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The case of Nur Ilham is interesting. On one hand, since he worked and paid for his car, he has a work ethic, one of the basic ingredients for future success. This is most promising. On the other hand he is also lacking one of the basic ingredients for future success - money sense. He put his money into one of the worst liabilities of modern Singapore society. This is most depressing. Normal assets just depreciate after you buy them. Cars require continued expenses in the form of fuel, insurance and taxes. Cars are not just a poor asset, they are an impoverishing asset.
Certainly, he is free to spend his money as he sees fit. And he may feel that the mobility and status a car affords are worth the expense. But that money, invested wisely, could easily buy him several more cars over his lifetime, if he was willing to delay that "car owner" feeling for 15-20 years. In fact, he could conceivably put that money into dividend-paying stocks today, and just spend the dividends on taxi rides. After enjoying 15-20 years of "free" taxi rides he would probably have not only his original capital but also a handsome capital gain.
More seriously, it is not clear whether his education has suffered as a result of his part-time work. Certainly he is more worldly than his peers, but if he is planning on a teaching career he would be wise to concentrate on becoming as good a teacher as he can be. Otherwise, if he fails to fully develop his potential as a teacher, he may ultimately handicap himself in future, when his performance limits his ultimate success. Of course, if he doesn't want to be a teacher, but just wants a formal academic qualification, that's a different story.
As usual, YMMV.
Certainly, he is free to spend his money as he sees fit. And he may feel that the mobility and status a car affords are worth the expense. But that money, invested wisely, could easily buy him several more cars over his lifetime, if he was willing to delay that "car owner" feeling for 15-20 years. In fact, he could conceivably put that money into dividend-paying stocks today, and just spend the dividends on taxi rides. After enjoying 15-20 years of "free" taxi rides he would probably have not only his original capital but also a handsome capital gain.
More seriously, it is not clear whether his education has suffered as a result of his part-time work. Certainly he is more worldly than his peers, but if he is planning on a teaching career he would be wise to concentrate on becoming as good a teacher as he can be. Otherwise, if he fails to fully develop his potential as a teacher, he may ultimately handicap himself in future, when his performance limits his ultimate success. Of course, if he doesn't want to be a teacher, but just wants a formal academic qualification, that's a different story.
As usual, YMMV.