He lived the Singapore Dream of getting into medical school but quit for taichi and theatre. Why?

Sue-Ann Tan (0:00)

Get good grades in school, go to a good uni, maybe very specifically, study medicine, study law, earn big bucks at work.

Kai Wen (0:08)

That's the good job, right? That's the good job.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:09)

Get a partner, BTO, and then have two kids and a dog, and then you retire, you collect your CPF life payouts, and then you die. That is the dream.

Kai Wen (0:21)

Good grades, good jobs, getting married and getting a BTO.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:25)

Are these all your friends ever talk about?

Kai Wen (0:26)

But isn't that every Singaporeans dream though?

Sue-Ann Tan (0:29)

Let's talk about it.

Kai Wen (0:30)

Hi, my name is Kai Wen.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:31)

And I'm Sue-Ann, and you're listening to Headstart on Record.

Kai Wen (0:33)

Join us as we figure a doubting out so you don't have to do it alone. Welcome to the show, Julian!

Julian Low (0:39)

Hello everyone.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:39)

Hello.

Kai Wen (0:40)

Our guest today is a former Golden SG boy who left medical school to chase his passion. Julian is now the co-founder of Wushiren, a physical theatre group that blends theatre with Tai Chi.

But right off the bat, I want to ask you guys a question. What is your definition of the Singaporean dream? Julian, maybe you can take that one for us.

Julian Low (0:59)

I think when I was asked this question, I was very confused. But when I heard of the Singaporean dream, I automatically assumed it was the usual things. You know, good, maybe good education first.

Good job. Good career. Then therefore leading to good money, good financial sustainability. And then later on, having kids and a good family. So that's what I understood as the typical Singaporean dream.

Sue-Ann Tan (1:22)

Right, right, right. Sue-Ann, how about you? I think I agree with that. So I think like it definitely was like get good grades in school, go to a good uni. Maybe very specifically, study medicine, study law, earn big bucks at work.

Kai Wen (1:35)

That's the good job, right?

Sue-Ann Tan (1:36)

That's the good job. Get a partner, BTO, and then have two kids and a dog. And then you retire, you collect your CPF life payouts, and then you die. That is the dream.

Kai Wen (1:45)

That sounds like a very sad dream, but okay.

Sue-Ann Tan (1:48)

But it is a dream, right? And that's why we should talk about that, right? Yeah, at least some people's dream. Why is this a dream? Okay, okay.

Kai Wen (1:53)

I think that for me, straight away, what jumps out is a very old way of saying the five Cs. Do you all remember?

Sue-Ann Tan (1:57)

Oh my goodness. It's like parents' generation. Yeah, this is like my parents' generation.

Kai Wen (2:00)

I think it's definitely not applicable anymore. But anyway, it's a cash, credit card, condo, country club, and car. Which, honestly, country club, who...

Sue-Ann Tan (2:08)

Yeah. But actually, the rest still kind of...

Kai Wen (2:10)

Yeah, car, I guess. But also, like, nowadays, people are just taking crap all around. So I don't think there's a need to own a car in Singapore anymore. Yeah. And also, I feel like country club, although maybe nowadays, people are getting BTOs instead, the more, like, savvy option, right?

Sue-Ann Tan (2:24)

Yeah. What do you think?

Kai Wen (2:26)

Yeah. But for me, I think mainly, like what you guys said, the SG dream is actually a fixed pathway to a very fixed definition of success, which is what I feel that it is. So I think people just have this set route and formula and script that they follow.

Julian Low (2:42)

I think you hit something spot on that I feel resonates so much that there's something fixed. When I got into medical school, I got in with a scholarship, the undergraduate merit scholarship from NUS. And so my fees were paid off. And people were telling me that essentially, you did it. You have hit the dream.

Which also felt like the end or the beginning of the end. In a way, you have hit the end point and it's just the beginning part of the end point. Because-

Kai Wen (3:07)

Right, who congratulated you? Like your family and your friends?

Julian Low (3:09)

Everyone, yeah. Essentially, I really did feel like- I felt like I was glowing with gold in terms of having succeeded something. And then I entered medical school.

And it was a lot more different than you'd think because the guidance maybe from the past is work harder, blah, blah, blah.

Now the guidance was hang in there. Oh. As you can see.