Like me, anyone who grew up in the 90s will be familiar with the 5 Cs – Cash, Car, Credit Card, Condominium and Country Club. While these Cs represent overtly materialistic desires, they may also be a function of the rapidly growing economy and wealth of Singapore three decades ago.
As Singapore’s middle class ballooned, and her economy matured, some of these Cs (namely, the 3 in the title) have become less relevant.
Credit Cards Have Become Widely Accessible
The one that most would probably agree on is credit cards. Unless we do not work (i.e. students and housewives) or are retired, getting a credit card should not be a big obstacle.
The tables may have turned today. Those who own many credit cards may be seen as opportunists rather hold any elite status. The common perception is that they may be simply signing up to receive the cash and credit perks or “hackers” trying to squeeze the most out of their spending.
Those who own just one or two cards, on the other hand, are displaying the fact that they do not need to or want to hack for more miles or cashback. They have other important priorities in their lives.
Of course, some people may also own an exclusive credit card that offers bespoke services. Having one or two of these cards, as opposed to stacks of them, is more likely what we aspire for.
Are Country Club Memberships Going Out Of Fashion?
While a country club membership may look like a status symbol in land-scarce Singapore, the rich will hardly need it to look wealthy. Arguably, the greater “show” of wealth is with your postal code and the car you drive.
A quick Google search on this topic also yielded a CNA article with the headline: Country clubs in Singapore seek to refresh offerings as youths lose interest in prestige factor. This fits in exactly with the point we’re trying to make.
Many condominiums today feature high-quality recreational facilities, including swimming pools, tennis courts and gyms, that are comparable to sports and recreation clubs.
Country clubs used to be the place to invite and play golf with business partners or potential clients. Today, more people are joining country clubs for their family-friendly and social activities rather than for business purposes. Therefore, bringing business partners and potential clients there may look increasingly out of place.
Instead of dining at the same place – at the country club – those who can afford it will also definitely prefer going to different high-end restaurants to enjoy their meals.
There’s also the matter of expiring leases – and potentially having your country club membership ceased as the land is handed back to the government.
Read Also: Price Guide to Country Club Memberships in Singapore
Cash Is No Longer King
Of course, we all still aspire to have lots of liquid cash at our disposal. However, it’s not the actual cash that most of us aspire to have – it’s the freedom of choice that it gives us.
This can be seen in our ability to go on grand long-haul vacations, own multiple cars, and eat out at fancy restaurants.
Having wads of cash in our wallet does little to elevate our happiness or status symbol (if that’s what we’re chasing). Rather, it may highlight a poorer SES (socioeconomic status) or even sub-par understanding of finances.
Worst still, carrying around unnecessary amounts of cash simply adds risk to our own lives – we could lose our wallets or become a target for crime.
3 New Cs That We Aspire For – Career, Community, Choice
We still have aspirations for a better life – just not with the irrelevant Cs described above. In addition to the condominium and car (we’re not going to explain why these 2 are still relevant!), we think the 3 new Cs should include our career, community and choice.
Where we are in our career and our career decisions can say a lot about how happy we are, as well as how wealthy we are.
Having greater flexibility in our career or owning our own business may be a career choice that gives us greater fulfilment in our work and life. We may prefer to spend more time with our family, work from anywhere or even do work that gives back to our community and society.
At the same time, many of us may still be aiming for a high-paying and high-powered role. It’s simply a function of our aspirations.
Community is another C that can reflect our aspirations. We’re stretching this C to also include family (i.e. children and parents).
Having children has always been aspirational. Today, though, having more children can also be seen as a status symbol! Besides being incredibly expensive to bring up a child in Singapore, the activities that our children participate in, the schools that they go to and the careers that they end up in will inevitably reflect on our status.
Within our community, we may also prefer to live with or near our parents. This goes back to being able to live in a home (or condominium) that can house so many individuals. Being able to retire our parents is also an aspiration many of us wish to achieve – and not just for them to become babysitters!
The broader community then applies. Today, many of us have strong opinions on the causes we support. Having the time and money to contribute towards these causes can add great fulfilment to our lives.
Finally, it goes without saying that most of us aspire to have a greater say in how we live – i.e. having lifestyle choices.
Living the lifestyle we wish for can be equally fulfilling and costly. Families may wish for one of the spouses to leave work and care for the children and other loved ones.
As individuals, how we spend each day can also be quite telling as to how much say we have in our lives. Being able to hit the gym at 4pm each day (front-running people who don’t have lifestyle choices) can say a lot.
Lifestyle also straddles many of the other Cs we discussed – from being able to go to dream holiday destinations with our families to setting up a business, to even having the flexibility to work-from-anywhere or pick up our young children from school.
While the element of aspiration still applies, today, the 5 Cs have become more about fulfilment for Singaporeans and less about just an overt show of wealth.
Read Also: 5 Cs To Determine If You Have A Great Job In Singapore
The post The New 5Cs: Why The Singapore Dream Is No Longer About Credit Cards, Country Clubs & Cash appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
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