Recently, the mainstream media published a skewed survey which claims Singaporeans are neither unhappy or happy, and it even coined a new term "under-happy". This new term is actually a transient stage between happy and unhappy, as explained by the government-controlled media.
While being happy and unhappy is clearly exclusive and opposite descriptions, Singapore's media have actually transcended beyond simple single-dimensional and conceptual constraints we common Singaporeans could grasp - just like the movie Interstellar, "under-happy" is a wormhole between happy and unhappy, and Singapore's media correctly identified that only Singaporeans are stuck in this extra-terrestrial emotion state. Uniquely Singapore indeed.
The survey immediately drew condemnation from commentators with some calling the news "low grade propaganda". Alas, such criticisms have actually brought rare common sense in today's mainstream media landscape and restore some faith in some Singaporeans - Singaporeans are not fools after all. However, there are some truth to the survey's conclusion that Singaporeans may be "under-happy" after all.
Let's list down the reasons to be happy and unhappy, and arrive how did we become "under-happy":
Happy factors:
1) Wealth of ultra-rich increased by 7% in 2013 alone
2) Elite Spanish club Valencia is owned by a Singaporean
3) Lee Hsien Loong and his PAP MPs earn the highest salaries in the world
4) COE prices for luxury cars dropped
5) GIC and Temasek Holdings are actively buying up overseas investments\
6) Every Singapore Budget sees a surplus in tax collected
7) Businesses have easy access to cheap foreign labour and low borrowing interest rate
8) Singapore's average household income is $10,503 in 2013 and we have the highest GDP per capita in the world
9) New citizens, Permanent Residents and Foreigners do not need to serve NS
10) Singapore has the lowest income tax in the world
Unhappy factors:
1) Salaries of bottom 20% stagnated for the past 12 years since 2002 when Lee Hsien Loong become Prime Minister
2) Singaporeans' have an average debt of $80,000 per person
3) More than 26% of Singaporeans earn less than $1500 a month
4) Housing debt servicing period has increased to at least 25 years as compared to the past
5) COE price is $63,000 and out of reach for most Singaporeans
6) Birth rate has fallen to its lowest ever as cost of living increased without a corresponding increase in salaries
7) Polytechnic and Graduates starting-salaries have stagnated after factoring for inflation since 2000
8) PAP still sue people who criticize them into defamation
9) Overcrowding has worsen, salaries have been depressed, working hours have increased to the longest in the world and jobs have been taken away by the influx of foreigners
10) Cost of living and inflation have been increasing but PAP insist on not raising salaries without productivity gains
11) Retirement is impossible to all of us as another survey revealed we need more than $1 million to retire
12) Healthcare is unaffordable
13) CPF is a broken system and we have to continue working to our death
14) and more...
There we could see, a small percentage of elites, PAP leaders and businessmen are definitely in the "happy" zone and they have every reason to celebrate SG50, F1, casinos, PAP60 and whatever ludicrous events the tourism board came out with. The rest of the population are merely struggling for a living and it would be insane to be happy under such sorry circumstances. Take the average between this two extremes and here you go - "unhappy"
Alex Tan
TRS Contributor