Year goes by very fast, it is already September. I get kinda sentimental during this time of the year because it marks something in my life. I have been working in Singapore for 3 years. 1st of September 2011 to be exact, the day I started working in Singapore.
I take this time to really take a step back and reanalyze what I have done with my life and my career. I looked back to who I was in the year 2011, a recent graduate that just entered the working professional world. I was still an engineer, hence the web address still have "engineer" in it and I am planning to leave it as it is as momento of who I was. really cheesy huh?
I have to say my salary with my first job was actually decent. Not fantastic but I wouldn't say it was bad either. My second job also gave me decent salary, slight improvement from my first but it gave me the conclusion that I don't belong in the engineering world and I made the decision to move to finance. I wanted more and think that I deserve more in life. That's how it is with us millenial generation right? always think that we deserve the world and the world owes us everything. Anyway the finance world has been really great so far and I would say it was one of the best move that I have ever taken in my life. I love the job, I love what I am doing and I think I am greatly paid for doing less job than I was in my engineering career. So I guess I can say life is quite good, for now.
I took a look at my savings and investment. I have to say I kinda expected more, especially considering that some of my friends seems to be doing really well, buying houses and properties etc, while I still have none. I have some shares in stocks but they are not that many. I probably talk or discuss like I have a bunch of them but actually they are just in small amount. I didn't take it in a bad way because I do spend a lot especially in cigars, decent working attires, and foods. I like to splurge a little bit once in a while, pamper myself a little bit but my spending is definitely still in a healthy side where I can still save some of my paycheck every month.
With the mindset of saving and building wealth, sometimes we forget that we also have to live in the moment, and there is nothing wrong with pampering yourself as long as you plan it healthily. I am a true believer in having a good set of attire to go to work with. Because I am spending most of my life wearing them so I might as well get them as comfortable as I can, keeping my mood happy at work, and in a way help me excel at my job. Also considering I just started settling down alone in Singapore and working, I did spend a lot to buy the essential stuffs. That being said, I do hope that I can save a lot more money in the future.
I have to say that I really love my current job and it gave me new perspective in life. When I love what I am doing, I stopped comparing myself with others. Previously I always get all stressed up looking at others success thinking that I should fetch a better salary and a better life than them. Especially when I look at guys that didn't do as good as me in school, but living life better than me. I am at peace with that, and that was definitely not a healthy way to live life. I have my own opportunities coming at me, with my own personalities engineering the way I want to live my life. That was why when I wrote some of my friend have started settling down with buying properties I am not too bothered about it because I do have a different strategy in investing.
A few months back I have just been granted a permanent resident status in Singapore. That says a lot about my commitment to set down my root here. I think at this point I probably looking at staying here for at least another 10 years or so. Anyway I have spent a lot of money settling down, I want to make sure that those investments see their return of investment before I decided to go back to Malaysia. Anyway at this point, there is no job in Malaysia that can offer me the same salary I am withdrawing. So I'd probably have to lose 50% or more of my paycheck if I wanna go back. I would rather stay.
At the end of my first year here, I was really at a crossroad of going back to Malaysia or stay and work here. I had some turbulence in my life, where everything was going wrong in my life. I am not going into details but hating my job was definitely part of it. I am glad that I decided to stay. My second job kinda saved me from that decision because even though it was not the most ideal job I had in mind, it was a good buffer before I landed another job.
By an asian guy standard, I have been a way from home(my parents' home) for quite a while. I started at age 16 where I went to a boarding school 400km away from home for a good 2 years. Then I spent 4 years in Japan and now 3 years and counting in Singapore. This life adventure of mine is something that I can write down with pride in my resume, my sales pitch I would say. Gratefully I still manage to go back to visit my parents on a monthly basis. People call me a "Mama's boy" for that, but some of them haven't even gone out of the state they were born in and probably still living with their parents. I am a mama's boy though, it is just that I don't get it when such people say that in my face.
Anyway as an asian, grew up in a traditional asian culture, I do treasure the family value deeply. In fact I wished I could go back and visit them more often especially everytime I visit them, they have a lot more white hair than I remembered. They are not getting any younger and my time with them is getting shorter by the day. But I guess they have already provided me with a cradle, but one cannot stay in a cradle forever. I too have to venture out the world and find a life of my own. I have to, we have to.
With that written down, if you have always wondered or wanted to ask me about how life is in Singapore, I hope you have your answer.
