At Unicorn, we often talk about a “Freehold Life.” To me, it means something deeply personal: the autonomy to build true wealth, not just financial capital, but the freedom to live my desired lifestyle, entirely on my own terms.
But a definition is just words on a page. The real question is, how does it translate into reality?
Growing up, I was taught a lesson many of us inherit from society: success equals money. It was a highly practical mindset, and it made sense to me. In a world where almost everything has a price tag, it felt as though you had no right to dream without financial means. Money wasn’t just currency; it was the ultimate key to freedom.
My first real shot at securing this key came during National Service. I sat in a recruitment talk by the RSAF, and a path cleared before me. I saw a way to carve out a respectable career, achieve complete independence, and most importantly, take care of my family.
For 14 years, I served as a Fighter Aircrew. True to its promise, the RSAF provided immense financial stability. I reached a point where daily expenses were never a worry. I bought a car; I secured a property on my own. By all traditional metrics, I had made it.
Yet, beneath that stability, a quiet friction was growing. My life had become a predictable, demanding cycle: endless hours on duty, high-stakes standby, and weekends spent entirely on survival mode, just trying to decompress enough to face the next week. I had the financial means, but absolutely zero emotional or mental capacity to live. While some of my peers could balance the heavy rigours of the job with their personal lives, I found myself consistently sacrificing my health and my relationships. I want to be entirely clear: this wasn’t a failure of the organization. It was simply my own awakening to the fact that the path I was on no longer aligned with the life I wanted to lead.
I spent years sitting with a heavy question: Financial stability is incredible, but if I keep bankrupting the other areas of my life to get it, will I ever taste true joy? I knew I needed a career that allowed me to build wealth without losing my well-being in the process.
That search eventually led to an unexpected reunion with a classmate from my polytechnic days. Through him, I discovered Unicorn and one of our Chairman’s core philosophy, the belief that a truly successful life rests evenly on three pillars: Health, Relationship, and Wealth.
The concept hit me with total clarity because it directly answered the questions that had been keeping me up at night:
“How much money is truly enough for the people I care about?”
“What is the point of earning a premium living if I am entirely absent from the 80% of life spent earning it?”
“I am providing for my mum financially, but is she getting the best version of me, or just my exhaustion? Is money really the only support she needs?”
“Can I realistically sustain this for the next ten, fifteen, or twenty years?”
That was my turning point. I finally understood that a Freehold Life cannot be measured solely by a bank balance. It requires your meaningful, clear-headed presence for the people you love, and a healthy mind and body to actually experience what you build. Success shouldn’t be a distant finish line we cross while completely broken; we have to design a journey that allows us to thrive along the way.
Now, hitting my two-year mark with Unicorn, I look back amazed at how quickly the time has passed. I have always been blessed to live a life without major regrets. I deeply honor my 14 years in the RSAF, it shaped who I am and gave me the self-awareness to make the next great leap into Unicorn.
Under the mentorship of our Chairman and the leaders here, I haven’t just found a new job. I have found the space, the framework, and the true freedom to build the exact Freehold Life I once thought was impossible.
