I've really been thinking about homeless and hungry people ever since I came back from Paris. Cos when I combine homeless and hungry with freegan ideas. I don't understand why homeless and hungry people have an issue.

This got me thinking. What is the problem? Many of us would think that poorer people have a lower education level. Generally this is co-related.
Education being well defined structured learning in a typical school system. Primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Yes. I agree education is a good way to get people out of the poverty cycle. It equips people with skills so that they can contribute to society and earn a living. But it is a long drawn out process.

Then I thought. But all they need for the time being is food to eat and a place to stay and maybe a toilet to bathe.
And I know where to get all these for free.
Meaning... Their problem is a lack of knowledge. With the knowledge of where to get their basic necessities, they could then focus on how to get out of their poverty cycle.

Education is still important. Knowledge and education does not need to be mutually exclusive. If poor homeless people learn to be freegan, they can then move on to the next stage of getting out of the poverty cycle.

Once again. I'm not necessarily talking about dumpster diving. I was talking to my wife about finding free food. And her first comment was that she imagines freegans to be kneeling over the prayer offerings by the side of the road and eating them.
And my explanation to her is that, she thinks this way due to a lack of knowledge. Many of the freegans who are full time freegans eat in very respectable manners. Good free food and in large quantities. It's not always scraps. The point is, they know where to find it.

They know where to find shower facilities and a fairly safe place to sleep for the night. They know how to find clothes, etc. Although most of them aren't homeless, IF they were to be homeless, they would have no problems meeting their family necessities.

And this got me thinking a lot. Knowledge is essentially free. But it's not reaching the people who need such knowledge. People don't need to starve. Don't need to be out in the cold. Don't need to be dirty or smelly. And yet... This is the problem that is happening.
And it's totally baffling and yet interesting.

Cos I think about a time... In the past. Or maybe in the future. Or maybe during a zombie apocalypse. And it's essentially the same thing.
When we were humans living in the wilderness, education is worthless. Or in a dystopian future where maybe life is like the "hunger games" education might not be as useful as other skills and knowledge. Or many other times in human history where knowledge is actually more useful than a formal education.

Of course education and finding a good job is still important in our current society. But on top of that, I think other skills and knowledge is just as important or even more important, and yet many of us don't have these additional knowledge.

Even I never knew. In a post long long ago. "What if I woke up from my dream", I thought that I would sell tissues to make a living if I suddenly lost my assets. But now, I think differently. There are easier and better ways to earn and save to get back on my feet if I needed to start again.


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It comes out quite often in freegan discussions and when we are young.
We tend to hear these statements.
Finish your food. There are hungry children in Africa.
Something like that right?
And there are some freegans who cannot stand food wastage. And I think that's fine. We shouldn't be wasting food.

But I was thinking. Does not wasting food help the poor? Usually when we talk about wasting food, we talk about. Don't order so much. If we can't finish the food, we don't order it. If we don't order so much, we don't need to throw it away when we can't finish it.
If we don't see excess food being disposed off, we don't feel that there is waste.
IF we see excess food being disposed off, then most of us rational people would think. Might as well give it to the poor instead of throwing it away.

So the idea is... If we don't order so much, in terms of the food at the hawker center, or supermarkets don't order so much vegetables, we don't need to throw away. And there would be less waste. IF we want to throw away, then we should give it to someone who can use it better. Like the poor.

So I wondered. Is there any relationship between the two? Wastage vs being poor?
My belief is that there is enough food produced in the world to feed everyone AND to be wasted. Meaning if resources can be distributed well, everyone could get food and there would still be wastage. And it doesn't matter.

Ok let's think about it.
If I am a farmer, I have 100 acres of land. I will just plant the whole area. I won't know the harvest, so I just plant the whole area and at the end, I harvest it. Then I sell it. If there's more, I sell for a cheaper price, if there's less I might sell for more expensive. If I can't sell it, I'm going to waste it anyway.
There's a lot of produce being disposed off at the farm.

Then the supply chain continues. Passes on to the other distributers. If they can sell, they sell, else they dump. Then it reaches retail supermarkets. If they can sell to consumers, they sell, else the dump.

So from how I see it, food is just produced. And for businesses, producing more doesn't cost much more. So they just produce larger amounts to oversupply by a small amount. To them it's a small amount, but to us when we see the wastage, it's considered a lot.
The idea is to make sure that all the buyers can be sold to and slightly over produce.
If there's no more stock, means the business should continue to produce cos it means some customers aren't being serviced, which means a loss of profits.

This idea runs right down the supply chain. So at retail, the supermarket over supplies. So that everyone can buy it on a whim. That's the whole idea of a supermarket. When I go to a supermarket, I expect it to have stock of what I want. That's what most people expect. So they need to oversupply to fulfill this expectation. Else they will lose customers to other supermarkets which provide this service of oversupply.

So what's the problem between this issue of oversupply and wastage, vs poverty?
The problem is, the poor don't fit into this equation. They aren't part of this flow.

If they are employed along the food chain of products and services, they can earn money and can buy stuff. Alternatively, they can be at the tail end and look for food wastage and obtain it for free, like what many of the freegans do.
The problem is, the poor are not in the system. And we can't expect businesses to incur more costs to distribute the wastage to the poor.

Well, I'm not here to solve the problem.
I'm just putting across the point. That less wastage doesn't mean the poor will be fed. If people buy less from the supermarket, they supermarket will order less, then the wholesaler would order less... Etc etc. But the farmer would likely still plant his whole 100 acres. And the wastage would just be unseen at the farm when he can't sell his stuff.

I'm not here to suggest how to solve the problem.
I just want to out across the idea that lower food wastages won't help the poor. If I can't finish that bowl of rice or that half chicken, and I throw it away. The African kid will still be starving. The poor homeless auntie by Chinatown would still not have food.

It's not about giving them free stuff. It's about how to include them in the system. Either providing them with work or even to teach them where to find free stuff. If you throw away some excess food or give them free food. It's not going to help them much. Rather, it's how to get the poor within the system so that they know how to feed themselves.

So I find that... Wasting less stuff doesn't link with people being poor.
Yes, if we are going to throw it away anyway, then it could be put to better use by giving it to the poor.
But if we order less food, the food chain just adjusts itself and the wastage will shift to another level of the supply chain.

So the point is. To help the poor. We need to actively help the poor. By teaching them how to feed themselves.
The comments about reducing food waste at food courts or supermarkets by changing consumption patterns aren't going to reallocate the excess to the poor.

So if u look at that half bowl of rice thinking that u need to finish it cos the poor African kid is starving, but you're full, it's ok to just not eat it. Cos the African kid is going to be starving anyway.

Now don't think I'm condoning wasting food. I'm not. For me, I eat 1.5 meals, cos I eat my food and my wife's food, cos she can't finish it. And I'm gaining weight due to that. I don't like to waste food as well.
I'm just saying. If you over order and are too full to finish the food, don't force yourself to finish it. Don't feel bad about dumping it. You are just part of the supply chain and the supply chain includes wastage. It's just part of the process.


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The number of biz trips are getting quite insane.

Went to Paris for 1 week. That's not too bad. At least it was somewhere I haven't been before.
Then in less than 24 hours after I reached SG I followed my wife to MY for her biz trip. Supposed to be 6 days, but it's been extended to 11 days. Then finally we'll return to SG. But after 4 more days we'll be MY again for another 4 days.

I'm going to spend almost a full month out of SG.
It's been quite an experience. I mean. I've always wanted to be flying around thinking it's all cool to be a jet setting couple but actually, after a while, it's no fun anymore.

Especially if it's the same country and it's for work so we don't get to explore much. And... What's there to explore in MY.

Not to mention I still have credit card amounts which I have not spent. Cos we hardly spend anything whilst in the other countries. So I have like 6 days more to spend $200 in MY to hit my $500 spending on my UOB One card.

I'll likely prepay my Telco bills again. Cos there's not much I'll need to spend on when I'm overseas.

I've been thinking about this a lot. Hitting target spending to get more interest and rebates.

Essentially, each card needs to spend $6000 a year. $500 each month. To get around $100 bonus interest per mth and $50 every quarter in the form of card rebate. Totalling $1400.
Usually that's fine. It's like spending $4600 and getting $6000 worth of value. Around 25% discount. But somehow this year, there have been many months that I've been inducing spending to make up the difference. I have $250 of utilities prepaid and I'll probably need to prepay another $200 worth if Telco bills this month.

This makes me think... Maybe I DON'T need to even spend another $500 per mth. Like we all know the idea of spending money to save money is stupid right?

So I've been thinking. Maybe I can cut off another $500 in my spending per mth. I think it's possible. After joining the freegan community, I find that there are folks who are able to cut their spending TO $100 per mth.

This doesn't mean that our spending will only be $500 on one of our cards. Our mthly expense is around $3k after evening out the lumpy months. Cos of car expenses, different models of payment, etc etc. So I'm hoping to get the mthly spending to $2500 instead.

The current 2x $500 on both our UOB cards is typically discretionary spending. And somehow we've been having trouble hitting those. We usually have to induce spend another $200 per mth to hit the $1k spend.
This means we'll have to reduce our discretionary spending by around $300 per mth.
I have a suspicion that it's highly possible, but I'll have to do a bit more planning and see how to even out the spending.
It may or may not be a smart idea. Cos if I don't calculate correctly, I might end up spending $4600 and get only $4600 worth of value. Which is "stupid".

That's not to say that I've actually spent less in the past few mths. Cos we used cash in Paris and cash when I'm in MY. So it could just have been a change in payment method.

Or maybe I could reduce my discretionary spending to $500 on one card and another $100 on another card. I don't get much rebates but I'd have reduced spending by $4800 per year.

​Oh well it's just been an idea I've been thinking of. Will plan a bit more for the next few months and see if it is possible to execute or not.


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No it's not a typo.
Basically I mean... Do people know what they don't know?
I'm sure some of you might have read of the hoo-ha about the doctor who was accused of not treating an infant at KKH recently.

Once the mother posted on Facebook, loads of people screamed for blood. I won't go into details. I'm sure many of you know what I mean. Basically people jumping to conclusions without any reasonable evidence.

When I first saw the post. I noticed that the father was performing CPR on the infant whilst the infant was still conscious. Straight off, when I noticed that, the whole story that the mother painted went out the window. I assessed that this couple did not know what they were doing and their story should not be trusted til more information is available.

Why? It's simple. To me, if someone doesn't know that they aren't supposed to perform CPR on a responsive individual, then their story should be taken with a large grain of salt. Cos you aren't supposed to do that.

But I look at the comments and I think 90-95% of the comments are about how lousy the doctor or KKH is.
And I wonder... Does this mean only 5-10% of the people, who spoke out saying that we should listen to the other side of the story, are reasonable people?

Of course, not all the responsable people spoke out. Many reasonable people don't like commenting on FB. But I do conclude that generally, there are more ignorant people in the world than there are people who stop and think a little bit more.
I'm not talking about being smart or geniuses. I'm simply putting across that there are more people who jump to conclusions than people who will stop and think with a reasonable , rationale mind.
That's why fake news and hoaxes are so prevalant these days.

For simplicity sake, I'll just define these people as fools for the purpose of this article.

And it's scary, cos social media allows fools to connect and have a very loud voice. And when a large number of people join together, they take comfort in each other's support and they get more daring and aggressive.

Let me put across some other points where I find people's conclusions defy logic.

A gunman goes on rampage in the US. Immediately people call for guns to be banned and blame US for allowing private ownership of guns.
A robber or terrorist uses a knife or vehicle to murder innocents. People just say that the person has a mental illness was or is a terrorist.
Now, what logic is this?

Recently there were reports that there was credit card fraud with Uber. Singaporean were complaining that their cards were being used to take Uber rides in Moscow.
Immediately, people started blaming Uber and their lack of cyber security.
But when someone's credit card was used in some online purchase, people just report the incident as a fraudulent transaction and do not blame the merchant.
Even online, there are people saying that they don't use Uber but they have had fraudulent transactions with others using their cards in Uber.
So where is the logic in this again? Just cos Uber is a new thing, people are afraid and so they just blame that which they don't understand?
I'm not saying Uber is secure. I'm saying there is a lack of information to determine if it is due to Ubers negligence.

For people who are familiar with cyber security, credit card data isn't so easily retrieved from a data base. It's not so easy as a hacker just finds a file like in the shows and finds...
ERSG-1234-1233-6787-8636
It doesn't work that way.

So I think. There are a lot of things we don't know. And also a lot of things that we don't know that we don't know.

And it's scary. That social media allows all this to surface and be manipulated. Throughout history, the lack of reason and knowledge has lead men down dark paths.
The Salem witch hunts, Hitler, Donald Trump, etc.

When I read some people posting about "what's wrong with negative growth?" And people agree with them, this concerns me.
The problem with negative growth is potentially a deflationary spiral which could end up like the Great Depression.
And people who comment and discuss on FB... Well many of them don't have ANY background in economics.

I think, people don't want negative growth. Even the people who say that they are ok with it. They are just unhappy that the gap between the haves and have nots are widening. If the rewards of growth are well distributed, why would anyone want negative growth?
And I think people don't even know that. They don't know that what they want (negative growth) is not what they really want (better distribution of rewards).

So yes. I think it's really scary. Social media and the sharing of bad ideas. And the simple solutions that sound so nice. Suggested by the 90% who aren't qualified to suggest things. The general public who are easily manipulated. Why do you think Donald Trump won? Or why do you think marketing and consumerism rules the economy? Why do you think people continue running the treadmill?

Statistically, it's pretty simple. Are there more fools than there are rational & reasonable people?
If you ask a group of people "if you think you are a fool, put up your hands"
How many people would put up?
What does this mean?
The fools don't know they are the fools.
And guess what? We're all fools in one way or another. All of us have topics which we aren't well versed in.

Lawyers and doctors may not be well versed in finance and spend their money frivolously. A non-driver will never understand why drivers get so angry when someone cuts in their lane. A taxi driver will probably not be well read about economics.

So what's important?
To be humble, to listen, to recognize that we are ignorant in many topics and that there are differing points of views and also to realize that potentially, there is no "right" answer. To read more, to learn more, to not jump to conclusions, to ask more questions and to think a little bit more.

And yet, I suppose none of these matter. Cos 80-90% of us are fools. And we don't know it. And yes. Statistically, I'm a fool as well.

and for added emphasis...
https://pizzabottle.com/59652-do-any-of-you-read/?utm_source=SMU&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=MBS&utm_term=influencer&utm_content=pb_id_INF7049


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I think I posted this Youtube clip before. I was reminded of it again cos I saw a scene like this in a restaurant I was in yesterday.

A couple of tai tais were in the restaurant and one of them was explicitly loud talking, about her 3 maids and 1 driver and yet her marriage was in a mess and her kids aren't around her. Somehow, the impression I got was that her home was always empty and she gets maids to fill up the house, even tho they ask for steep increments. She had complained that one of her helpers asked for a MYR700 increase. From MYR1500 to MYR2200.

I was reminded about this YouTube clip. And I thought... We really need to be grounded. Cos when I was working for FI, even though I was/am not rich, I had forgot what was important in life. I can quite confidently say I never enjoyed my life very much previously.
So it's not only about the super rich, but rather even for folks who are just trying to obtain FI. Sometimes we might lose sight of the forest for the trees. Cos we're so focused on FI that we might forget about the other important things around us.
​

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So I was reading and interacting with the folks at the freegan community. And obviously like every other thing, there are plus and minus points as well.

Firstly, these are some stuffs that I don't really like about freegans as a community and freeganism as a practice. It doesn't mean I'm slamming them or that I'm not going to be involved. It's like kimchi. I don't like garlic in general, so I have a love hate relationship with kimchi. I like eating kimchi in general, but I don't like the garlic flavours in it.
Similarly, for freegans and freeganism, I like some concepts with the whole idea, but there are other things which I don't like.

Top of the list, I joined the freegan community and learnt about freeganism cos I wanted to reduce my costs. Free stuff, why not right. Ok so my main priority is to get things free. Of course when I get free second hand items, it also means I'm reducing waste and recycling items. But let's not put the cart in front of the horse. I want free stuffs first, if it happens to save the earth, it's a good second result.
There's a bunch of people in the freegan community acting like Captain Planet. Now, saving the earth is all great. I'm all for it. Reducing waste and all that... But hey, to me, this is supposed to be a freegan community. So free stuff first, saving the earth is not the first priority.
But I find a bunch of folks acting pretty self righteous putting saving the earth as their motivation to get free stuff.

So if someone buys me a free meal, I'll eat it. I don't want to eat someone's left overs just cos I don't want to waste it.

Same as if someone wants to buy me a new laptop... Well, I don't need one so I won't want anyone to buy me one. But if I can get a free new one, then I'm not going to reuse a 2nd one which I might have picked up from the trash.

Next, there are normal folks who think that Daniel is the final goal. People who think that to be freegan, they have to eat leftovers. I have nothing against what Daniel does. Rather, I read about people who feel squeamish about eating other people's leftovers at the food court, but they somehow feel compelled that to be freegan, they need to advance to that level. Now, I think that that's just dumb. To be freegan, it's just to like getting stuff free. Some stuff, if they don't feel comfortable doing it, then they should just avoid it. It's not a cult, it's not about how extreme each one can go.
Rather, it's about how one can try to find ways to obtain stuff for free, and usually it is getting stuff that others might not want anymore. Like foodstuffs which is past best before date.

So yea... There are folks who think this whole freegan thing is about everyone progressing to the highest form of freeganism. And I think that's just wrong. Each one should assess how they want freeganism in their lives and adjust what they feel is appropriate.

Another gripe I have is that people tend to want to out do each other. Dumpster diving is somewhat borderline illegal. It's debatable. So there are people within the community who take it as a challenge to try to find the hidden dumpsters of large supermarkets and try to raid them. Essentially going out of the way trying to find the hidden dumpsters, taking pictures of it and trying to grab stuff there.
Now, once again, I'm entirely ok with dumpster diving at HDBs or supermarkets. And I'm going to try it myself once I find sometime after I get back. But this is not about being Robin Hood. It's not about finding the hidden dumpsters and trying to find new exotic dumpsters to raid. The more experienced dumpster divers just run daily or weekly routes around dumpsters within where they stay.
And the worst thing is, the community seems to be patting themselves in the back, encouraging each other to do more extreme stuff, or seeking legal advice so that they can console themselves that they are doing the right thing.

As I said, I'm ok with dumpster diving. But I think it's important to be respectful. People shouldn't be trespassing or going out of the way to find hidden dumpsters to raid them as an adventure. There's plenty to be found in numerous places without having to go out of the way. Furthermore, if people need to get legal advice to protect themselves, then I think might as well don't do it.
Simply put, if want to do it, then do it, if some security guard says anything, then just apologize and go away. That's it. Don't try to throw some Section 123 at them.

Also, to be a freegan, there's also some level of hoarding. I'm not going down this route. But I do think that the deeper the level of freeganism, eventually there will need to be some level of hoarding or stockpiling. Cos you never know when you'll get the free shampoo or soap or food. So when these items are available for free, the freegan would need to pick it up and store it. I don't mean this in the way of the typical hoarders who keep all kinds of junk. Rather, to live as a high level freegan who gets most things for free, he won't know when he'll get his stuff so he just needs to keep a stockpile of essentials. Hey, I also keep a stockpile cos I buy stuff in bulk. The only difference is that a freegan gets it for free.

Now, I'm not saying that freegans are bad or all of them are extreme, I also think that saving the planet is important. So I don't want people to misunderstand this.
But the thing is, I think freeganism is about getting stuff for free generally. Living without spending money. If it so happens to help the earth, that's great. But people shouldn't be preaching in the community about food wastage or over-usage of plastic, etc.

Of course we shouldn't waste food, but people shouldn't be arguing with event organisers and being self righteous about it. If the event organisers want to throw away the food, then it's their right to do it.

Remember, it's a freegan community, not a save the earth community. So I think debating about the use of free plastic bags from supermarkets somewhat ironic.

Anyway, like I said. I'm taking all this in a positive sense. In any group, there are people more enthusiastic or passionate about the topic. For me, I'll try how best to incorporate freegan living for myself. Where I find it acceptable, and comfortable, I'll incorporate it, else I can live how I've been living. It's always about how each of us wants to balance each aspect in our lives.
Although it does turn me off at times when i read the communication of these overenthusiastic folks. Cos I do ask myself... What kind of people am I hanging around?

Cos I don't want to be hanging around a bunch of overenthusiastic folks who got caught raiding a dumpster of a large supermarket and leaving a mess. And I don't want to be associated with a group who argues with the authorities, trying to impose their self righteous ideals on others.
As of now. I think it's still pretty acceptable, although I feel that more people are trying to save the earth as their reason for why they want to be freegan. Whereas, for me, I want free stuff, and it so happens that it reduces waste at times. It might seem like a small difference, but I think the difference is significant.

Cos to me, I know I'm selfish. I'm doing it for myself. So if I can get something free, I am grateful, cos I'm not expecting free stuff most of the time.
Whereas for those interested in saving the earth, some of them take it that they are doing the world a favour and that everyone should be living like them cos it's better for the world.

Anyway, this is just a personal opinion and my own feelings and observations. I do think that there's a lot of consumption within the economy and also a lot of wastage. I'm all for saving the earth and Captain Planet. I enjoyed the cartoon when I was young.
But when I first joined the freegan community, I was expecting more discussions and lobang about where to get free stuff. Instead, I got a bit more "Heal the world, make it a better place" than I expected.


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I'm still overseas. I reached back to SG on Sunday and less than 24 hours, I'm on a plane again following my wife on another biz trip. It's in Malaysia now so I'll likely be able to start posting again more regularly.

My trip to Paris has been more enlightening than I thought. For the first 2 days, my wife was with me, and we travelled to the usual areas.
So we went to the arc de triomphe, walked down Champs Elysées, went to see the Effiel Tower and visited the Louvre.
Now anyone who's been to Paris would have been to these places. And when I asked people for recommendations, they mainly suggested that I visit these places.

We spent $1500 on my flight and another $600 on accommodation for the days which were not covered by my wife's biz trip and around $700 on misc spending. Mainly gifts for family and friends and my food and transport.

My wife was telling me... Dear. We spent quite a bit on sending you (me) here. On the days when I'm not around, don't just stay in the hotel, make sure you make the trip worth it...

I'm quite a kiasi person so I don't really like to move too far, but she was right. It wasn't a cheap trip and it's one of the countries which I wouldn't visit on a normal basis. (Very much like our UK trip earlier this year)

So... Yeah fine. I decided to make the trip really worth it. There were 4 days which my wife would be at work. On the first day, I asked the hotel reception to recommend places to visit. So she pointed out a couple of areas.

I didn't take much train and did most of my travelling on foot. I think I covered around 40km on foot on those 4 days.
I visited the open market at Ternes. There's a street selling fresh produce there. Went to the Moulin Rouge to take a picture of that place, went thru some rough areas with I think is middle Eastern and Africa areas. They had groups of black guys hanging around street corners and I was actually quite concerned about getting mugged or experiencing some racist event. Lucky nothing happened. Doubt I would have gone thru those streets if I had known it was in the rougher areas.

Another day I walked through the older areas of Paris, with more old buildings. That area is significantly better cos it's the student area. A number of universities are in that area. Many beautiful and old buildings.

I think I visited over 10 cathedrals or chapels... Some of them look nicer than cathédrales de nôtre dame.

There's also a statue of liberty along the river Seine in Paris.
(FYI the French gave the statue of liberty to the US)

I encountered 2 groups of 4 African guys trying to tie a "friendship band" on me. For those familiar with this scam, they try to distract you or shake your hand and before you know it, they tie a band on your wrist and will insist you pay them for the band. Luckily I managed to get away from them without much issue.

There also are Spanish girls, quite young ones, sweet young things. Who approach unsuspecting foreigners, and they ask for a signature and a small donation. Just €1-€2 to support the deaf and dumb. I was wondering how this scam worked... Until I saw it right before my eyes. They are pickpockets. Right before my eyes, I saw a HK girl take out €2, she was quickly distracted and the Spanish girl deftly picked an addition couple of notes from the HK girl's wallet. I had goosebumps there and then.
Actually I was quite impressed. The tactical distraction and the deft fingers. And I managed to see it right in action.

Then I saw the poor and homeless as mentioned in my previous post. Cold and miserable and hungry. I wonder how the kids would grow up. It's a sad sight. The kids would likely have a lack of formal education and a rough childhood. I reckon some of them are also refugees from the middle East.
I gave some food to a homeless guy and his young daughter. Just a couple of snacks which I had in my bag.

The amazing thing was that I felt quite comfortable in Paris. Much more than I was in the UK. Even though I dont speak much French.

Generally, I feel the city was more hospitable than the UK. People smile a bit more, greet each other, even if it's just a formality, I think it does make a more gracious country.

The 4 days I spent alone, I learnt that Paris is so much more than the shopping, the Louvre, Effiel Tower, Champs Elysées.

There's really the good the bad and the ugly. When my wife rejoined me again, we hardly had any other place to go, cos I think I visited quite a large area of Paris during my days in foot.

I do like Paris. There's more space. I feel less claustrophobic. In the UK, even though it's a large country, I felt that the roads are narrower and the roads and pavements are packed with people. In Paris, I find that the crowd is still there but there's more space to fit the people. But maybe it is also due to the time I wander the streets.

It was a very interesting trip. I think I got much more than I expected. I never thought that I would see so much of Paris. Each of my meals cost €5 for a sandwich. I think that's pretty normal. Train trips are €2. Pretty expensive. We didn't buy any branded stuff in Paris. Amazing isn't it. LOL. It's just not our style. Most of our misc spending is due to buying small gifts for some friends and family.

When I commented that stuff was expensive to the receptionist, 2 of them looked at me incredulously saying... "You're in Paris, everything is expensive."
They mention that they have to take notice of how they spend their money. That they live slightly out of the main circle of Paris. Where things are generally cheaper. Two of the hotel receptionists which I spoke to has 2 jobs. It's pretty different from Singapore.

I don't know... Paris has left a very strong impression on me. I think it's cos I went around by myself and managed to do stuff and explore more things. Usually with my wife, we move a lot slower and I don't see and learn as many things. So I think Paris is one of my more memorable trips.

But no. I don't think Paris is what everyone describes of it. It's not the city of love. I didn't feel anything romantic about it. It was unexpected, but I found Paris to be full of character. Absolutely not the usual tourist trip which I had expected. And I'm very happy to have seen this other side of Paris and not just the pretty surface.

​It's like learning about someone. There are people who you only see the surface and only the nice stuff and they only say the right things, then there are some people who you can get closer to and they don't always say the nice things but you understand them better and they are more human cos they don't try to just show a picture perfect image. And I think I managed to see the honest side of Paris and I'm happy for that, even though it was not the picture perfect, romantic city which I had expected.


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im still overseas and will be back on 18 nov.
then ill fly off on 19 nov to somewhere else.

im feeling very disillusioned where i am.
its a beautiful city. old, with lots of nice buildings.

everything is very expensive.
there are rich people, there are the normal working people as well.
yet there are so many homeless around.
middle eastern homeless, local homeless as well.
and the homeless really litter the streets. as in they are everywhere. some old, young, with kids, whatever. its a sad sight.

and they have on their cardboards
"please give me some coins for food"
and everything is so expensive.

and one of the days. it rained. and i was cold and miserable with my wife. and we couldnt wait to get back to the hotel. and i see the old women and children sitting by the road side and i know they have no shelter to go to. they will continue to be cold and miserable for god knows how long.

​and yet i know that there is food and clothing easily available in the dumpsters.

i see a country of excess and also of poverty.
so beautiful yet so ugly.
people wearing nice clothes and people wearing rags.

im happy to be here to see everything. its somewhere i always wanted to go. but im also sad when i see what i see.

im in Paris
​and im not feeling the love that people are talking about.


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ok im really far overseas this time.
its not as convenient as when im in malaysia. so ill not be posting for a while.

ill be back to posting daily on the 19th. when im more settled down.

you can subscribe to this blog on the right and get notification when i start posting again.
​

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It's Singaporean... Kiasu... so normal.

So when we attend a buffet, many of us, whack the most expensive food, gorge ourselves silly. But still happy, cos ate more than what we feel we paid for. Of course the restaurant still makes money but... still feel happy that we ate more than what we could have bought outside with the same amount of money.

Then when there's freebies, Singaporeans are known to line up to collect free stuff. People buy stuff to get free stuff. 

And that's normal. This is pretty much the scarcity mentality. We need to spend money to get stuff. That's normal. So money is scarce, so products and services are scarce. When we encounter something which we can use little money to obtain but can get a lot of it, then we buy more, so as to stock up. Like canned foods on promos, or eating more at a buffet...

What if... just what if... everything was free?
Not all the best stuff. Just the usual stuff. For example, if there's always free food available. Free clothes. Free accessories.
What would you do. It's regularly available. Not always exactly what you want, but sometimes there's other alternatives. 

I don't know about others, but for me... I think I would lose my kiasu attitude. I would stock up some free food, some free clothes and leave the rest available for others to get. 
Imagine if NTUC was free. Can't be I collect everything from NTUC and store it at home right? So I take what I feel I need and some excess stock for future use. If next time I come back, and that item no stock, I can just take other stuff. 

So after joining the freegan community.. 
(Wah lao... talk about freegan again... this guy has become a fanatic)...
Anyway bear with me... it's not that I'm fully immersed in this yet. But there's really sooo much to learn cos it's a whole new idea/concept for me. So I am introduced to this whole new world and how people view things.

The thing is... things aren't scarce anymore. 

That's it... that's one of the very important things I've learnt. And I'm not talking just about dumpster diving. There are many ways to get free stuff, you just need to know the lobangs. 

So I read stories told by other freegans. They find out about events which have food catered. There is a network of people and when people know of an event that has ended, they contact others who are around the area and if the organisers allow, they go in an help finish the food or dabao it back. I'm sure many of you have been to events and at the end of the event they just dump the food. 

The story is that the freegans go there, they eat what they want, they dabao what they want. They take what they feel they can consume... 
BUT... they also see others, may be from the freegan community, maybe not, just anyhow whack. Dabao loads of stuff which they aren't likely able to consume. Simply put... still the scarcity mentality. Take first, talk later. 

When I hear stories like these, I think about... hoarders. That's what it is... they hoard stuff cos they lack the security. They like having more stuff cos they feel that stuff is scarce. And when we talk about minimalist and declutter... hoarders have a different level of clutter. They hardly have any space to walk in their homes and usually their stuff extends outside of the house. Furthermore, most of the stuff is basically... Junk.
Cos they like to keep stuff, and find stuff and continue to just keep stuff. They don't even throw away the junk to find more valuable stuff. Hoarders don't like throwing away stuff in GENERAL. Regardless of value. 

Now, I'm not saying freegans can't become hoarders. Some may be more kiasu than others and take things to an extreme, but others may not. I look at this from a very broad perspective. So some may be hoarders some might not... I'm not going to discuss that. 

Rather... I think... 
If people, or I... can get things for free, and I know where to consistently get stuff for free. Might not be exactly the stuff I want but I can find a good enough substitute. How would my mentality change? 

I think I would become more generous. You want some free laundry detergent? Take lor. You want free toothpaste? I give you lor. How about this electric kettle... you want it? Here you can have it. 

Why? Cos I know where to get it for free again.
(Once again, I'm not talking about dumpster diving. There are many ways to get free stuff.)
You can have my dining table. No problem. I know where to get another dining table. 

So I think, getting involved in this freegan community (I'm just starting out)... has really opened my eyes to a whole new world. A world which is NOT scarce. I'm not saying that EVERYTHING can be obtained for free. Some stuff still needs to be purchased with money... rather the word is scarce.

If things are not scarce, then we aren't so concerned about SURVIVAL anymore. It can be about other things. Like living, enjoying ourselves. Isn't this what so many of us read about when we talk about financial independence? We read that we should be confident about our AUM, that we can reduce our expenses and have confidence in our calculation and we can live off our investments. We don't need to continue to work and grind MORE money, cos... we already have ENOUGH. 

This is why I'm so interested in this freegan community and learning from it. To me, it can be used to combine to enhance the whole experience of financial security, to remove the mentality of scarcity. To reduce my expenses so that my AUM can be used to purchase other stuff which require monetary exchange, like a visit to the dentist.
I feel that if I get more involved in this, I will also become a better person. To become more generous to gift more, cos I know where to get more of certain stuff again. No I don't intend to be hoarding. I like having space in my house and I actively try to clear my unused stuff all the time. 

I think this has been interesting, cos after opening my eyes to this, it's like another part of my mind has been unlocked. The world view that... out there, there is no lack of resources and there is no scarcity. I'm not trying to just survive anymore. I can turn my attention to other things. 


**I still haven't fully immersed myself in this yet, but I think that the above is what this new world would show me.



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