The things that a Model Singapore Citizen has to do ?

Just some personal sharing today...

So last Sunday my wife finally managed to earn her Singaporean citizenship. It was a rough journey that began with me getting scolded by by ICA staff but it all ended well and I am happy that the government has shown a willingness to consider a sponsor like me who did not hold a steady job for the past 4 years to get his wife citizenship.

Ok, back to the story.

My son Durendal is overly attached to mommy but the seat was too small to accommodate my family so I took my son out of the theatre. My son started to cry for over an hour. It got so bad that the pre-school in Ulu Pandan CC asked me to bring my son in to play with their toys so he would stop crying. But even that did not work.

Soon enough, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan came to the CC as GOH for the citizenship ceremony, on his way in I was pretty sure he saw me struggling with my kid who would not stop crying.

Eventually, I couldn't hack it anymore so I went back to the theatre and I handed my son over back to his mom. So after some back and forth, my son calmed down and we managed to take a picture with Minister Balakrishnan after my wife got her NRIC from him during the ceremony.

After the picture was taken, Minister Balakrishnan whispered into my ear, and he said the dreaded words...

"Please have another kid soon."

This got me thinking...It's hard to be a model citizen.

a) We have to be courteous.
b) We have to have high productivity.
c) We must engage in our mother tongue.
d) We must get straight As in school.
e) We have to marry and have 2.1 kids. ( Especially so for graduate women )
f) Guys must serve NS and pass IPPT every year.
g) Everyone must engage in lifelong learning.
h) Everyone must avoid smoking and gambling.
i) Now everyone needs to lower sugar intake.
j) For bonus points, we must now become more innovative and take bigger risks.

The list goes on...

I'm fully aware the Minister Vivian is possibly very close to being a model citizen. Being a grandfather at his age makes him a model even for his fellow cabinet members.  I'm actually a bigger fan of his dad G D Balakrishnan who was principal of my primary school Bukit Panjang English School and a mid-career lawyer switching into a legal career at age 55.

But back to moral of the story... The Singapore Government wants you to be many things and there's nothing stopping you from trying to become a model citizen.

But, in contrast,the Singapore Financial Blogosphere only wishes that you succeed with one goal in mind :

Have passive income that afford you a modest living.

After you succeed, you wouldn't be a model. Outwardly, people might not even notice that you have already achieved this.

But you certainly will not regret it.