By Valerie Oon
It is a bleak Christmas this year. While the wet weather has been quenching our Christmas spirit, the looming recession is a rain on our buyer’s impulse. Each time my fingers close in on an object for sale, my heart reaches for it only to be thwarted by my mother’s voice in my head: “Now economy so bad…you know the value of money or not.” Of course, this has amounted to insane financial contributions to the F&B industry because when the going gets tough and the tough can’t shop, the tough goes eating.
And if like me, you’re ripe for an exit with Bachelor’s, you might also be asking yourself the million dollar question, in the manner of Shirlyn Tan’s robust rendition, should I stay or should I gooo? Is honours a value-add or really just a perfect alibi to escape the stodgy life of an underpaid working adult with unfamiliar responsibilities?
Because in times like these, graduation is so much more than just that scroll of paper, square hat and the launch of an exciting career. Graduation in this climate could entail unnecessary nerves, shelved graduation trips, loads of discouraging interviews and might possibly culminate in a disappointing job. I paint a grim picture but this is really no time for quixotic career choices.
With Singapore being the first country in the region to fall into this slump, we might even have to review the virtues of our degree, honours or no. Is pumping another 6K* worth of financial resource into this so-called ‘first class education’ going to see any returns other than that yearlong reprieve from the struggle for employment? We might be better off investing in stocks that are hitting rock bottom prices.
