I've been busy walking around Paris.
Gotta make the trip worth it right.
But in the end. I've walked too much the first time I was here 6 months ago and there's not many places left that I'm interested to visit.
So I thought ok, just hide in the hotel for a bit and type something while waiting for my wife to finish work.
After traveling so much, I find that really, many things are relative versus something else.
Like, when we looked at the HDB issue previously, many people think they made money from their HDB transaction. Yes they made money in dollar terms. But when we look at the same value, the person likely didn't really make money.
He can't buy something in the same area with the same lease with his sales proceeds.
He will need to move further out of town to get the same size and lease period and take some money home.
So he traded some value for cash and got less total value left in his property.
So only when we compare one thing versus another, then can we understand what is value.
When I travel. I face exchange rates all the time in Malaysia and in Europe.
Sometimes I don't bring enough money so I change ad-hoc or use my credit card.
The price in ringgit or EUR is still the same, but yet I pay more or less depending on how I handle my exchange rates.
But to the Malaysian, to them, there's no difference. Cos the price is still the same.
The difference is that just cos I am a Singaporean, I don't usually use ringgit. To me Singapore dollar is more valuable cos I use it regularly. I'm only in Malaysia for a short period of time. So I always think in terms of Singapore dollars.
This happens when I buy stuff in EUR.
Cos we earn Singapore dollars.
But yet, to them, there is no change in price, but to me, everyday the price changes.
What do you think will happen if you retire in Malaysia? Would you still be thinking in Singapore dollars? Or ringgit?
When I think about Singapore money and retirement, I usually calculate with Singapore standard of living with an HDB.
But many of us know that if we move to other countries, we can live like a king just by renting out our fully paid HDB and renting a condo in maybe Malaysia or Thailand.
And of course we will have people who say, we don't speak the language, it's not safe, there's no friends and family there...
And yet... Imagine, if we were born there, Malaysia or Thailand, we come to Singapore to work, it would be so natural to just go back "home" to retire in luxury.
So strange isn't it?
We are both human.
I'm Singaporean, I work in Singapore I earn more, I know it's probably better to go retire in another country, but I am reluctant to go.
Someone else who's Thai, comes to Singapore to work, earns enough, goes back to Thailand. Lives like a king.
The only difference is where we were born.
And I think IF we go and retire in another country, we would think less of the difference in exchange rate for daily living.
Like cannot be when I buy dinner I keep dividing by 3 when I'm there for the long run right. Basically, we get used to counting in ringgit and just plan our lifestyles in ringgit terms.
Or when we eat in Paris, my wife feels pretty sad having bread all the time, and yet, the French are very happy with their bread.
Imagine if you were born in France, you'd be used to bread and pasta and that would be the normal meal for you.
You wouldn't miss rice... My wife really misses rice now.
Whereas for me, I'm pretty ok without the rice. But I do miss some warm food, cos sandwiches are the cheapest food available for us.
And yet, it's so normal for them to eat a sandwich with some filling.
And the difference is just, we weren't born in the same place and what we deem as normal is just different.
And that got me thinking...
We humans have a NEED to compare.
Cos that's normal. Without comparing, it's hard to determine anything. Cos there's no real fixed point of reference in life.
Normal is so different everywhere.
How much someone earns.
What they eat, the currency they use, etc etc..
The problem comes when we get so engrossed in comparing with others that we forget that it's just a reference point.
It's not that it's right or wrong or better.
And I think it's important to have some reference points. So as to understand what we want versus someone else. Or are we happy doing certain things. Or whether we may want what someone else has.
And that's all ok. But we can't only look at the good things. We also need to look at the bad things. Like someone owns an expensive watch, we also need to see that they have less savings.
And to recognise that if it's not something that you want, to stand your ground and say "it's ok. I prefer not to do things that way."
Only when we compare, then we can learn and see what is relative versus ourselves.
Like we see someone with a condo, keep upgrading their lives and we may see them trapped in their jobs.
Then I may look at someone who stays in an HDB but he's doing a simple job and just chilling with his life.
And I may use these 2 as a benchmark to determine where I myself would want to be.
So I think... Although we always say don't compare, I think it's natural to compare and use each other as benchmarks. And I think that's ok and maybe useful cos we learn more about the situation and what we want for ourselves.
Just that I think we all need to be aware, to use this comparison for our own knowledge and purpose and not get so grossed and take it as a race to see who can get more toys so as to compare against each other.
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