First of all, thank you Shiao-yin Kuik for your empathy. I for one came from a single-parent family and had many times arrived home to no electricity because when my Mom could pay one bill, she could not pay another. My childhood never saw the light of being debt-free or having financial freedom and it was mentally exhausting and draining being raised by someone whose life's narrative had indeed become "I don't have enough, I will never have enough, I am not enough." I turn 28 this year, with much fight, help, and support, Mom and I have broken through the poverty cycle but it took people in my community and church to show me what a life of financial-freedom and management looked like. What was most painful for me was that what was the minimum in the lives of my classmates - being able to pay for school, was something hard to reach for me. When I got fired from my job at the STB where I worked as a customer service officer, I was afraid I would not be able to pay for the next semester of my polytechnic education. It took my kind lecturer who took the money out of her own pocket to pay for my tuition fees that helped me graduate. I've always joked that I would not wish my childhood on my worse enemy and yet, many are going through worse than what I have. So from the bottom of our hearts, the sandwiched, the stuck, the helpless, the angry, the distrusting, thank you for at least being our voice. Trust is cannot be demanded for; it has to be earned, and it will certainly take all of us. Watch the link below!
