I’m sitting in my CBD office right now, sweating through a G2000 long-sleeve shirt because the management decided to set the central aircon to 27°C to save the earth or whatever. I look around the floor, and all the junior executives, management trainees, and fresh grads are dressed to the nines. Everyone wearing crisp, ironed Uniqlo ankle pants, ASICS sneakers (the smart-casual kind, you know which one), or full-on compliance-officer suits, looking like they just stepped out of a Raffles Place photoshoot.
Then there’s the absolute legend: our Big Boss.
This uncle is probably worth at least $20M-$100M in GCBs and prime commercial real estate, but he walked into the boardroom today looking like he just finished buying lottery tickets at the local 7-Eleven.
He was wearing:
- A faded, slightly stretched-out yellow polo shirt from some random community center golf tournament in 2014.
- Those loose, beige cargo shorts with 18 pockets that he probably bought from Hock Gift Shop during his reservist days.
- A pair of black Crocs (no jibbitz, he’s not a TikTok gen z).
- Or Sometimes a white singlet
And the best part? No one says a single word. In fact, when he speaks, everyone in their $300 tailored trousers leans in like he’s dispensing holy water.
It made me realize the ultimate corporate truth in SG: The more effort you put into your outfit, the lower you are on the food chain.
When you are a corporate slave, you need the armor. You need to dress up so people don’t look down on your pay grade. You need to look “professional” to compensate for the fact that you have zero leverage. The moment you dress to impress, you’re basically screaming, “Please don’t fire me, I need to pay off my BTO loan.”
But when you own the building? You can wear whatever the hell you want. True wealth and power in Singapore don’t look like Marina Bay Sands luxury brands; it looks like a comfortable old man who doesn’t give a damn about your corporate dress code.
Tomorrow I’m turning up in my NS admin tee and slippers. If HR calls me, I’ll just tell them I’m channeling “Founder Energy.” Wish me luck.