i thought sandwich-ed class referred to those who are neither rich nor poor enough to apply for financial aid, and thsu unable to get help to tide over the recession. And with this I'm referring to households with 2k income with 1 child in uni, the other in poly, and a child in pri school. Who bought a 5rm flat when the economy was good and now is stuck. with no money and no place to turn to.
but when i flipped through Berita Harian today... the feature on the sandwiched families was on a couple, wife is a doctor (either medical or doctorate, eitherways with a huge fat wallet), and husband is a pilot. (read: another fat wallet). with two boys below the age of twelve, and, brace yourself, a house on a private property (read: multistorey terrace with car).
And then i saw the panel on the right of the article. Ppl who qualify as sandwiched families are roughly:
- having a total household income of 7.5k
- have two teenage children
wow. 7.5k is sandwiched mehh? anak dua aje lak tu. I guess its true huh. money no enough. I'm sore sia. The government wants to help sandwiched families and THESE are their sandwiched families?? the scale is sooo skrewed! i mean. skewered.
my brother and I have to squeeze in part time jobs in the midst of our time tables, my mother has to do babysitting, and my sister has to go without tuition (we all went without tuition btw), and my dad has to grab whatever OT he can, just to amount not-very-close-to half the income stipulated for sandwiched families. and we're not even considered poor either, cos most cut of points are at 1.5k or 1.8k per household. if this isnt sandwiched, i dont know what is.
so much for helping sandwiched families tideover. sandwiched families of the upper class more like it. and they think the gst rebates can pacify us.
Maybe I should come to that private house and ask the doctor-pilot couple if they're coping well. It must be hard for em sandwiched-family with two young kids in govt subsidised schools. especially when they have to mantain a brave and happy front to smile for Berita Harian.
