Quagmire of welfare system

'Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.' (Proverbs 13:16)
 '......The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.' (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

 

The trial of a British man, who was on welfare, killed six of his children, brought spotlight into the pitfalls of UK’s welfare system. It was reported that he and his two 'partners' claimed up to 54k Sterling Pound a year in benefits to support 11 children under his custody. It was said that the man had not held any full-time job since 1991 though he is physically fit.

 

One-third of British public spending goes to pensions, unemployment benefits, housing, and health. This is not surprising considering one can get help from so many fronts, with rent, council tax, health, education, jobseeker’s allowance and even legal costs. The welfare system has become a lifestyle choice instead of short-term relief for many .Technically it is possible for a household to claim even higher than the national average earnings.

 

The original intention of the welfare system (which was started after WWII) was to provide safety net for the poor and unemployed. Now people see such benefits as their entitlements or rights and it becomes politically difficult to amend them. We have been rightfully warned of the risk of a welfare state as it will develop the so-called entitlement mentality of being addicted to government welfare. For example, this country only spent 4.1% of GDP on healthcare as compared to 9.8% for UK in 2009. The policy of co-payment is a good one. The medishield scheme(medical insurance) enabled me to cover more than half of my critical illness treatment. If we offer free medical care, the tendency is for people to over consumed medical treatments. Invest in education, infrastructure and research are better ways for a country to stay competitive.

Genetic Counselling

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." (Psalm 134:14)

Some weeks ago I went for genetic counselling. Here are some of important pointers I brought home from the consultation session:

 

A person contracted cancer after 50 years old is not considered as belongs to the ‘high-risk’ group if the trend of the general population is the same. In Singapore context, currently most of the cancers occurred after the age of 50.

 

Genetic test is very expensive because it involves a sizeable number to be tested, so usually only done on the advice of the doctor. Our body system is very complex. The genes lie within the chromosomes and human beings have 23 pairs of them. Some chromosomes carry thousands of important genes while some carry only a few. There are about 20,000 genes located on one of the 23 chromosome pairs. So far about 12,800 genes have been mapped to specific locations on each of the chromosomes. .However the exact number of genes in the human genome is still unknown. That’s why genetic test is not foolproof as it is impossible to test every gene!

 

I also come to understand that present available ovarian cancer marker is not a sensitive indicator as it is often to give early signal. The reading can accelerate within a short frame of time. In other word, it is not sensitive enough to pre-empt ovarian cancer even one does it regularly. This makes ovarian cancer difficult to prevent and treat as most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Depression

The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?” (Proverbs 18:14)

 

The recent suicide of the son of a famous pastor brings spotlight to mental illness - depression. Just why some people are prone to depression and suicidal are hard to explain. They are generally kind, gentle and sensitive to others but they themselves cannot handle their own waves of despair. At some point in life everyone experiences depression. It is a more a matter of how long one stays in that state.

 

It seems that our own childhood experiences, biological as well as our genes contribute to our make-up. Psychology and environment also play their parts. People suffering from depression tend to draw their self-identity from negative symptoms around them e.g. helpless, hopeless, isolation, trapped in a vicious cycle of believing that they are worthless with no hope. On the other hand, some people despite the severity and long durations of setbacks they faced emerged unscathed despite these unpleasant life experiences.

Many find themselves able to overcome depression by changing their spiritual condition. Faith can help them to begin to revolve their lives around the new self-identity- that they are loved, cherished , and develop positive characters in their lives later on such as courage, fortitude, and determination.

 

Finding meaning and purpose in life is vital in overcome depression. Studies of suicide notes rarely mentioned problems like failing health, rejection or financial troubles. Rather, they speak more of being “tired of life” with suicide as “a way out”. Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist, discovered during the Nazi death camps that those who had no goal in life were unlikely to survive, as compared to those who had strong political or religious convictions.