Growing up, Fifi was one of the smallest kids in school – he’d often get picked on by the other boys. The insurance unit manager with Manulife was also never one for studying because he simply didn’t see the point of it. Finishing school with just three O-level passes, it was only later on in life (when he enlisted for national service) that something changed in Fifi.
“When I was a recruit, I couldn’t even do three pullups,” he recalls. “But around me were all these other guys who were really fit. I told myself it was time for a change and decided to focus on getting in shape.” While the other guys would book out to watch movies or drink, Fifi would stay in and work out at the camp gym. “I visited the gym so frequently that the chief physical training instructor eventually handed me the keys and tasked me as the caretaker!” His weight soon bulked up from 50kg to a muscular 64kg.
He started work as a bartender soon after leaving the service, becoming so good at his job that he represented Singapore in bartending competitions. “I learned that if I focused on something, I could do well in it and have fun too.” When Fifi finally stopped bartending, he decided to try his hand at insurance. That meant studying and passing exams – something he was never very good at – but that did not stop him. “That was the first time in my life I studied so hard,” he says. Now in the insurance business for six years, he is enjoying the trappings of success: he wears a Rolex watch and drives an Alfa Romeo 156. “Sure, these are material things, but they represent the fruits of my labour. If you really want something, and if you’re focused and committed enough, you can get it.”
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