uncle lim kopi

 Given the advanced economy of Japan and the high standards of living, buying a home there is surprisingly inexpensive compared to places like Singapore and Hong Kong. No wonder I keep seeing YouTube videos recently of people moving there to settle down, mostly to retire or do some laid back work to gain residency status. There’s even this chap from SG who vlog his relocation of him and his wife and young kids to Japan.  Why? I do enjoy visiting Japan. It’s clean, safe and convenient. And food is good and suits my palate. But I am still not into their culture and norms, as I find it very rigid and intimidating, at least on the surface. I am sure if these are peeled off, they are not much different from us in Singapore. There will be ugly sides. Just that in Singapore, we don’t hide it as well haha. But I can imagine living a very nice life there as a retiree. You won’t have to deal with corporate Japan, or general work culture there. You just enjoy the fruits of their hardwork...

Now, this isn't about organisational goals or KPIs, but your private, personal goals. Goals that you or your boss set for your job, those are the easy pieces, it's all about faster, cheaper, better, not for you, but for the company :) Most employees will align their efforts towards such goals in order to meet targets and get their performance reviews in order. The more difficult, and yet, often neglected goals are those for yourself as a person. Your own private goals, that you probably will not share with anyone in the office, except for very close friends and family members.  I am talking about the answers to these questions: 1. Why I am in this job? 2. How long do I want to stay in this job? 3. How will this job help me in my financial objectives? 4. How much personal sacrifices am I willing to make for this job? These are very important questions. You must have crystal clear clarity on these things while you hustle daily in your job, else you will be running around like a h...

All of us heard about the term "rat race". Basically, it's a metaphor for being in pursuit of power and money, which in reality, is never ending.  Why never ending? Because the allure of the supposedly comforts that power and money will provide, so the more the merrier right? And hence, the rat race never ends. There is no finishing line unfortunately. You just keep running until you can't run anymore, maybe due to injury or worse, death from exhaustion. Are you competing with anyone in this race? Absolutely. But I think, these competitors are only living in your own head. No one will openly say they are competing with you. So someone you think you are competing with, may in fact be someone who don't really care about how fast you are relatively.  In this modern capitalist world, most adults are in the rat race. There will be some who knows and hate the race, and have clear plans laid out to allow them to leave the race intact. Think FIRE movement. There will be o...

I don't know what exactly is considered middle-class in SG, but I figured its the fat range in the middle section if we were to line people up based on income. There will be a steep drop off from the bottom 5% and a steep surge from the top 5, and another galactic surge from the top 1%. Uncle is pretty sure I am in that middle chunk of 90%, and based on my estimation, should be in the front 30 percentile in this chunk. Now, this is how my expenses look like for myself (excluding what my wife contributes). The numbers are on per month and in SGD Car expenses (loan, insurance, maintenance, tax, fuel) = $2,500 Insurance premiums = $800 Utilities bill = $350 Mobile lines for 5 = $90 Home internet line = $30 Services (Netflix, Spotify, iCloud) = $60 Condo maintenance fees = $350 Property tax = $250 Groceries and take out meals = $1200 Allowance for my parent = $1000 Allowance for kiddos = $200 School fees for kiddos = $150 Tuition fees = $270 Piano, and music classes = $900 Sub-Total fo...

Now that I am older, this seems to be more important to me personally. Previously, I don't think too much when starting a new job.  But now, I am more clear on what I want, and so I made it a point to tell myself what mindset I should adopt when I start a new job. Especially after almost 1 year of not working, enjoying life without stress, seeing what is possible, going through the emotions of being laid off, changing job, quitting without a job waiting, worrying about finances, wondering if my calculations could be wrong etc, these all gave me new perspectives.  So what gives? First of all, this time, my mind is clear on the time horizon. I will set a specific time period that I will work in a new job. Not because I don't like working, but because I want to balance my life and not just slog for nothing or without planning.  Then, I am very clear on what I want out of the job. It is to pay bills, allow me to save more for retirement, and also allow me to learn new things ...

When someone is successful in life, be it in specific dimensions like finances or marriage, or a good mix of dimensions, it usually will attract envy of others, and one common refrain will be "you are lucky lah!" Well, yes and no. Yes, in that there are always elements of life which you have zero control over whatsoever. This is the element of pure chance. E.g pure chance that you would meet your future wife somewhere in a social setting where you weren't really looking for a date or someone to pick up. Or pure chance of a job opportunity showing up right when you think your current career is over. Pure chance you were born in a certain country, to a certain type of parent. No,  in that if you didn't/couldn't seize the chance that showed up, nothing happens. If you are in a mental wreck when that dream job opportunity appears, you won't do well in the interview and the job goes to the other guy, right? So if someone were to comment on your success as "luc...

  https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3305965/china-slang-term-rat-people-those-who-shun-success-attracts-2-billion-views So another new trend for the youths? Before this, it was "lie flat", "let it rot" etc What intrigues me is how these are trends people/influencers will show off on social media, which in turn rakes in views and possibly income for them. So it's still a job? But what about the impact on youths consuming such social media promoting these trends/lifestyles? Are they being conned into something that actually isn't really common place? Really influencers at work lol? The statistics are quite alarming, with around 10 million new graduates per year pouring into the Chinese job market, and youth unemployment around 15-20%. Those 15-20% will be under a lot of pressure for sure, as I can imagine armed with a degree and yet not being gainfully employed to earn income and accumulate working experience, and before you know ...

 Now, this is an easy question to ask yourself or someone, but it's very hard to answer. Of course you can give standard textbook answers, those which are socially acceptable, easy for others to understand, maybe as a way to deflect the pressure and reality away from yourself so you can go back to going about your daily hustle. But when you reach a certain age, having achieved several major milestones in your life : courtship, married, career, kids... Plus as you age, you start to see and experience in real life 生老病死 , your perspective will definitely change. Of course there are people who somehow can live for long time without experience all of these, but I wouldn't want that for myself. Life is a journey to be savoured. So why is it important to have a purpose in life? this importance didn't show up to me until recent years. Before that, my mind was consumed by hustling, dealing with work and family commitments. It's only when I started to slow down, due to both age, ...

Completed reading this book recently. Rather easy to read since it's pointing to a single simple concept/idea, but I liked it nonetheless as it resonates with what I think most people will experience in their life.  Most of us has a template to follow in life, especially in Singapore. Parents set the path, the school system is singular and rather rigid, and if you decide to take a different route, there will be immense scrutiny and outside pressure to prove them wrong.  Frankly, so what if you are wrong? It's your own life and you bear the consequences right? I think once you hit adult age, you should own your own path.  Yes, the default path is well designed, proven for most people and you can just auto-pilot your way in it. Uncle did that too, up to a stage.  I didn't pick a career that aligned properly with what I major for in NUS. But at least it's not too far off. Still, I had to start from zero in my first job, with almost 90% of the stuff I studied for being n...

As a parent with young school going children, you want to be there for them all the time, being available when they need help, guidance, company etc. You also want to not miss major milestones, achievements, celebrations as they grow up.  This by itself is a luxury that not many parent can afford in Singapore. With most families having both parents working full time, what happens to their kids? When they are very very young (below school age), there's full day childcare, either with professionals or with extended family help. When they start going to school (primary, secondary), there's after school student care options, or someone could be at home (a grandparent), or a live-in domestic helper, or maybe even just the kids will be home alone after school and before parents leave office.  Then when you finally got vacation leave approved, maybe for 7-10 days a stretch, you plan efficiently for your family overseas trip, squeezing as much itinerary as you can possibly afford to, ...

 Forgot to post this. Not for showing off, but as a record for myself in future this roughly translates to a monthly repayment of just over $4k, which is about 25% lower than before.  Certainly welcomed, as it means less cash outflow per month. The reduction is simply due to Uncle not working the full 12 months in year 2024. If Uncle do not secure a job in 2025, than the YA 2026 will be pretty....$0 tax LOL

 Just came to my mind so I'll pen it down here now Looking back to the first 6 months after quitting my job... I think I was actually grieving, without knowing that it was that. Grieving about the loss of a job that I enjoyed, a job that I was excellent at, a job that provided company of good co-workers. A job that paid well was obvious, but surprisingly wasn't a reason for the grief at all. That loss of steady income was a stressor, not a grievance.  I am done with it? I think so, and I am glad to have experienced it and I believe I came out of it a better person. I am glad I gave myself space and time for it, and didn't ignore it and just went ahead to pursue whatever I thought I should to fill up my time and space that were freed up after quitting.  One key aspect was my focus on exercising, my time spent with my brothers, chatting about my feelings, chatting about things in life, as we are all about same age and have similar aspirations. I am really grateful to them f...

 At a potential crossroad here... Likely will be offered a job soon, assuming they can match my asking, should I take it up? Pro: - will have positive cashflow of close to $10k pm with job - this will help me save $100k per year, which is going to help me grow a fatter retirement fund - the company is growing and is modern, so this will be a plus to my career Con: - Cannot work from home. What if my hours are long? - Starting it right now means I will not be around for major exam preparation for my kiddo coming up in Sep/Oct. I wonder what would be the impact - Losing my free time to do exercise, to take care of my health, to be there for family What about my own gut feel of things? I think the job will be exciting, primarily of the different culture and environment, though I will be still in same line of work as before. But I also have doubts about my own energy level to keep up.  Also, my motivation may not be strong.  My priority now is mental and physical health, spen...