Earning SG dollars, spending Thai bahts: S’poreans cheer the man who ‘games the system’ by living in Thailand but flies to SG once a week for work while enjoying a luxurious lifestyle

SINGAPORE: To some in Singapore, Chen Shao Chun may just be a modern-day example of living one’s best life. While the 39-year-old adjunct lecturer from the National University of Singapore (NUS) lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, he flies over to the Little Red Dot once a week to show up for the students of his digital marketing class.

Unbelievably, what he earns from that three-hour class is enough to support him and his wife, although his circumstances are probably very different from yours and mine.

The former Google employee was featured in a CNBC piece earlier this month and has since gained a lot of attention.

Mr Chen, 39, earns S$2,000 to S$4,000 monthly at his teaching gig. However, he also has a seven-figure portfolio of a cool US$2.6 million, which means he could afford to give up working full-time, which he did after getting laid off last year.

“I’ve been working for the last 14 years of my life, and because of the layoff, I was forced to take a break. It was very devastating, it was a huge blow to my ego, my identity, but it turns out, with time … it sort of mandated me to think [about] what I really wanted in life,” he told CNBC.

In addition to teaching, he has a side business as a coach and can charge clients as much as US$500 (S$645) per hour. His content on YouTube is yet another source of income.

“I’m gaming the system,” he said.

He is also enjoying a more relaxed pace of life these days, being able to prepare breakfast for his wife, for example, instead of always being in a rush.

Whereas when they lived in Singapore, they paid S$2,450 for their two-bedroom condominium, now they pay S$450 for a brand new one-bedroom condo, which is more luxurious, with several pools and a Pilates studio. The couple spends around S$400 a month on food and S$200 on transportation, and his weekly flight to Singapore costs around S$250 per round trip.

While he’s satisfied with life at the moment, he’s also open to moving back to Singapore if the right opportunity arises.

For some netizens, Mr Chen appears to be living the dream.

“Bro doesn’t even need to come to Singapore to work for once a week, just chill and lepak there with his wife,” one Reddit user wrote.

“He may not have the job stability of a senior civil servant, but he sure is richer than any of them. Plus, all the money saved from free lunches. These things really add up,” another mused.

“He’s happy. He isn’t breaking the law. Inflation is happening by the second as we speak, so his 2.6 million portfolio is really not gonna be everlasting even if he makes passive income. If anything, he’s gaming the last point to stretch his dollar by whatever benchmark is comfortable for him,” a commenter chimed in.

Another summed it up succinctly: “Bro worked with Google. Used his smarts to invest millions. Good for him.” /TISG

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