The "5 Cs of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

", namely: Cash

Cash

In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...

, Car

Čar

Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...

, Credit card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

, Condominium

Condominium

A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...

 and Country club

Country club

A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...

 membership, is a term relating to materialism

Materialism

In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...

. It arose as a popular joke

Joke

A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...

 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.

Cash

Cash

Cash

In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...

 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).

Car

Approximately 1 in 10 Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 residents have car

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s. From a lowly Toyota to a Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

, Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

 and even a Rolls Royce

Rolls-Royce (car)

This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...

, 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

Certificate of Entitlement

The Certificate of Entitlement , instituted by the government of Singapore since May 1990, is a program designed to limit car ownership and hence the number of vehicles on the country's roads...

, or perhaps because of it, cars are very desirable and viewed as a status symbol despite Singapore's developed public transport infrastructure.

Credit Card

Card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

s 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 maximum credit limit of up to 2 months' income if the person's annual income is less than S$30,000 and a maximum credit limit of up to 4 months' income if the person's annual income is greater than S$30,000. Banks typically issue different types of cards depending on the available credit limit associating greater cachet with cards that command a higher credit limit. This automatically creates an easily identifiable sign of affluence, together with owning a car.

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

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

) 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.

Country Club

As land is severely limited, amenities such as golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

s and country club

Country club

A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...

s are very expensive in Singapore. Therefore it is a testament to the monetary prowess of the holders of the membership cards to such establishments.