I have been working for over 20 years and I have at least worked in 5 large local to MNC companies.

One thing I notice, it is never the most talented man that gets the promotion it is always the loudest man.

I once worked in a company where there was a very talented man who learned everything super quickly and senior workers were starting to take him as a threat. He was able to fulfil every task quickly and helped increase the productivity levels of his department by 50%.

However, when the promotion period began he did not get promoted and the department head hired another person with a more senior position but lacks the skills.

That man had one skill, he was obedient like a dog and loves to bootlick.

A year later, it was the promotion period again and the man was not promoted. But the bootlicker got promoted instead although he has only been working there for a short period of time.

The talented man questioned his superiors and they said: “You are too young to be a manager”.

Typical local old school Singapore company that promotes people by age. The talented man then went to search for a job and came back with 3 offers.

His superiors were shocked and counteroffered him with a 35% increment (he is that valuable) and a promotion.

So long story short, I saw this kind of case in all the large corporations and they are always promoting the bootlickers, not the ones who are talented.

Five types of people get promoted to onsite opportunities in any field.

1. People who are genuinely friends with managers (very rare)
2. People who purposefully become friends – buttering
3. People who belong to the same community / speaking the same language as your manager
4. People who are related to a very influential person in that place of that institution
5. At last, people who really work hard and are really good at what they do – if you belong to this category. If your promoting authority is a good person you will get promoted anyway. Even if he/she is biased you will get promoted one day

Hey 22F here planning to purchase insurance from a friend/FA (AIA) I’d just like to know if what I’m purchasing is the norm and necessary as well as if there’s anything I should look out for? Idk if here is the correct place to ask, if there is a better r/ pls lead me.

Currently being promoted 3 plans, a life one with x3 multiplier till 65, a Hospital plan, and PA. The total would be about 300++ /month – not sure if it is considered steep or okay? I’m just considering also because I’m in uni now and will be forking out from savings (that’s why it could seem a bit tough) until next year when I grad and get a job. I did suggest to not buy the hospital plan first but the FA was adamant that it was very important and I shouldn’t risk being unprotected for the 1 year or so LOL.

My mother thought 3 plans were a lot but then again she’s not very well versed in these things…and i was also scared of being scammed into buying w/o knowing much, so I thought I’d ask for advice here.

Here are what netizens think:

• your mum’s right. don’t buy until you grad lah. FA adamant it’s very important because her commission is very important. you lived 22 years without right? and after you grad, buy hospital plan only. consider term insurance if you get married and have dependents. all else no need. save the money scrupulously instead, and invest your money and self insure.
• A hospital one should be enough for now. You don’t have any liabilities to pay or dependents to feed, so death benefit is useless. Critical Illness and TPD is good to have, but not a must. I suggest postponing that until you have started working for 1yr+ can manage your financial flow, allocate money for saving / investing / buying insurance. If you decide to have that, it’s also better to just buy the term plan. Life plan is not good (in terms of opportunity cost if you do investing yourself). PA is just like hospital (pay per year and can stop anytime), so doesn’t rly hurt and usually cheap. But given SG level of safety, I wouldn’t rush to buy one. Disclaimer: Not a financial advisor / insurance agent, but have met few insurance agents and did own research.
• Hospital plan is the most important, it covers hospitalisation in the event of worse possible scenario. You can choose 3 plans (private, public A and the standard b2 plan). Imo, private is just paying extra for the luxury. Its cheap now but it’s gonna cost a fcking bomb when you are in your 60s, most ppl will downgrade at a later age.

She was hiding the fact she is an alcoholic and constantly drunk, I grew to care about her a lot.

I unknowingly fell in love with a drunk basically.

I got her some help and her drinking has reduced significantly. The problem is the difference in her personality is night and day.

The sober her is a very boring person, it’s like talking to the wall.

I don’t enjoy being with her when she is sober. I also know if I leave she will start drinking.

Any advice? Should I leave?

Here are what netizens think:

• Reduced significantly is not the same as sober. I can only speak from my experience but I was so much worse as an addict trying to reduce my intake and things finally made more sense once I quit for good. Any amount of drinking puts me back in that cycle and the only way to stop was to not start again.

• If she’s full sober, things just take time to adjust and learn better coping mechanisms. For me, I drank heavily and hid it for 20 years, those habits don’t just erase themselves because you stop drinking.

• You need to do what’s best for you and if the relationship isn’t working out then you shouldn’t stay. Focus on the issues of why the relationship isn’t working (or what does work) and stay away from sober vs not sober when you communicate with her about it.

I am a saver and I use the delayed gratification method. I hope to inspire others to save.

I came from a humble background. My father distributes newspaper, holds a F&B job and another F&B job at night. He also picks up items like a garang uni and I enjoyed second hand clothes, furnitures etc since young.

As a result, I become a saver.

I made most of my decisions based on dollar and cents. Most of my clothes are recycled items. I choose food from the menu base on price.

Before I entered NUS, I worked part time and even on public holidays to get double pay.

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I managed to go on exchange programme with grants and didnt pay anything as I receieved grant.

I also borrowed books from the library and photocopied them with my company’s photocopying machine when I was on the night shift.

I also sold my books and projects after every semester.

I managed to save and pay off my study loan before I graduated.

When I started the workforce, my starting pay was $2700. Then, the financial crisis hit and it dropped to $2500. I worked for under 3k pay for the next 3 years before I became self-employed.

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As a self-employed, I earned about $10k to $15k a month. I saved and managed to get my BTO fully paid before I reach my MOP. I also paid for my car with cash. We chose the cheapest but new car.

When my wallet got fatter, I walked into branded shops and tried to buy one of the branded items. I looked at the price and felt disgusted, and I walked off. Paying such a high price for these items doesnt make sense for me.

I continued to stay with my in-laws.

When I become a parent, I got recycled items for my children. I almost didnt buy any clothes, same for myself.

Then in my mid-30s, I realised I have saved almost $1m, mostly in cash. With that, I purchased a freehold landed property.

I continued to stay with my in-laws.

I leased out the property, finding a tenant to finance my mortgage. I am now saving up for a second property.

Once I get my second property, I will move to my landed and find more assets to buy.

This is my story. From garang guni to landed. I hope everyone can start saving.

My boyfriend is freeloading at my place and I don’t know what to do

Hi, need some advice here.

My bf and i have been in a relationship for over 3 years now. During the initial years, he will bring me out to eat for dates, movies etc.

Just about a year ago, when my mother passed away, I ended up living on my own.

So since then, everyday he would come over for dinner and weekends for dinner or lunch, watch TV and play games. Initially it was alright, i enjoyed the company (who wouldn’t right?)

But after awhile, it gets too much as i can’t go out without him asking me when i’ll be back, and he expects me to buy dinner back for him when i’m out and we hardly go out anymore since my place covers food and the subscriptions to movies and netflix. (I don’t mind staying home)

The problem is that he doesn’t contribute to the household expenses or bills, yet he eats all the food in kitchen and drinks in fridge. He doesn’t clean, so basically I feel like he is treating my place is like a hotel with a maid (who cooks and clean) and free flow of drinks and food.

I don’t know how to solve this problem without hurting his feelings or if he wish to come over; at very least contribute to the expenses and electricity bills.

ps, i did ask him to go back home by saying he doesn’t need to always be around, didn’t work. He took it negatively and thought i didn’t want him around.

I’m a 45 yr old male, and I have two sons my biological son Adam 21 and my stepson John 18.

When Adam’s mother died 5 years ago. He entered into depression we both went to therapy and we both started communicating better. I ended up buying him a car as I thought he’ll need it,it’ll cheer him up, and I had enough savings at the time.

I met my new wife Jade 40 yr old, 3 years ago. We got married one year after dating.

Now, Jade wants me to buy John a new car. I told her that I don’t really see why he needs a car and that cars are waaaaayyyy too expensive this year thanks to the certificate of entitlement. Jane is mad at me. She asked me if I actually liked her son. I told ger that I see him as my own. She denied that saying that if that’s true I would’ve bought him a new car just like I bought Adam’s.

I’m not sure how to approach her. I see that the situation is very different now. Jade is a housewife. She can drive John to his school and the area has improved a lot we have a good public transport system.

Jade doesn’t want to engage with me until I buy John a new car. I’m not sure what to do. I have enough money for a car but it’ll leave us in a hard financial situation for quite some time.

The worse part, she is not working and has no savings.

I can tell she is trying very hard to make sure her stepson likes her but it does not mean I have to burn more money and make myself bankrupt. I might have the money to buy a car for Adam then, but it does not mean I have the money now.

Here are what netizens think:

• Honestly, after reading your post and comments, your wife sounds like a pretty poor partner. As others have said, I don’t see what you’re getting out of this relationship. Were you just really lonely? Her reaction is terrible, her refusal to work is unacceptable, and frankly, I think you’re screwed. I wouldn’t personally want to stay married to someone like that.

• Sounds like they moved extremely fast. Got married after only a year, it sounds like he doesn’t really know who she is. Now she’s showing her true colors. I hope OP wises up and divorces this woman because this is a HUGE red flag.

• o how was your wife supporting herself and her son before she married your wallet?

• This makes me uncomfortable. They don’t seem like their in a financial place to be a one-income family and yet she’s making this kind of demand. Where is the stepson’s bio? Does he pay child support? And stepson is a teenager, so it’s not like she’s home taking care of a baby all day (although I’m sure she has work to do in the home).

I went on a dating site because I recently became single (38F here but most people guess I am in my 20s) , and I specified that I prefer those who are in the age range of 10 years younger to 15 years older than me.

And this kid was 2 years below my range, meaning he is only 26 years old but he contacted me and we had a really high match percentage and he was cool and very attractive to me so we hit it off

so I thought “this will be weird but might as well see what happens” and we’ve gone out twice now and had a great time hanging out, great conversation and great chemistry…

He is very affectionate and has been bugging the hell out of me over text… but the problem is he cannot hold his spunk in… The first time I went down on him for literally 10 seconds and he blew…

This time I tried to do the deed and he blew again within 10 seconds… Don’t know what to do… I really like him and I’ve been nice to him about it and told him I support him on it but he’s all like,

“I’m sorry, I want to hold it in but you’re so pretty” and I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to that or make it so we can have actual S that lasts more than a few seconds…

I find him very hot and I want to get my rocks off too… I really seriously want to have actual full-blown secks with him because he is super-hot to me but he just blows randomly right whenever I apply sensation to his wang…

A netizen shared on Facebook stating that he has placed 100 bets on System 7, which means he bought 100 lines of the TOTO with 7 numbers and it cost $7 each.

He added that he will quit his job immediately after winning the lottery.

Here is the story:

I bought 100 System 7 tickets for the draw, which means I invested $700 for my retirement on the toto Draw of $5 million.

The first thing I going to do after I win is to tell it to my employer’s face that I am not working for him anymore. I will quit without serving notice. But of course I wont tell my employer why I am quitting.

Maybe I wont even turn up for work.

• Step 1. Tell no one
• Step 2. Pretend I didn’t win
• Step 3. Do everything in secret – paying debts, buy new condo, charity, investment, etc
• Step 4. Take life easier a bit

I will also stop driving part time Grab to support my family, As a part time grab driver, you wouldn’t want to drive around for long periods. Sg roads suck. But then again, maybe in a sports car or rolls royce, could be different story.

I will be debt free, pay off any outstanding loan for my property and also put a sum aside for my son’s degree in the future.

The $5 Million TOTO Draw

As the calendar turns to 2024, Singapore Pools is set to kick off the new year with a bang by hosting a special lottery draw on January 5th. What makes this draw particularly enticing is the staggering top prize of S$5 million, promising participants the prospect of starting the year on an extraordinary note.

Traditionally, Toto draws find their place on Mondays and Thursdays, but this special event breaks the norm by landing on the first Friday of the year. The deviation from the usual schedule adds an element of excitement and anticipation for both seasoned and occasional lottery enthusiasts.

Extended Betting Window for Widespread Interest

To enhance the thrill and engagement, Singapore Pools has gone the extra mile by creating a dedicated site for this particular draw.

The site not only serves as a hub for information but also features a random number generator. This innovative addition aims to provide punters with inspiration, a touch of unpredictability, and perhaps the stroke of luck needed to clinch the coveted prize.

Given the allure of the S$5 million jackpot, Singapore Pools has extended the betting window for this draw.

While the standard closing time for Toto bets is 6:30pm, the upcoming draw demands attention, and betting will remain open until 9:30pm.

This adjustment accommodates the heightened interest and ensures that as many eager participants as possible get a chance to try their luck.

We were bar hopping at Clark Quay with a group yesterday and in one of the bars, three ang moh men came in. We were on our way to the SG river to sit there and enjoy the rest of the evening and one of our guys asked the three ang moh tourist to come with us to the river, 3 seconds after they came in. He probably did not think about how randomly inviting three strange men could affect the women in the group so I will let that pass.