SINGAPORE: Many actions we take are powered by superstitious belief – from choosing the day to get married to picking the year to have children.

Yet nowhere do superstitions operate more powerfully than in the property market.

This is no surprise when a home is most people’s single largest financial commitment. According to the Department of Statistics, home loans constitute almost 75 per cent of household debt.

A home is also a place of familial comforts and personal rest – another reason why people invest so much time, effort and money into buying a place.

Some Singaporeans employ superstition as a way to cope with the uncertainties that accompany buying a home – uncertainties that possibly include the quality of the construction and maintenance, the development of the neighbourhood, and the evolution of interest rates and housing prices.

For instance, a common superstitious practice is to buy homes with “lucky” addresses that end with 8 for prosperity and avoid those ending with 4 to avert bad luck.

But where homes are often people’s largest and most visible expenditure, can we really chalk off such behaviour entirely to superstition?

CHINESE BUYERS PAY MORE FOR LUCKIER ADDRESSES

In my book Kiasunomics: Stories of Singaporean Economic Behaviours, my co-authors and I examined the effects of superstitions on purchases in the housing market.

What we found in looking at over 54,000 transactions of new high-rise apartments in Singapore’s real estate market from 1995 to 2012 including sub-sales and resales surprised us greatly.

Expectedly, on the surface, Singaporeans seem to prefer addresses with certain numbers consistent with superstition.

Apartments with very “unlucky” addresses are always the cheapest while those with very “lucky” addresses the most expensive. Generally, unlucky addresses have a discount of 1.4 per cent while lucky addresses enjoy a premium of 2 to 3 per cent.

Consistent with this finding, Singaporean Chinese buyers paid higher prices for luckier addresses and lower prices for unlucky addresses but not non-Chinese Singaporean buyers.

Foreign buyers also pay a similar premium or enjoy similar discounts, likely because they’re at an informational disadvantage compared to locals while some may also be of Chinese descent who share similar numerological preferences.

To the extent that people pay less for less preferred addresses, they also ask for lower prices when they subsequently sell their homes. Indeed, we find similar discounts for unlucky addresses in the secondary markets.

Yet a closer look at the patterns that emerged suggests there’s more than meets the eye. 

For one, if people wish to avert bad luck as much as they want to court good fortune, why is it that the discounts for unlucky addresses aren’t as large as the premiums for lucky ones?

Furthermore, if superstition were the reason for such numerological preferences, we should find a similarly high demand for lucky addresses throughout Singapore.

But when we poured over the data, it seems demand for lucky addresses among Chinese buyers was concentrated in non-prime districts.

Might it be that buying a lucky address is a way to signal wealth and status?

After all, where you live is a very visible and conspicuous marker of one’s stature – and this might apply more to those buying an apartment in non-prime districts, where having an auspicious address can distinguish them from their neighbours.

Where those buying property in prime areas are less concerned about purchasing a charmed address as a conspicuous display of status because they already stay in a luxury district, it seems superstition is only half of the story when it comes to explaining why some addresses cost more than others.

WHO BUYS CHARMED ADDRESSES?

We also profiled Singaporeans who have a stronger preference for lucky addresses.

No surprises that the odds of a Singaporean Chinese buying an apartment with a very lucky address is 20 per cent higher than a non-Chinese.

Age also plays a part. While older Singaporeans tend to have a preference for lucky addresses because of their superstitious beliefs, it seems younger Singaporeans are also a sizable group. 

Might it be that they need to establish themselves? So their demand to signal how much they have economically progressed is relatively higher than older Singaporeans who have arguably already established themselves.

DOWN ON THEIR LUCK LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT

Yet one group of people more likely to buy lucky addresses stands out among the data, suggesting that superstitions bear out if there is a recency effect.

Our research shows that Singaporeans with a spate of bad luck have a stronger preference for lucky addresses – if having bad luck is characterised by traffic accidents and other traffic offences committed prior to buying an apartment.

Victims of traffic accidents also tend to buy lucky addresses, suggesting that they are relying on superstition to cope with bad luck.

Singaporeans’ penchant for lucky addresses is indeed fascinating.

We often think that superstition drives such preferences but research demonstrates that there is also an element of stature signalling and conspicuous spending driving these actions.

So keep that in mind this Chinese New Year period when you visit relatives and friends and those auspicious addresses draw nods of approval. 

You now know better how much more the place cost and why.

Sing Tien Foo is Associate Professor in Real Estate at the National University of Singapore. He recently co-authored Kiasunomics: Stories of Singaporean Economic Behaviours with Sumit Agarwal and Ang Swee Hoon from the NUS Business School.

SINGAPORE: Counselling centres said they are seeing an increasing trend of younger clients aged 25 and below, seeking help for sexual and porn addiction.

According to psychologists, one main risk factor that is causing more youths to grapple with sex addiction issues is the easy access and repeated exposure to Internet pornography.

We Care Community Services Centre, started offering its Sex, Porn and Love Addictions therapy in 2015, after they noticed that more people were enquiring about help for sexual addictions.

Executive director of We Care Community Services Centre, Ms Tham Yuen Han, said that when they started out these sessions, those seeking help were above the age of 25.

But as of this year – about 10 out of its 55 clients are below 25 years old.

Ms Tham said that some of their clients struggle with intense and compulsive sexual thoughts and urges while others are hooked on Internet pornography, or suffer a compulsive need to satisfy themselves sexually.

“Most of the time, we have a situation where parents discover a history of porn websites on their phone, or laptop at home and they are referred for help,” she said. 

“Young people grow up with social media and there’s a lot of sexual content on digital media that’s easily available and accessible.”

Ms Tham added: “We have many people who are just accessing porn on their mobile phone and they could be sitting across you at a dinner table or a meeting room, and no one is any wiser that they are actually browsing sexual content at the same time and right there in front of you.

Its recovery programme includes six individual mandatory sessions and two family and group and sessions that are optional.

A screening will be conducted in the initial session to identify the presence of sexual addiction and the presence of other existing mental health conditions.

Subsequently, an assessment is done to understand the severity of the addiction and to tailor make a treatment plan according to the client’s needs.

The Singapore Counselling Centre is also seeing a similar trend.

Five years ago, it saw about three clients a month below 25 years of age seeking help for sex and porn addiction.

But now, it sees about 15 clients a month requiring counselling for these addictions.

GET HELP BEFORE IT LEADS TO SEXUAL OFFENDING: MSF

The Social and Family Development Ministry acknowledged that there are many individuals who are struggling and need help with excessive or compulsive sexual behaviours, and that it is important for those suffering from these issues to seek help as it could have adverse consequences if left untreated.

For example, the time consumed when engaging in such activities, impact the other areas of their life negatively – such as relationships, work or health. In some cases, the preoccupation with sex could result in them committing sexual offences.

Ms Mavis Long, a psychologist with MSF’s Clinical and Forensic Psychology Service, said that there are several risk factors that may lead to sexual offending.

These include a struggle with intimacy issues, a lack of coping skills to manage their sexual urges and negative feelings like loneliness.

Easy access to Internet porn is also a reason why most of the sexual perpetrators they see start experimenting with sex at a younger age.

“In this day and age, Internet porn is readily available,” said Ms Long. 

“Many of the clients that we see don’t have to buy hard copy magazines of sexual material or DVDs. They can access porn with mobile phones or iPads. In that way, their parents wouldn’t find out as well.” 

She added: “With that, we’ve found many of the sexual predators start accessing porn at an earlier age, so they start experimenting with sexual acts at an earlier age. 

“Repeated exposure to this material, especially those that are deviant material, involving sexual activity with children or coerced sexual acts such as peeping or touching people without their consent may lead to them to develop deviant or atypical sexual interest.”

THE SEX ADDICT TURNED SEX OFFENDER

Ms Long recounted one example of her client, Darryl (not his real name), who used to be a top performer in primary school.

His parents described him as a good-natured and sensible child who had no behavioural problems in school.

But when he went to secondary school, he was frequently bullied by his classmates, which led him to become withdrawn and he spent most of his time at home surfing the Internet.

At 13, he chanced upon Internet pornography and this became his escape from the unhappiness he faced at school.

By 17, he was satisfying himself several times daily. Darryl added that he frequently fantasised about pornographic scenes he viewed and he found it difficult to concentrate in school which caused his grades to deteriorate.

But shortly after, he found the selection of pornographic videos online boring and took a step further by entering female toilets to peep at strangers on several occasions between 2014 and 2016.

Darryl admitted that he enjoyed the thrill subsequent to each voyeuristic act.

However, in 2016, the law caught up on him.

Ms Long said that Darryl’s situation could have been avoided if he had sought treatment earlier.

“There were a few risk factors that resulted in his sexual offending,” she said. “As he was bullied and teased in school, he isolated himself and withdrew from social contact. 

“He then turned to sexual means of coping, like watching voyeur porn, and became increasingly sexually preoccupied. 

“The lack of parental supervision as well as the thrill of peeping further reinforced his sexual offending behaviour.”

100 SUCH REFERRALS EACH YEAR: MSF

The Social and Family Development Ministry gets about 100 such referrals seeking help from the Clinical and Forensic Psychology Service (CFPS) each year.

CFPS accepts referrals to assess and treat intra-familial and extra-familial perpetrators of sexual crimes.

They are referred by the Probation and Community Rehabilitation Service, Child Protective Service, Adult Protective Service and Youth Residential Service in MSF as well as the Voluntary Children’s Homes from the community.

The majority of the cases involve peeping, exposing and taking up-skirt photos. 

Of these, about 90 per cent of them are assessed to need some form of treatment, which could range from individual to group therapy sessions aimed at enhancing self-esteem and reducing the risk of re-offending.

It also noted that the sexual perpetrators referred to them in the last three years are getting younger – with about 45 per cent of them aged 16 and below and the youngest aged 12 years old.

For those who underwent the treatment programmes, 80 per cent of them demonstrated a reduction in the risk of sexual re-offending at the end of the treatment.

The recidivism rate is much lower when compared to other jurisdictions. International research shows that around 50 per cent of the untreated sexual offenders reoffend sexually.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

Psychologists said that one way to help prevent youth from sexual offending is for parents to have open conversations with their children.

Ms Long said: “For most of the parents I see, they haven’t had any conversation with their children about sex at all. 

“Some of them said that they think the school will do it; they don’t feel comfortable doing it themselves. So often, its only after they have committed a sexual offence then the parent sees the need to talk to their child about sex and about girls.”

Counsellors also added that the sexuality education programme in schools also play an important role in helping the young develop healthy relationships with the opposite sex.

SINGAPORE: Days after Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) issued a warning on a scam where people have been asked to donate to a “TTSH cancer research fund”, a man was spotted at Geylang Serai market soliciting donations for the cause.

The man, who identified himself as Zeng Guoyuan, was seen approaching diners for donations at the hawker centre at the market at about 10am on Thursday (Feb 15). He wore signs on his front and back that said “Tan Tock Seng Hospital cancer research team”.

People were seen placing coins and notes in a donation tin he was carrying.

When asked for identification, the man, who did not have a nose, produced a photocopy of a medical report for Zeng Guoyuan @ Chan Hock Seng.

TTSH posted a warning about the scam on Facebook on Monday. “We advise you not to engage such individuals if you encounter them in public and inform the police,” it said.

Channel NewsAsia understands the hospital has filed a police report over the matter and that authorities are investigating. 

Mr Zeng, a former businessman who lost his nose to cancer, is better known by his nickname “Parrot Man”. He has previously turned up at various election events with a parrot, trying to run as an independent candidate. 

In recent years, he was seen selling tissue at the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho temple at Waterloo Street.

Last August, Mr Zeng was reported to have been in a spat with the management of Ngee Ann City after he repeatedly turned up in a wheelchair near the mall, trying to sell tissue paper. The mall management put up signs urging members of the public to not donate money to him, and stating that he is capable of walking and riding a bike.