Kiasunomics^©

The following sections are included:

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Note from the Authors
• List of Acronyms
• Glossary of Singlish Terms
• Introduction

It was at the crack of dawn when the first jab of pain came. “Could this be it?” the first-time mum wondered, a quizzical look panning across her face. Her heart skipped a beat. Perhaps she had overeaten. After all, she did have a heavy dinner the evening before — hard-boiled egg with pork belly and toufu braised in dark soya sauce.

Eventually, it came to be that Teng and his friends did not fare too well in school. Some called it a self-fulfilling prophecy as borne by the research findings on cohort size effects. Others said that it was expected — after all, Dragon babies are spoilt stiff. As a Dragon baby, Teng had high aspirations. But as the years went by, his world view became more realistic — he came to recognise that he was not the centre of the universe.

Teng worked hard as a taxi driver. He wished he had directed that same amount of effort to his studies when he was younger. Perhaps life would have turned out a little easier.

Peter’s news of the potential increase in their house value brought cheer to Siew Ling’s already pleasant disposition. Living in Woodlands initially appeared daunting. It seemed isolated from the rest of Singapore, being located right at the north, and a stone’s throw away from neighbouring Malaysia. Many would describe Woodlands as ulu (meaning ‘remote’).

The good news continued for Teng and Siew Ling. It seemed that since the announcement about the Woodlands train station last year, life was looking up for them.

Unlike other sales that are independently initiated by the retailer, the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) is a concerted government effort to get Singaporeans and tourists to shop by pushing retailers on a national scale to engage in price cuts.

With a baby along the way, their three-room flat would soon not be big enough. Teng and Siew Ling were thinking of registering for a bigger flat — a four-roomer flat to accommodate the baby and Teng’s parents. They would need his parents to help look after the baby. Having his parents move in would also allow Teng to keep an eye on them in their silver years.

“Teng, our house is getting too small,” complained Siew Ling, struggling to have her voice heard over Ethan’s cries. Ethan was born a month ago, and had been exercising his lungs ever so often since.

Peter came by the next day with more information to help Teng and Siew Ling come to a decision. He had gotten hold of a technical report on the effects of the Circle Line on housing values. He thought this would be interesting to Teng as the Serangoon flat they had looked at the previous day sits close to a Circle Line station.

“Peter, thanks for the report on the Circle Line,” said Siew Ling. Peter was bringing Teng and her to see more flats that day.

Teng and Siew Ling ended up purchasing the Serangoon flat. Peter managed to sell their Woodlands flat at a good price given the appreciation with the removal of the KTM railway line. Together with some savings that they had scraped together over the years, they could afford the Serangoon flat.

As a single working mother, Josie wanted the best of both worlds for herself and her teenage daughter.

While the saying goes “Do well, now do good”, a reverse of that would describe Josie aptly. Having graduated from a local university with an Economics degree, she had always harboured an ambition to serve the nation through a public service career. Her career stints at Changi Airport first, and later at LTA, helped her fulfil that ambition of doing good.

“Good morning, girls,” said Mrs Johan at the school’s assembly. Mrs Johan was the teacher involved in pastoral care in Sarah’s secondary school.

“Later this afternoon at 3 pm, the upper secondary level girls are to attend the talk we have specially organised with NEA, the National Environment Agency, on energy conservation.”

When Teng and Siew Ling first visited the Serangoon flat while house hunting, they had noticed an ongoing construction project for a new community centre at the plot of land next to the flat. At that time, the construction had only just started and there was not much of a cacophony during the day.

Teng and Siew Ling had been living in their new flat for almost two years. The construction of the community centre was finally completed.

In recent years, Singapore has been affected by the severe smoke haze from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia.

Forest fires are a frequent occurrence in Southeast Asia especially during dry months. It is also a common practice for farmers to slash and burn as it is a cheap but illegal land-clearing method. In the course of clearing unwanted vegetation and peat, drained peatlands are burnt. With peat being very combustible, these fires do not just occur on the surface of peatlands. They also permeate up to three metres deep underneath the peatlands.

Sarah felt quite good having educated her mum on the energy conservation study that she had learnt about in school a year ago — that mere nudging from family members can motivate people to take steps towards saving electricity. Her mum, mindful of the environment, appreciated learning from her about the NEA study.

“Yesterday, two men from the Town Council came and changed the lights outside our flat,” Ma told Teng one Saturday morning before he began his taxi shift.

“They changed everyone's lights along the corridor. Pa asked them why. They said this type of lights saves more energy.”

“Nowadays, Singapore is so expensive. Taxi fares go up, water bills go up, now food prices also go up,” said a disgruntled Ma as she unpacked her groceries to put the fresh pieces of meat and vegetables into the refrigerator.

It was National Day. The red-and-white Singapore flag, ironed crisp, hung smartly on the ledge of the balcony, fluttering amid the occasional warm breeze. The Town Council had strategically placed hooks along the balcony so that residents could hang the national flag to create a design for the block.

The following section is included:

• About the Authors