What's trust? Please KISS

KISS - Keep it simple, stupid.

What's trust? Because my head is groggy, I can't quite follow the writer's post. I am often even more guilty than him but I am only indulging myself.

I keep things very simple in this state of mind: Trust is simply answering the question - Can I count on you?

At the personal level, I find increasingly that I cannot count on the government and often I need a Plan B too. Forget about words, my actions and any who like me who have decided they have to solve their own problems. That is simply taking personal responsibility. I wished the government would share the same attitude instead of blaming us for everything that doesn't go well for them and taking credit otherwise.

When we were living overseas, we often need Plan Bs and sometimes Plan C too. No problem, it was not Singapore anyway. But if over time more and more of us need to create Plans Bs for this and that, what's the Singapore difference then? Don't say we are better (we are) when the gap between others and us is narrowing. This is happening faster at SQ and it is no fun.

I just came from reading an ST article that the DBS/POSB ATMs aren't working. When I was my daughter's age, I had only one ATM card. A few months ago when we arranged the same for her, we opened two accounts with different banks for her. Two ATM cards. We have given her a Plan B and explained the rationale to her whey it has become necessary in the new Singapore.

We can take responsibility for ourselves but we can't do the same for society especially the collateral effects of so many foreigners among us. We can't count on this government that they are capable of creating a better environment for us tomorrow. That's why more and more people worry about tomorrow. Not everyone is equally able to understand what's happening and taking care of themselves. I detect growing xenophobia here. Even wifey is infected! We are losing the fight because as individuals and family it is beyond our power to take responsibility for the social environment created by the government. To put this simply, we are citizen price takers. So we are quarreling with the government about the prices.

The government is putting in 110% now with the latest being Medishield Life but there is a new worry. How are we going to pay for it? May be we have always been living beyond our means. You don't know when you have cash flow. Then the cash runs out.