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Here’s What Brexit is with an HDB Example That Even a 5YO Could Understand

2016-06-29 , 11:00 am

Last Updated on 2022-11-05 , 12:13 pm

So, to a Singaporean layman who even thinks that Britain is a country (it technically isn’t) and Europe is a continent, what exactly is Brexit?

Seeing that the millennials in the office didn’t even know what repercussions it could cause, here’s Brexit explained that is simplified by using one of Singaporeans’ most familiar things: HDB.

HDB has individual units

We all know that, right? #03-03 and #03-05 are two separate households, much like different countries in the European Union. Each country = unit, but they’re all housed in a common place with the block number, say Blk 123. These HDB units are unique, though: although they are each individual unit, they all kept their doors open.

People from any unit can go visit each other without having to knock on the door or ask for permission. Also, if they don’t feel like living in their unit, they can simply go to another unit. The European Union(EU) works something like this: all citizens in the EU can freely move from one country to another, and can trade freely.

However, each country still remains a country—like how each HDB unit still remains one unit.

Kampong spirit in the HDB block

When one unit in the HDB block is having some financial difficulty, people from other units should come in to help them, by loaning them money or in some other ways. This kampong spirit makes the people in the entire HDB block united.

It’s the same for the European Union—usually, wealthy countries will bail out poorer countries. It’s like the richer person in the block will help out the poorer people, eh?

But there’re problems in this system

Imagine you’re that wealthy person in the HDB block—people will be coming in freely to your house because you’ve got a good Internet connection and many massage chairs.

If a unit in your block is having some trouble, you’re going to be the one who help out. This is the case for the UK: being one of the wealthiest and most developed countries (FYI, the UK comprises four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), they have to help out others often, and many citizens from other countries in the EU have moved into the UK.

So, what is Brexit?

On 23 June 2016, citizens in the UK voted on whether to remain or leave the EU. In the end, 51.9% voted to leave the EU.

What this means is that the UK will move out of the HDB and stay in a landed property with its doors locked, much like any country in the world that is not in the EU.

What are the consequences?

Firstly, it means the kampong spirit will be gone. Before leaving, the UK could freely trade with countries in the EU and move in and out of the EU countries, but now, they’ll need to go through the normal procedures of getting approval.

It’s like the wealthy person who has moved into a landed property going back to the HDB—he can’t just go into a unit and sell his goods now, since he doesn’t live there anymore.