A Singaporean Dream of the 5Cs

Remember the time in the 90s when people were obsessed with the 5Cs? The 5Cs represent an era when people who survived through the recession in the mid 80s thought that Singapore was going through another "Golden Age". A "Golden Age" where economic growth proceeded at break-neck speeds creating wealth and making the Singapore pledge come true..."so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for the nation"? Of course, it helped that prosperity came to you and hence the 5Cs were the be-all and the end-all of the so-called Singaporean dream.

The 5Cs: A Recap
The 5Cs refer to cash, credit card, condominium, car and country club membership. They were a catchy way to describe the attributes of success in modern, materialistic and mercenary motherland of Singapura. Cash does not need much explanation, any capitalistic economy worth its salt uses money as the measure of economic prosperity and personal success (whether this is right or wrong is an issue to be addressed in another blog).

Credit cards are a proxy to measure your income level. Previously, you had to have an annual income of at least S$24,000 a year to qualify for one. Nowadays, the limit is closer to $30,000 annual income. Hence, if you qualified for a credit card, it meant that you were a somebody in Singapore Inc.

Condominiums (or private residential property) was another measure of how well you did. With virtually 85 to 90% of the population living in HDB apartments (first-time or resale), if you were the 10-15% who lived in private housing, you were considered to be somewhat above the hoi-polloi of the masses who live in HDB estates.

Country club memberships capped off one's ostentatious display of wealth as the entrance fees for some more exclusive clubs ran into 6 digits. This allowed you to swing titanium space-age golf clubs at a dimpled ball across manicured greens and ponds. The epitome of having "made it".


The 5Cs: A Reality Check
Ever since the Asian Crisis in 1997-1998 as well as the dot.com bubble burst in 2000s, globalisation rears its ugly head against Singapore Inc as we are not spared the excesses of world global financial markets. Some MNCs downsized, some SMEs died and others were born. Jobs were lost, re-created and Singapore Inc re-organised itself under the watch-ful eyes of the powers-that-be to emerge into today's new "Golden Age" (Hey.. haven't we heard this before?).

During the 80s, I was also caught up in the 5Cs and did hanker after them as well. I followed the instructions of my parents to study hard, get a degree, find a comfortable job and slowly achieve the Singapore Dream. However, having gone through the Asian Crisis and Dot.com bust, I step into 2008 with more cyncism and realism. The first thing I realised was that jobs were not safe. The era of life-long employment is gone. Life-long income (a.k.a. annuity) is now the new thing. Oh, but sorry, you have to find the funding for the annuity yourself out of your CPF or own monies! Don't look to gahmen to fund your retirement.

New realities in Singapore Inc
The new sense of reality of how Singapore Inc has changed in a globalised world sunk in when I started to see how our living spaces started to shrink due to the deliberate open immigration policies to grow the working population as well as "instant" citizens being implemented. The powers-that-are is of the view that our indigenous population is insufficient to support economic growth. Thus, absolute numbers of economically active workers from the regions of our north, south, east and west and imported to help grow our GDP. This growth in absolute numbers means that competition for jobs is increasingly tough at all levels. While foreign immigration brings in much needed helpers in the domestic worker sector (maids), construction and increasingly service sectors, it has also made IT, financial services and even many white collar jobs subject to strong competitive pressures, making it tougher for you to compete economically.

So has this stopped us from achieving the 5Cs? No it hasn't but it has made me rethink about the 5Cs. A home is a home so the choice of abode is really one's choice based on your income level and affordability. Credit cards should be seen as a way to make payment and I have stopped applying for new cards as they have lost their lustre. Country clubs are really only if you have too much money as many alumni based or Safra type ($40 a year) of clubs provide value-for-money at relatively affordable monthly subscriptions. A car was something I aspired to but it took me my daughter's impending appearance soon that prompted me to get one for the family after working for 13 years and surviving reasonably well in Singapore without a car.


Where does that leave us?
In our journey towards financial freedom, the 5Cs used to be a common benchmark for many to aspire to. Whether this is an appropriate benchmark for you or if you should focus on other aspects is largely a personal choice. My own sense of the 5Cs is that you have to balance your income and affordability against what you want to get. A car brings with it great convenience but is generally more expensive than public transport. Until public transport starts getting better (say in another 4 to 12 years' time and assuming our population doesn't hit 6 million souls), many will still trade money for convenience and comfort of our family.

You determine the benchmark and dreams you have for yourself.
You determine what success is to you in Singapore.
You hold the power to decide for yourself how you want to go about on your journey towards financial freedom.

Be well and prosper.