Taxes, Violin, a hot Baby and fighter planes

With shaking hands I pushed the button which transfers lots of money to the Singaporean government. Yeah it’s tax paying time, but at least you can do it online. I was assessing whether I got good service from the Singaporean government for that amount of money, whether it worth the money or not. Can’t decide… At least BJs should be legal for that amount, haha :):):)… However here is a funny quote from my tax slip: “You have to pay this amount whether or not you have any objection” …. Sounds like a letter from the tax office huh? I can write in 30 days if I have any objections and consider that it is not good value for money what the government provides? (or if I want to challenge their way of calculations rather, haha) :):):). But still have to pay without comments.

Singaporean taxation is fairly good (low rates) and I think that it is not so complex compared to other countries (tax systems are always complex I guess), however one never likes to pay taxes. So I just try to get rid of this frustration… ignore it if it is a lot of nonsense I am writing in this post. At least I know where my money goes; here is another quote from my tax slip: “Thank you for your contribution towards nation building!” . At least it gives you a good feeling that you serve a grand purpose. I wish I could opt for a charity though…

My good friend, Imran, gave me his violin for a while, so I started to play the violin again. I haven’t played for a long time (like 7 years +), so it sounds a bit rusty, however I was so happy that I could still remember some of the folk songs I used to play. It will take a while till I will be able to play the Romanian Rhapsody as a serenade, but by the end of the year I should at least know all the folk songs we used to play in the folk band when I was younger. My fingers are not that fast now (on the violin!), still looking for the right position for the different notes, but yeah… it takes time… lots of time and commitment. Hope my energy will last and will be able to play some nice songs next year (Is there a tax deduction for those playing on violin in Singapore? Just wondering:):) ). Girls, be aware, I might play a serenade under your window :):):)

I think I fell in love with a baby… It was quite a while ago when I felt that I am falling in love and I need to have THE baby. But it is happening again… and can’t get it out of my head… It’s always in my mind now. I was not looking for it, just happened accidentally… on the internet for that matter… Since then I have seen it in action several times… And it’s a real baby: the Dopod 838 Pro. I need to have it!

One of my ex colleague in high school (yeah Szilard, I am talking about you) would enjoy living in Singapore because he would be able to see all those warplanes flying around each day. He was crazy for these planes (not sure if he still is) and knew the names of all combat planes and helicopters that ever existed on the planet. It’s a big contrast in Singapore that everything is nicely arranged and the city looks perfect, but sometimes it feels like a war zone with those fight planes and all the army ads and “Stay vigilant/Counter terrorism” educational ads. It is a bit weird to think that my dollars and cents will land in the pocket of the ad agency that makes those ads for example… Now that I pay taxes, I really feel that I want to have a word in where that money goes. Is this nation building? You pay taxes and you feel you want to contribute also to how the money is spent? I assume that if a government (in general, not referring to Singapore) would be able to tax all its people, and the tax bill would come just as the electricity bill (and not deduction from the salary, more as a cost of government service), then people would be more engaged in community life (to decide how they want the money to be spent, etc) and also they would hold the government more accountable. I think it is more the way you could package this tax that people pay. Of course accountability would generally not be the interests of the governments… I assume that’s why this approach is not really implemented in the world and this “I want good service for my taxes” mentality is not so strong in so many countries.

I finish here, before I start writing my first book about taxation.