Xtra-insights - Thursday, October 30, 2008 12:58 - 34 Comments

Xtra-insights: Talk the talk or walk the walk?

Rachel Chung / Columnist

In order to make a difference in the climate of socio-political awareness, we do have to question ourselves too – are we opposing for the sake of opposing?

Recently, two incidents made me think about how much our average Singaporean cares about his or her country and fellow citizens. Is it the sense of superiority that makes one shy away from his less fortunate fellow men? Is it the comfort zone that we are cocooned in that makes one turn a blind eye to the plight of another? Or is it the relentless pursuit of materialism in our society?

Perceived Superiority

I met a young man in one of the recent events I attended. He had taken the initiative to introduce himself to me. He struck me as confident and well spoken. In the course of our conversation, the topic of the structured investments saga came up.

His take was that “you make your bed, you lie in it.” I agree with him – to an extent. Savvy investors who knew what they were buying into – mid to high risk structured investments – should bear the responsibility of their calculated risks and if I may say so, greed. However, I mentioned that there is a group of investors with whom my sympathies lie – these are the retirees who had invested most, if not all, of their life savings and folks who are lowly or not educated. These people had been reassured that the structured products were ‘just like fixed deposits’ and that they are “principle-guaranteed”. What did he think about that? Continue…