$410,000 is a large sum of money

I am disappointed that the National Arts Council paid $410,000 in consulting fees for the design of the bin center in one of its buildings. The cost of constructing the bin center is $470,000.

I am more disappointed that the decision is being defended by the minister Grace Fu and an  explanation is being published in the government sponsored website gov.sg. According to this "official" explanation, the design is complex, but it does not explain to the lay person why it has to be so complex.

It seemed that the elites running our government is not aware that $410,000 is a lot of money. It is the lifetime earning of a low income worker in Singapore.

I consider one tenth of this sum, $41,000, to be a large sum also. I know how difficult it is for me to earn this smaller sum in consulting fees.

Do our elites know the difference between $410,000, $41,000  and $4,100? Perhaps the elites are living in the ivory tower for too long. They should come down to the real world more often and see what is really happening in the ground.