Which Type?

i would like to think i am a realistic kind of girl. who likes to have a pleasant life, not totally stress free (coz that wouldnt be realistic would it?) but with a manageable amount of stress in my work life and relationships. the kind who doesnt covet too many things but wouldnt mind indulging in a few things once in awhile. big flashy things do not appeal to me coz it stresses me more to see my cashflow being depleted. and becoz of that some people may think i am a cheapskate. i relish buying inexpensive nice looking things at discount stores or the cheapo stores like 'this fashion'..but of coz i am realistic enough to know that the cheap items do not last. but anyway, fashion items are disposable arent they. then again i do splurge on a few items only if i think they are worth it..and sometimes of coz during my moments of shopping weakness.

i am also the type of girl who can be pretty good at planning and has actually thought about retirement. yeah really. i know i dont have a huge fat pension waiting for me, that my cpf may well be asthmatically thin after deductions for the flat, that i dont have a huge fat inheritance waiting for me either ...but i dont want to work until i am old and my bones creak. but i am the type of girl who thought of such things but have yet act on things i should.

what kind of singaporean am i? and what kind of singaporean are you?

"A new survey by four marketing dons on Singaporean values, aspirations and attitudes has thrown up eight types of Singaporeans.

The groups were identified based on analysis of their lifestyles and consumer behaviour "

taken from ST 'The 8 Types of Singaporean- 26/03/2005"..but I shall only list a few.

"

Family-oriented traditional

WHO: Typically older married women, in their 50s and 60s, with secondary or below education. Predominantly housewives, retirees or blue-collar workers, they earn less than $2,000 a month.If you want to impress these sticklers for tradition, take Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali celebrations very seriously. And please, no sex before marriage. Divorce? Unthinkable.

Though firm believers in the power of money to solve most of life's problems, they frown on splurging on the latest plasma TV - or any status symbol for that matter.

Recreation? What for? Besides being voracious consumers of news, current affairs programmes and television movies, they go on the occasional package tour to China, Thailand or Vietnam. And that's enough to keep them happy.


The dreamers

WHO: These are more likely to be single women, in their 20s to mid-30s, earning between $1,000 and $3,000 a month and living with their parents.

They are 'dreamers' simply because their colossal aspirations are out of sync with reality. They are also supremely status-conscious, despite their limited means.

They envy others who can afford the latest Gucci wallet or Bvlgari watch they hanker after, even as they reluctantly make do with Guess and G2000 and struggle to meet their car payments.

This group likes to flaunt. Even though they lack the means, it does not stop them.


New Age family-oriented

WHO: These are firm believers in age-old concepts like love and family but not the old ways of doing things. Typically young married women in their late 20s to early 40s, they have at least post-secondary or tertiary education, work as professionals or white-collar workers and draw more than $3,000 a month.

You will not find a woman in this group saving up for the latest Louis Vuitton Cherry Blossom bag. Neither will she toil towards a promotion, as she would rather have more free time to herself than money.

Religion is not a big deal with her. She is not hung up on staying married or averse to getting divorced.

What she subscribes to, however, is tree-hugging, buying green products and helping the less fortunate in the community.


The aspirers

WHO: This group is dominated by well-educated men in their 20s to late 30s,many of whom are professionals or run their own businesses. Most are well-to-do, earning over $60,000 a year.

They tend to be Net-savvy yet traditional. While they own the latest gadgets, from the cleverest PDAs to the tiniest laptops, they also believe in doing things the 'good old fashioned' way.

Grounded and dependable in relationships, they form the cluster with the lowest rate of divorce and register the highest happiness index with their lives here.

Non-narcissists, they live for others rather than themselves. Religion matters to them, and you can expect them to have their pet charities too.

a regretful scheduleing of events

one of my grandaunts passed away early sat morning. the day before she had called my mum to ask when i was coming to visit her.she was expecting us on friday. i was told she had her maid to clean the house and was already planning the menu.

we had planned to do our visits over the weekend (sat-sun) and had informed my parents earlier of our schedule..our wardrobe arrived on thurs evening and we wanted to clean up our entire place and get things in order the good friday.

as i found out, the tradition of sembah menyembah is a big thing with the old folks in my family. we did visit one today to another nenek sedara and she as her late sister had indeed worked out a complete meal with desserts and even had presents for us.

so right now i have this big regret in my heart. that we didnt visit my late grandaunt any earlier. my mum too was rather affected by it as she was the closest nenek sedara to our family after my late granny passed away.

but i guess it's fate. my late grandaunt just had her checkup last thurs and had a clean bill of health. her death was fast, sudden and totally unexpected for all that there was much outpouring of emotion at her funeral. i was slightly numbed and felt that it was surreal..as i always feel with big changes..

the emotion is just starting to creep in slowly now.

Moving In and Adjusting

it's almost two weeks after our wedding..

i have moved in. cooked here twice. cleaned our toilet. changed the bedsheet, unpacked my bags and put my clothes into our new wardrobe.

not too bad. but i have to add that he has been good at making me comfortable. he helps with the laundry and ironing which i abhor. but both of us had found a way to fix that so that we wont get bogged down with the ironing.

the most difficult part about moving in here actually, was the initial period when i arrived here and had to call my inlaws mak and ayah..for the first two days i kept making the slip of still calling them makcik and pakcik.

.....................................................................

i have also been going back home the past week. to move more of my stuffs and basically is work place is nearer to my parent's home so it was quite convenient for him to fetch me.

i think i probably need to continue visiting my parents often. i think my mum may be feeling lonely, with my brother away. not that this is my first time away from home. i had stayed away from home while in school and overseas. but i think age has caught up with my parents, and they probably need some company more now.

my mum gets to socialise at her religous classes but other than that i doubt she gets much except for the phonecalls. she likes to talk, my mum..and i am actually fearing that she will start the habit of talking to herself now that there are less people at home...

new hOMe

i have been asked many times 'how's married life?"

it's been fine. we have been told that the first week, some couples have problem adjusting..we did'nt. either it was the honeymoon break or the fact that we had done a lot of adjustments on living arrangements before hand..like i know all his super bad habits and he knows mine too...

also have been asked 'how's living with the in laws?" so far it has been fine too..coz they had only got back from their holidays. heh.

i am thinking however i must be experiencing some marital bliss now..coz i seem to be able to tolerate the state of mess that his room right now. our furniture hunting came to a brief pause prior to the wedding becoz of our busy schedule..so right now..it am not embarassed to say, i am living out of a suitcase. literally. i have mentioned that before.

but i am fine with it. i am an adaptable creature. i found out i dont have much attachment to places. i am very mobile. i dont feel sad about moving.

one thing i do know though..this tolerance may not last very long, so last weekend we did go furniture hunting..and the years we have been together must have helped fine tune our taste and spending habits . we went to a few stores and a few warehouses over the two days, and at the end of the second day we went back to OM to put the money down to our bedroom set. we decided just over a day. i am proud of our fast decision making process. but then again, we have already gone through a similar process of furniture hunting for my parent's place. so it was chop chop fast.

about the moving thing tho..i have to admit, the first night at his place i couldnt have proper sleep. kept waking up and dreamt that we were house hunting. yup.

and have to say..i am not so used to staying in the big house..coz i still dont dare to be alone especially in our bedroom at night..and somehow always half-expect something to pop up. so let me rephrase what i said earlier, i am fine with moving out and leaving everytime..but can be abit neurotic about new places. crazy. heh.