ADVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
Dr Sing Kong Yuen
Written: 6 Mar 2026.
16 May 2024. Orchard MRT Station garden. 10am.
Coffee at Toast Box Shaw House with Ms M.
My friend whom I shall call Miss M is an excellent story teller of people she encounters in her professional work. She enthralled me with interesting stories of high and under achievers over coffee in this relatively quiet Toast Box cafe at Shaw House. One such story is the engineering recruitment lady who earned over S$200,000 per year. The median income is probably S$48,000 annually.
This yellow
butterfly, seen by me as I walked from the Orchard MRT Station to Toast Box, typifies the Type "A" personality - the Go-Getter
person who works very hard and gets results as evident in his or her
high earnings e.g. S$200,000 income per year for the engineering
recruitment lady.
This Common Grass Yellow is rarely seen
perched on the leaf for more than 3 seconds. It flutters from one
flower to another as if it has no time to waste. Hence, it is rare to
capture a photo of it sipping honey and permitting me time to squat
to its eye level to take a sharp image.
"Type A"
personalities are like this butterfly. No time to waste on eating,
drinking and sleeping as there is so much to do and so little time to
achieve.
A 24-hour day is insufficient. It is best to take time to take care of your health.
This includes a Mediterranean type of diet, daily exercise of at 5,000
steps of walking and 30 minutes of moderate vigorous physical activity and
sufficient sleep.
Failure to
take care of your health will manifest from your early 40s in getting
heart diseases, stroke and diabetes. Or looking aged early.
GO-GETTER
- very energetic, determined. Someone
who is very energetic, determined to be successful and able to deal
with new or difficult situations easily.
TO BUY PHOTO: www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets
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2024
SINGAPORE - 15 MAY 2024: 9am.
ORCHARD MRT STATION garden.
The Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe) stops to sip nectar from the small orange and yellow Lantana camara flowers. Squat to take the photo at eye level with the butterfly.
SINGAPORE - 16 MAY 2024: 10.22am.
COFFEE AT TOAST BOX at Shaw House is popular for breakfast and social meetings as it is located in the prime Orchard Road area. Food Republic food court and Orchard subway nearby.
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2026
The Red Junglefowl
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Live Your Values. Make A Difference.
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Text
A predatory smile stretched across his weathered face. It was the exact kind of smile a hungry wolf gives right before it corners a trapped rabbit. He lets out a low chuckle that echoed loudly in the small dusty room. "Richard, my friend," he said softly, his eyes gleaming with a triumphant light. "You are a brilliant contractor, but you are a terrible historian of your own life. You have been so stressed over your recent stroke that you have completely forgotten you own financial planning."
I furrowed my brown in deep confusion staring at his grinning face. "What on earth are you talking about?" I asked, completely lost in his sudden shift of tone. "I did not plan anything. I was tricked over coffee."
Mike reached for a black leather binder sitting on the corner of his desk. He pulled it open to a tabbed page, spinning it around so I could read the text.
"Three years ago," Mike explained, his voice ringing with pure satisfaction. "You asked me to prepare an irrevocable trust."
