Meaningful Living

In a recent group chat with a few ex students, the topic of money came up again.  The question was, Does Money give us happiness?  The obvious answer is yes, but we went on to discuss deeper. Why does money give us happiness? 1.  Spending money can boost our mood.  Researches have shown that buying experiences and gadgets increases the dopamine level and hence gives us happiness.  However, this dopamine level increases only when we are buying it, but quickly lowers after the purchase. So the happiness from the purchase may not last long , especially if we regret the purchase. 2.  At one National Day Rally, either Mr Goh Chok Tong or Mr Lee Hsien Loong (can't remember which PM as it was quite some time back) said something like this:  "... we work hard, so that we can have more options in life ." When we have more money, we can choose between hawker centre, expensive restaurants, or home delivery for our meals.  This gives us the satisfaction and ...

Do we need to use proper English? To me, it depends on the situation.  When we are with our friends or relatives, sure, use Singlish by all means, because everyone talks like that.  But we need to learn to switch over to using proper English when the occasion calls for it, like talking to superiors, with clients, when being interviewed for TV programs, when teaching the younger ones, etc. To me, the use of lah lor leh etc in Singlish is fine when used in Singapore, unless we are speaking to foreign visitors, where these words may confuse them.  However, some words just don't sound pleasant, in my opinion. Some common examples: 1.  "Actually".   There is too much use of the word 'actually'. Heard on a TV interview: "Because of this pandemic, most of our workers actually work from home.  We actually send some of them for training since this is the best opportunity for us.  Our sales actually dropped by 40%, and we actually hope to turn this around by the...