September 14, 2008
S M Ong
If Serangoon Gardens is 'middle-class', what am I?
I was watching the news on TV the other night about how plans to turn the former Serangoon Gardens Technical School into a hostel for foreign workers were creating "an uproar in the middle-class estate".
I was deeply upset by the report. And it was not because of the undercurrent of racism and xenophobia.
I noticed the residents in Serangoon Gardens all seem to be living in private homes, ie "ang moh chu". And they're considered "middle-class"?
I live in an HDB flat, so does that make me - gasp - "lower-class"? The horror!
I feel faint. Quick, someone get me some water! And make sure it's Evian. None of that generic crap. I am not lower-class!
And then I realise "lower class" doesn't necessarily mean "low class".
Whew. That was close. I'm OK now, thanks.
You know who I feel sorry for? People who live in condos.
Here they are, paying so much more for their homes than HDB flat owners, but because they don't live in a private estate like Serangoon Gardens, they're not even "middle-class". Ha! Suckers.
...
My apologies for calling condo owners suckers.
Where's my Evian!