Age 15: The boys you see now will pale in comparison to boys you will meet in a couple of years. Don’t bother.

Age 18: Wear your retainer. When your wisdom teeth erupt and make the retainer an impossible fit, go back to your orthodontist and ask for a new retainer. You have to protect your parents’ investment in your dentition.

Age 19: Don’t apply to study psychology. Put in a bit more elbow grease even though A-Levels are over, and apply to law school.

Age 23: Buy hospitalisation insurance. Buy as much coverage as you can afford. Your employers are decent people, but they are also businessmen and they don’t owe you anything beyond a salary.

Age 24: Don’t go around meeting strangers from the internet unless you’ve been talking to them for a while.

Age 27: Don’t buy a car. Your friend is a decent person but not the best decision-maker around.

Age 28: Someone who relentlessly pursues you is not a person you need to pursue. Let them do the chasing, they prefer things that way.

Age 30: none of the above matters. You’re still alive, you’re in law school, things have turned out all right. Look forward, not back.

There, I’ve said it.

Top Gear puts a silly smile on my face but the reality of car ownership in Singapore is far less pleasant.

With my limited budget, I could only afford a 20-year-old Mazda MX-5 which needed extensive repairs. Furthermore, I was a vainpot with more money than sense (and I had very little money) so I changed the colour of the car, and its upholstery, which wasn’t strictly necessary.

The total cost of the car + interest on the loan was $41k. I got back $16k from selling the car, so that’s $25k gone. Add in road tax, insurance, and all the repairs and upholstery, and we’re looking at a total of $40k, easy.

That $40k would have covered 3 years of rent while I was in school. To say I regret it might be an understatement.

I did love taking the car out for drives. I didn’t enjoy maintenance and I certainly felt stupid paying for a car I rarely used, but at the time that I bought it, I didn’t anticipate going back to school. Hindsight is 20/20 but it doesn’t take away the fact that I was impulsive and took bad advice from an enabler.

Add to that the fact that I spent my Sundays giving tuition just to cover the cost of ownership, and it becomes increasingly clear that I couldn’t REALLY afford a car. There’s so much more involved than just the monthly instalments, and I personally am not the type to drive when I’m feeling lazy and can take an Uber instead.

All the same, am I looking forward to getting an ND? Oh yes, but that can wait till I’m nearing 40.