You better go and finish your degree!

“I never said to anyone they shouldn’t be a crane operator. All I said was do it only AFTER you have finished your degree. After that you can do whatever you like – it’s after all your life.

Having said that, let me be frank – if I find out that any of you have sneaked off to operate a crane without finishing your degree – then I may just pay your sweethearts a courtesy call when you’re working playing Bob the builder. You know it’s very high up there – you just can’t step out of the cage and hail a taxi to go back home…..that simply means I can do a lot of things with your precious in the kitchen as you wouldn’t be around – things like baking cakes after that we may move to the hall and so on and so forth.

Coming to think of it, even if any of you confront me. I’ve still give your wife a playful smack in the ass – she will probably like it – you can watch if you want – you want to know why I am suddenly taking a personal interest in your woman?

Because you have left your backdoor wide open like a chicken house with a big neon sign that says, eat as much as you want!

What are you going to do call up the police and tell them that there is a strange man wearing really tight trousers with a bulge chatting to your one and only…. I want to be clear. If that ever happens. You have no one to blame, but your poor sorry self.

As you never bothered to improve yourself. You were so cinchai that you didn’t even bother to take it all to the logical end – you just stopped at your stupid diploma and sucked your thumb instead of going the full home run by finishing off your degree – and since all you do is impersonate a yo-yo and use as much brain power as it takes to tie your shoelaces to get through a working day as a crane operator – you’re probably as interesting as a bollard or a door stopper. You know why don’t you, because you motherfuckers didn’t bother to connect the dots. You just ran with what someone who you saw on TV said – so you never fleshed out your character or for that matter bothered with the whole deal of developing yourself as a well rounded individual. Never even invested in the idea of getting to know yourself deeper or for that matter pushing yourself to the very limit.

You will not be able to stop me. Do you all understand?

You disregarded my brotherly advice on the art of manliness – and there is one thing that I can never abide in a man – a failure to see a thing through to the very end. My god, if there is one thing that makes me white hot…this is it….you’ve all hit my hot button!

Now I want you all to understand – this is what I am going to do in three years time.

You all know I never kid around – you all know that if I say, I do something….I’ll do it and it’s as good as a promissory note from the Bank of England….you all better run along right now and tell all your friends about the facts of life.

Remember…I was not here….I did not say this.”

Excerpt of a conversation somewhere in the people’s square in Prima Maritima – The Brotherhood Press 2013

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“The goal in life is to get ahead. That’s it! That at least is how I see it – to get ahead. And a big component of that is to have the inner confidence to see a thing through to the very end no matter what obstacles you may face – that’s why you have to get your priorities right when you’re young and not be too bothered about the whole idea of earning 7K as a crane operator or high class call girl – besides, if your just a frog in the well – because that is precisely how you will come across to others, if you didn’t see the wisdom of finishing your academic career to it’s logical end.

Sure! By and large people are generally nice about it even if you don’t have a degree – but in reality, a graduate will always look down on a non graduate – it’s nothing personal, it’s just the way the system scripts a thinking man. Look at it from his point of view, he’s cut his teeth, served his number of tours of duty, earned his stripes etc etc etc – could well be he’s a graduate from the halloed ivy league or a tin pot neverheardof university.

But this is where the world is incredibly egalitarian as a graduate is still a graduate.

You need a degree because when you want to get ahead in work – the last thing you want to do is to give any of those motherfuckers from writing down in your secret employee file.

“He’s smart. Enthusiastic. Good team player. Highly motivated. Resourceful. Diabolically popular with his colleagues…..pity he’s not one of us….pity he gave it all up at the Diploma level…..pity he’s not a graduate….”

Because that is what they will say to you – not in words, but say it they will behind your back at the water cooler, expressed in sardonic clucks, similes, the raised eyebrow, the cosy insiderism that the graduate tribe typically exudes when they talk imperially about lower lifeforms.

So those motherfuckers are a tribe like us gentlemen.

Understand this! As this is how the game of life is played. The game master has provisioned some cheats along the way – when you’re a graduate – all the cheats are there. The graduate never gets blamed, if anything fucks up. It’s always the diploma holder whose always holding the bag with a befuddle look as the rest of management look at him with that collective expression of resignation,

“They always fuck it up!”

You never want to give anyone the excuse to look down on you, like I said the pedigree of your degree is not really important. As it just gets you through the door like a skeleton key, after that you’re good to go on a level playing field – because this is where performance becomes the great equalizer in life.

If you’re the man who can get things done – even if you have a degree in Origami or a Phd in the seven fabled urination techniques, you will be unstoppable.

My point gentlemen is to play the game of life well – you need a degree. Look at it from a strategic point of view. It gets you through the door, covers your ass and is also good to go for the gold.

What’s the cost, two down years and having to do it our tribal way – where to qualify you need to work and study and wean yourself from being a sissyfied parasite to your family.

To be your own man gentlemen.

What did I say? The opportunity to begin your education in the art of manliness.

To find the rugged individual somewhere in that geek, nerd, sissy, gaming addict, social parasite. The real and complete man who is not afraid to go where angels fear to tread – if you go to the furtherest reaches of desolation, you will see this tribal man who belongs to the Singaporean tribe – there are only a few now, but increasingly more will go out like wild seeds taking to the air.

These men will go into all types of businesses that was once unimaginable in Singapore – they will do so the hard way as they will be the first in their tribe to do things that were never done before. As at this level of the game, they will no longer be using their degrees to get ahead of in a company.

At this new level – they embody the corporation – the man becomes the company. At this new level, he is now a businessman.

As this new man, this tribal man’s sphere of influence grows further and wider – he will begin to notice there are others like him. The game master has once again provisioned enough clues, hints and cheats so that this might happen – as time goes by these men form into guilds.

To cut a long story short – these men or their apprentices as it will be many many years from today will return whence they came from – by then Singapore will not be a very happy place for the natives.

And they will make it a better place. Save it even. As these men are accustomed to hard work and most importantly seeing a thing through to the very end, no matter how difficult or hard it may be.

That is at least how I see the rough outline of this game.

Now you understand why I can’t just watch by quietly as some idiot comes around and tell young people – a degree is useless. As that man has every right to say that it is best not to to expect La Dolce Vita if you happen to be a graduate. But he has no right to say, a degree is not important.

As Gentlemen to play this game well. You need a degree…and it’s final….not negotiable…

You all do not have any idea….none whatsoever….how much I am willing….how much I am prepared to give to see the end of this game. You all have no idea.”