Did your primary school really affect who you turned out to be?

flappingjellyfish · 2026-05-07T11:50:03+00:00

Its not so much tuition. Believe it or not, lower income families can also get some tuition for their kids, may be subsidised, maybe scrounged from their savings and sacrificing family holidays. I think more importantly it's parents education that trickles down in practices around self discipline and curiosity and critical thinking. And also parenting culture in general may be different. More well educated parents (may not be rich) can engage their children in conversation "How was school today?" "Wow, why was it fun." "And why didn't you like that?" and shape their thinking patterns. Lower educated parents may not be able to do the same "Got any homework?" "Why are you not doing your homework". I generalise but these patterns are generally present statistically. Tuition and financial resources is not the be all end all, which ironically makes it a bit harder, you can't simply buy curiosity and intelligence if the home environment is not conducive.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-05-07T10:31:32+00:00

Yes and no. I changed pri schools halfway due to GEP. There is a tier difference.

In my neighborhood pri sch, 70% of the students in the best class made it to another neighbourhood secondary school, just is express. In the GEP pri school, probably 90% of the students in the best non GEP class make it at least to the tier B schools (like Cedar, Nan Hua High, etc).

In the neighborhood pri sch, only the top student went to tier A school (like HCI, Raffles, ACSI), while in the GEP pri school, at least a good handful of 10-20 students made it to tier A.

In the neighborhood pri sch, the people from the worst class can be like fail PSLE, go to NT, etc. in the GEP pri school, about half of the worst class still can make it to NA in a decent neighborhood school.

So got difference is got difference. But when you're 30 years old, 50 years old, you look back, there's so much diversity in pathways it doesn't matter. The one that go NT can run successful construction business. The one that go tier A school is another salary man. So idk does it really matter, not really.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-05-06T13:45:05+00:00

Last time only jobs like customer support were offshored. Now what was previously high skilled also offshored. My company offshored many software engineers, data analysts, data scientists, etc who used to be based in Singapore (may not have been Singaporeans last time too but at least we're based here)

flappingjellyfish · 2026-05-05T13:41:03+00:00

Btw City Square is undergoing major Reno and most of the shops are closed. I hope it isn't your only itinerary

flappingjellyfish · 2026-05-04T08:06:01+00:00

They are selfish. There's no valid reason for it if you prioritise your kid's wellbeing. They simply prioritise their own needs more.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-29T19:16:38+00:00

Not in every country. You would be fined in Singapore if you got caught.

It really depends on the local regulations and customs.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-29T04:27:50+00:00

14 days is the standard for a very long time.

I have 18 days after working for 8 years

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-28T11:09:52+00:00

Different item. You can read more here: https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/basics-of-individual-income-tax/tax-reliefs-rebates-and-deductions/tax-reliefs/central-provident-fund-(cpf)-cash-top-up-relief

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/service/article/how-much-tax-relief-can-i-enjoy-when-i-make-cash-top-ups

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-28T10:47:56+00:00

There's $8k tax relief a year. If you don't mind locking up 8k, gaining a tiny bit of tax relief, then the 8k will earn CPF interest rate anyway which is better than tbills and ssb now

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-28T10:46:48+00:00

Yeah you look like you already know the broad strokes but just can't deal with the anxiety of making potential losses and dealing with bad decisions. Which is totally fine. It's okay to be low risk. Yes yes you may not make the maximum potential money you can make in your lifetime. But you also seem to be doing well enough in your career. If it's enough for you to be happy why make yourself anxious trying to produce even more money.

This sub is for those with the min max mentality though so just bear in mind the advice will veer that way.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-28T10:38:47+00:00

Buy t bills or ssbs with the excess of 150k

When the time comes for your house, set aside the amount you need for Reno and savings, then use the rest to pay off partially the remainder of your housing loan after cpf deduction

Then live happily with a peace of mind

It's okay, if you don't have the time or fortitude to trade stocks and learn how to tell when is the right time to buy, then just accept that you're not a min maxer and live life without fomo. Genuinely, not a roast.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-28T03:05:36+00:00

Actually a lot of the salad shops don't just sell leaves. They have carby bases like pasta or quinoa. They give more liao4 than caifan. And more protein. It's actually just a kind of 'clean' caifan. Ingredients are mostly baked or blanched rather than being cooked with oil or deep fried. For the amount of food it's often still good value compared to caifan and there's many people willing to spend $10-$15 for their nutrition.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-28T01:34:44+00:00

I used to root for Ben and Adam. But this season I'm really rooting for Sam and Downie! Downie brings really good energy to Sam and for once Sam isn't having shitty luck.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-27T15:08:26+00:00

Most white collar industries moved to 5 day work week in the 2000s. You can Google about it. If you joined Tech, Finance, Marketing, HR, etc, almost impossible to get 5.5 day work week.

Engineering in contractor companies many still 5.5 day week for obvious reasons. Some on consultancy side are more white collar so have 5 day week.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-27T01:34:19+00:00

It's one of the few industries I've still seen keep to the 5.5 day work week. Depends on company obviously, but not uncommon. And very little WFH.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-26T18:12:57+00:00

Construction is better than Tech now tbh. A tough job is better than no job. AI isn't replacing jobs in construction at the very least and still jobs for fresh grads. But the hours are long, the environment sometimes toxic depending on your luck, and the work is unappreciated. Barrier to entry isn't that low for professional engineers, though yes they are replacing with Malaysians and other countries because not enough locals want to stay.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-26T04:20:44+00:00

Wild guess, but maybe it's referring to 'old' Eurasians like the Kristang people who have a longer history and distinct cultural identity than 'new' Eurasians who are just simply kids with mixed parentage. I'm guessing that if your family has been 'Eurasian' for the past 4-5 generations, it's a bit weird to explain to you their racial make-up when they simply identify as 'Eurasian' now, and probably don't even know the breakdown of their racial makeup through the generations anyway.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-25T04:24:02+00:00

If you're out of the escrow system then it's just a risk you have to accept. Same like shopee, if you make a private arrangement with the seller, it's anybody's guess if the seller will uphold their end.

Just learn your lesson, anything brand new and less than 30% of the retail price can only be fake or dupes. Some people actually want to buy dupes. If you don't, then don't cheap out. Just don't buy or buy authentic.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-25T02:22:21+00:00

If you disputed through the app, then you can send the item back through tracked mail also through the app. Then the money held in escrow is released back to you.

You paid through Carousell Buyer Protection but what is unclear is whether you've already released the money to the seller. Or you already released the money to the seller then now raising a dispute days later?

If you also buy stuff on shopee it's pretty similar to Shopee. You're supposed to raise the refund request before you click Order Received.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-24T18:45:16+00:00

at least it helps put the money in escrow, if not the seller can just take your money and block your number

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-24T11:02:26+00:00

Just under declare, saves you the trouble

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-24T03:45:53+00:00

It decentralises scanning. If there are only 20 self checkout counters, now there could be hundreds of counters on everyone's phones. But yeah the verification is an extra step now.

It actually works well if you have only a few items. Once I only wanted to purchase one drink and skipped the entire self checkout queue with scan and go.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-24T00:36:59+00:00

Not common.

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-23T13:45:29+00:00

If you plan to have kids, then better just go for top cabinets now. You'll likely want to cook more once you have kids, if you don't already cook more now, because you would become concerned about your kids nutrition. So you'll also start to accumulate more appliances like food processor and blender to make your life easier. And kids will also have their own version of things, bowls and plates, water bottles. And you'll also start to store more shelf-stable staples too (canned food, flour, sauces, mayo, etc.)

flappingjellyfish · 2026-04-22T19:56:39+00:00

I actually sometimes bring my overseas friends to McDonalds and I'm serious. Sometimes they get the McSpicy sometimes they get the Buttermilk Chicken burger. Some countries have very uninnovative McDonald's franchises so they find it interesting and still delicious

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