How much is enough really?

Is it conscionable for the rich and powerful to furbish another private aircraft when half of their people are living without clean water?

COMMENT

By TK Chua

I would have thought that outrageously luxurious living was synonymous with our imperial past. Apparently this is not so. The obscene flaunting of wealth is still very much alive among the rich and powerful of today.

I would have thought that democracy and freedom brought about better equality. I would have thought the rich and powerful were now more sensitive to the needs of others. Apparently we are still far from achieving that ideal.

The first issue is affordability.

How can the rich and powerful afford to live in such luxury? I was overwhelmed at reading that a dinner for 20 cost more than seven hundred thousand ringgit in Singapore. However that dinner pales in comparison to the money spent on the mansions the super rich live in, the palaces they buy, the resorts they holiday in, the specially refurbished planes they fly, the fleets of luxury cars they drive, and the endless shopping sprees they indulge in.

How could they have amassed so much for themselves? If a leader has so much, he must have taken the nation’s wealth for himself. If a businessman has so much, he must have made too much profit at the expense of others.

However, the issue at hand is bigger than affordability. It is also about the use of resources and being sensitive to the needs of others.

Is it conscionable for the rich and powerful to refurbish yet another private aircraft when half the people are living without clean water? Is it acceptable for the rich and powerful to add yet another mansion or palace to their arsenal of real estate when many people are without proper housing or a means of making a livelihood? How much really is enough for these people?

I notice that the rich and powerful no longer feel embarrassed about their extravagances. Instead, they flaunt their wealth and secretly compete among themselves for who is the richer and more powerful.

The sad irony is that the poor and the helpless look at all this wealth and opulence with admiration and awe, not indignation and resentment.

TK Chua is an FMT reader.