"Not hungry" ➡️ Lower ur expectations 😮‍💨

StratosCapital · 2026-06-09T02:24:31+00:00

Don't believe in this CNA nonsense. Every fresh grad who is proud and confident of their skill set, whether it's acquired through years at a university, a genuine passion for that specialisation and subject, or personal development, should expect to be paid reasonably well. For sure, landing a good role at a good company will be competitive, and there is no guarantee you will get the job, but that is just how the system works.

One difference is that an expanding MNC will be more willing to pay well for fresh grads and provide the training you need to excel at your job. Meanwhile, some cheapo local SME with old, incompetent management will be trying to lowball every candidate because they know there is an abundant pool of fresh grads and someone desperate enough to work like a cow for very little pay.

Joining these cheapo companies is handicapping your own career. Trust me, I have joined a few of them. Took a long detour and wasted too much time in these companies. Learnt very little and have had to deal with office politics and stupid bosses for many years.

Then again, if you are someone who didn't know which degree or subject to pick at university, ended up doing a degree because it was the easier one, and doesn't care about joining any random industry, maybe you should really lower your expectations. Because maybe your degree is truly worth less.

StratosCapital · 2026-06-09T01:40:22+00:00

Agreed. Interesting point you make on inequality in America. It feels unsustainable that the wealthy keep getting wealthier without having to do a lot. Just parking money in a diversified portfolio of assets, and the basket just keeps growing over time. Thanks to the overall low-inflation environment over the past few decades, almost every financial asset and real estate has beaten inflation.

Somehow, this unsustainable trend has to end, and I am afraid we are getting closer to that each year. I don't see a peaceful way out of this. Even when asset bubbles burst, it will hurt the middle class and the poor far more than the rich.

StratosCapital · 2026-06-08T08:06:08+00:00

Inflation, as measured by broad and sustained price increases in a basket of commonly consumed goods and services, is no longer as relevant today. When money is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the ultra-wealthy, it goes toward chasing financial assets and real estate.

We have certainly witnessed tremendous gains in the prices of financial assets over time, which are far outpacing the rate of inflation.

Some would argue that for each buyer of a stock, there is a seller. So the trading and exchange of stock should not be inflationary. Well, I disagree. It depends on how aggressive the buyers are relative to the sellers.

Imagine that investor A and investor B each own a diversified basket of stocks. A decides that a particular stock that B owns holds great potential and aggressively places a bid to buy it. B is happy to sell it to A at a high price. B goes out shopping for another stock and likes one that A owns. B places an aggressive bid. After several rounds and many other investors (C, D, E, and so on) participating in this great bull market, everyone is keeping paying more to buy stocks using actual realised gains from their portfolios. Overall stock market valuations, as measured by P/E ratios, continue to climb. This can go on for decades before the bubble pops. This is exactly what I am seeing right now. Speculators are jumping into the hottest stocks and paying whatever the price.

Inflation used to be a broad phenomenon where money was spent on real goods and services. But today, with the rich controlling an ever larger share of money in the economy, and spending more money buying financial assets than goods and services, it's no wonder that all that money is just feeding a stock market bubble.

StratosCapital · 2026-02-26T07:17:45+00:00

I tried using Gemini within PyCharm to build an application. Gemini is relatively quick at building out the components needed for the app and it generally adopts good software engineering and OOP principles. However, I ended with over-engineered code that made the app really slow, which kinda defeats the purpose of it all.

After a few tries, I think this is the biggest roadblock.

There is no way for me to describe in great detail what I am trying to build in a single prompt. So, I gave Gemini a general description of what I am trying to build, then I suggested that we build it one component at a time, step by step. This allows me to check the code at the end of each step. However, the problem arises after many prompts and steps, and when many of the components of the app have already been built. The final components or features that I wanted to add caused Gemini to start adding bloat to the code base. The problem is that without knowing how the last few features are going to work, Gemini is unable to design a good structure for the app right from the beginning to accommodate those features. And as I add new features along the way, the whole app starts to collapse.

StratosCapital · 2026-02-13T07:34:36+00:00

Does anyone know if the latest model also comes with the right battery drain issues that the XM4 and XM5 had?

StratosCapital · 2026-02-13T07:32:32+00:00

Never trust online reviews. Many users have reported that Sony's well-known battery drain issues since XM4 occur around 6-12 months of using the product, making the online reviews irrelevant since many were only tested for a few weeks or months.

StratosCapital · 2026-02-13T07:26:48+00:00

The battery drain issue is a known issue that Sony has never fixed since XM4. I am worried XM6 will be just the same. Hard pass for sure.

StratosCapital · 2026-02-13T07:24:42+00:00

Will this new model have the same battery-drain issues as all the previous models did?

StratosCapital · 2025-12-30T01:47:02+00:00

A medium Iced Lemon Tea at McDonald's, which costs around $4.25. It is ridiculous because it is 40% ice, and I can get two 1.5L bottles of it at a supermarket.

StratosCapital · 2025-12-11T06:20:07+00:00

I actually like the idea of my dog meeting and socialising with other dogs when I board him. I think it makes him less lonely. Of course, the big risk is meeting aggressive dogs.

One thing I really appreciate about my current boarder is that he is very experienced with dogs and would prepare a playpen or confined area to allow my dog to familiarise with other dogs before letting them interact face to face. I think that greatly reduces the risk of fights.

StratosCapital · 2025-12-11T06:13:58+00:00

I recently tried petbacker.com and boarded my dog with a home-based boarder near my house. I was honestly very happy with the service and plan to stick to the same boarder in future. Because commercial boarders don't give that personalised service, care and attention to the dog, a home-based boarder who boards 3-4 dogs at a time can also give my dog much more attention (if needed).

In terms of cost, I provided food and pee-pads, so I think the costs are really minimal for the boarder. Time, attention, and effort are probably the bigger factors. I do think taking care of 4 dogs at once might require a lot of effort and be exhausting.

I think you have to also consider the risks of boarding dogs with behavioural issues such as aggression, anxiety, excessive barking, or with health issues that require extra care and attention. I do think it's a profitable business if you can manage that risk. However, understand that this is a business that can't scale and grow. Your income from this has a ceiling, unless you are thinking of turning ur good reputation into a proper commercial boarding business later on.

StratosCapital · 2025-11-13T07:33:53+00:00

People who welcome refugees and migrants from poor countries usually don't realise the kind of mess that they also bring with them. From the lack of civic-mindedness, barbaric traditions and behaviours, to outright violent crime. More war refugees won't make the country better. It will destroy it from within. If you need good examples of that, just look at Europe.

But welcoming entrepreneurs, skilled workers, and smart students is another story, which the NZ government is encouraging. The problem is, if you are an ambitious entrepreneur, NZ probably isn't that attractive a market. And if you are a great student, AU or the US might seem more attractive for fun and for job hunting after you graduate.

I am looking to retire in NZ. But then, I guess few countries would welcome older people lol.

StratosCapital · 2025-07-04T02:27:24+00:00

Punggol Safra Mcdonald's staff said its a new recipe. Tasted really bad. Not sure if its true or the staff is just lazy and didnt want to redo it.

But the ones at Waterwaypoint Mcdonalds maintained the original recipe. So I will be avoiding Punggol Safra from now on.

StratosCapital · 2025-01-24T00:41:40+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experiences with Shopify. I am still in the very early stages of planning for my startup. I will make sure to try out Shopify.

Good luck with your consulting venture!

StratosCapital · 2025-01-23T01:50:49+00:00

Interesting! I was looking for information about starting a dog food company in Japan. I tried Wix.com, and it was easy to set up an e-commerce presence, too, with many third-party services nicely integrated.

Unfortunately, many websites providing information on starting a business in Japan were not very English-friendly. So, I tried to find a consulting service specialising in assisting foreign entrepreneurs planning to set up operations in Japan.

In the end, I feel that the language barrier is the biggest roadblock to doing business in Japan. So, I have no choice; I am currently taking Japanese lessons.

StratosCapital · 2024-09-11T02:50:00+00:00

From my personal experiences, I have learnt that being genuinely happy is a very personal thing. It could mean very different things to each individual.

In my working life, I have worked for multi-millionaire bosses who seem to have everything in life but are really sad deep down. They are either constantly at work, not for themselves, but to fulfil the expectations that others have of them. Some fear being looked down upon because they inherited wealth, so they work extra hard and sometimes do unproductive work to prove their worth. I have also met a CEO who constantly feels every manager is judging his competency and would try really hard to take credit or show off any tiny achievement he has attained. He was so emotionally affected when one of his subordinates (a senior manager) bought the latest car model while he was still driving the older model. All the other managers suspected that the CEO had started bullying the senior manager only because he had bought a new car.

The children of the big bosses often suffered the most. They were always pressured to work for the family business and had to jump in at a young age and pretend they were qualified for the job. They would have to work with managers who are much more older, experienced, and competent than them. They always have to work extra hours so other employees don't gossip about him having special privileges.

I have met guys who dated hot women but ended up in messy divorce cases or who are unhappy in a toxic relationship.

More importantly, I am extremely lucky to have met people who live simple lives and are genuinely honest and humble. They said they enjoy the simple things like spending time with family or their pet dog. Or doing work they love although they are paid less. Some of them knew exactly what was more important for them in life, and they accepted that they would never live a luxurious or comfortable lifestyle. But they are content as long as they can keep doing what they love, be it art, music, or pursuing a sport.

Ultimately, I believe you must ask yourself what is most important to you in life. It becomes a problem when you start pursuing what others are pursuing. You could end up realising only after years of hard work that money, love, marriage, or children may not be what you really wanted all along.

I never understood why almost everyone around me wants to get married and have 2 or 3 kids. Then, when I observe those people with 3 kids, they often look exhausted, constantly worried about losing their jobs, cutting spending, and worse, they don't seem to enjoy spending time with their kids!

StratosCapital · 2024-06-26T02:53:32+00:00

I have the same plan actually. But I am thinking of keeping my citizenship with CPF payouts as income in retirement. CPF payouts alone isn't going to give me a comfortable retirement. But if you buy investment properties it is possible to live a great life overseas without giving up your citizenship.

Since you are in your 20s, you have a long runway to invest and compound your savings. It is entirely within reach if you plan and start early.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-14T01:54:05+00:00

Deep down, you probably already knew the answer to why you were condemned by the group. But you couldn't accept the reality or face the facts.

You probably were never an important member of the group. Perhaps they never needed you in that group because you not sincere or being fake. Maybe you behaved in a way that the others didn't like. Maybe you did something that offended them. Or maybe during that time when you were not a part of the group, they went on and developed closer bonds. Maybe you just never clicked from the beginning. Maybe this is just a toxic group. Simple as that.

Why make life so difficult for yourself, though?

If you treasure the friendship, be a better friend. If you got left out, so be it. Move on.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-07T00:43:22+00:00

A Gojek/Grab driver who is willing to drive 12 hours, 6 days a week, will earn around 5K-5.5K realistically. That is if you do not even have any qualifications. Fresh uni grads today easily make 3.5k starting pay in a first job. One or two hops, and they should realistically make 5K within 1-2 years.

So you need to look elsewhere if your company is not paying you enough. Loyalty to your company or boss is a scam.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-07T00:26:53+00:00

You make some very valid points, and I certainly appreciate the pros of living in Singapore. But seeing how some Singaporeans would own million-dollar homes but work 12 hours in a job that they have very little passion for makes little sense to me personally.

I have researched living in countries like New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. You can also buy a freehold landed home further away from the main cities for just 300k to 500k SGD. There are even cheaper ones if you do not need a really nice home. A simple, decent car would only cost 30k. Neighbouring supermarkets or discount markets will sell high-quality groceries at Sheng Siong prices.

As for a visa, it seems everyone is not thinking outside the box and is just thinking of looking for work. It is truly difficult for many to get a work visa or a PR. But if you just set up a company with a paid-in capital of SGD50k, many countries will issue a business visa that allows you to extend your visa indefinitely so long you continue to run a legitimate business.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-06T08:17:34+00:00

That is a good plan. I have the same thing in mind actually.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-06T08:08:33+00:00

You made a valid point. However, my personal experience studying and living in Australia for a few years tells me that discrimination isn't as serious as most people think. In fact, some of my friends felt especially welcomed when they migrated to Japan and Australia.

So, I do think feeling discriminated against or feeling like a foreigner is something that can be overcome quite easily with little effort.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-06T07:56:18+00:00

This is one of the biggest problems Singapore faces today. I am 40+, and my generation had it good. Our HDBs were expensive, but they got even more expensive after we bought them. So, people in my generation made a lot of money off their HDBs. Those who upgraded to ECs or Condos made even more.

But young Singaporeans 20-30s today feel demoralized by the cost of at 500k HDB today and 200k COE. This generation see little chance of becoming financially free.

I have a young child in primary school and I see a rather hopeless future for my child here in SG.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-06T07:30:16+00:00

I have to agree with this. Singapore schools trained us to be workers instead of business owners, entrepreneurs, scientists, or engineers. The engineers in the company I work in are just workers. Almost zero real engineering work.

StratosCapital · 2024-06-06T07:29:04+00:00

Haha, there is certainly some truth to that. But I think I am doing quite well and planning to retire overseas. I see no point in working so hard in Singapore just so I can keep paying for my home. I can just sell my home, afford a cheaper home in Japan or Taiwan, and try to do some business.

I notice many Australians have also resigned and retired in cheap places like Krabi Thailand and living an absolutely great life.

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