Monday, July 03, 2006 11:25 PM
Happened to be watching news on one of my early nights back at home and caught the arrival of first train on the new Qinghai-Tibet railway. The journey took 48 hours and travelling between China and Tibet is made easier with this railway. Anyway that's not what caught my attention though i had wished to visit TIbet one of these days as a discovery journey. Instead, it was what an old construction man mentioned during the interview that caught me. He was asked how much he earned a day and that came to a horrifying Rmb 40 which translates to only anout SGD 8. It really startled me for a moment and my mood sunk somehow cuz it's not possible to survive well with a meagre Rmb 40 a day. Proabably they will be contented enough with plain rice and maybe a little vegetables just to save on their hard-earned money. Construction is tedious and dangerous for an old man featured on tv but for purpose of living he has to bear the torture and go on with life with the pathetic pay. I feel sorry.
Having been to China for a couple of times and having been able to know how much people actually earn there (in some less developed parts of China), I cant fathom how can they ever survive well and healthily coupled with sufficient savings to tide them over their golden years. Upon translation, things in China are definitely so much cheaper than back in Singapore. But from the perspective of the Chinese there, comparing the amount of pay they get and the absolute value of the items there, it's too pricey for them to afford anything which is considered average for us. Even a piece of cake to them can be Rmb 5 but to Singaporeans is only a cheap SGD 1 which is considered a great deal never to be found here. Imagine a person earning only Rmb 400 a month, having a piece of cake to them is too extravagant a lifestyle to lead.
Definitely, in the more developed parts like Shanghai, pay is higher yet cost of living is also following the exponential curve. The less wealthy gives the most precious lesson. A little message in me is to start saving for rainy days before regrets come settling in you.