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.

New investment paradigm?

"You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled."(Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

 

The paradigm of investing in a property here has changed for the last 2 years or so. People apparently are no more deterred by the slew of curbing measures. Increasingly more and more people are viewing property investment as a kind of insurance policy. In fact, it is a better investment than the latter based on the assumption that the monthly mortgage installment is enough to pay off from the rental income. Also, home prices in future indeed will rise; hence provide a handsome sum for retirement. The enemy for property investors appear to be ‘wait and see’ attitude which causes one to miss the boat.

 

There is inherent risk in forecasting what the future property prices will be like down the road in as there are so many variables at play- government policies, interest rate, market psychology, land supply etc.With the release of Population White Paper recently, property investors become even more excited and started to postulate the unending demand for housing from the foreigners.

 

Will era of huge capital gains still here to stay? Already the new launches of private properties have been priced at astronomical level. It pays to be prudent and be able to sit through his investment. One thing I know is that Bull Run does not last forever but it is difficult to stop a running train. Newspapers and media have been amplifying those ‘successful’ investment stories. What about those investors who were caught on the wrong foot? Talking about this, I still remember how my ex-client lost all that he had during the Asia financial crisis when he and his brothers who originally inherited a number of properties, overleveraged and were caught when the property bubble burst.

Worth of life

"Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass." (Jobs 14:5)

 

How much you are willing to pay for another year of life? With the advance of medical science and technology, cancer care has revolutionized in recent years. New drugs have now been used to treat cancer patients. The basic principle of these drugs is to identify the genetic mutations that cause a particular kind of cancer, and aim to turn off the mutated protein of the cancer cells.  As such, the doctors can tailor the cancer therapies to a particular person rather than giving standard therapy, hence, enhances effectiveness of treatment. The treatment targets on cancer cells rather than on healthy cells as well. Patients have to go for genetic tests before treatment.

Targeted therapies can increase cancer patients’ survival by months or years. The main issue is the cost  which can come up to thousands of dollars per month. Clearly this is out of reach for many people. It is a matter of time before medical insurance companies resort to capping such therapy either by setting a cap on the maximum amount the insured can claim per year, or by the number of months of treatment per year.  One thing for sure is that medical insurance premium will go up over time.

For patients and their immediate family members, the difficult decision lies in how much those additional years of survival worth, especially for those who cannot afford. To put it differently, how much are you willing to pay for another year of life? There is no right answer to this tough question but I guess common sense should prevail. Life is precious! Don’t waste it.

P1 registration & social mobility?

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard.” You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:9-10)

I got a call from a friend recently asking for advice on P1 registration for her only daughter. I could feel the stress and anxiety she had over this matter. It came as a surprise that this issue remains as contentious and socially divisive as two decades ago when my eldest girl went through the same exercise. This implies that most parents today still do not accept that every primary school is equally good despite the assurance from the ministry. One can gauge the popularity of a particular school by the number of places registered under phase 2B, where many parents are willing to put up at least 40 hours of volunteer work in the school of their choice in a year in order to qualify.

Are the children of disadvantaged households really been deprived of head start when they ended up in the less popular primary schools? Is the pace of social mobility among the lower-income group been affected even by our primary school registration system? Personally I think for primary school level, as long as the parents take keen interest in their children’s studies, the kids should do well in PSLE. Now it seems that the clamour for the Singapore’s brand of meritocracy to be reformed is getting louder. The very success of such system apparently breeds a group of people who are the beneficiaries, believing the system is absolutely just and fair; that they are entitled to their rewards for their hardworking. In fact they view those who are not so successful under such system as slothful, undeserved help or support. It is ironical that these are the people who are against social redistribution policies of the government.

I think it is time for us to put a ‘compassionate’ touch to this system. We have to acknowledge that there are people down there who despite all their best efforts, for one reason or the other, could not move up the social and economic ladder.

Is present age more evil?

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “(Jeremiah 17:9)
“Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed. “(John 3:20)

 

In a city where there are relatively fewer crimes than other world cities, we are appalled by the gruesome Kovan double murders taken place recently. Has evil increased compared to the past, or is the condition of man more evil now than before? In reality, the types and extent of evil deeds probably the same, just that with modern technology, we are more aware of them than before. Nowadays we can instantly obtain this information through the media, not constraint by geographical distance. In the past, it is very easy to hide one’s evil deeds. Dallas Willard once said that, "almost all evil deeds and intents are begun with the thought that they can be hidden by deceit."

 

The Bible explains that we all born with a sinful nature. When we are forced under a certain set of situations or circumstances, all of us are capable of manifesting those malevolent behaviours. There is no such thing as small or big evil in the eyes of God. Hacking someone’s computer, spreading malicious rumours, discrimination, avarice etc, are no better than someone who committed murder, rape or robbery. Evils are all built on lies, secrets, and darkness. They required the absence of light to survive.

'Letters to God'

‘And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:2-4)

There is no denial that as we entered adulthood, our worldview change. We think that we are pretty self-sufficient, especially when everything is going in our favor. We acquired more knowledge but unfortunately mistaken it as wisdom.  The more we know, the more we become skeptical and cynical.

Little children have no such hang-up like we adults. They are very impressionable. Here are some examples of their ‘letters to God’:

   ‘Dear God, I would like to live nine hundred years like the guy in the Bible.’

• ‘Dear God, We read that Thomas Edison made light, but in Sunday school they said you did. So I bet he stole your idea.’
• ‘Dear God, if you give me a genie lamp, I will give you everything I have except my money and my chess set.’
• ‘Dear God, Please send xxxxxx to different camp this year.’
• ‘Dear God, May be Cain & Abel would not kill so much if they have their own rooms. It works with my brother and me.’
• ‘Dear God, Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in them now.’
• ‘Dear God, Instead of letting people died & having to make new ones, why don’t you just keep the ones you have now?’
• ‘Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed in the church. Is it OK?’
• ‘Dear God, I’m American. What are you?’
• ‘Dear God, Thanks for a baby brother, but what I am praying is a puppy.’
• ‘Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love all and everybody in the whole world. There are only four people in our family. I can never do that.’
• Dear God, I would like to live nine hundred years like the guy in the Bible.'