Sunday 7 January 2018

Who is Small Fry?

I was born to a low income family in Singapore. Both of my parents did not complete O lvls and they juggled between multiple jobs to feed a family of 8.

As my family was poor, I would, from a tender age of 6, borrow books from the National Library Board as the sole form of entertainment up till primary 4. The little toys I had were gifts from relatives and my parent's friends. Other than clothes and books, my parents never bought any material goods for me as well.

My parents taught me not to waste food and money since young and these have been the core of my decision making for everyday life. In primary school, I was given a weekly allowance of $5 and I have to spend wisely so that the $5 could last the week. If I finished spending the weekly allowance, there will be no extra allowance, unless really necessary. From secondary school onward, my allowance became a monthly allowance instead.

I would have to save up or find other means to make some money if I ever wanted to buy anything. This led me to become quite an avid trader in trading cards (eg. Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, WWE).

While my tertiary education for a Diploma was funded by my parents, I chose to work after graduation to earn my keep and pay for my own Bachelor's Degree. During my 1st year in poly, my uncle wanted to lend me $20,000 and said that if I could turn $20,000 into $40,000 in 3 years, he would give me the $20,000 instead for my further studies in a university. Not wanting to risk the $20,000 to double it in such a short time I declined his offer, and started reading more on trading and investing.

Frugal spending and selling trading cards have allowed me to accumulate $40,000 in savings by the time I reach 21 years old. From then I started investing and trading in 2009 near the bottom of the Great Financial Crisis.

This blog documents my journey as a small fry in the big ocean of financial behemoths.

As a reader, welcome to my blog. Please do not follow me blindly.