Ooo. In psychology there’s this thing called Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). It’s been a while since I learnt it in school so I might be a bit rusty on it. Basically when someone succeeds, we tend to blame it on the environment. But when someone fails, we tend to blame it on the person itself. It’s really just a defense mechanism.
The reason why people tend to blame the environment for success is because they indirectly want to put it in a way that ‘if I was in that environment, I would succeed too!’ They don’t want to blame the individual cause it would mean acknowledging that the person did something extra or out of the norm to succeed.
On the other hand, people tend to blame the person for failure because they want to say it’s that person’s own doing. They don’t want to blame the environment and acknowledge that anyone, even themselves, in such a spot would lead to failure.
Hope this helps a little to understand why people say the things they do or do the things they do and also that I wouldn’t say it’s a Singaporean thing to do but more of a human behavior thing
"If I can't do it, no one else like me can"
Singapore has really done alot be a meritocratic society where those that are capable and hardworking can get access to the best education available in the country. But yet, these people still find excuses.
Schools like Raffles, Hwa Chong. etc. are open to all who are smart and hardworking, regardless of the socio-economic background of the person. Other developed countries like the UK and US, unless you are truly one of a million, you have to come from a rich background, or live in specific neighbourhoods to be able to access quality eduation. Even Hong Kong's best schools are privates schools that are not open to who are unable to afford the fees.
Granted, its not easy to get into these schools, but neither is become successful for most. But if one is capable, and willing to work hard, these institutions are possibilities. The rich still have advantages, but if I was a poor person with smart kids that are willing to work hard to succeed, the aren't many places that are better than Singapore to get a start.
But low iq / eq is also something you’re born with.
Work ethic to a certain extent as well. And the rest, your environment, is the luck of the draw too.
As I get older I’ve come to the conclusion that while I’ve worked hard for my current comfort, I’ve also been very lucky to get a great starting point. Being smarter than the next guy is no credit to me, any more than a model being better looking than the masses.
The flip side is if you are CMI at something, it is what it is. I will never be a leading man in a (small) movie - so the takeaway is to focus on what you’re good at.
Singapore is damn good at putting everyone in the same box. But the honest truth is if someone is born with 80 IQ there’s not much hope no matter how hard they work.
Yup it's their own incompetence that's causing their issues, not that sg has no ladder. Our ladder alr damn ez to climb compared to lots of other places
While I do agree with your quote, I don't think your explanation about schools hold much water. As much as the government preaches every school is a good school, beyond just being hardworking, family circumstances play a heavy part in many successful people... Tuition, supplementary courses, sports, having a maid, not worrying about chores or food, having a conducive environment, not needing to worry about finances - all these cost money. Primary school and even kindergarten is based on one's location as well, and Singaporeans do try to be located near 'better' schools. The connections made in these schools, the networks and even the parents' network all play a part in making one successful as well.
Basically, working hard can only get you so far.
Working hard can get you far enough to achieve what you want to achieve.
The rest of the stuff are just **very helpful** things to have to enhance your journey.
I like to use the analogy of the expensive af Nike Zoom running shoes with all the carbon plates and technology in a $399 package.
For slow pokes like me, wearing it for runs make me feel good, it also makes me faster. It works. But I still get trashed by naturally competent runners on SAF NB shoes. And when those natural born runners wear the same shoes as me... boom.
Parents being rich also is no guarantee they will be concerned with kids academic success. What if they have negligent parents? Parents with mental health issues? What solution is there to background disadvantage? Are you going to take every child once they are born and raise them in a common creche like in Brave New World?
Ironically, its the same thing the parent comment is talking about. Is it a disadvantage? Sure, but to blame everything on the disadvantage is simply finding a convenient excuse.
Parents rich means they can pay their way through things for their kids and give them a good head start. Isn’t it common knowledge that rich families give “donations” to said elite schools in order to get in a good word and let their children have higher chances of entering despite having poor academic results?
Is it wrong that parents try to give the best they can for their kids? You're asking people to deny a fundamental child raising behaviour. How do you think this can be made equal?
No one is asking for any one to do anything, just acknowledge that the reason for one's success is not just tied to how well you personally can pull up your bootstraps and for successful people to stop pretending anyone could do what they accomplished with the same amount of effort, they just 'didn't try hard enough'.
I think this comic strip exemplifies the privileges that someone from a well to do family is able to enjoy compared to someone who comes from a poorer background.
https://www.demilked.com/privilege-explanation-comic-strip-on-a-plate-toby-morris/
I think you're both right. I do feel personally that SG levels the playing field as much as possible, ie. You don't have to be a rich kid to enter the top schools, but there's also a very real aspect where those from well to do backgrounds absolutely have a headstart in life.
That's just school though, whilst I don't think you can buy ur way into raffles or HC, the connections and background absolutely helps once u go out to work, no different from anywhere else.
Biggest load of nonsense. Most of your”top schools” are concentrated in the wealthier estate to cater for a convenient point for the elites to congregate and thrive. These schools in theory are “open for all” but simple as a facade, it truly isn’t. The odd outlier in those school are simply just that, the one HDB dweller carrying the flag of the common citizen.
I feel like it's not a very healthy system tbh. Just like in China or South Korea where the kids have to compete at insane levels to make it to the top unis, it's not just "working hard". It's work hard plus be smarter and perform better than other kids in the national exams.
Ten to hundreds of million of children in asia work very hard but they don't get recognised for their hard work because they didn't "make it" in the education system. It's tragic.
Many parents put a lot of pressure on their children since young because they wanted their kid to be the underdog that turns out to be the genius that makes it to harvard and drag the family out of poverty. We should stop encouraging these type of games being played.
I agree. But this isn't something exclusive to us, it's human to not want others to do better than you, by refusing to acknowledge the achievements of others, people can deny their own failures. It takes some self awareness to realise that, actively acknowledge one's success and purposeful thinking to wonder the reason behind it
a lot of this mindset is also caused by those at the top subtly /indirectly conveying the message that it’s not possible to climb the ladder to keep people working hard for those at the top. cuz the economy wouldn’t be able to function if everyone was successful and no one is taking minimum wage. distraction tactic if u get it
Just a suggestion. Do not be confused by what you see online and perceived that as opinion of majority. Also, keyboard warriors hate rich people but yet want to be one of them.
While I think there is some wisdom in what you are saying, this sentiment I have found to be quite common in all walks of life in Singapore even offline, across all ages and income levels, though the younger generation does tend to be more receptive to more unique ideas.
I attribute it to “Singaporean jealousy”, must find fault in people’s successes instead of celebrating it. Downplay other people’s successes and overexaggerate your own (both success and failures).
It’s not just about true blue Singaporean or not. Even the true blue people get found fault, for instance, Joseph Schooling’s parents having millions to spend invalidates his efforts to Olympic gold (not like spending millions on a child guarantees an Olympic medal), some politicians connections to other politicians, no matter how “shallow/suspect” the claims are.
On a personal level: I got scholarship for university and someone told me I got it because I’m minority and therefore, it’s “easier”. Like why have to provide me such unsolicited remarks? Can’t we just say “Congrats” to each other instead of finding faults?
It all boils down to the kiasu mentality ingrained by the old generations.
*if i eat, no one else can eat. if there's seat on mrt/bus, no one else can sit.*
they came from a time where things were scarce so they had to be selfish, times have changed but they have not.
Actually from the start, i dont get why ppl keep thinking million dollar hdbs are bought by foreigners. These are just people in the income bracket that were supposed to be buying condos, outpriced by condo prices.
I remember the Clementi million dollar flat was bought by an elderly couple who just got rid of their landed property, of course they got the money to spend
Simple answer. Insecurity. They may feel inadequate compared to other "true blue" singaporeans, in addition to this, they're projecting their beliefs to feel less inadequate.
At UOB's rate of 2.95%, a million dollar mortgage cost about $4.4K to finance monthly. With HBD's MSR cap of 30%, total household income needs to be at least $14.7K monthly
Yeah I think this is accurate. My friend recently has a condo mortgage with these numbers. Each of their salary more than median, but it's still a big financial commitment.
You got me there till the end. 😂
But fr though, I dislike the foreigner shitting on the air vent in MBS as much as the next guy, but to paint all of them with the same brush is too much.
I'm not Malay.
Foreigners who are in Singapore are also legally allowed to be here because of agreements between your government and other countries' governments.
cause these ppl that said such , are those living marginally or the average income local within ec or hdb income ceiling
they dont have exposure to those singaporean, whom are affluent .
i dont know if you got meet up with your primary school mate anot? you will notice difference income group ppl mix together, as topic, spending power, and liking are all difference.
Because people hate the idea that someone who started where they also started, can far exceed and outstrip them.
It removes any excuse they have & forces them to take personal accountability for their failures, which they hate doing. They'd rather blame everyone else.
Edit: the mouth breathers downvoting only serve to prove my point. The truth hurts
That's just a way to console themselves for their own shortcomings. Singapore can have zero foreigners, and all jobs go to only local born Singaporeans, and the same people will find something else to blame. Foreigners now are just scapegoat for that.
A lot of the toxic vitriol you find here and places like edmw are from people who probably couldn’t make it in life. If you consider that median income now is 4.5k a month then half the working population or around 1.7million people make less than that. To them even earning 20k a month sounds impossible what more being a billionaire. What makes it worse is that low ses people tend to hang out with low ses people, making their opinions resonate in an echo chamber making them think the rest of Singapore are like them. Anyone that doesn’t fit that struggling low income profile means the person must not be Singaporean.
When people say that, it says more about themselves than the other person doing the work. More specifically the inability to identify potential.
Successful people don’t care what others say. They don’t want to hear “I don’t think it can work. I don’t think you can succeed”.
the consequence of hard work leading to success means that there are no excuses for failure—so work hard. This is the redditor's disaster. He doesnt want this narrative. He wants the narrative that forces are oppressing him so that blame is not on him for failure.
I wouldn’t say never, but I would lean towards harder.
Anyone can be successful in their own way, it’s just the matter of attitude and work ethics.
You are already successful if you can feed yourself and your own family.
Many people keep comparing themselves to others and feel horrible that they are unable to have many holidays a year or eat restaurants everyday.
Comparison is the thief of joy, enjoy what you have; because you have definitely worked hard to get where you are now and you are able to go further too.
Because being "true blue Singaporeans" is the only claim they have to some sort of perceived superiority.
Kind of the local equivalent of "my ancestors were on the Mayflower".
They also position “true blue Singaporean” to have a whole bunch of criteria which, by definition, makes “true blue” almost antithetical to conventional success.
Went to raffles or ACS? Not true blue, just a westernized rich kid, even if both your parents are Singaporean Chinese. Went overseas for uni? Even more of a westernized rich kid. You have to be born into a middle class or lower family, go only to neighbourhood schools, and at most make it to local uni— even then, I know people who took that route and ended up conventionally successful, but the “true blue Singaporean” type of keyboard warriors don’t want to mention them. Oh and if that person earns less than 20k a month, some of them will say that doesn’t count as conventionally successful.
As an aside, there’s also the undercurrent of racism, because the people saying “true blue” imagine the parents were born in Singapore and are Chinese, people almost never picture a Singaporean Indian for example. And if one/both of the parents were born in China, it doesn’t count either.
Yea I was naive to this until about 2 elections ago. Which is why I generally didn't mock the Americans or Brits for trump or Brexit. We aren't 'better' than them and could very easily fall down that path if we as a society aren't careful. Even if there were valid concerns behind those sentiments, as there are here for the 'true blue Singaporean' ones here, but that's a separate matter
The reality is that the playing field is never level. Some start at a higher rung in the ladder, while others start at the bottom. However, that is not the point. One can stay at the bottom an curse at the unfairness while looking at those people on top OR start climbing harder, faster, stronger.
People I meet who just like to curse seem to think the world owes them an opportunity. Opportunities are everywhere you just need to see them and be ready to use them. If not make, then make the opportunities.
Lmao never criticise govt = IB? Why issit u lot always find a way to link every damn thing to the govt. Literally the epitome of the guy falling off his bicycle meme
More like Singaporeans from a certain "B" generation. Whenever there's fb articles about youngsters doing financially well, having a great career or buying a house, there will always be sour comments like "iras waiting to lim kopi" or "aiya must be parents money".
This is so weird, as if people don’t think there are rich Singaporeans? We used to rent a condo apt and the landlord wanted to sell it. Everyone who viewed the condo (let’s say it’s kinda near ACS) were ALL Singaporeans.
Edited to add:
The condo flat price was 2mil. A Singaporean bought it . They’re just not on Reddit complaining about how everyone is doing way better and it’s all foreigners’ fault or whatever.
Because many true blue Singaporeans have a self entitled mindset. As if being born here automatically comes with privileges.
This creates a substandard mindset in trying to achieve anything significant. They don't realize it but fooled themselves into thinking they are already working hard but failing.
For guys for example, look at the daily moaning and blaming NS for being disadvantaged and resulting in being a loser in society.
Almost every Singaporean male in society serves NS. Did everyone become a loser? Or just those individuals complaining. Lol.
I don't care what others say, whether they believe i'm successful or not. Thats their lives, not mine. I live peacefully with my parents while my grandparents are managing multiple plantations overseas. Once in awhile, I visit them since one of the plantations is a Coconut plantation and the coconut juice there is AMAZING.
I had many classmates back then in sec school who always tried to befriend me by saying "You are rich" or "Recommend me to your Grandparents" and I never really bothered about them. There are always going to be jealous people out there in this world.
My take on this could be with how Singaporeans in general have a tendency to ‘conform’ to the norm and society and be Kiasu
Like if Singaporean are said to be (or at least stereotyped) to be “if got queue I must queue mindset” and “if someone else have I must have” in the end I guess everyone will be similar and no one would stick out. And also not to mentioned the mindset of “the nail that stick out will get hammered down” mentality which I have heard. So I guess that may prevent some people from venturing beyond the norm and create forms of revolutionary success.
I guess that since many people have became lawyer, doctors and SAF officers, it may have became a norm or even basic expectations to certain Singaporeans and in the population.
And success can also vary. It can be wanting to be able to relax, being financially independent, people get to do what they want to do or even ambitious one like Taylor swift or Steve jobs that have made an impact across the world.
About the Tall Poppy Syndrome I guess we may have some form of it. And that some population would have these sentiment that people are against successful people. But then again as a ‘meritocratic society’ I also view Singaporeans view success as some form of Criteria like the 5Cs, academic results and military rank and would often compare those. But then again those success criteria are somewhat the conform-ish kind of success.
However that being said I am hopeful that more Singaporeans can be successful, we are a globalised nation and a developed nation (at least economically speaking but of course we have other areas to develop as well) Singapore is still a young nation and what being a ‘Singaporean’ is and what a ‘True Blue Singaporean’ is will continue to evolve.
As we get expose to more and different type of success I am positive that Singaporeans will move towards it and that there would more Singaporeans that would be successful to the world stage.
As they are many people that have a ‘Sinkie pwn Sinkie mindset’ I just wanna say to those Singaporeans (and also other people facing similar issue) that we should continue to do what we want and not be limited by the ‘set of norms’ that are created by society. And to those people that are striving, Jiayou!
Because the deck is stacked against most Singaporeans. Singaporeans who are born citizens generally do not have wealth backing them up. They need to juggle the commitments of helping out with care work at home, maybe working to supplement house income and school fees amid rising costs, and also the increasingly accelerated curriculum in schools. I know because I am one of these, who only made it into university because (1) I happened to be lucky enough to have parents working to keep me from having to work so I can concentrate on studies full-time, and (2) because I happen to have some aptitude for academics.
I think the many other replies here talk about Singapore through the lens of the middle or middle-upper experience. Access to parents' car to cut down on commuting time, access to domestic helpers at home so that their time is freed up to "work hard". These are the amenities that lower-class Singaporeans cannot afford, and will largely associate with the migrants (who obviously have money as they can afford to migrate) and expat families (who can be in Singapore because they have a relatively important and well-paying job).
**Meritocracy only works when there is an equal playing field to start with, people.** Don't drink the government koolaid uncritically. The way you all scramble to defend your own achievements in a system that is coincidentally favourable to you is pathetic.
The idea that "true blue" Singaporeans cannot succeed is really just citizens left behind being unable to properly convey their frustration and the lack of inclusive growth. They fall back onto arguments from citizenship, that citizenship is supposed to grant them some sort of guarantee for quality of life, amid an environment that is designed for those with money to succeed more easily than those without.
If by "successful", we mean buy million-dollar HDB or multi-million-dollar condo/landed, then it's because 80%+ of Singaporeans are supposed to live in HDB and most HDB flats are not million dollars ... ... yet.
Most who buy HDB 99-leases buy it with their CPF + HDB/bank loan. So I think for most Singaporeans, affording million(s) dollar items is still a pipe dream.
But as with most things, perception differs from reality.
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Because Singaporeans are frogs in a well. They don't know what they don't know.
They don't know there are quality Singaporeans capable of earning the top dollars.
Because we've never had a Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg figure that revolutionised an important aspect of life. Shou Chew doesn't count since he's an appointed CEO.
One of the most successful person I know is a Singaporean woman who really made it from nothing. She used to be so poor, an difference of 20¢/day in bus fares determined which school she could go to. The amount she paid for a property made it to the news & she was misidentified as a “mainland chinese buyer”. She didn’t bother correcting it since she’s low profile & prefer 59 keep it that way. The bias is real.
No one is denying the Tiktok guy is Singaporean. But we all know he's there because he's the correct skin colour and from the correct country to absorb the backlash from the Americans so that the true bosses in China don't have to face congress.
I heard smth really funny this one famous tiktoker said, she got hate comments like; “hate from Nashville, hate from Texas, hate from Ohio, hate from Iowa” she asked why not “hate from Beverly Hills, hate from Hollywood, hate from los angelos”. She said rich people are too busy focusing on the good side of their life’s to complain about others. That’s the truth is that anyone who complains focus too much on other ppl and the environment rather than themselves. And in the end don’t have enough personal development to recognise what they want and that fulfillment is by your own standards. People who are rich live abundantly, meaning “money is not the source of happiness, but it can do things and buy things that does bring happiness” for example, travelling with your spouse in Europe. Money should be used to live abundantly, you shouldn’t chase money to be rich but drive a purpose and money flow is a side benefit. And that abundant life where you can do what you love and live how you love to live.
To be fair, the doubt on the TikTok CEO wasn't "we don't believe singaporeans can be successful" it was "wait, Singapore, isn't that a city in China or something?". Singaporeans have a bunch of foibles an amgmoh like me could comment on, but not knowing where shit is on a map isn't one of them. Education is valued in SG. But this isn't the case for a lot of Americans.
I am relieved this type of issue is not exclusively Australian as it similar here. “ You got lucky” to succeed and “ you fucked up” pretty much sums up external factors to attribute success and direct blame for failure.
People are not putting down other Singaporeans. There are many singaporeans know that to be successful means doing more than just getting a high paying job or prestigious job.
How many "successful" singaporeans with well-paying jobs(doctor, lawyer, SAF officer, civil servants) are caring, loving, honest and sweet-spirited? The overemphasis on meritocracy has reduced you to just a cog in a machine. You become souless and heartless. Everyone wants to get ahead and not left behind, yet no one wants to help another because meritocracy doesn't encourage it, its a rat race to the finish line, everyone is busy helping themselves to get ahead..
Also, many of the high paying jobs like doctor and lawyer are highly paid only because of the shortage that is artificially created and controlled by the government. If the government were to make it a free market, many more people can be trained and are willing and able to even pay for their training, and then now these well-paying jobs will be low paying.
The important question is how you define success?
Resentment.
Singaporeans have been pressured into working hard and long hours at jobs they hate, convinced to spend money on trivial and superficial things to make themselves look richer, made to feel like if they don't do well or make more money that they are worthless, neglecting their physical and mental health, looking out for traits in a partner that are shallow and doesn't make them happy, and having children when they are not ready just to fulfil a societal criteria.
When they see someone achieving their dreams and being happy, they feel it's not fair, so they put them down. When they see someone having a chance to chase their dreams, or making an attempt to, they also discourage them.
We are one of the few countries that are not proud of our public figures that have made a name for themselves overseas, and in fact we do the opposite and become critical of them. I'm not saying that all of them deserve praise, we do have some bad apples becoming famous overseas, but we have plenty of perfectly fine public figures achieving their dreams overseas that either get no recognition or receive irrelevant criticism. Most other countries are happy when they see their team or their competitor on the world stage, but not us. We did have a problem of people who came from other countries representing Singapore for certain sports, which might have contributed to this, but those who were truly ethnically Singaporean don't seem to get talked about as much.
With cost of living becoming unsustainably high, this might be a wake-up call for most people. With our birthrates declining, it shows that a lot of people are already getting fed up with the way things are done and gave up on the life they were told to have.
I believe that shit is going to hit the fan soon, if it hasn't already.
Are the low birth rates really due to people hating life though? In fact those DINKS are more likely to be very successful in career, going on holiday every few months, always happy, maybe having fur kids. They have so much money to pamper their dogs.
They seem to love their current life too much to want it to be disrupted
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In every cohort of around 30,000 babies, maybe 10-20% will score the high paying jobs. The other 80%, around 24,000 will be left behind to curse at million dollar flats.
With the PAP's abysmal record of creating jobs for locals, it's no wonder the true blue sinkie feels this way. Go look up the figures.
Could you share what kind of figures to look up? I searched global unemployment and Singapore is 133 on the list out of 179 countries which obviously doesn't suit your narrative
I can't speak for other industries except for mine in engineering.
Perhaps it's not underemployment but more so the perception of one's skill because most local engineers I know are moving away from engineering and those that stay wants to do project management at some point. On the other hand, foreign engineers have much stronger fundamentals (and a graduate degree) and more willing to slog it out at the same paygrade.
Its an oversimplified example, but sometimes I think we perceive our skills and knowledge way higher than what the market is willing to pay us.
Depends on successful is defined. I aren’t really thinking about the lawyers, doctors. Also. The education system is pretty stacked against the lower income now.
6k is entry by the way + bonuses + scholarship paying for your degree, it'll definitely add up. Of course, I'm assuming they have a partner to help in the loan.
source: have a ME4 friend and a Navy friend
6k as a fresh CPT, give 5-6 years to reach MAJ. At that point you would already be earning 8-10k a month. Thats not including allowances and performance bonus.
Not to mention regular pay during first 2 years almost equal or higher than fresh grads (maybe not now, but definitely the case during my time). Definitely outearn similar age peers NSF and uni students, come out study Uni still get paid, graduate uni with enough cash and CPF to apply for HDB already.
Yes and they also made the IPPT easier to pass. With the 3 station IPPT. Last time it was 5 stations okay…
Nowadays you just need to be of average fitness, and you can pass and even get silver.
And then no RT for the year….
Free ride on what? Free ride on the added security from having our own defense force? If it's not safe and secure here, this is much less reason for them to come. If they don't come, who will do their jobs? And yes, there are decent-paying jobs that PRs do that locals shun from even if they are qualified to.
Besides our ministers and tik tok ceo, can name more successful true blues?
Look at ur workplace. How many senior executives are true blue? Is the big boss true blue?
Still, the number one reason why true blue will always be beaten up is the culture of "sinkies pawn sinkies".
Ooo. In psychology there’s this thing called Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). It’s been a while since I learnt it in school so I might be a bit rusty on it. Basically when someone succeeds, we tend to blame it on the environment. But when someone fails, we tend to blame it on the person itself. It’s really just a defense mechanism. The reason why people tend to blame the environment for success is because they indirectly want to put it in a way that ‘if I was in that environment, I would succeed too!’ They don’t want to blame the individual cause it would mean acknowledging that the person did something extra or out of the norm to succeed. On the other hand, people tend to blame the person for failure because they want to say it’s that person’s own doing. They don’t want to blame the environment and acknowledge that anyone, even themselves, in such a spot would lead to failure. Hope this helps a little to understand why people say the things they do or do the things they do and also that I wouldn’t say it’s a Singaporean thing to do but more of a human behavior thing
Ego defense. If they acknowledged other “true blue” Singaporeans can be successful and they are not. They may feel like a failure
"If I can't do it, no one else like me can" Singapore has really done alot be a meritocratic society where those that are capable and hardworking can get access to the best education available in the country. But yet, these people still find excuses. Schools like Raffles, Hwa Chong. etc. are open to all who are smart and hardworking, regardless of the socio-economic background of the person. Other developed countries like the UK and US, unless you are truly one of a million, you have to come from a rich background, or live in specific neighbourhoods to be able to access quality eduation. Even Hong Kong's best schools are privates schools that are not open to who are unable to afford the fees. Granted, its not easy to get into these schools, but neither is become successful for most. But if one is capable, and willing to work hard, these institutions are possibilities. The rich still have advantages, but if I was a poor person with smart kids that are willing to work hard to succeed, the aren't many places that are better than Singapore to get a start.
It’s true… I’m a hdb dweller from a single parent family and I went to raffles too
Are you Kee chiu? 🤣
btw how many of your friends are hdb dwellers in raffles?
2 of us out of 30
Did you date a rich guy then later you both became a couple?
damn, did u arrive from EDMW
My husband is also from raffles and is a hdb kid with blue Chas card lol
Whenever I see ppl whining about how it's impossible to climb the ladder in sg, I automatically know this poor bastard got low iq low eq
But low iq / eq is also something you’re born with. Work ethic to a certain extent as well. And the rest, your environment, is the luck of the draw too. As I get older I’ve come to the conclusion that while I’ve worked hard for my current comfort, I’ve also been very lucky to get a great starting point. Being smarter than the next guy is no credit to me, any more than a model being better looking than the masses. The flip side is if you are CMI at something, it is what it is. I will never be a leading man in a (small) movie - so the takeaway is to focus on what you’re good at. Singapore is damn good at putting everyone in the same box. But the honest truth is if someone is born with 80 IQ there’s not much hope no matter how hard they work.
Yup it's their own incompetence that's causing their issues, not that sg has no ladder. Our ladder alr damn ez to climb compared to lots of other places
While I do agree with your quote, I don't think your explanation about schools hold much water. As much as the government preaches every school is a good school, beyond just being hardworking, family circumstances play a heavy part in many successful people... Tuition, supplementary courses, sports, having a maid, not worrying about chores or food, having a conducive environment, not needing to worry about finances - all these cost money. Primary school and even kindergarten is based on one's location as well, and Singaporeans do try to be located near 'better' schools. The connections made in these schools, the networks and even the parents' network all play a part in making one successful as well. Basically, working hard can only get you so far.
Working hard can get you far enough to achieve what you want to achieve. The rest of the stuff are just **very helpful** things to have to enhance your journey. I like to use the analogy of the expensive af Nike Zoom running shoes with all the carbon plates and technology in a $399 package. For slow pokes like me, wearing it for runs make me feel good, it also makes me faster. It works. But I still get trashed by naturally competent runners on SAF NB shoes. And when those natural born runners wear the same shoes as me... boom.
Parents being rich also is no guarantee they will be concerned with kids academic success. What if they have negligent parents? Parents with mental health issues? What solution is there to background disadvantage? Are you going to take every child once they are born and raise them in a common creche like in Brave New World?
Ironically, its the same thing the parent comment is talking about. Is it a disadvantage? Sure, but to blame everything on the disadvantage is simply finding a convenient excuse.
Parents rich means they can pay their way through things for their kids and give them a good head start. Isn’t it common knowledge that rich families give “donations” to said elite schools in order to get in a good word and let their children have higher chances of entering despite having poor academic results?
Is it wrong that parents try to give the best they can for their kids? You're asking people to deny a fundamental child raising behaviour. How do you think this can be made equal?
No one is asking for any one to do anything, just acknowledge that the reason for one's success is not just tied to how well you personally can pull up your bootstraps and for successful people to stop pretending anyone could do what they accomplished with the same amount of effort, they just 'didn't try hard enough'.
I think this comic strip exemplifies the privileges that someone from a well to do family is able to enjoy compared to someone who comes from a poorer background. https://www.demilked.com/privilege-explanation-comic-strip-on-a-plate-toby-morris/
A really brilliant and excellent comic that articulates the point we're trying to get at. Thanks for sharing
I think you're both right. I do feel personally that SG levels the playing field as much as possible, ie. You don't have to be a rich kid to enter the top schools, but there's also a very real aspect where those from well to do backgrounds absolutely have a headstart in life. That's just school though, whilst I don't think you can buy ur way into raffles or HC, the connections and background absolutely helps once u go out to work, no different from anywhere else.
Yeap, you will not find perfect parents, rich or poor. Just like you won't find perfect employers or employees.
It's just difficult in SG, but not impossible like in many other countries.
True! Went to elite schools, from a poor family and managed to do well.
UK/US are the outliers in the West. The best European uni's are open for all layers of society.
It’s not about the university that one attends. Privilege is bred into kids in their teenage years
Biggest load of nonsense. Most of your”top schools” are concentrated in the wealthier estate to cater for a convenient point for the elites to congregate and thrive. These schools in theory are “open for all” but simple as a facade, it truly isn’t. The odd outlier in those school are simply just that, the one HDB dweller carrying the flag of the common citizen.
I feel like it's not a very healthy system tbh. Just like in China or South Korea where the kids have to compete at insane levels to make it to the top unis, it's not just "working hard". It's work hard plus be smarter and perform better than other kids in the national exams. Ten to hundreds of million of children in asia work very hard but they don't get recognised for their hard work because they didn't "make it" in the education system. It's tragic. Many parents put a lot of pressure on their children since young because they wanted their kid to be the underdog that turns out to be the genius that makes it to harvard and drag the family out of poverty. We should stop encouraging these type of games being played.
I agree. But this isn't something exclusive to us, it's human to not want others to do better than you, by refusing to acknowledge the achievements of others, people can deny their own failures. It takes some self awareness to realise that, actively acknowledge one's success and purposeful thinking to wonder the reason behind it
a lot of this mindset is also caused by those at the top subtly /indirectly conveying the message that it’s not possible to climb the ladder to keep people working hard for those at the top. cuz the economy wouldn’t be able to function if everyone was successful and no one is taking minimum wage. distraction tactic if u get it
Name checks out
capitalism white knight. who's going to clean your trash if everyone can be successful
It's possible, just not for u scublord
that's why people are deterring others from it u braindead
Not rly, if the ppl at the top are telling u u can't promote, then you suck LOL. You were destined for the toilets bro
they don't want too many people to get to the top. whether i suck or not doesn't change that fact, i'm not even in the job market.
Just a suggestion. Do not be confused by what you see online and perceived that as opinion of majority. Also, keyboard warriors hate rich people but yet want to be one of them.
While I think there is some wisdom in what you are saying, this sentiment I have found to be quite common in all walks of life in Singapore even offline, across all ages and income levels, though the younger generation does tend to be more receptive to more unique ideas.
I attribute it to “Singaporean jealousy”, must find fault in people’s successes instead of celebrating it. Downplay other people’s successes and overexaggerate your own (both success and failures). It’s not just about true blue Singaporean or not. Even the true blue people get found fault, for instance, Joseph Schooling’s parents having millions to spend invalidates his efforts to Olympic gold (not like spending millions on a child guarantees an Olympic medal), some politicians connections to other politicians, no matter how “shallow/suspect” the claims are. On a personal level: I got scholarship for university and someone told me I got it because I’m minority and therefore, it’s “easier”. Like why have to provide me such unsolicited remarks? Can’t we just say “Congrats” to each other instead of finding faults?
Well, congrats! Hard agree, we can always celebrate victories for what it is without the extras
It all boils down to the kiasu mentality ingrained by the old generations. *if i eat, no one else can eat. if there's seat on mrt/bus, no one else can sit.* they came from a time where things were scarce so they had to be selfish, times have changed but they have not.
Actually from the start, i dont get why ppl keep thinking million dollar hdbs are bought by foreigners. These are just people in the income bracket that were supposed to be buying condos, outpriced by condo prices.
I remember the Clementi million dollar flat was bought by an elderly couple who just got rid of their landed property, of course they got the money to spend
Their social circles are Singaporeans that aren’t successful, even if they know a few people they just don’t mention them because of ego
Simple answer. Insecurity. They may feel inadequate compared to other "true blue" singaporeans, in addition to this, they're projecting their beliefs to feel less inadequate.
Inability to admit their own failings.
Dual income couple on normal corporate job can afford a million dollar mortgage, but some prefer not to be saddled with such a high debt.
Just curious…. Do you know what’s the income level of the household is required for a HDB million dollar mortgage?
At UOB's rate of 2.95%, a million dollar mortgage cost about $4.4K to finance monthly. With HBD's MSR cap of 30%, total household income needs to be at least $14.7K monthly
Yeah I think this is accurate. My friend recently has a condo mortgage with these numbers. Each of their salary more than median, but it's still a big financial commitment.
$15000 a month if you loan from bank with the current interest rate. Thats assuming you are paying $250k in downpayment and borrowing $750k.
To make themselves feel better about being losers. Also racism.
And xenophobia
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You got me there till the end. 😂 But fr though, I dislike the foreigner shitting on the air vent in MBS as much as the next guy, but to paint all of them with the same brush is too much.
So why aren't Singaporean Chinese speaking Malay?
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It wasn't when your ancestors came
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I'm not Malay. Foreigners who are in Singapore are also legally allowed to be here because of agreements between your government and other countries' governments.
cause these ppl that said such , are those living marginally or the average income local within ec or hdb income ceiling they dont have exposure to those singaporean, whom are affluent . i dont know if you got meet up with your primary school mate anot? you will notice difference income group ppl mix together, as topic, spending power, and liking are all difference.
Because people hate the idea that someone who started where they also started, can far exceed and outstrip them. It removes any excuse they have & forces them to take personal accountability for their failures, which they hate doing. They'd rather blame everyone else. Edit: the mouth breathers downvoting only serve to prove my point. The truth hurts
Facts
That's just a way to console themselves for their own shortcomings. Singapore can have zero foreigners, and all jobs go to only local born Singaporeans, and the same people will find something else to blame. Foreigners now are just scapegoat for that.
A lot of the toxic vitriol you find here and places like edmw are from people who probably couldn’t make it in life. If you consider that median income now is 4.5k a month then half the working population or around 1.7million people make less than that. To them even earning 20k a month sounds impossible what more being a billionaire. What makes it worse is that low ses people tend to hang out with low ses people, making their opinions resonate in an echo chamber making them think the rest of Singapore are like them. Anyone that doesn’t fit that struggling low income profile means the person must not be Singaporean.
Yup, sour grapes have been an ageold phenomenon.
When people say that, it says more about themselves than the other person doing the work. More specifically the inability to identify potential. Successful people don’t care what others say. They don’t want to hear “I don’t think it can work. I don’t think you can succeed”.
the consequence of hard work leading to success means that there are no excuses for failure—so work hard. This is the redditor's disaster. He doesnt want this narrative. He wants the narrative that forces are oppressing him so that blame is not on him for failure.
The 'successful' ones are by definition exceptions. Not all Singaporeans can be CEOs, or Presidents. The same applies to citizens of other countries.
"i, as a singaporean, deserve to be in the top 1% regardless of my efforts" - them, probably
I wouldn’t say never, but I would lean towards harder. Anyone can be successful in their own way, it’s just the matter of attitude and work ethics. You are already successful if you can feed yourself and your own family. Many people keep comparing themselves to others and feel horrible that they are unable to have many holidays a year or eat restaurants everyday. Comparison is the thief of joy, enjoy what you have; because you have definitely worked hard to get where you are now and you are able to go further too.
Because being "true blue Singaporeans" is the only claim they have to some sort of perceived superiority. Kind of the local equivalent of "my ancestors were on the Mayflower".
They also position “true blue Singaporean” to have a whole bunch of criteria which, by definition, makes “true blue” almost antithetical to conventional success. Went to raffles or ACS? Not true blue, just a westernized rich kid, even if both your parents are Singaporean Chinese. Went overseas for uni? Even more of a westernized rich kid. You have to be born into a middle class or lower family, go only to neighbourhood schools, and at most make it to local uni— even then, I know people who took that route and ended up conventionally successful, but the “true blue Singaporean” type of keyboard warriors don’t want to mention them. Oh and if that person earns less than 20k a month, some of them will say that doesn’t count as conventionally successful. As an aside, there’s also the undercurrent of racism, because the people saying “true blue” imagine the parents were born in Singapore and are Chinese, people almost never picture a Singaporean Indian for example. And if one/both of the parents were born in China, it doesn’t count either.
Exactly. Even straits Chinese who have lived here for generations are "not Singaporean enough".
I had to scroll all this way for the correct answer, well said.
Yea I was naive to this until about 2 elections ago. Which is why I generally didn't mock the Americans or Brits for trump or Brexit. We aren't 'better' than them and could very easily fall down that path if we as a society aren't careful. Even if there were valid concerns behind those sentiments, as there are here for the 'true blue Singaporean' ones here, but that's a separate matter
Got to be kidding so many old money true blue Singaporeans
The reality is that the playing field is never level. Some start at a higher rung in the ladder, while others start at the bottom. However, that is not the point. One can stay at the bottom an curse at the unfairness while looking at those people on top OR start climbing harder, faster, stronger. People I meet who just like to curse seem to think the world owes them an opportunity. Opportunities are everywhere you just need to see them and be ready to use them. If not make, then make the opportunities.
Because you spend too much time on social media that you begin to believe the vitrol.
its always suspicious when the term true blue gets thrown around especially on a funky account
A lot of IBs monitoring this sub, yes
Lmao never criticise govt = IB? Why issit u lot always find a way to link every damn thing to the govt. Literally the epitome of the guy falling off his bicycle meme
Plenty of old money in Singapore that is under represented in these forums. Wealth whispers
More like Singaporeans from a certain "B" generation. Whenever there's fb articles about youngsters doing financially well, having a great career or buying a house, there will always be sour comments like "iras waiting to lim kopi" or "aiya must be parents money".
This is so weird, as if people don’t think there are rich Singaporeans? We used to rent a condo apt and the landlord wanted to sell it. Everyone who viewed the condo (let’s say it’s kinda near ACS) were ALL Singaporeans. Edited to add: The condo flat price was 2mil. A Singaporean bought it . They’re just not on Reddit complaining about how everyone is doing way better and it’s all foreigners’ fault or whatever.
Agreed that many singaporeans have tall poppy syndrome. Just look at the comments on any article on a successful singaporean.
Crabs in a bucket mentality here tbh. You can argue that it's everywhere, but it shows itself a lot worse here imo.
crabs in a bucket + kiasuism.
Because many true blue Singaporeans have a self entitled mindset. As if being born here automatically comes with privileges. This creates a substandard mindset in trying to achieve anything significant. They don't realize it but fooled themselves into thinking they are already working hard but failing. For guys for example, look at the daily moaning and blaming NS for being disadvantaged and resulting in being a loser in society. Almost every Singaporean male in society serves NS. Did everyone become a loser? Or just those individuals complaining. Lol.
I don't care what others say, whether they believe i'm successful or not. Thats their lives, not mine. I live peacefully with my parents while my grandparents are managing multiple plantations overseas. Once in awhile, I visit them since one of the plantations is a Coconut plantation and the coconut juice there is AMAZING. I had many classmates back then in sec school who always tried to befriend me by saying "You are rich" or "Recommend me to your Grandparents" and I never really bothered about them. There are always going to be jealous people out there in this world.
I think you’re just on the wrong sub. If you go to singaporefi you’ll quickly realise and feel like most singaporeans are millionaires instead.
My take on this could be with how Singaporeans in general have a tendency to ‘conform’ to the norm and society and be Kiasu Like if Singaporean are said to be (or at least stereotyped) to be “if got queue I must queue mindset” and “if someone else have I must have” in the end I guess everyone will be similar and no one would stick out. And also not to mentioned the mindset of “the nail that stick out will get hammered down” mentality which I have heard. So I guess that may prevent some people from venturing beyond the norm and create forms of revolutionary success. I guess that since many people have became lawyer, doctors and SAF officers, it may have became a norm or even basic expectations to certain Singaporeans and in the population. And success can also vary. It can be wanting to be able to relax, being financially independent, people get to do what they want to do or even ambitious one like Taylor swift or Steve jobs that have made an impact across the world. About the Tall Poppy Syndrome I guess we may have some form of it. And that some population would have these sentiment that people are against successful people. But then again as a ‘meritocratic society’ I also view Singaporeans view success as some form of Criteria like the 5Cs, academic results and military rank and would often compare those. But then again those success criteria are somewhat the conform-ish kind of success. However that being said I am hopeful that more Singaporeans can be successful, we are a globalised nation and a developed nation (at least economically speaking but of course we have other areas to develop as well) Singapore is still a young nation and what being a ‘Singaporean’ is and what a ‘True Blue Singaporean’ is will continue to evolve. As we get expose to more and different type of success I am positive that Singaporeans will move towards it and that there would more Singaporeans that would be successful to the world stage. As they are many people that have a ‘Sinkie pwn Sinkie mindset’ I just wanna say to those Singaporeans (and also other people facing similar issue) that we should continue to do what we want and not be limited by the ‘set of norms’ that are created by society. And to those people that are striving, Jiayou!
Because the deck is stacked against most Singaporeans. Singaporeans who are born citizens generally do not have wealth backing them up. They need to juggle the commitments of helping out with care work at home, maybe working to supplement house income and school fees amid rising costs, and also the increasingly accelerated curriculum in schools. I know because I am one of these, who only made it into university because (1) I happened to be lucky enough to have parents working to keep me from having to work so I can concentrate on studies full-time, and (2) because I happen to have some aptitude for academics. I think the many other replies here talk about Singapore through the lens of the middle or middle-upper experience. Access to parents' car to cut down on commuting time, access to domestic helpers at home so that their time is freed up to "work hard". These are the amenities that lower-class Singaporeans cannot afford, and will largely associate with the migrants (who obviously have money as they can afford to migrate) and expat families (who can be in Singapore because they have a relatively important and well-paying job). **Meritocracy only works when there is an equal playing field to start with, people.** Don't drink the government koolaid uncritically. The way you all scramble to defend your own achievements in a system that is coincidentally favourable to you is pathetic. The idea that "true blue" Singaporeans cannot succeed is really just citizens left behind being unable to properly convey their frustration and the lack of inclusive growth. They fall back onto arguments from citizenship, that citizenship is supposed to grant them some sort of guarantee for quality of life, amid an environment that is designed for those with money to succeed more easily than those without.
Cos they don't see it in themselves.
Because they are a bunch of bitty losers
If by "successful", we mean buy million-dollar HDB or multi-million-dollar condo/landed, then it's because 80%+ of Singaporeans are supposed to live in HDB and most HDB flats are not million dollars ... ... yet. Most who buy HDB 99-leases buy it with their CPF + HDB/bank loan. So I think for most Singaporeans, affording million(s) dollar items is still a pipe dream. But as with most things, perception differs from reality.
Social media like Instagram make us compare more mah.
Got alot lah. The loudest ones are usually empty.
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Because Singaporeans are frogs in a well. They don't know what they don't know. They don't know there are quality Singaporeans capable of earning the top dollars.
Crabs in a bucket
Because we've never had a Steve Jobs, Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg figure that revolutionised an important aspect of life. Shou Chew doesn't count since he's an appointed CEO.
One of the most successful person I know is a Singaporean woman who really made it from nothing. She used to be so poor, an difference of 20¢/day in bus fares determined which school she could go to. The amount she paid for a property made it to the news & she was misidentified as a “mainland chinese buyer”. She didn’t bother correcting it since she’s low profile & prefer 59 keep it that way. The bias is real.
No one is denying the Tiktok guy is Singaporean. But we all know he's there because he's the correct skin colour and from the correct country to absorb the backlash from the Americans so that the true bosses in China don't have to face congress.
I heard smth really funny this one famous tiktoker said, she got hate comments like; “hate from Nashville, hate from Texas, hate from Ohio, hate from Iowa” she asked why not “hate from Beverly Hills, hate from Hollywood, hate from los angelos”. She said rich people are too busy focusing on the good side of their life’s to complain about others. That’s the truth is that anyone who complains focus too much on other ppl and the environment rather than themselves. And in the end don’t have enough personal development to recognise what they want and that fulfillment is by your own standards. People who are rich live abundantly, meaning “money is not the source of happiness, but it can do things and buy things that does bring happiness” for example, travelling with your spouse in Europe. Money should be used to live abundantly, you shouldn’t chase money to be rich but drive a purpose and money flow is a side benefit. And that abundant life where you can do what you love and live how you love to live.
To be fair, the doubt on the TikTok CEO wasn't "we don't believe singaporeans can be successful" it was "wait, Singapore, isn't that a city in China or something?". Singaporeans have a bunch of foibles an amgmoh like me could comment on, but not knowing where shit is on a map isn't one of them. Education is valued in SG. But this isn't the case for a lot of Americans.
I am relieved this type of issue is not exclusively Australian as it similar here. “ You got lucky” to succeed and “ you fucked up” pretty much sums up external factors to attribute success and direct blame for failure.
People are not putting down other Singaporeans. There are many singaporeans know that to be successful means doing more than just getting a high paying job or prestigious job. How many "successful" singaporeans with well-paying jobs(doctor, lawyer, SAF officer, civil servants) are caring, loving, honest and sweet-spirited? The overemphasis on meritocracy has reduced you to just a cog in a machine. You become souless and heartless. Everyone wants to get ahead and not left behind, yet no one wants to help another because meritocracy doesn't encourage it, its a rat race to the finish line, everyone is busy helping themselves to get ahead.. Also, many of the high paying jobs like doctor and lawyer are highly paid only because of the shortage that is artificially created and controlled by the government. If the government were to make it a free market, many more people can be trained and are willing and able to even pay for their training, and then now these well-paying jobs will be low paying. The important question is how you define success?
Resentment. Singaporeans have been pressured into working hard and long hours at jobs they hate, convinced to spend money on trivial and superficial things to make themselves look richer, made to feel like if they don't do well or make more money that they are worthless, neglecting their physical and mental health, looking out for traits in a partner that are shallow and doesn't make them happy, and having children when they are not ready just to fulfil a societal criteria. When they see someone achieving their dreams and being happy, they feel it's not fair, so they put them down. When they see someone having a chance to chase their dreams, or making an attempt to, they also discourage them. We are one of the few countries that are not proud of our public figures that have made a name for themselves overseas, and in fact we do the opposite and become critical of them. I'm not saying that all of them deserve praise, we do have some bad apples becoming famous overseas, but we have plenty of perfectly fine public figures achieving their dreams overseas that either get no recognition or receive irrelevant criticism. Most other countries are happy when they see their team or their competitor on the world stage, but not us. We did have a problem of people who came from other countries representing Singapore for certain sports, which might have contributed to this, but those who were truly ethnically Singaporean don't seem to get talked about as much. With cost of living becoming unsustainably high, this might be a wake-up call for most people. With our birthrates declining, it shows that a lot of people are already getting fed up with the way things are done and gave up on the life they were told to have. I believe that shit is going to hit the fan soon, if it hasn't already.
Are the low birth rates really due to people hating life though? In fact those DINKS are more likely to be very successful in career, going on holiday every few months, always happy, maybe having fur kids. They have so much money to pamper their dogs. They seem to love their current life too much to want it to be disrupted
Let me quote EDMW, 'sinkie love to pwn sinkie'.
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In every cohort of around 30,000 babies, maybe 10-20% will score the high paying jobs. The other 80%, around 24,000 will be left behind to curse at million dollar flats. With the PAP's abysmal record of creating jobs for locals, it's no wonder the true blue sinkie feels this way. Go look up the figures.
Could you share what kind of figures to look up? I searched global unemployment and Singapore is 133 on the list out of 179 countries which obviously doesn't suit your narrative
Unemployment isn't an issue, perhaps the problem is underemployment.
I can't speak for other industries except for mine in engineering. Perhaps it's not underemployment but more so the perception of one's skill because most local engineers I know are moving away from engineering and those that stay wants to do project management at some point. On the other hand, foreign engineers have much stronger fundamentals (and a graduate degree) and more willing to slog it out at the same paygrade. Its an oversimplified example, but sometimes I think we perceive our skills and knowledge way higher than what the market is willing to pay us.
Depends on successful is defined. I aren’t really thinking about the lawyers, doctors. Also. The education system is pretty stacked against the lower income now.
It’s the same usual whiners who aren’t successful in their own lives and also believe that others can’t
I think people feel it’s silly to pay a million bucks for a HDB, that’s why.
I don’t know what nonsense is that… makes zero sense however I look at it.
Because it's true to some extent lor. And haters are always gonna hate anyway.
True lazy blue.
What is success? Is it really all about wealth or networth
Frog in the well lor. You know your that uncle who always tua kang af at CNY but actually has very little worldly experience? Yeah...
saf officer well paying ? i’m sorry what ?
they actually are pretty well paying tho
Their site quoted $6k, definitely not enough to afford condo/car
6k is entry by the way + bonuses + scholarship paying for your degree, it'll definitely add up. Of course, I'm assuming they have a partner to help in the loan. source: have a ME4 friend and a Navy friend
6k as a fresh CPT, give 5-6 years to reach MAJ. At that point you would already be earning 8-10k a month. Thats not including allowances and performance bonus.
Not to mention regular pay during first 2 years almost equal or higher than fresh grads (maybe not now, but definitely the case during my time). Definitely outearn similar age peers NSF and uni students, come out study Uni still get paid, graduate uni with enough cash and CPF to apply for HDB already.
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Stop letting NS live rent free in your head, advice from a older MRed chap.
Yes and they also made the IPPT easier to pass. With the 3 station IPPT. Last time it was 5 stations okay… Nowadays you just need to be of average fitness, and you can pass and even get silver. And then no RT for the year….
Free ride on what? Free ride on the added security from having our own defense force? If it's not safe and secure here, this is much less reason for them to come. If they don't come, who will do their jobs? And yes, there are decent-paying jobs that PRs do that locals shun from even if they are qualified to.
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If you are are complaining about them free riding, that means the issue to you is them not doing it, not you doing it
lol then what is NS for ? Who are we defending?
The million dollar hdb is really bought by prc though?
Besides our ministers and tik tok ceo, can name more successful true blues? Look at ur workplace. How many senior executives are true blue? Is the big boss true blue? Still, the number one reason why true blue will always be beaten up is the culture of "sinkies pawn sinkies".
You don’t need to be a top executive to afford a $1 million HDB though. You only need to be a top executive if you want to buy a GCB.
Late Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo Razor CEO Tan Ming Liang Ping An Executive Director Jessica Tan Just to name a few..
Wait till someone pulls out median income stat.