By Desmond Ng
September 11, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
HE was jobless, broke and demoralised. To make things worse, he faced endless criticism from friends and relatives about his unemployed status.
Click to see larger image
DRIVEN: Hailing from a humble background, Mr Choo Koon Lip says that he has always preferred the road less travelled. TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO
It came to a point when Mr Choo Koon Lip decided that he had had enough.
In September last year, he boldly declared in his blog that he would make enough money to retire in a year's time, by the time he was 26.
Said Mr Choo: 'It was a bold statement to make, but my intention was to let people know that I could live comfortably without any financial worries. I think I have achieved that.'
Silenced critics
Mr Choo left his full-time job as an advertising sales manager at a publishing firm in April last year. He was then drawing a monthly salary of about $2,800.
Since then, he has not looked for another job, but instead has been trading in the foreign exchange market.
In the last year, Mr Choo has made a tidy profit of over $100,000, or an average of $10,000 a month.
Not bad for someone who was considered a deadbeat by his peers.
Said Mr Choo: 'It was a message to my peers that I could survive without holding on a full-time job and taking the traditional route of being a salaried worker.
'When I quit my job, I faced a lot of scrutiny from friends and relatives who thought I was a slacker for not looking for a new job. A friend commented that I was not really working and not taking care of my career. I got angry and started the blog. I felt like an outcast then.'
The National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate, who has a degree in Applied Mathematics, has always preferred the road less travelled.
His parents wanted him to be a maths teacher, or work in a bank, but he would have none of that.
He first started options trading in 2004, as a first-year student at NUS. But he lost $25,000 within two months. Undeterred, he pressed on and recovered his losses.
A year later, he started his own publishing firm, Pixie Media, which produced the magazine Snag in September 2005.
But it bombed about a year later in December 2006, due to poor circulation and advertising, incurring a debt of over $70,000.
It was a big blow to Mr Choo.
'I had to borrow money from my younger brother. It was quite pathetic and I also had to ask him to treat me to lunch from time to time,' he said.
Mr Choo, who graduated in June 2006, then took on a full-time job in February last year as an advertising sales manager but left after two months.
'I went to see a new $1.3 million condo in town. I was calculating the initial deposit of about $260,000 and realised that it would take me a very long time to save that kind of money.
'After realising that there is an income ceiling as a salaried worker, I decided to call it quits,' he said.
Humble background
He has been jobless since last April.
Mr Choo, who is single, currently lives in a three-room HDB flat in West Coast with his parents.
His father, 54, is a welder while his mother, 47, is a factory operator. His 23-year-old brother is a business undergraduate at the Singapore Management University (SMU) who's also runs his own online sea shells business.
Mr Choo then turned to forex trading. He also started a trading academy in May this year to teach investment strategies.
His lessons are conducted both online and in a serviced office, but he was quick to add that there are risks.
Mr Choo's mother, Madam Yong Siew Lan, said she always had faith in her son.
She said: 'He has always been driven since young. I wanted him to be a teacher but he has his own path to follow.' Back to News
September 11, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
HE was jobless, broke and demoralised. To make things worse, he faced endless criticism from friends and relatives about his unemployed status.
Click to see larger image
DRIVEN: Hailing from a humble background, Mr Choo Koon Lip says that he has always preferred the road less travelled. TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO
It came to a point when Mr Choo Koon Lip decided that he had had enough.
In September last year, he boldly declared in his blog that he would make enough money to retire in a year's time, by the time he was 26.
Said Mr Choo: 'It was a bold statement to make, but my intention was to let people know that I could live comfortably without any financial worries. I think I have achieved that.'
Silenced critics
Mr Choo left his full-time job as an advertising sales manager at a publishing firm in April last year. He was then drawing a monthly salary of about $2,800.
Since then, he has not looked for another job, but instead has been trading in the foreign exchange market.
In the last year, Mr Choo has made a tidy profit of over $100,000, or an average of $10,000 a month.
Not bad for someone who was considered a deadbeat by his peers.
Said Mr Choo: 'It was a message to my peers that I could survive without holding on a full-time job and taking the traditional route of being a salaried worker.
'When I quit my job, I faced a lot of scrutiny from friends and relatives who thought I was a slacker for not looking for a new job. A friend commented that I was not really working and not taking care of my career. I got angry and started the blog. I felt like an outcast then.'
The National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate, who has a degree in Applied Mathematics, has always preferred the road less travelled.
His parents wanted him to be a maths teacher, or work in a bank, but he would have none of that.
He first started options trading in 2004, as a first-year student at NUS. But he lost $25,000 within two months. Undeterred, he pressed on and recovered his losses.
A year later, he started his own publishing firm, Pixie Media, which produced the magazine Snag in September 2005.
But it bombed about a year later in December 2006, due to poor circulation and advertising, incurring a debt of over $70,000.
It was a big blow to Mr Choo.
'I had to borrow money from my younger brother. It was quite pathetic and I also had to ask him to treat me to lunch from time to time,' he said.
Mr Choo, who graduated in June 2006, then took on a full-time job in February last year as an advertising sales manager but left after two months.
'I went to see a new $1.3 million condo in town. I was calculating the initial deposit of about $260,000 and realised that it would take me a very long time to save that kind of money.
'After realising that there is an income ceiling as a salaried worker, I decided to call it quits,' he said.
Humble background
He has been jobless since last April.
Mr Choo, who is single, currently lives in a three-room HDB flat in West Coast with his parents.
His father, 54, is a welder while his mother, 47, is a factory operator. His 23-year-old brother is a business undergraduate at the Singapore Management University (SMU) who's also runs his own online sea shells business.
Mr Choo then turned to forex trading. He also started a trading academy in May this year to teach investment strategies.
His lessons are conducted both online and in a serviced office, but he was quick to add that there are risks.
Mr Choo's mother, Madam Yong Siew Lan, said she always had faith in her son.
She said: 'He has always been driven since young. I wanted him to be a teacher but he has his own path to follow.' Back to News
