Life for Rent

Happy Year of the Ox! Let us hope we don’t have to work like a stupid bovine for our livelihood or look like one…

I am bored.

I know it reads like a stupid gossip column in some equally stupid magazine like Cleo or Her World but what the hell…

A tribute to my ex-colleagues:



Mr. A is 32 years-old and works as an air force technician. Mr. A is a Xtian and involves himself in church activities. He takes home a monthly salary of S$2,400 but his uncontrolled gambling has landed him in debt. He is obliged to repay his banks in installments but this has not deterred him from his high-risk investments in football betting. As a Xtian, Mr. A pays a tithe of 10% of his salary to his church and gives his family S$500 as maintenance every month. Mr. A supplements his income by moonlighting as a car-groomer.

Being nervous when he talks to girls, especially pretty ones, Mr. A hasn’t had a girlfriend in over a decade. Mr. A is infatuated with a girl, D, in his church. Unfortunately D, who is nearly ten years his junior, doesn’t reciprocate his feelings for her. Instead, she fancies another guy in their church. This setback has demoralized Mr. A. Although Mr. A claims he has stopped pursuing her, he is still interested in her. He calls D at every opportunity but lacks the courage to renew his courtship.

Years of church-going has clearly militated his human skills and personal development. Although mediocre in his professional life, Mr. A was promoted to staff sergeant. However, the perception his subordinates and colleagues have for him is not improved by his elevation up the ranks. Instead, their less than favorable opinion of him is mostly tinged with pity, and laced with a small amount of jealousy.

For a man of some thirty years, Mr. A is naïve in certain areas. He looks at life through rose-tinged glasses and shows little inclination in improving himself. His limitations are exposed when he picked up the vice of whoring a month ago. Unbeknownst to himself, he treats his whores like he would his girlfriend. He expects them to give him the ‘girlfriend’ experience and complains when they inevitably fail to do so. While Mr. A acknowledges that whoring is no substitute for a meaningful romantic relationship, subconsciously he attempts to find love in what are essentially monetary transactions. It is also likely that he is as addicted to whoring as he is to gambling. He says he cannot control his urges when he goes any where near a red-light district. This is a man who fails to find reconciliation between his faith and his illicit activities and shows no desire to do so.



Mr. B is 33 years-old and works as a clerk in a security film. He currently takes home $$1,600 monthly. He has a car and a bike. Mr. B is an ex-military man and had also worked as a technician in the semiconductor industry. He is estranged from his wife. The couple has a three-year old son. The couple filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery. Mr. B had admitted to having illicit relations with his ex-colleague. Due to his infidelity, he has to pay alimony of about $800 to his wife and son every month. Several reasons have contributed to the break-up of their marriage: Mr. B’s vindictive mother-in-law, the lack of quality sex, the inability - albeit due to professional reasons - of Mr. B to spend quality time with his family, and his propensity to philander. Mr. B has received the divorce documents from their lawyer and has to make a decision soon. His wife wants him back for the sake of their child. She still loves Mr. B but wants him to affirm his commitment. Mr. B is still vacillating between his family and his girlfriend. He realizes the best thing is to end his relationship with his girlfriend and return to his family. He does not want his son to grow up without a father. However, he loves his girlfriend and talks to her nightly. The said woman is a Chinese national and sometimes Mr. B thinks of divorcing his wife and marrying her instead. However, this course of action will increase Mr. B’s financial burden. Besides the obligatory child support, he has to provide for his girlfriend until she finds a job in Singapore. To exacerbate matters, the wedding expenses and housing loans which inevitably follow will stretch their commitment to each other and their monetary resources. His girlfriend’s parents do not yet know he is a divorcee and it is uncertain how they will react to this revelation if they find out. Mr. B is not completely sure he wants to marry his girlfriend either. His philandering nature makes matrimonial commitment impossible. Assuming he goes back to his family, they have to resolve issues (aforementioned) that caused the breaking up of their marriage. Mr. B is caught in a dilemma and time is not on his side.



Mr. C is 25 years-old and works as an air force technician. Mr. C and his girlfriend plan to get married next year. Mr. C patronizes whorehouses occasionally, but his impending marriage has curtailed his licentious activities. He takes home about S$2,000 monthly and spends a fair portion of his salary on general expenses. His girlfriend has no tertiary education and earns less than her boyfriend. The couple has applied for a flat and is expected to pay $1,000 in monthly installments for their new home. Professionally, Mr. C’s contract with the military ends in 2012. He is not keen and/or confident of renewing his contract. He has no other qualifications apart from his diploma in engineering.

The couple is neither known to invest financially nor are they interested in pursuing professional qualifications. Personality-wise, Mr. C and his girlfriend are hot-tempered people. They are not compromisers and will need to learn to be tolerant if their marriage is to last. It is uncertain if they intend to have children in the near future.



Mr. D is in his mid-thirties. His current life and profession are unknown. He was a technician in the air-force but was dishonorably discharged after being found guilty in a civil court for outraging a woman’s modesty. The exact events that led to Mr. D’s committing his offence are unknown. According to his ex-colleague, Mr. D had a pretty Xtian wife, although he was a non-Xtian. He was, by all appearances, a normal and hardworking person. He invested a substantial amount of his salary on his insurance policies and seemed like a long-term planner. Prior to his moment of madness he displayed no signs of disorder.



Mr. E is 27 years-old and worked as a technician in the air-force. He now works in a state-owned engineering film and takes home $1,600.every month. His wife is a Chinese national/Singapore PR and teaches in a top school. She earns close to S$3,000. They have been married for two years and have already got themselves a flat. Their home is under renovation and they intend to move into it after their traditional Chinese wedding. Unfortunately, Mr. E has second thoughts about his marriage. He doesn’t really love his wife. He complains privately that his Chinese wife, in spite of living in Singapore for the past few years, is still unable to use the public transport system. Her English is still limited and her proficiency with basic computer programs leaves much to be desired. Apparently she has not fully accustomed herself to life in this country.

Mr. E’s dissatisfaction with her is but a symptom of the real problems he endures. Mr. E rushed himself into marriage. He wasn’t emotionally settled when he took the plunge and he isn’t now. To Mr. E, going out with his wife and attending to her needs have become obligations rather than an expression of true love. He said he married young because he wanted to have children before he grows old. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a career and there are many things he hasn’t paid for and not yet planned. The wedding, the house, fixtures and fittings, and miscellaneous spending and daily expenses all cost money. A child is only going to be an added burden.

For all the reasons Mr. E gave, one thing is sure: he is not ready to settle down. This is further illustrated by the fact he has a Vietnamese girlfriend. He is very much in love with her. He flew to Vietnam to spend the weekend with her, met her family and was in tears on the way to the airport. He wanted to break off with her but she messaged to tell him she will love him forever. The sincerity of her claims cannot be verified at this time but it is obvious Mr. E is head over heels for her. He even gave her the money he was supposed to pay for the furniture and now he has to tighten his budget to make up the deficit. Mr. E is like a candle burning at both ends, torn between responsibility and passion.



Is it the profession that makes the man, or the man who makes the profession? I am inclined to believe the former.