Ideal home is not an entitlement

[touzi]

The older Singaporean generation had it better when it comes to having affordable roof over their heads. I belonged to the luckier group of Singaporeans who bought HDB flats before they reached the ridiculous levels of today. It was sheer luck, not ability or hard work, that I managed to buy at a more affordable price. Just happened to find the right woman early and got married young.

I have heard plenty of complaints from my younger colleagues who just happened to be unlucky enough to be born late. It is true that some unlucky people have a bad habit of complaining non-stop. However, the lucky has no right to say that the unlucky has a sense of entitlement which seems to imply that they are not willing to sweat for what they want. If there were a role switch, would the writer be complaining like the young couples?

People like her have forgotten that home ownership is not a norm in other countries. It is the norm in Singapore because we have been fortunate.

This is exactly the reason why younger couples in Singapore are complaining. If everyone else is not owning homes, there is little need to feel jealous. If people who can enjoy affordable housing happen to do so simply because they were born a few years earlier, then it is hard for those who were born slightly later not to feel resentful. Does being born early make one more deserving of a cheaper home?

But Gladys Chung is not merely complaining about not having a roof over her head. She appeared to be demanding for a location of her choice. By condoning such attitude what kind of society will we become? While you might sound magnanimous, I don't think your reply is going to help the younger people.

By the way, I belong to the super unlucky group -- overage bachelor. Cannot buy when HDB flats are more affordable because I did not fulfil my national duty of marriage and procreation.. But still I think gahmen should do all that is within their means to help the young set up home, otherwise the Singapore tribe will be extinct someday. But if Gladys Chung's attitude is prevalent among the young, then I can only say good luck to Khaw Boon Wan.