In Hokkien we have this idiom: “Aye kow (a dumb person) tioh pung teng (got stung by a bee).

We use this idiom to describe the predicament of someone who is hurt and needs help badly but lacks the ability or means to communicate his problem.

There is also another Hokkien idiom that says: “Hoe miar lan[people who are blessed] mm chye yiah[can't understand] pye miar lan eh koew[the suffering of the unfortunate].

These two idioms just about sum up succinctly the plight of the common people, not just in Singapore, but in other countries as well. Let me elaborate:

The common people usually comprise the illiterate or people with little education. They are the ‘disadvantaged segment’ of society. And they are often victims of the ‘poverty trap’ because they lack the ability to communicate their problems and hence to present their plight effectively to the authorities.

The powers that be who are the “hoe miah lan [the blessed] and who earn more than they can spend are often unable to understand let alone empathise with the common poor. They view the plight or difficulties of the poor purely with the head instead of with both the head and the heart. For these ‘hoe miah lan’ whose salary for one month may take a poor man 10 years to earn [no exaggeration here], the story of the poor man sound too absurd to be true of the life that the hoe miah lan has been used to.

Just like the Buddha, who thought the world was a wonderful place when he was a prince and not allowed to go beyond the royal compound until that fateful occasion when he was allowed out of the royal confine and came across a beggar, did he then realise that the world he was used to was a very exclusive one. But then it takes a ‘Buddha’ to be able to make that very discerning conclusion about the world just from a chanced meeting with a beggar.

However the powers that be in our society are all far from being ‘the Buddha’. So expecting them to be able to understand the suffering of the poor is asking them to ‘make a leap’ well beyond their capacity. Perhaps the only way to make the blessed and ‘the powers that be’ to be able understand what it is like to be poor or ’socially disadvantaged’ is to make these fortunate fellowmen of ours to do the work of the poor and be paid the poor man’s salary at the end of the month. I’m saying this because I am reminded of the advice recently given to the unfortunate people, who had deposited tens of thousands of dollars in some cases and hundreds of thousands of dollars in a number of other cases with the structured deposit schemes retailed by DBS, to see things in perspective. Now my question here is: What perspective is there for people see who have placed their life-savings in these structured deposits only to be told shortly that all their money is gone? It’s easy to talk about ‘perspective(s)’ when one draws a salary of more than a hundred thousand dollars a month because one has such easy access to more money.

This brings us to the conclusion that indeed ‘experience’ is often the best way to explain or make some people understand a given situation.

In any case, do appreciate our minister’s efforts. Not only does he feel rich by looking at his monthly CPF statements, he also crack jokes on top of his regular work(if any). Don’t you think he is due a pay-rise for his hard work on top of overtime? =)

Don’t focus only on looking for the same job and the same pay. Focus on looking at your monthly CPF statement so that you can feel rich.

Lim Swee Say, NTUC Chief

I agree with him this time round. Times are bad and we should not be “picky”.

hongjun

I will be looking for a different job and a different pay.

OK?

You give me a different job and pay me more??? Boleh???