u/Eleangel_

This is something I've been noticing and I'm curious whether others have observed the same.

From what I gather among singles around me, quite a number applied for a 2-room BTO (singles in SG can only get w room BTO) not because they intend to move out, but because they saw it as their right as a Singaporean and a potentially valuable asset in the long run. The thinking seems to be that after MOP, the flat can either be sold or rented out, while they continue living with parents.

What surprised me is that some of these flats are fully furnished, yet the owners still choose to live with their parents. Some visit their units occasionally, but never live there full-time.

If you don't believe this is prevalent, try visiting a newly completed estate 1–4 years after key collection, during MOP. Walk around on a few different evenings or nights and see how many units in those 2-room stacks actually have their lights on.

I've also heard from singles who live in their 2-room flats that they don't seem to have many neighbours around, as quite a number of their 2-room units appear unoccupied all the time. Whether this is common or not, I honestly don't know.

It also made me wonder about another observation. Is this partly what people mean when they say Singaporeans tend to stay with their parents longer and delay independence? Even when some people own a home of their own, they may still prefer the convenience, family support, home-cooked meals and lower expenses. They have parents do housework for them and refuse to move out even when parents are not reliant on children.

Obviously, this is based on personal observations and anecdotes rather than hard data but coworkers have also told me there is alot of undertable rental going on among BTO owners.

Is leaving a BTO largely vacant / "renting out to friend" during the MOP period something of an open secret?

Curious whether others living in newer estates have noticed similar patterns, or if my circle is simply not representative.

Posting this mainly to normalise that not all job experiences are clean or ideal, and a lot of people have roles they’d rather forget or not bring it up anymore.

Ever had a job you left and never talk about anymore, or don’t mention on LinkedIn and resume? It can be for reasons like the job didn’t work out or the company wasn’t a good fit / bad move.

There are jobs I would personally consider “unspeakable” in the sense that they don’t exist anywhere on my LinkedIn or resume. If someone asked how many jobs I’ve worked at, I would not include these. They will cease to exist in my history in social situations.

Some of mine:

1. Long ago, I joined a family SME in a niche industry in December as I was desperate after graduation. There was no pantry (still fine(, and the female boss would screamed at 1 employee for leaving their desks to eat a bun during late hours (he would purposely hide somewhere just to eat, and I didn’t understand the culture back then). She caught him hiding to eat, and shouted at everyone that we should eat breakfast before coming to work.

Working hours were Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 7.30pm. They also had a shopfront. Annual leave was 7 days to start as per MOM. I worked there for 3.25 months.

I left because I couldn’t stand the boss’s wife any longer, and the boss said he would cut my pay from the next month by 15 percent, from 2k to 1.7k, because my colleague, a foreign fresh grad from Malaysia was willing to accept that kind of pay. I said okay cause fresh grad me thought i should be submissive but I left by the 9th of the following month when I fired them on that same day after a tiff with boss's wife.

2. After first job, I joined an even smaller SME started by naturalised locals as a rebound job, doing sales and marketing. The boss treated it like we were freelance agents or self-employed, so 0 no medical claims or transport claims at all, 0 perks and benefits. It was also 7 days annual leave to start, but he would decide to close the office on a festive period and deduct our leave for it.

Boss issued salary by cheque and sometimes delayed payment, saying that as per MOM law he had no issue as long as salary was paid within 7 working days from payday. Not hard to guess where the bosses are from based on the company name. The boss also transitioned into other industries now but still used the same office space.

Not sure what I was doing there for a whole year as I was lost...

3. Years later, I was looking for a change in field. The hiring manager of the next job I got seemed very eager for me to tender resignation and serve notice on same day, as they offered me the role within the day after interview. It should have been sus but i was driven to change trade.

I tendered on the same day after the interview. When I joined that new role, I then realised my experience with the software I claimed to know was lacking. I overestimated myself, and the hiring manager trusted me during hiring process without doing much checks.

I did manage to catch up in software skills, but by day 7, the hiring manager (my direct line) called me for a meeting with HR and told me they had to let me go due to difference in expectations, giving me an option between termination letter or self-resignation. I got logged out of company access immediately and had to use a guest PC in their business centre to write my resignation letter.

On hindsight, I should have asked for termination since it was only a 7-day job anyway.

Hiring manager protected herself first and told her boss I couldn't deliver, she told me if she didn't do that, her job would also be in trouble.

I moved all my stuff back home and low-key felt quite affected as it felt like a forced eviction. Living with parents made it harder because I had to explain my job or jobless situation to them with white lies.

Just curious on tales from others, and would love to hear what jobs did you have that you rather it remain unspeakable and buried deep in history.

The first job I tell people on about is the trade that i worked in the longest and I am back to same field again. Hopefully, those who are lost in career would feel less alone.

Just sharing an weirdly interesting experience and curious how others see it. We are based in Singapore.

A guy found me on Facebook after seeing my profile on Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB). With the newer CMB interface, you can see a person’s name before matching. I know he was legit because he sent screenshots of his profile and even referenced an emoji that was in my bio.

Even though he was polite, I felt uncomfortable that he moved the conversation to another platform without a match or my consent. It felt like a boundary I didn’t explicitly agree to.

Realised we can't post image on this thread so I put what he said here:

Z: Hi \[me\], I’m Z! Saw your profile on CMB so I message you here. Hope to have a chance to know and meet you soon in person, you look really beautiful to me 😊💕

Me: Hi eh how did u find my profile when I didnt link FB anywhere?

Z: Ehh I don’t mean to stalk you.. but I was really interested in connecting with you so I put in some efforts in trying to find you because I wasn’t sure if you’re still active on the app haha

other stuff:

Z: I understand.. I will love to meet and get to know you in real life instead of just chatting. Well if you’re willing to give me a chance

Z: Anyway I also know there are many scammers online these days.. so maybe I shouldn’t have tried to find you outside of the app. Sorry for disturbing you

He later also said stuff like maybe we could do a call if convenient to prove he is real and genuine but eventually he dropped it and accept that maybe it is wrong timing.

I’ve noticed that when someone puts in a lot of effort to track down social media early on, it doesn’t always mean genuine intent. Sometimes it feels more like intensity and in the moment rather than real compatibility, and interest can drop quickly after meeting in real life. Some guys do future faking or creative fantasies of the idea of a lady and not actual lady. I’m cautious of people who come in quite invested before any meeting.

Another thing that made me pause was language like “hope you’ll give me a chance/if you give me a chance” I know some people mean it sincerely, but it can feel a bit too intense when we’re still strangers.

Ironically, he did say he doesn’t want marriage or kids, which actually aligns with me. But overall, the timing, platform, and approach didn’t feel right for me.

I have blocked him on FB since.

I also realised he sent me request on Instagram, which I also blocked.

Just putting this out there to hear different perspectives on situations like this.