Many young people aged 25-30 around me go to Singapore for work, attracted by the higher salaries and the advantages of the SGD exchange rate. At the same time, they rent in Malaysia to reduce living costs, and daily cross-border commuting has become routine. Once they have a stable income, they immediately start considering loans to buy a house and a car.

The problem is—after high income is tied to high consumption, monthly mortgage, car loans, insurance, and maintenance fees become locked in. This means you have to keep working nonstop, with no room to breathe. If you suddenly get laid off, a project gets canceled, or the industry experiences turbulence, the entire financial system could collapse in an instant.

What seems like a glamorous lifestyle is actually trading future stability for current high consumption. Once you step onto this path, it could be a decade or two of debt repayment—truly a financial prison.