this afternoon. The three of us major in Sociology. What dominated the bulk of the lunch session is the topic below:

I honestly haven't got an idea what kinds of classes, perceived to exist, are out there in the working world. "Blue collar", "White collar", "Middle", "Lower", "Upper" seems common enough. However, as far as I see it, there are only two classes in society that really matters. They are the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

The society's view of classes appears to be as such:

- Upper / Elite
- Middle
- Lower


This is how I view it:

Bourgeoisie:
- Upper / Elite
Proletariat:
- Middle
- Lower


We will now take a look at the middle class, which forms the majority of society. It matters because the majority of the cream of the crop of our schooling system, ie University students, are fighting to enter this class. Examples of vocations or jobs in this class are Teachers, Engineers, Doctors etc. They are indeed a cut above toilet janitors, hawker centre cleaners, construction workers etc. However, I put forth to you the fact that middle class workers have to turn up for work the following day, from 8am to 5pm or 9am to 6pm or any other figures, anyway. This question follows: Have these people the autonomy or freedom of choice to stop working?

In a world where the medium of exchange for goods and services is money, I present to you the following scenario: I swim often. And I swim often enough to imagine money entering my pocket even as I am swimming or taking a dip in the pool. Dear reader, replace the activity with any that is of particular passion/ interest to you. Can you stop working? With money entering your pocket while pursuing your passion, definitely, you can stop working.

Let me now draw my line that marks the difference between the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. The line is The Freedom of Choice, in the most general sense.

The phrase "Middle class" is merely a phrase constructed, perhaps socially or politically, with the sole purpose of giving hope and pseudo-status to poly graduates, ITE graduates, any other graduates and ironically, University graduates. Why have our cream got to fight with the supposed lower classes for exactly the same status?

The Middle class is merely an illusion. I reiterate that the only two classes that matters are the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

Bourgeoisie has freedom of choice.
Proletariat does not have freedom of choice.

Lastly, there is no point engaging in such academia work if it does not apply to you, my reader.
The only way to enter the Bourgeoisie class is to have automatic-income-generating business or investments, which allows you to live the simple scenario as presented above.

I do what I do because I am able to pull my friends and family from the Proletariat into the Bourgeoisie. It is possible to become a Bourgeoisie. You can too.