Live life to the fullest, so you won’t have regrets

IN SPITE of the gloomy economic outlook, I find myself spending more than ever.
Call me financially foolhardy, but I’ve never been at a better time in my life to live life to the fullest.
After all, I am young with no obligations or commitments, have a stable job which pays decently, and most importantly, I find [...]

Girls, give the nice guys a chance

A FRIEND recently joined a Facebook group named ‘I have an ex-boyfriend who makes me want to vomit’.
The group’s description says it all.
It confirms the Chinese adage, nan ren bu huai, nu ren bu ai, which loosely translates into ‘if the boy isn’t bad, the girls won’t like him’.
In one corner, meet Exhibit A – [...]

Best to stay upbeat amid downturn

By Goh Wen Zhong
DO YOU remember the first day you started your career? I won’t forget mine in a hurry – it was Sept 15 this year, better known as Meltdown Monday.
It was a very hollow feeling indeed: the excitement of finally embarking on a career as a corporate [...]

Did we trade our freedom for security?

A British journalist recently questioned Singaporean attitudes towards civil liberties and political freedoms – would we rather be poor but free, or financially comfortable but politically restrained? YouthInk writers speak up.
Don’t fix something that’s not broken
I BELIEVE the top-down Government in Singapore has its merits – among them the sustenance of Singapore as an economic [...]

Experiences during student days most valuable

By Goh Wen Zhong
AFTER five years of tertiary study, I have handed in my final examination script.
I never thought that I would say this, but yes, I am going to miss my student days.
Time spent as a tertiary student is very short – it is all over in three, maybe four years.
And while I was [...]

Intangible costs of living abroad – without family

By Goh Wen Zhong
THE month of May in Britain is generally a welcome one – better weather aside, it sees two public holidays, both on a Monday.
This provides an opportunity for Londoners to return to their hometowns and spend a long weekend with their loved ones. Much as I would like to do the same, [...]

Complain? Try a little courtesy first

YouthInk writers get to the root of the ‘complain culture’ in S’pore.
Courtesy is the key
OUR Asian culture may be the key reason Singaporeans refrain from giving feedback.
Common cultural traits bandied about include
‘being polite’, ‘passive’ and ‘non-confrontational’. Generally, I find that true of my peers.
It’s a chasm of difference from Western culture, which tends to encourage [...]

Guess who’s singing Singapore ’s praises?

By Goh Wen Zhong
AS A Singaporean living overseas, it is always interesting to hear what foreigners have to say about home. At one end of the spectrum, you have those who go: ‘Oh, where in China is Singapore?’
At the other, you have those who are bent on criticising almost every aspect of Singaporean life – [...]

You think, we write

By Goh Wen Zhong
ROBERT Louis Stevenson said: ‘The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect your reader precisely as you wish.’
That is a philosophy that guided me through my time as a fledgling writer three years ago, to my current role [...]

Going global without losing sight of where the heart is

With so many of Singapore’s brightest given the chance to expand their horizons abroad, are they giving up their birthright to go global? YouthInk writers speak up.
Creative class drawn by vibrant cities

A NATURAL consequence of globalisation is the inevitable flow of talent with the movement of capital, goods and ideas across borders.
These footloose talents, [...]