Penny Wise, Pound Foolish (The Greatest Fool of All)

Have you heard of this quote before "Penny Wise, Pound Foolish"? 

I give you a simple story that my father once shared with me many years ago. One fine day, my father was invited to play Mahjong with my neighbours next door. So the conversation (summarize) goes something like this:

Neighbour: Wanna play mahjong?

LittleBoy's Father: How much?

Neighbour: $2-4

LittleBoy's Father: HUHHHH?

Neighbour: Ahhh, too little ah? Okay loh, $4-8.

LittleBoy's Father: It's alright, I shall give it a pass. 

My father thought that out of courtesy he could join them for a game so as to have a mini neighbours' bonding session. Astoundingly, the bets were too high. I swear my father is a very good Mahjong player. He is a mind reader and an intelligent player. But his intention was not to win their money, so he rejected their invitation politely. If you know about Mahjong, you will understand that that is a huge bet for a average earning income family. In worst case scenario, the lost can amplify up to a thousand or vice versa if you win. 

Here comes the contradicting and hilarious part. 

Another fine day, my mother went to the market to shop for groceries. She overheard my neighbour bargaining persistently with this store owner selling vegetables. Guess how much she was bargaining? I won't kid you. She bargained and asked for a discount of 5cents. The store owner at first was very reluctant, but eventually give in to her. Poor thing!  Isn't it very contradicting? You can bet so big in Mahjong and you want to make life difficult for a store owner selling veggies. It is a true example of the literal meaning of Penny Wise, Pound Foolish. 

I guarantee that there are many other funny Singaporeans out there with this mentality, Penny Wise, Pound Foolish. Another example can be that some Singaporeans are so willing to spend on luxury and lavish car brand. When it comes to car park, they can go the extra mile to park at cheaper locations to the expense of having to walk further or even to the extent of cheating car park coupon timing. Please don't tell me you are guilty of that. I understand every dollar save is a dollar earn, but isn't it absurd you were once so willing to fork out so much on car, when you can actually save much more by buying a cheaper car? My father always tells me that a car main purpose is to fetch you around. A car is meant to work for you, not the other way round. Nowadays, it seems as though humans are enslaved to their car. 

I hope that you understand where I'm coming from. Some of us are guilty of having this mentality but we can always work on it for the better. I have said this a few times in my blog. In life, what we need is to have moderation. Sometimes, we cannot be so calculative and be so nitty gritty on very minor details. We need to give and take. And most of the time, we cannot be so "Pound Foolish" too. Having impulse buying behaviour is definitely an unhealthier habit and we need to weigh the pros and cons before throwing our hard-earned money into something so expensive. I'm not saying you should not invest and spend in yourself. By all means go ahead but please do it moderately. Just don't be the greatest fool of saving so much yet spending away prematurely on unnecessary lavish items in life.

Cheers!
Little Boy