Quek Jie Ann

[SINGAPORE] When I was about five, I promised my dad that when he retired, I’d buy him a pink Ferrari and fill his bank account with millions.

[SINGAPORE] There was a time I juggled two part-time jobs, an internship and full-time studies.

[SINGAPORE] Fresh out of university, Sheng, 26, was ready to take on the working world. The corporate sector awarded him 13-hour working days.

[SINGAPORE] I almost miss the days when my friends’ biggest relationship problems were: “Do they like me?”

[SINGAPORE] The question “Are you dead?” popped up on my screen the other week – not as a text from a friend I’d unintentionally ignored, but as a headline.

[SINGAPORE] Last year wasn’t the easiest for fresh graduates entering the workforce.

[SINGAPORE] I used to collect stamps when I was five. My interest died down a few years later, but in my early 20s, I found a new collectible: internships.

[SINGAPORE] Earlier this week, I asked my colleagues: “Do you guys talk about pay here? How about at your previous workplace?”

[SINGAPORE] A friend once swore to me she’d leave her job “soon”. A year later, she’s still there – despite saying it no longer fulfils her. So I asked her, why stay?

[SINGAPORE] When I was a kid, I thought I’d be married by 25 and start a family at 27. Today, that seems like an absurd timeline.