‘My Father’s TOTO Retirement Strategy Backfires’: A RICE Screenplay

JOSH (25), in his working attire and tie, enters from his bedroom, a work bag slung across his shoulder. 

His bespectacled father, ROBERT (50), wearing jogging clothes with a sweaty towel around his neck, punches a button on a calculator while sifting through bills on the dining table. 

ROBERT 
(holds up a TOTO lottery ticket) 
Eh, Josh, late for work? Guess what I bought this morning? 

JOSH 
(frowns) 
Lisa’s coming to pick me up. By the way… 

(points at ticket) 
don’t you think it’s a little too early to celebrate? 

  ROBERT 
Hope son! Must have hope! Life is all about hoping right? Hasn’t anyone told you, you only live once in your l– 

Robert hesitates, realises himself. He stashes his ticket in his shirt pocket and refocuses on his bills. 

Josh goes to the counter to pour himself some water. Beside him is a wall-mounted altar with a black-and-white photo of his mum. He empties his glass in one gulp. 

JOSH 
Dad, I still have some time before Lisa gets here. 
Can we talk? 

ROBERT 
(fiddles with calculator) 
Can’t you see I’m busy? 

Josh pulls a chair and sits next to his father. Robert spreads the bills across the table. 

ROBERT 
Bills, bills and more bills. HDB bank mortgage, credit card, utilities, medical. Guess who’s paying for all of them? 

JOSH 
I just started work, dad. Got to hit my sales targets first. 

ROBERT 
Yeah, so I’m telling you, when your job takes off, you can take over some of these bills. 

JOSH 
Nothing is certain in life dad. Besides, how far are you from meeting the CPF minimum sum for retirement? 

ROBERT 
Too far. At the rate I’m contributing, it won’t be enough to cover our monthly expenses. So you better buck up! 

JOSH 
(sarcastically) 
Thanks for the pressure, dad. 

Robert sneers, pushes his specs higher and goes back to his calculations. 

ROBERT 
Anyway, how’s your new job? Where is it again? 

JOSH 
AIA. I’m helping my clients plan for their future. That’s why I need to talk to you. 

ROBERT 
Talk about what? 

JOSH 
Well… I’m working on their retirement plans, so I was hoping you might be interes– 

ROBERT 
(interrupts) 
Retirement? Your limpeh is already stressed out, got so many things to pay, still need to plan for retirement? 

Father and son stare at one another. Josh double-downs. He pulls out his tablet from his bag, unlocks the screen and shows a questionnaire. 

JOSH 
It’s just to see if you’re ready, that’s all. It’s called the AIA Retirement Calculator.

ROBERT 
Huh, so cheem. I’m not interested. Don’t disturb me. 

JOSH 
Retirement is not a one-size-fits-all dad. Even someone like me yearns to retire someday. 

ROBERT 
(laughs) 
You? Don’t you have sales targets to think about, already talking about retirement? 

JOSH 
Come on dad. Look at you. You’re 50, been working at that ‘lok-kok’ office since I-don’t-know-when, get paid peanuts, and yet, struggle to live month-to-month. 

ROBERT 
(fuming) 
Boy, who are you to lecture me? Besides, I look healthy now right? Why should I bother about retirement? I can still work. 

JOSH 
It’s not about whether you’re healthy now or not. Look at mum, she was healthy, look at what happened to her? 

Anger flashes across Robert’s eyes. He gets out of his chair and strides into the living room. 

Josh follows after him. Robert plonks onto the sofa. 

ROBERT 
Look, your ma and I worked day and night to get you everything you need… since you were born okay? Show some respect. 

JOSH 
All right, I’m sorry for bringing it up, but as I’ve said, we all need to plan ahead. No one can tell us what our future’s going to be like. 

ROBERT 
So? 

JOSH 
So let’s do the test. Together. See if you’re ready. 

ROBERT 
Don’t be ridiculous. 

JOSH 
Think about your own future dad. You still have many more years ahead to live. Lisa and I are engaged, we plan to get married next year. What happens once we get our own house, have a kid? 

Robert stares at Josh as if betrayed. He reaches into his pocket, holding up the lottery ticket. His eyes well up.

A younger Robert (25) sits on the same sofa staring at a lottery ticket. The TV’s on, showing Singapore’s National Day Parade in 1995. 

His wife, MEI (24), cradles a newborn in her arm, glancing at the TV while humming a lullaby. 

ROBERT 
(examining ticket) 
Hope Mei. This is the one. Our hope! Our ticket to a better life! Didn’t my father tell you? You only live once in your life. 

MEI 
Shhh… keep your voice down or you’ll wake Josh up. Besides, you need to stop dreaming. Tell me, all these years, you got strike Toto before anot? 

ROBERT 
Aren’t we living the Singapore dream? I just got my new job, new flat, our firstborn… maybe we should consider getting a car, what do you say? 

MEI 
No, Robert, nothing is certain in life. 

ROBERT 
Sheesh… stop lecturing me. 

Mei sits on the sofa next to Robert. 

MEI 
You need to watch your spending, Rob. 
Plan ahead… not just for us… 
(coos to baby Josh) 
…for Joshua. 

Robert grabs the remote and shuts the TV off. He stands up over his wife and son. 

ROBERT 
Everything’s fine, Mei. I don’t need to plan ahead. 

Josh begins to cry. 

MEI 
(hushes baby) 
What will you do when Josh grows up? 

ROBERT 
You won’t understand, Mei. 

MEI 
I hope someday you will. 

JOSH 
Dad? 

Robert is still holding onto the lottery ticket. He has tears in his eyes, which he wipes with his finger with a look of surprise. Josh sits next to his father. 

JOSH 
Are you okay? 

Robert suddenly crumples the lottery ticket. He draws in a deep breath, wiping the rest of his tears away. 

ROBERT 
Nothing. I just … I just remembered something. 

Josh reaches for the tissue and dries his father’s cheeks. Robert watches his son with a tinge of regret. 

ROBERT 
That retirement calculator you were talking about. Let me have a look. 

Josh looks at his father, but quickly props his tablet on his knee and runs through the tool. He settles into a professional stance, impressing Robert. 

JOSH 
It has four main parts, basically to see how much you need by the time you retire. 

ROBERT 
(adjusts spectacles, follows Josh’s finger) 
What four parts? 

JOSH 
The first portion wants to get to know more about you. Quite simple. 

ROBERT 
Okay. So it's just my age, gender, current stage in life. 

JOSH 
Yeap. So the second is retirement needs. How much money you think you need every month for comfortable retirement, that sort of thing. 

Robert leans back and scans the house, trying to think of what else he needs. Josh smiles. 

ROBERT 
Maybe… $2,000 is enough. 

JOSH 
Right. So the third section wants to know about your current retirement savings. 
Basically the cash deposits, investments and monthly savings you put aside. 
The growth rate per annum too. 

Robert nods and rubs his eyes. He’ll have to refer to his bank statements and documents. 

JOSH 
It’s okay, we can slowly go through it together. 
Once we have all that, the fourth section will project any shortfall you might have to reach your retirement goal. Should be pretty straightforward as long as you have a financial consultant. 

Robert places a hand on Josh’s shoulder. 

ROBERT 
I already have one. 

JOSH 
Thanks, dad. 

ROBERT 
Let’s do the survey. 

Robert and Josh lean over the screen and answer the questions together. 

Josh gets into the front passenger seat of the sedan. LISA (24), his fiancee, is seated by the wheel.

LISA
What took you so long?

JOSH
Sorry, I was having a talk with my dad.

LISA
You cannot afford to be late to the office.

JOSH
(buckles up)
Yes, I know.

LISA
Aren’t you worried at all?

Josh places a hand on Lisa’s shoulder. They face each other.

JOSH
My dad just signed up with me. AIA Retirement Saver (IV).

Lisa’s eyes widen.

LISA
Gosh, I wasn’t expecting he would, knowing how he’s like, you know, someone who lives in the moment.

JOSH
Neither did I.

LISA
What made him change his mind?

JOSH
Well, we went through the survey, we found out he was ready and the AIA Retirement Saver (IV) plan would give him greater peace of mind.
He kept saying… what will you do when he grows up?

LISA
Eh, what does that mean?

JOSH
It’s something my mum used to say to him when I was young.

Lisa looks at Josh with an amused smile.

LISA
Maybe… I should say the same thing to you when we have a kid.

Josh thinks for a moment, nods, and leans forward to give Lisa a kiss.

This story is published in partnership with RICE.  

Prioritise retirement planning with AIA’s suite of customisable solutions. Learn more here. 

Author: Terry Ng, staff writer, RICE Media. All images by Chan Hui Wen for RICE Media. 

Content originally published at 'My Father’s TOTO Retirement Strategy Backfires’: A RICE Screenplay