Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Maybe we men should NOT give Singaporean Women what they want...

Image result for skiing

The biggest incident I experience last week shows the multi-stage nature of the COVID-19 virus outbreak.

First the markets reacted when people started falling sick in Asia. Now markets are reacting when everyone around the world started falling sick. I think the next wave is when the economic fallout starts to hit the main street in Singapore. This can take place even when the outbreak is under control.

Last week, a friend was let go and I spent the day panicking about his future. I visited a head-hunter's home for a social event hoping that I find a way out for my friend only to find the headhunter out of a job himself.

A week's deeper reflection confirmed that I was deeply wrong about who needs help.

My friend is intimately familiar with my investing methods. I pointedly asked him how long his money would last to which the reply was easily 3 years. He is also very gritty and has even lined up for himself a job that pays an hourly rate. He has no expectations to get a better job amidst the virus outbreak. My friend is young and can take quite a decent amount of punishment.

On the other hand, the headhunter seemed "confident" that he can last another 6 months without employment, after which all he had to do is to "sell his home". Like me, the headhunter is not a spring chicken anymore and has to contend with a tougher job market. How he can get employed amidst the virus outbreak is a mystery to me because I'm pretty sure he has more headhunter friends to seek help from !

So it is highly likely that my young friend will survive. My headhunter friend may be in serious trouble and I have no idea what he will do to get out of this mess.

There may also be a fundamental difference with the way my friends see life :

  • My young friend is tough and willing (even eager) to eat shit. Like me, he does not have much a sense of style. He spends a lot of time gaming. His was a life of instability and struggle.
  • My headhunter friend is the opposite and was my go-to source of great food recommendations. He's cool and have a great sense for music his era - A product of decades of job security and career success.  
So here's the thing. If we build a male avatar out of my friend and the headhunter, I think Singapore women will probably dump my friend and go after the headhunter equivalent in his 20s. 

When Singaporean women were asked what is the biggest turn-off in their dating profiles, they roundly condemned men who have an affinity for gaming and anime. If I were dating in my 20s today, I would have settled for becoming a BBFA. In the world of gaming and anime, Dungeons and Dragons and Magic players are even more alienated from the main stream.  

Singaporean women are subtly telling everyone that they despise introverted men.

In fact, Singaporean Women also betrayed their preferences when they said that they loved men who ski. I am familiar with this because one of the reasons I did not like lunching with colleagues in my mid-20s because Gen X women love to hijack the conversation to talk about scuba diving - the "skiing" of my Generation.   

As we need to get out of Singapore to ski, perhaps women want men who are sporty, extroverted and outgoing. They may also prefer men with openness to new experiences. But to enjoy skiing, men would first need to be willing to spend money - I googled a 7 day trip to Hokkaido and it costs about $3000+ per person. If someone skis as a hobby, I expect several such trips a year to the Swiss Alps or even Aspen Colorado.

Here's the thing, while hypergamy is normal for women, a willingness to spend does not imply actual wealth. Millenial women should be smart to observe what happened to the men of my generation : some of the dashing, debonair and cool dudes end up being betrayed by their corporate masters and end up bitterly complaining about the unfairness of the capitalist system. 

Younger guys need to wake up to the idea that just giving what these women on online portals is a recipe for a lifetime of pain. 

Just ask yourselves, what happened to the "fly" dudes of Generation X. 

Some dudes in my generation had to be cool in their 20s, playing guitars and riding a motorcycle - where are they now? Are they living lives of "perpetual job search" like the Kims in the movie Parasite ?
  • Save 50% of your salary. Own the means of production.
  • Ignore women who hate anime fans. You can even get fitness tips from One Punch Man. 
  • Don't pick up skiing. Each trip is worth at least a decent position in a good REIT of your choosing.




8 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:18 PM

    Hi Christopher, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    There are some points I agree:
    We all need to be adaptable and learn how to manage money.
    We should not live our lives based on other people's expectations.
    However, I feel that you may be making assumptions about what ladies want.
    I am sure that if you list the qualities of your 2 friends out, they will certainly find
    qualities in your gamer friend more desirable vs the other guy.
    Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, girls like guys who are extroverted and leaders. And spend money....which is not the same as have money.

    But guys get to play the game a lot longer, into 40s or even 50s. And don't have to play in sg. And don't even have to play if they don't want to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not so sure about the part of not playing in SG. The females from the rest of this region are not particularly better candidates for reliable matrimonial partners.

      Delete
  3. Hmmmm...i think women prefer men who has leadership skills and is more visible in sports and activities during the dating phase. C'mon... How do u really get to know a gamer? How u know he is not pervert or abusive or just normal introvert?

    Women prefer men who knows how to make money,manage money and can afford to spend. Not just saving all the way.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your headhunter acquaintance / friend can also take on hourly-rated temp jobs to tide over, and/or take on commissioned sales jobs (since headhunting is basically a sales/relationship job).

    Unless he has mired himself in a high-debt/high-cost lifestyle that requires high fixed amounts monthly, retrenchment in S'pore has become a very normal occurrence that shouldn't be seen as a very difficult problem to solve.

    10 years ago I've said that people in S'pore need to pay off (or be able to pay off) their primary residence by age 45 --- (1) without de-railing their retirement assets / portfolio, and (2) without touching their emergency funds meant for daily expenses.

    It remains true today.

    FWIW, I became jobless in 2008 & have remained jobless till now, but have hung on & my portfolio is today double the all-time highs of 2007 with correspondingly bigger dividends to boot. Oh scratch that --- I was "employed" from 2008 to 2010 --- in $8/hour temp jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Agree with pf. Saving all the way is lame.

    "Formal education" and "having money" are not by themselves attractive. What is attractive in men is potential, ambition and discipline. Those attributes do not even have to be directed towards making money.

    The concept of dating or marrying "upwards" will be increasingly dated. Such traditional hypergamy is actually insulting to modern, financially-independent women. Such women can marry , cohabit with or date whoever she wants.

    ReplyDelete