SINGAPORE: A graduate of one of Singapore’s top universities had advice for everyone, writing in a social media post that the Singapore Dream can turn out to be a nightmare, depending on one’s choices.

The author of the May 19 post on the NUS Whispers Facebook page describes himself as a Singaporean millennial who received a government scholarship to pursue a PhD at NUS. However, he also expressed how let down by life he feels.

“But I never achieved the Singaporean dream. I’m almost 40 and still a virgin. I have no wife, no house, no children, no car, no nothing. I cannot find a job in Singapore, despite being a government scholar, and had to leave Singapore to earn an income, just like many foreign workers in low-income jobs in SG.”

Nevertheless, living abroad has given him perspective, as it often does. He has realized that “Singaporeans really have ‘everything’ but are not always happy or grateful.”

While some in Singapore society have been “left out” like himself, most of the NUS and NTU graduates he knows have comfortable lives, “if only they can look past their petty little problems in life, and not get dragged down by them.”

He added that while “Singaporeans talk about ‘upgrading’ a lot, not only in housing but career advancement,” this is not always the case elsewhere, where there’s “no guarantee” of being able to live in a better home later on, or of even getting a promotion at work.

“Many people simply accept the possibility that they will be stuck for life, without being managers or executives,” he wrote.

In the same way, while many in Singapore can travel overseas on holiday once or twice a year to expensive countries like Japan, many people that the post author has met overseas have never even travelled outside their own country, even those who’ve earned PhDs.

“And despite all that, people can still find happiness on a day-to-day basis. People find happiness just by talking to colleagues, talking to family, talking to friends. Or making a joke about their problems in life.”

This is not the case in Singapore, where “personal problems are usually sad situations in the telling”, as many get bogged down by issues such as not getting along with colleagues or disagreements with their partners.

“You cannot expect people to do things your way. You cannot change people But you can take resp...