Let me tell you a secret. The Singapore government has successfully transformed Singapore into a metropolitan city-state in less than 50 years. That is certainly a great achievement. However, behind that, there is a dark side that is only felt by the lower class in our country. The elderly in Singapore still have to work hard even though they should be enjoying the fruits of their hard work in old age. This is only felt by low to middle-income families whose salaries are mostly used for rent and expensive bills.
Here are the reasons in my opinion:
The first reason: Overpopulation . As of September 2019, our population reached 5.8 million. The government predicts that our country's population could reach 6.9 million by 2030. The total land area of our country is only 721 square kilometers. The population density is 8,274 people per square kilometer. Imagine having to jostle every time you go to work. Imagine the queue of people during lunch hour.
Reason two: Transportation . During rush hour, MRT train breakdowns often occur. Locals always joke that the government never calls such problems as breakdowns. Instead, it is called the train's "fault". Simply put, our MRT lines were never built to support so many trains with a frequency of 1-2 minutes. The reason why our trains have to have a frequency of 1-2 minutes is because there are too many people waiting at the station. This is a picture when the MRT breakdown occurs. Scary huh? Imagine seeing this scene once a week on average after a hard day's work.
Reason three: Less happy old age . Or less retirement. The minimum retirement age in Singapore is 62 years old by law. This means, your company cannot ask you to retire before 62 years old as long as you are a Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident. There is a saying among the elderly here: "Work till you die".
To earn a living in Singapore, one has to work until one can no longer walk. Most of our seniors work as cleaners in shopping malls or in fast food joints. Some even collect cardboard boxes on the streets, others sell tissues. These are just a few big examples where most of us in Singapore accept the fact that to keep earning, we have to literally work ourselves to death.
Those are some of the reasons in my opinion why stress levels in Singapore are quite high even though we are a developed country.
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