Over the years, and in the last few weeks, many people have been regurgitating the same few reasons for the govt to withhold or retain the people’s life savings for as long as the govt so decides. And none of the reason is acceptable, reasonable, logical, sensible, justifiable, morally ethical, believeable… without sounding deceitful, childish and foolish, to hold back the life savings of a few million citizens of sound mind, sensible, responsible, mature, knowledgeable, experience and financially able to manage their own money. Many of those reaching 55 are well educated men and women holding very responsible positions in top management, professionals, but all lumped together like the ignorant, reckless, irresponsible and uneducated peasants that would throw away all their money in a moment of fancy or be cheated of everything.
The top reason, what if they spend all their money quickly? So?
The next hot favourite, what if they spend their money on pretty mei meis or go to Batam or Bintang or Lijiang? So?
What if they go to the casinos and gamble everything away? So?
What if they splurge on cars or luxury items to live like a king for a few days? So?
What if they really did not know how to manage their money? So?
What if they got cheated by the con men and con women? So?
What if they adopted some pretty god daughters who happily addressed them as sugar daddy? So?
What if they stand on top of a building and threw all their money away? So?
What if they live to 80, 90 or 100 years? So?
There are many reasons that we cannot think of, cannot imagine of, that a person would squander all his money withdrawn from the CPF? So? For every one of these reasons, or a combination of these reasons, or for all the above reasons, is it good enough a reason for the govt to withhold the money of all the innocent, sensible and responsible from them at 55?
The act of withholding all the people’s money just because of a few that would squander their money away, one way or another, is as good as condemning every one reaching 55 as idiots, irresponsible, imbeciles, and stupid. All will be found guilty and must be punished for a crime they did not commit or would not commit but on the assumption that they will commit. What kind of reasoning is that? What kind of justice is that? Everyone presumed guilty, presumed to be reckless and irresponsible with their money?
Such a reasoning and action cannot even hold water in a 3rd World country where the majority of the people are uneducated and ignorant. We are talking about a population of educated, widely travelled, experienced, knowledgeable and responsible people at the prime of their lives and would remain so for another 20 or 30 years! Why can’t they be trusted with their own money? Which boy or girl in the govt said so?
And this is not even an issue. There is no good reason to retain or keep a person’s life savings from him when he/she reaches 55. Absolutely no good reason. Period. Even if he is of unsound mind, his family should have the right to take care of him and his money. This is private matter. What has the govt got to do with it?
To accede to such logic is a very dangerous precedent. In the same thinking, all the people can be put in jail to protect their lives as some are found to jump onto train tracks or walked into the reservoir. Could a well educated populace be stupid enough to say such reasoning is good, healthy and ethically correct to be used to restrict or restrain the freedom of the people and the use of their money? It is unbelieveable that some really think it is ok.
What right has the govt to meddle with the people’s money? It is not your money, dummy.
Chua Chin Leng AKA RedBean
*The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/