I woke up this morning, feeling excited. I was scheduled to undergo a learning journey to Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. I had never been there before, so I was eager to witness a side of Singapore I had yet to experience.

GIC is one of three companies managing Singapore’s financial reserves alongside the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Temasek Holdings. These reserves are meant to facilitate our country’s development of different areas as well as tide it over difficult times. I like how its complex roles have been distilled into easy-to-remember aims:

I was there for a financial literacy workshop. As you can tell from the picture, the Rule of Three was effectively leveraged. Participants were instantly made aware of the three objectives: differentiating between needs and wants, saving to combat inflation, and creating a budget.

TIL the term ‘habitude’. Apparently, it is a composite of ‘habit’ and ‘attitude’. I especially enjoyed reading the six different profiles and choosing the habitude character that resonated with me the best.

I don’t think I’m an irresponsible spender, but I do like being spontaneous and living in the moment. I like how a balanced portrayal of each Habitude character is given.

Aside from the workshop, I enjoyed the spectacular view of my country’s towering landscape.

It isn’t just all concrete, though because its in-house cafe houses a quaint office farm.

I imagine the staff working there would become quite immune to these motivational statements outside the meeting rooms. However, I was quite captivated by them since it was my first visit. Ngl, my heart stirred a bit. I could feel patriotism coursing through my veins.

In all, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have visited GIC. I think it’s an awfully decent move by the management to hold financial literacy workshops for young people and open their hearts and minds to the important topic of money management.