Republished from the Facebook of Tay Kheng Soon
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Whatever the reason for the motorcycle tax hike the reason cannot be only to raise revenue. It’s a punishment meted out fair and square to bike owners as it is to car owners.
For cars there is greater justification for the road space cars occupy. But for bikes it’s not the same. So it’s just trying to be even handed in punishing. There is however a point of diminishing returns gained in punishing citizens.
Bikes of all types whether ‘luxury’ or ‘ordinary’ are not only efficient transportation they are a joy in an increasingly joyless life.
What is joy? Let’s be clear. Joy is what one feels because of what we do out of our own free will. It is an emotion that come out from inside.
It is different from the happiness that arises when we get something from outside like seeing a good movie or attending a performance or buying a thing we want. The feelings we get from getting these things are transactional rewards. This is the econo-political equation. You work hard, obey, don’t make a fuss, the state will hand out goodies.
Joy is different. Joy is self initiated. It’s reward is self satisfaction. Strangely it is not the result of a transaction. The act of giving generates this sense of satisfaction. Thus is joy. We have to move to this new level of living for it is this that produces genuine creativity.
And it is this creativity that will move Singapore to the next level of success. Yes education, yes infrastructure, yes ecosystem. All these are not enough. With joyous impulse then comes breakthroughs in unexpected areas. When we kill joy we short change ourselves.
The State will reap what it sows eventually – hatred. So sometimes it is wise to stay the administrative hand on the jackpot machine. This is one such time.
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sources:Â https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1238672399502078&id=100000779909212 &Â https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1239028236133161&id=100000779909212