Bhutan has a yardstick for measuring success which some youth here yearn to have in place of Singapore's relentless pursuit of economic growth.

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Last statement is so very true...we have no big brother name "China" to look after us...

It'll be good if we also know how to work smart and enjoy the fruits of our well-earned labour.

Then, the basics of life will follow and we'll have more ........

Why S'poreans must work hard? 25marks

Ans: S'poreans must work hard indeed very hard to earn enough money to sustain the incessant rise in cost of living and to pay taxes to keep a bunch of criminally high salaries of our MIWs. MIWs work for Pay And Pay Corporation.

I have to agree with PM Lee

Bhutan and Singapore are different. Bhutan has been relatively isolated from the rest of the world until as recently as the 1960's. It has never been colonised, It is a landlocked between India and China who have influence over its policies.

The GNH(Gross National Happiness) Index was introduced to avert criticism about its slowly developing economy,

But things in Bhutan are changing, more international flights, internet, Television and cable TV, The aspirations of the people for rapid economic advancemants. That can only be achieved with hard work. And Bhutan has lots of resources, hydroelectricity and agricuktural product,

In Singapore like PM Lee says we're on our own. No resources except for our people and our ingenuity. If we become complacent and resort to welfare systems like in the west, we'll end up with heavy taxes. Good governance and a strong and growing economy are essential for Singapore's continual survival in a global environment which is becoming harsher.

Unity and cohesion are two other important things we must not compromise.

All said we can still be happy, both internally and externally. Make more friends. Smile at everyone you meet. Family and friends are important. Follow your passion.

Best wishes to everyone.

Yes, but we have to be careful not have an economy where we are all like hamsters running on wheels. We run on the work wheel all day, then we run on the exercise wheel, then we run on the entertainment and distraction wheel then we go home and fall asleep exhausted.

The modern economic system, not just in Singapore, but the rules of the modern economic system in the world put us in in a form of slavery. Not to any government but to money.

If we are so busy running on all those wheel in the hamster cage which is our world, then where is time to contemplate, to meditate, to appreciate beauty....honestly, how often have you been to the recently refurbished National Museum or other places of enrichment which we have because of our affluence?

Thing is, the world, including Singapore signed up to this increased pace in our global rat race because of globilization, the WTO etc.

We have no choice, we cannot actually jump off.

But what the government can do is to temper how much intensity and catharsis we dedicate to economic growth.

If we, especially in good times, allow our growth to be a half percent or one percent less, there will be time to actually jump of the wheel occasionally, smell the roses, enjoy life and love, jump off our hamster wheels to actually connect with friends and loved ones, enjoy our museums, libraries, places of interest and beauty and relax long enough to MAKE BABIES, life in Singapore will become better. We will then have time to occasionallt tope being Human DOINGS and be Human BEINGS.

The government does their best, I know and appreciate this. But there can be more thought on how to use reserves to increase our happiness index and also to allow the occasional soft touch on the brakes to slightly slow the intensity of economic growth and allow the growth of individual and collective happiness in Singapore

Sorry for the typo, the last line of my 2nd last para should be,

"We will then have time to occasionally stop being Human DOINGS and be Human BEINGS."

So What ?
These are the very same people whom the Government are trying to get rid.
Kicking them out of the civil services, imposing more taxes on them and open
the door bigger to the foreigners.
Why ?
BETTER revenues CAN BE collected from the PRs and work permit holders.
Need not have to take care of their housing needs, medical needs, etc, etc.
So however hard you locals can performed - Preference will still be TO
THE Foreingers.
GOODLUCK TO YOU ALL OUT THERE.
TRY HARDER - BUT DONT EXPECT TO BE APPRECIATED.

"She works hard for the $, so hard for the $. She works hard for the $ and you better treat her right"

Anyone knows the singer? Right answer will be rewarded (FCFS).

"You have to watch your GDP (gross domestic product)" "Singapore's most urgent concern is to keep the economy humming along"

There we go.. straight from the horse's mouth.. we are just numbers to them.. they don't care whether you are happy or not.