SINGAPORE: A 31-year-old man took to an online forum on Wednesday (April 3) to share how devastated he feels after having lost all of his life savings.
Despite earning more than S$3k a month with his current job, he says half of his earnings goes to his parents, insurance, and other things. Given this, he took the opportunity to turn to Singaporeans for insight, direction and, most of all, hope.
“Lost all my savings due to bad ‘investments’, no skills, fat, ultra bad eyesight,” the writer shared. “The only bright side is that I have a job and income of S$3.6k a month…but half is used to pay insurance, giving money to parents and other miscellaneous fees.”
In a show of vulnerability, the man shared that he feels extremely low. He shared, “Feeling like the future is bleak.”
According to his post, his parents are the one thing keeping him holding on. “I am grateful to them for bringing me up and feeling guilty that I threw away our future due to bad decisions in life,” he shared. “What can I do now? How do I progress from here where I have nothing left or to look forward to?”
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Faith in humanity restored
In an overwhelming show of support, hundreds commented on the man’s post, leaving him messages of encouragement.
“I had zero savings at your age,” said one, offering him a different angle. “It’s all a matter of perspective. If you think of it as a loss, coming back can be hard. But if you think of it as starting from zero, there’s nothing bad about it.”
While some shared their own similar stories in a show of empathy, others gave him advice. “Baby steps!” one reminded. “You can work on it, step by step. No one is perfect. Fat… you can lose weight and be healthy. No skills…you can learn, you can try and get a hobby or two, you can even meet new people. Evergreen…you can meet new people and date around. You do seem to have a supportive family, so you can get their support and also be their support.”
Others reminded the man that he is still very young. “31 is still young,” said one. “Dude, not all is lost. You still can have 30 to 40 years down the road picking yourself up. Have faith and hope. One bad decision doesn’t decide you will have a bad life.”