Although it’s entirely my fault, a part of me feels like I got left behind by the system.
A singaporean male life is so structured it’s almost like playing a game tutorial. You go through the education system, serve army, find work, get married, BTO, have kids. The script is all written out nicely for you like nicely laid train tracks.
But for someone who fell out of the tracks, it’s super hard to get back on it.
Skipping school, missing classes, flunking exams makes you a “hero” when you’re a teenager and your friends show you respect as they think you’re a gung-ho who doesn’t follow the rules, but when you grow up without the papers, you get isolated from the career progression enjoyed by white collar office job environment.
SkillsFuture is one big initiative that is supposed to give 40s a second chance. But even if the wallet is able, the mind is not that fresh anymore, and the body no longer youthful.
no amount of money can rewind time and give me back to my 20s. I’m now on track to becoming a 50s kopitiam uncle complaining about everything.