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Showing posts from June, 2018

Japan - First Maid Kit

The widow Naoko no longer needs to care for her husband, but still looks after a son in his forties who lives at home. Naoko's son works as diligently as a Japanese male is expected to - he is no hikikomori - which means he has less, not more, capacity to help with chores. As Naoko ages, she has trouble keeping up with the laundry, cooking, and cleaning for the both of them to the exacting standards required of a Japanese housewife. A once-off visit by a cleaning company like Duskin costs Y30,000 - Y40,000, no easy decision even for a family of means like hers. If Naoko et fils lived in Singapore, I point out to her, a live-in maid from Myanmar, Indonesia, or the Philippines, would cost around Y80,000 a month. Many Singaporean families (including mine) would be lost without their aid in cleaning, childcare, and aged care. Would she be interested if maids were hypothetically available in Japan?

A Moral Case for Investing

Dystopic Future Mega-corp In the Parable of the Talents , a master entrusts three servants with equal portions of his wealth before leaving on a journey. Upon his return, he finds that two invested and grew their allotments, and rewards them accordingly. The third, however, is punished by the master for merely burying his in the ground. Does this indicate a moral case for investing?