5 C's of Singapore
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The 5 C's of Singapore, namely: Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium, and membership(s) of Country club are a term relating to materialism found and used widely in the Singapore Singlish lexicon. It arose as a popular joke based on certain truths attesting to the unstated Singaporean cultural ethos of materialistic obsession and aspiration to achieve these things in order to impress others, both socially, economically and sociologically.
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[edit] Cash
Cash is self explanatory, and refers more to a person's spending power than the actual amount of physical money in one's pocket. Financial security and affluence is a highly desirable status symbol and for many years was the measure of a person's worth and success achieved in life, more so than other achievements (e.g. great sportsmen were not accorded the same status as great businessmen, unless they happened to be rich, of course).
[edit] Car
Approximately 1 in 10 Singapore residents have cars.[1] From a lowly Proton or Nissan to a Mercedes-Benz and even a Porsche, you can find almost any make of car on the roads (provided there is a right-hand-drive model). Despite high taxation on the import and ownership of motor vehicles (191% on new vehicles, an annual road tax based on engine size, and high pump prices) and a vehicle quota system known as the Certificate of Entitlement [2], or perhaps because of it, cars are very desirable and viewed as a status symbol despite Singapore's highly developed public transport infrastructure.
[edit] Credit Card
Cards are a visible symbol of one's financial success. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the arm of the government that regulates the finance industry, has stipulated a minimum annual income of S$30,000 and a maximum credit limit of 2 months income for credit card issuers [1] . This automatically creates an easily identifiable sign of affluence, together with owning a car.
[edit] Condominium
This refers not to the duplex/quadruplex housing developments in countries with large tracts of land, but to privately-developed luxury (at least compared to government flats) apartments. Due to the limited land in Singapore, freestanding houses are very rare and generally available only to those of high social and economic standing. As such, the condominium is the most luxurious housing for "normal" people. This has generated a trend however, since government-subsidised flats are only available to citizens and permanent residents, that a large minority of owners of condominiums are non-permanent residents.
[edit] Country Club
As land is severely limited, amenities such as golf courses and country clubs are very rare in Singapore. Therefore it is a testament to the monetary prowess of the holders of the membership cards of such establishments.
[edit] Career
There's a variation that states Career as one of the Cs too.
[edit] Certificate
There is also another variation of the 5Cs that states a "Certificate", representing good results/certifications (e.g. a university degree or polytechnic diploma) which are extremely important in modern Singapore especially with the competitive environment.
[edit] Coffin
This means death. All the others are material, but they are worth nothing after death.
[edit] Other variations
[edit] 4 C's of family values
There is a different set of 4C's describing core family values, which are Care, Concern, Commitment and Communication. This phrase has become increasingly popular for marriage education and family counseling.
As of late, the government seems bent to add an extra 'C' to the list-- children. This is to curb the decreasing birth rate in Singapore's population and to encourage more couples to have more children.
[edit] 4 C's in song
Students of Raffles Girls' Primary School sing a lively song called The 4C's, where the 4C's are Courtesy, Cooperation, Carefulness and Consideration.
[edit] 4 C's in gemology
There is also a set of four characteristics of diamonds, the 4Cs, referring to Carat, Clarity, Colour, and Cut.
[edit] 3 C's
Some people reduce the 5 C's to just 3, which are cash, car and condominium.
