Monday 30 June 2014

so I feel quite stupid.......

You know how we think everything high tech is complicated......

In my previous post about arriving in London and not being able to use my phone etc etc, I thought the problem was because I had forgotten to release a locked SIM card or something complicated like that..... 

I sent via email a "please help me I cant use my phone" email to my phone provider and they even said they would call me in London to see how they could help.  This morning I got a call on my sisters London land line, and the woman said " Err you cant use your phone in London because you dont have international roaming"

Well the nice people from my phone providers then got me all set up for roaming and my phone is now connected........

I really feel dumb right now.......

Sunday 29 June 2014

Summer in London

Yeah that's right I am in London!

But not for a holiday.....looking after my sister as she just had her foot reconstructed.  She was born with flat feet, and being on her feet for the last 49 years plus being a hairdresser and busy working mother, and not wearing proper shoes ( she also found out she had an extra bone in her right foot which made it hard to wear proper support) finally came to a head and she couldn't walk without pain, hence the foot reconstruction, one foot at a time......

I don't know about you but having a sister around when you have had surgery is probably the most important thing........a sister to care for you and cook you nutritious soups and just have that support of someone who knows you, can't beat it.  Which is why  I am here.
I think I enjoy being needed and looking after people, especially people I love, and who would complain about being in  London during summer!

The days leading up to my departure were as always fraught with disasters........ Too much work to clear up in the office ( I have to be online everyday for an hour and do a con call while on holiday!) I was tired, stressed and worried about my sister......
As her operation date was fixed late, I didn't get a very good deal on the ticket and flew Finnair .  Another airline to talk about!  Did you know you had to pay for alcohol on some European airlines!  Well beer and wine with dinner was free but other than that you had to pay for it!  I am so spoilt!
Gluten free food was shit but that's because it came out of Singapore airports catering!  Other than that Finnair was fabulous!  I must say these Scandinavians are a very civilized lot, perfect manners, gorgeous to look at, hard to believe they were blood thirsty Vikings once! Must be evolution!

I was in transit at Helsinki airport for about an hour after which I got on a BA flight to London, all good, no complaints until Albina the Ukranian that lived in Helsinki, sat next to me.
Conversation started innocently enough until she asked where I was from....
"Singapore"
Blank stare.....
"Is that in China"
In went downhill after that.......for an hour, worse thing though was that I couldn't stop looking at her mustache......
"Do you think all the suffering in Asia is because you all aren't Christians, it's a cursed land"
This time I had the blank stare..... She went on and on and the best was
" I am sorry to say but you will burn in hell for not being a Christian"
My retort
" but Albina, if  we are all Gods children why should it matter that I am not a Christian..... And besides I don't believe in heaven or hell so to me I won't burn in your idea of hell"

Not a very comfortable conversation 30,000 feet in the air......

Anyway I got to Heathrow in one piece, God hadn't punished me for my blasphemous views but then my phone didn't work at all, and I couldn't get in touch with my sisters partner via call or text or what's app to let him know I was on the tube on the way as he was supposed to meet me at the station and help me with my bags on the bus and back to their flat.  It's a good thing I remembered the way, so I lugged my 20 kilo bag (not overweight for once) which was full of food things for my sister, through the station, across the road, on the bus, then crossed the road again and up to the flat........then I realized I didn't know what number the flat was so couldn't buzz her partner....... Thank goodness someone let me in and I went up to the flat...... I knew where it was just not the number on the door!

I later realized that I actually had to release the SIM card on my iPhone before going overseas........ And worse still I hadn't done the same thing to my credit card.......

So perhaps Albina the Ukrainian living in Helsinki had a point........I was doomed........ Yeah right!

Anyway I am here for 2 weeks to be mother to my sister, to love her and look after her.  I wish I had been able to take more time off but I know she will be in good hands after I leave,and I get to come back in six months or so when she does the other foot........

Sunday 15 June 2014

time to start worrying about retirement???

Every Singaporean, when they start work automatically gets enrolled in our Central Provident Fund.  Its like a forced savings plan which helps you buy your first home and set you up for medical savings and retirement.

Our government controls the fund and makes changes to it off and on with regards to how much money you can withdraw when and what is the minimum amount you should have in the fund  by the time you reach 55.

There has been alot of debate recently about the minimum amount and the fact that we can't withdraw all the
article in the Sunday times today
money when we want etc etc.......
There are two sides to this, as in every situation....

The first is
Its my money!  Its my life! Its my hard earned money so why do I have to listen to the government about investing my money.  Why cant I just get the whole amount in there and do what I want with it.

The second is
Its a prudent retirement plan which will ensure I have enough money when I retire.  It will give me money to look after myself when I am old and I don't have to depend on the state (we don't have much government assisted schemes for the unemployed, poor or old and sick, which is why we enjoy relatively low taxes as we don't believe in taxing people half their salaries so that the unemployed and old get handouts)

Now while both  sides have their merit, I have some questions as I will be 55 in a few years and I will see my money frozen in the retirement account and perhaps my home too, depending on which scheme I opt for.

First question
Its my fucking money and I don't want either plan you have listed so what else can I do?  There is an option to show the government any other life annuity plans one might have bought privately or topping it up with cash to be frozen....

Second question
What gives the government the right to tell me that I have to pledge my home in one of the options?  When we bought our homes and you happily told us that we could use "our" money in our CPF accounts to pay the mortgage, why didn't you tell us then  " oh by the way when you retire you have to pledge back this very home up to the amount you used from your CPF to top up your minimum sum".

Third Question
As I know I will not be able to retire at 65 and I will have to continue working at any job I can get, why are you putting all my money into the retirement account when I reach 55?

 It sounds to me like strong arm tactics.  It sounds to me that the government is being big brother and bullying me into choosing one of the schemes.  It sounds to me that the government is being the nanny in this nanny state when they (the G)  protest that we the citizens have to stop expecting the government to be the nanny.

While I can see its a good way to plan for retirement, and I didn't plan for my retirement as I was too busy trying to feed my children and keep a roof over my head for too many years, I still think strong arm tactics are not the best way to explain it to people like me who are facing the prospect of seeing their hard earned money kept frozen out of their reach.

The CPF thing is a complicated maze and its still not clear to me so I will be calling the CPF  to understand my options better, so this post could just be a rant about nothing, or it could just be the tip of the iceberg.......

Monday 2 June 2014

Single again

So I am back where I started, single again, as I broke it off with P.   Too much of a coward to do it in person so I broke up with that lovely man via text.

I was very flattered when I first started going out with P, flattered that a man actually wanted to spend time with me , but after awhile I also started to resent his intrusion into my life.  That's when I realized that something didn't quite feel right.  I had let the flattery and the attention P gave me, take over from what I was actually feeling.  I let my head rule and I didn't listen to my heart..... Not a good option for me.

I was stressed out these past few weeks knowing that I didn't feel as much for him as I should.  I struggled not knowing what to do as I really liked P but I was fast realizing that it was friendship rather than love.  I kept telling myself  that here was this  nice man who likes me and  who wants to make me happy, but I knew that I felt a deep friendship for him and nothing more.  I felt like I was leading him on.  This man deserves someone to love him completely, to cherish him and to make him happy.  I am not that woman.

So this leaves me with a lot to think about.  I keep saying I want someone to share my life with me yet when I find a nice man who wanted to do just that, I shut him out.  Am I too set in my ways and too independent that I can't let anyone in or is it that P just wasn't the right man?

All I know is that I am single again..........