Wei Kiat's Blog

The typical parents of a typical child living in Singapore often and endlessly repeat this phrase, "Boy/girl, you must work hard now. Study hard then go to the University. Then can become lawyer, doctor or join the PAP. Earn a lot of money live a comfortable life. Not like us, work so hard only barely managed to make ends meet."

Lets explore. This kind of talk shouldn't even exists in the first place. You are given a life, and it belongs to you. You are not a money making machine. You are a living, breathing human, with your own unique sets of talents, interests and passions, although you may or may not know it.

Working hard now does not equal to the ability to earn more money later on either. If that is the case, there will be no poor in Singapore. There will be no rich either, since everyone will be earning the same "high" salary. What does a "elite" student do? He follows through the education, PSLE, Olevel, Alevel, University. Despite some differences in course taken by individuals, everyone are essentially doing the same thing. Given the will to work hard, students can easily make their way up to the University, whether they are a dumbhead or a smartass.

Made it to the University successfully. Ok. So what? Does the fact that you made it to the University equates to the ability to undertake jobs such as lawyers, doctors and politicans? Sure, the job may seem simple. Cut up a few patients, wipe their asses, talk crap infront of people, and you earn yourself big bucks. That is your parents' definition of "Study hard now, enjoy life later." Singaporeans, being singaporeans, paid more attention to money then to their own life and the extend they went to in order to screw it up. Becoming an lawyer, a politican, or a doctor is no easy task. Great responsibilities are needed. Decisions have to be made, and a wrong decision can cause great mishap. The same with doing any other high-paying job. The higher the wages, the greater the responsibilites. How can someone who only knows how to memorise textbooks handle all that responsiblities? How does all that endless worries, important decisions, responsiblities equate happiness and enjoyment of life? The truth is, they can't. That is why even when the number of Singaporeans going to the University in on the rise, the number of people occupying high paying jobs are still roughly the same.

You heard it on the news. Many University graduates had a hard time finding full time jobs. Sometimes they couldn't even find a stable job, and had to keep switching. Most of them lost their goals after their University education. They are stuck. "So I've finished University. My life is supposed to be good now? I will be earning a few thousands per month?" The answer they discovered too late was a big "NO." They have not found their purpose in life. Many, as a last resort, went back to the MOE to become teachers as a last resort, since the only thing they are cut out to do is to live with the textbooks. There is no coincident that the quality of teachers in Singapore is deproving. The public has eyes to see.

On the other hand, how about starting to enjoy life now? Try out as many different things as possible. Live everyday to the fullest. Discover your purpose in life, and what you are good at. Do it. Follow your passion. Be different from the rest. And if develope your passion enough such that it is able to feed it, the better. Making money by doing things you like brings in much more happiness than doing things you are not actually cut out to do.

You do not need education to enjoy life. It is to help you achieve, you give you a sense of satisfaction. It is certainly not a goal, nor your dictator.