WHAT happens every time you watch a movie? You are in the dark.

Of late, 'No need to kua-hee already am-bong-bong,' said Heartlander Hock, scratching his botak head. He doesn't have to go to the cinema to be in the dark.

The kopitiam regular and his kakis have been perplexed by facts and figures and ages and percentages since those numbers surfaced and circulated (hinted at in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day rally speech, detailed as Parliament sits).

Heartlander Hock and Taximan Teck represent a majority who cannot quite wrap their heads round these now life-savings-impacting numbers.

Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen himself acknowledged the confusion and pledged 'simplified messages' over the next few months.

But how to further clarify and simplify how vital those projected figures are to the future?

Look at it through Everyman Jack Neo's movie titles - Money No Enough (1998, dealing with dire financial situations), Just Follow Law (2007, civil servants and rigid rules), I Not Stupid (2002, Singapore's competitive culture).

Money No Enough is the mindset in the main. Sit down at a void deck and listen to the aunties and uncles, ah peks and ah mas. They are at the void deck because their flats are small and cramped. It is the void deck where their wakes will be held.

They want their children not to waste money, just a simple funeral will do. For some, donations are counted on to ease funeral costs.

On weekends the old folks gather at the hawker centre for a one-dish lunch; of course this eating-out is not on a daily basis. Who can afford it?

Life is lived day-to-day, how to ask the children for money, they ownself not enough as it is.

Is this the way the future's new-old wish to live? No. So what do they do now? What can they do now?

Follow the Money No Enough mentality and grumble and grumble at the kopitiam.

Now cheng hu (Government, in Hokkien) want to keep our money longer... cheng hu don't have enough meh?

Already money not enough for today, Dr Cheng Hu is telling me I will live to 85, and he will be in charge of doling out my pocket money?

They pay attention, try to comprehend, aiyah quite complicated, lose interest, better don't ask question for nothing you stand out, and leave it to the powers that be. Because gahmen so far so good.

Just Follow Law, meaning go with the flow, which means don't bother, let the Government do the thinking - and counting - for you.

Take the fiercely independant I Not Stupid approach. That means making your money work for you now, to have an easier time later.

Those who can afford to Just Follow Law aren't likely to be in the Money No Enough demographic and can sail along without rocking the boat.

Like The New Paper reader (after this - ahem - edifying, simplified two-page primer) they are likely to fall into the financially-savvy I Not Stupid category.

Which starring role do you see yourself playing?

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