They weren’t obsolete, they had a role as a cavalry weapon in circumstances where respective military traditions, demographics and geography permitted the effective use of cavalry at scale.

Hence why cavalry armed with swords were often decisive in Europe well into the 19th century.

Are we pretending that HDBs aren’t a thing?

For the uninitiated, Singapore has a Housing Development Board which builds houses and sells them to Singaporean nationals who meet certain criteria. After a wait list and a bit of luck subsidised apartments are available.

These are considerably cheaper than condo apartments, so this whole post reads like a whinge.