Giving Thanks — To My Parents, And To Singapore

**This is a special edition post for Singapore's National Day, and a personal reflective post on what Singapore's National Day meant for me.

Every year, when Singapore's National Day comes around, I find myself thinking about Singapore.  Not just Singapore as a country, but Singapore as a part of my life.  And perhaps more importantly, I think about my parents, and the decisions they made for me when I was too young to understand what those decisions would eventually mean.

Looking back now, I realise that much of the life I have today started with a decision my parents made when I was just a young child.  They decided to send me to Singapore to study, even though at that time, I wished to attend the same primary school in Johor together with my friends in kindergarten.

I started going to school in Singapore from Primary 1.  For the next ten years, from Primary 1 all the way to Secondary 4, I travelled between Johor Bahru and Singapore every school day.  That meant waking up at around 4am, day after day, week after week, year after year.  As a child, I did not think much about what that routine was doing to me.  I simply knew that this was what I had to do if I wanted to go to school.

There were long journeys.  There was tiredness.  There were days when I probably wished I could simply stay in bed like other children.  But I kept going.  At that age, I did not realise that those ten years were quietly teaching me something far more important than what was written in my textbooks.  They were teaching me discipline.  They were teaching me endurance.  They were teaching me that sometimes, if you want something badly enough, you simply have to get up and do what needs to be done, no excuses, no shortcuts.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons I have always had this tendency to keep working towards whatever goal I set for myself.

Looking back, I think those early years shaped much more of my character than I realised.  And for that, I am thankful to my parents.

I Did Not Understand My Father's Words

There is another memory that has stayed with me.  When Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away in 2015, there was a period when the wake was opened to members of the public.  My father told me to go and pay my respects.  At that time, I did not understand why.  My father explained it to me that without the policies and development of Singapore under Mr Lee Kuan Yew, my father himself might never have had the opportunity to work in Singapore.  And because he was able to work in Singapore, he was able to earn a salary that supported our family.  He was able to raise my brother and me.  He was able to give us the education we needed.  He was able to support our grandparents.  And he was able to do all of that on a single income.

My father's generation did not have the same opportunities that many of us take for granted today.  To him, Singapore was not simply a place to work.  It was the place that gave him an opportunity.  And that opportunity changed the trajectory of our family.  But at that time, I still did not quite understand.  In my mind, it was my father's hard work.  It was his diligence, his sacrifice, his willingness to wake up every morning and go to work, year after year, to provide for his family.  And I still believe that.

My father deserves enormous credit for what he did for our family.  But today, many years later, I think I finally understand what he was trying to tell me.  Hard work matters.  But the environment in which you work matters too.  My father worked hard.  But he also had an opportunity to work in a country where his hard work could translate into a better standard of living for his family.  That opportunity mattered.  And Singapore mattered.

I wish I had understood that when my father first told me to go pay my respects.  I would have gone with a different heart.

Singapore Became Part Of My Life

When I look at my own life today, I realise just how deeply Singapore has become part of my journey.  I grew up in the Singapore education system.  I went through primary school, secondary school and junior college here.  I eventually studied chemical engineering at NUS.  I began my engineering career in Singapore.  Later, I changed career paths.  I became a full-time tutor.  Eventually, I became a self-employed tutor.  And throughout all these changes, Singapore remained the place where I lived, learned, worked and earned.

Almost my entire life has been connected to Singapore.  Singapore was not merely where I went to school.  It became the environment that shaped how I think, how I work, how I deal with people, how I solve problems, how I adapt, how I survive when things do not go according to plan.  And perhaps most importantly, it gave me the opportunity to work alongside people from different backgrounds.

Over the years, I learned that ability, effort and professionalism can matter more than where someone comes from.  I learned to work without prejudice.  I learned to judge people by what they can do, how they conduct themselves and how they treat others.  That environment shaped me.  And I do not think I would necessarily be the person I am today without it.

The Strength Of A Country Becomes The Opportunity Of An Individual

There is another thing I appreciate much more today than I did when I was younger.  The strength of Singapore's economy and currency gave people like my father the ability to earn more, save more and provide more for their families.  And decades later, that same strength has benefited me.  I was fortunate to be born into a family where my parents made sacrifices for my education.  I was fortunate that my father had the opportunity to work in Singapore.  I was fortunate to grow up in a country with a strong education system and a relatively stable economy.  And I was fortunate to have the opportunity to build my career here.  None of these things happened because of me alone.

Sometimes, when we look at our achievements, it is easy to tell ourselves "I worked hard for this".  And yes, we did.  But nobody builds a life entirely by themselves.  There are parents who made sacrifices before us.  There are teachers who taught us.  There are people who gave us opportunities.  There are institutions that provided the environment in which we could succeed.  And there are circumstances that we simply happened to be born into.

The older I get, the more I realise that gratitude is about recognising all these things that we did not create ourselves.

From My Father's Sacrifice To My Own Dreams

Today, I am working towards something that my younger self probably would never have imagined.  Barista FIRE.  A life where I do not necessarily have to work full-time forever.  A life where my investments and dividends can eventually cover most, or perhaps all, of my basic living expenses.  A life where work becomes a choice rather than something I absolutely have to do.

I have spent years saving, investing, building a dividend portfolio, learning about businesses, making mistakes, changing strategies, and slowly trying to build enough financial independence to give myself more freedom later in life.  When I look at my portfolio today, it is easy to look at the numbers and think that this is the result of investment decisions.  But actually, the story started much earlier.  It started with my parents deciding to send me to Singapore.  It started with my father waking up every morning to go to work.  It started with those 4am mornings when I was a child.  It started with ten years of travelling between Johor and Singapore.  It started with an education.  It started with an opportunity.  And eventually, it became a career, an income, savings, investments and, hopefully one day, financial independence.

My Barista FIRE journey is therefore not entirely my story.  It is also the continuation of my parents' story.  My father worked so that his children could have opportunities that perhaps he did not have.  And now, I am trying to use those opportunities to build a life with more freedom.  That is something I do not take for granted.

I Am Still Learning What It Means To Give Thanks

Perhaps this is what growing older does to us.  When we are young, we tend to look forward.  We think about what we want, what we want to achieve, how much money we want to earn, what career we want, what kind of life we want.  But as we get older, we also start looking backwards.  We start seeing the people and circumstances that helped us get here.  We begin to understand our parents a little better.  We begin to understand sacrifices that we once took for granted.  And sometimes, we finally understand something our parents told us many years ago.

For me, that was my father's request to go and pay my respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew.  I did not understand it then.  I think I understand it now.  My father was not saying that everything he achieved came from someone else.  He was acknowledging that his hard work happened within an environment that gave him the opportunity to succeed.  And because he succeeded, my brother and I inherited opportunities that came from his sacrifices.  And because of those opportunities, I am now able to build a life that my father probably never imagined for me.

Thank You, Singapore

So this National Day, I simply want to say thank you.  Thank you to my parents.  Thank you to my father for the sacrifices you made for our family.  Thank you to my mother for everything you did in raising us.  Thank you for making the decision to send me to Singapore when I was still a child.  Thank you for putting me through those early mornings and long journeys because you believed that the education and opportunities were worth it.

And thank you, Singapore.  Thank you for the education.  Thank you for the opportunities.  Thank you for the environment that allowed my father to work and provide for his family.  Thank you for the environment that allowed me to study, work, change careers, become a tutor and eventually become self-employed.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to earn in a strong currency, save, invest and slowly build towards financial independence.  

I know that my journey is not solely because of Singapore.  It is not solely because of my parents.  And it is certainly not solely because of me.  It is a combination of many things.  My parents' sacrifices, my own effort, the opportunities I was given, the country I grew up in, and perhaps a little bit of luck along the way.

Today, as I continue working towards Barista FIRE, I am reminded that financial independence is not just about reaching a number.  It is also about understanding the journey that brought me there.  And when I eventually reach that point where I can say that I have enough, I hope I will remember that I did not get there alone.  I stand on the shoulders of the people and circumstances that came before me.

My parents gave me the starting point.  Singapore gave me the environment and opportunities.  And I have spent the years since trying to make the most of them.  That, to me, is something worth being grateful for.  So this National Day, I do not have a grand message.  Just a simple one.

Thank you, Dad.

Thank you, Mum.

And thank you, Singapore.

For the opportunities, for the journey, for the lessons, for the life I have been given, and for giving me the chance to dream of a future where I can eventually live a little more freely, with a little less work, and a little more time.  This is my journey from my father's sacrifice to my Barista FIRE dream.  And for all of it, I give thanks.  Barista FIRE, here I come...!