5 Life Hacks To Make Singaporeans Happier?
https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-life-hacks-singaporeans-happier-065720358.html
By Yeap Ming Feng | DollarsAndSense.sg – Sun, Nov 23, 2014
(All credits go to the original author and site. Information is taken respectfully for sharing of personal thoughts only. No infringement of copyrights intended. Please refer to website above.)
[This is an edited version with my opinions. For the original article, please go to website.]
1. Go on, get the paper qualification
{Yes! Yes! Yes! It seems like such crap and a lie when people go, "Hey, job experience and know-how is more important than your academic qualifications..." Blah. And, bah humbug. Come on, face Cold, Hard, Unsugar-coated Reality. Academic Qualifications Count. Doing well academically gets you ahead in life or at least gets that door to open a little bit for you rather than have it shut in your face or refuse to open at all. As I tell my students: Have academic qualifications, job experience and pleasantness... ... (of course, there are a lot of other important factors) and you're on the way to success.}
Despite the numerous views being published out there that paper qualification is not important in Singapore, we beg to differ. Here is why.
Competition for jobs is high in Singapore, and this will only become worst in the future with the increasing population. Let’s all recognize that.
Immigrants today are also getting more qualified. In the past, an immigrant with a diploma certificate may be able to get a job in Singapore, and do well for himself and his employer. Increasingly, the government is setting the bar higher, and with good reasons.
As inflation of paper qualification continues to persist in the region, immigrants entering our country are getting more and more qualifed.
Whenever there is a vacancy for a job and there are numerous applicants for the position, employers tend to make their decisions based on two factors: qualifications and level of experience.
If you are 25-year old with a wealth of working experience, an employer may be willing to “overlook” your lack of education. Nevertheless, this implies not having the “right” education as being a severe disadvantage especially if you are going to compete with potential immigrants that have much better paper qualification.
And because many employers are still superficial, not having the “right” qualification in the form of a degree is like losing half the battle.
2.The Singapore Passport
Being a ridiculously small nation with access to so many various job opportunities within our country, most of us are not familiar with the concept of moving really far away from our homes to get jobs we really like, or careers we want to pursue.
If you are from China, Malaysia or even New Zealand, you will be forced to work the jobs that your parents or uncles did unless you are willing to move away from your home. That is because a lot of small cities in these countries can only support a few industries, unlike Singapore. Or you can do waitering at the local resturant.
Singaporeans have an edge over our immigrant counterparts. This is in the form of our passports. Our passports allow us to travel to 170 countries without the hassle of applying for a Visa.
Hence, if you are a young working adult with little commitment, go on and take up a job elsewhere in the world. You will have a greater chance of landing the job over your immigrant counterparts.
Sadly for most Singaporeans, working overseas is never part of our plans; unless it’s Australia.
3. Our spoken language
{Being bilingual or even multilingual is so important nowadays! Knowing more languages equals to landing more opportunities for oneself in so many areas. First of, let's emphasise the importance of ENGLISH which is the lingua franca... It is tremendously crucial to be proficient in ENGLISH - spoken and written - to keep up with the competition if not to get ahead.}
The fact that Singaporeans probably speak the best English within Asia provides us with ample opportunities to work overseas. Speaking and writing good English opens up the entire America and Europe market.
Our Mother Tongue such as Chinese, Malay, Tamil or Hindi provides even more opportunities in markets such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
Coupled that with our passports and it’s a wonder why more Singaporeans are not working overseas.
Perhaps it’s an outcome of Goh Chok Tong myopic “Are you a quitter or stayer” national day speech in 2002? Ironically, Goh Chok Tong daughter is working in the UK, which reinforces our point that Singaporeans should venture overseas more.
4. Start planning for retirement early
With an ageing population, the next generation may face difficulties supporting their own families. Start planning for your retirement by building up towards a realistic amount of money that you wish to retire on, including what you will get from CPF Life.
Adopt a healthy savings habit with a portfolio of investments. However, if you are very much a spendthrift or know little about investing, you may wish to consider a savings insurance to help accomplish that.
Sufficient coverage of health insurance is important too, and it is always advised to obtain health insurance at a young age when one is still healthy as the requirements of qualifying for health insurances get much more stringent as one gets older.
5. Keeping yourself healthy
{So true: Health is Wealth. Must take care of it before it disappears and good health can be gone in the blink of an eye which is extremely scary! I have to remind myself to take better care of my body, mind and emotions.}
With our average life expectancy at 82 years old, it is perfectly normal that we start retiring later. We need to work that extra number of years to support the extra number of years we are expected to live till. Hence, staying in good health allows better productivity as we age, and also allows us to be less dependent on others.
DollarsAndSense.sg is a website that aims to provide interesting, bite-sized financial articles which is relevant to the average Singaporean.
