Let’s be real for a second, can? We’ve been fed this absolute fairy tale since primary school. “Study hard, get good grades, get a stable job, work hard, and you will be successful.”
What a load of total BS
The biggest open secret in Singapore is that hard work alone gets you exactly one thing: more hard work. You think by clocking 60 hours a week, OT-ing until your hair drop, and clearing your inbox at 11 PM on a Friday is going to buy you that freehold condo in District 10? Dream on, bro. The corporate ladder here is not a ladder; it’s a hamster wheel designed to keep you running just fast enough to pay off your HDB loan and your COE before you die.
At the end of the day, after looking at all my peers, my bosses, and the people actually driving the sports cars around Orchard, I realized there are literally only two ways to get rich in this country. That’s it. No third option.
1. You are Born Rich (The Reincarnation Lottery)
If your parents didn’t already secure a GCB, a couple of shophouses, or a fat trust fund for you, you start the game on “Nightmare Mode.” The guys who are “successful” at 25? Look closer. Their dad gave them the downpayment for their first property, or they got a high-flying job through their uncle’s network. They talk about “grinding” but their safety net is wider than the PIE. Capital generates wealth way faster than your pathetic 3% annual salary increment ever will.
2. You Start Your Own Business
If you didn’t spawn into a rich family, this is the only remaining exit ramp. You have to build your own leverage. The system pays employees just enough to survive, not to thrive. To actually get rich, you need to own the equity, run the show, take the massive risk, and scale a business. Even a small target-market business owner or a successful home-baker can make more net profit than a middle-management corporate slave who spent 15 years climbing to director level just to get retrenched during the next “restructuring.”
Stop killing yourself for a company that will replace your headcount listing on LinkedIn before your obituary is even printed. Hard work without leverage is just self-exploitation. If you want to be comfortable and complain about GST hikes forever, stay an employee. But if you want to be rich in SG? Either go back in time and choose better parents, or start your own business. Everything else is a scam.
End of rant. Going back to reply my toxic manager’s email now.