Hardly surprising. Slick talking salespersons hawking credit cards are a frequent sight at malls, subway stations etc. There's little to no financial education in schools. Heavily-in-debt slaves are needed as obedient workers to grease the economic wheels.
Frugal people are increasingly endangered in this hyperconsumption tiny island. As if credit cards are not enough, there's pawnshops which are growing like weeds. Another kind of weed are as you guess it- malls.
How many people can resist the temptations screaming at them from peer pressure to buy same or better gadgets to keep up, ads plastered in so many places like spam? The need to keep up in external appearances is a trap many fall into.
I've broken off with friends after they don't heed my caution regarding the mass consumption orgy. Think of it as springcleaning, i don't like being infected by their hyperconsumption mania. 1 sinkie = 33 africans in consumption of resources. Average sinkie consume resources at '3 Earths'. What madness is that destroying the Mother Earth by going deeper & deeper into debt by buying more & more & more stuff?
Funny thing i have witness myself is that a multi-millionaire in my reservist platoon treated us to dinner & he paid in cold hard cash! Yet some people trying to look rich think they are flush with money with the multiple cards in their purse/wallet when opening it to pay the bills.
-------------------------------------------------
More young people holding credit cards
By Alvina Soh
Credit Bureau Singapore said the number of credit card holders aged 21 to 29 have shot up by nearly 50% over the past 4 years. They now total 150,667. However, this group is also seeing a bigger jump in those not paying in full.
From 2008 to 2011, the bureau said the number of so-called "frequent revolvers" jumped by nearly 70%. They are those who pay a part of their bills and roll over the outstanding balance for at least 3 consecutive months.
Separately, Credit Counselling Singapore said it is also seeing more permanent residents seeking financial help.
Kuo How Nam, president of Credit Counselling Singapore, said: "In 2008, what we saw was a big increase in the number of people coming to see us. But that stabilised over the last few years. So what has been very noticeable is there are more permanent residents (PRs) coming to see us for help."
According to Credit Counselling Singapore, PRs make up nearly a fifth of those having credit card woes & it is concerned over this trend.
Mr Kuo said: "Foreigners, because they are in Singapore, they actually have less family support available & that sometimes make their situation worse. There's no differentiation in ways to help them because their financial situation is usually the same.
"We would try to ascertain what their financial situation is. We would then take them through a counselling process where we try to understand what their problems are, and we will try to work out what the options are. 1 of the option would be the debt restructuring programme with the bank & see whether we can put them on this programme."
In 2011, some 1,100 people, including 200 PRs, sought help from Credit Counselling Singapore.
No comments:
Post a Comment