SINGAPORE: After a Reddit user claimed that life in Singapore only works well for those who have had a “smooth” life, netizens chimed in to tell her that she’s done the best she can considering her challenging circumstances.
On Monday (Apr 10), u/qbrkrbtk asked on r/SingaporeRaw: Do you feel that Singapore is only for people who have a smooth life?
She explained that she had been brought up in a middle-class family in a three-room flat but that her father had been a chronic gambler who lost his pay every month because of gambling.
Moreover, her “traditional” mother refused to divorce him.
“Every month the night before payday he comes home at 5am gambles all his pay at the gambling den at chinatown. When he lost he come back and beat up my mom until once my mom had head bleeding and spat at my mom. My mom supported the family using her pay of 2.5k,” she added.
Due to the amount of her father’s salary, the family could not qualify for financial aid.
And while she did reasonably well in her O levels, she wrote that she “didn’t have good emotional sense to manage the chaos at home.”
To add to their difficult situation, her father lost his job, and when she was 22, he committed suicide.
She ended her post by writing “So after that I did a private diploma and I faced so much prejudice during the interviews and in daily life. Singapore is only a place for people who are lucky enough to have a smooth life.”
One netizen commenting on her post agreed that “SG is definitely a place for ppl who are at least middle/upper middle class” but commended her for doing “great” with the “cards she was dealt.”
Another added, “Singapore is playground for the filthy rich. But i believe the education and to some extend meritocratic system allows for relatively easy upward socioeconomic mobility from lower to middle class.”
But at least one Reddit user disagreed with the post author, writing, “Singapore is certainly great for people who have a smooth life but it’s also not so bad a place for those who have to rise up from more challenging circumstances.”
Another urged her to look on the bright side.
/TISG
KF Seetoh: We are the most expensive city, not the richest. Now u know why your wallet so empty