About Me

Hey, I'm the voice behind SG Dad JP. I lived what most Singaporeans would consider a sensible, respectable life. Study hard, graduate from a local university, build a stable career, buy a home, raise children, and repeat the routine year after year. My wife and I both grew up in middle-income families in HDB flats, without financial backing or shortcuts. We studied in local schools, worked entirely in Singapore, and built everything from scratch on our own. But personality plays a part too. I'm an INTJ, which means I value clarity, depth, alignment, and purpose. I dislike politics, unspoken rules, noise, and unnecessary performance. People who know me personally know I'm introverted and private which is why I don't show my face or my family's faces on YouTube. I prefer connecting with people through values and honest reflections.

Even though my life looked stable on the outside, something inside began to feel out of place. I enjoyed my work in the education sector, but a quiet misalignment was growing the sense that the life I was living wasn't the life I wanted long-term. My wife felt the same too. I began observing the people around me, relatives, friends, colleagues, and quietly questioning the choices and routines we all accepted as normal, what I now call the Singaporean Life Template (the millennial edition). I never confronted anyone, these thoughts simply stayed with me. But they made me rethink my own direction, because many of the things people were chasing didn't appeal to me at all, like upgrading to a bigger mortgage, pursuing endless career progression, aiming for top schools and enrichment classes for the children, or chasing multiple travel destinations each year. Do not get me wrong, these are indeed achievements, but they felt one-dimensional to me. I couldn't see myself feeling fulfilled by just checking those boxes. That was when the realisation surfaced: the default path wasn't the only path. And it might not be the right one for me, or for us as a family.

SG Dad JP began as a quiet personal journal, a place to put down the thoughts my wife and I were sorting through, and to document our relocation journey, which I thought might be interesting or even helpful to others thinking about a different path. Slowly, people found the channel. Viewers from Singapore, Japan, and all over the world resonated with the themes, slowing down, rediscovering family life, rethinking careers, and exploring new chapters abroad. That was when I realised something important: I wasn't alone. There were many others quietly feeling the same way. Since then, I've met Singaporeans, Japanese locals, and people from many countries who share similar values. Those conversations have encouraged me deeply, reminding me that a different way of living is possible for anyone.

My relationship with Japan began in 2009, when my girlfriend (now wife) and I travelled with two university friends after our graduation. I still remember checking my final semester results in a restaurant in Kobe using my old Nokia E71. We were young and broke, but Japan left a deep impression on us. As we grew older and started working, we returned frequently. By 2013, we were visiting Japan twice a year. My friends used to ask where we were heading for our next holiday, and eventually the question became, "Which part of Japan are you going to this time?" We didn't just visit the usual tourist spots, we wandered through residential neighbourhoods, quiet suburbs, rural prefectures, and local supermarkets, always imagining what daily life would look like if we lived there. We enrolled in Japanese classes in 2015 and even attended a two-week language school in Tokyo. Though we never became fluent, our connection with Japan grew deeper year by year. Around 2017, the idea of building a life in Japan became serious. We researched visas, properties, business options, and financial realities. But in 2018, during a trip to Hokkaido, we found out we were expecting our first child. Our Japan dream faded to the background as we entered parenthood. Then came the pandemic, the arrival of our second child, a promotion to a managerial role with a team of ten, a house move, life became packed with major events. But the longing never disappeared.

In September 2023, we finally returned to Japan as a family of four, our first time back in almost five years. Close friends teased us, saying we were "finally going home." It was our first overseas trip with the kids, two toddlers with very different needs. We were filled with both anticipation and anxiety. The 13-day trip in Kyushu turned out to be chaotic, tiring, unpredictable, and at the same time incredibly joyful. And the moment we were back in Singapore, it hit us hard. Both my wife and I entered one of the lowest emotional states we have ever experienced. We know that it was not just "post-vacation blues." It was something much deeper, a realisation about the kind of life we wanted but didn't have. It was the feeling of losing control over our own time. The heaviness of slipping back into old work routines and the familiar office politics. And the realisation that even with time, money, or even full financial independence, we still couldn't give our children the experiences and environment we valued most. That was when we made our decision. We set a clear deadline: Move before our elder son enters primary school and that is a two-year window period. From there, we researched locations, evaluated properties, spoke to lawyers and realtors, worked through the visa requirements, and took things one step at a time. Slowly, everything began to fall into place. About a year and a half later, I began documenting our journey on SG Dad JP.

A move like this is not just about logistics or paperwork. It requires mindset, conviction, and the courage to step away from certainty. We had to consider aging parents, children education, career transitions, finances, and long-term stability. But beneath all these practical concerns was a deeper question: What kind of life did we want to model for our kids, and what would it take for us to live with more meaning and less regret? Over the years, I have seen people work tirelessly through their prime, celebrating retirement at 65, and then faced weak health and fall sick soon after. It made me realise how precious time and health truly are, far more valuable than dollars and cents, especially as we grow older. That awareness weighed heavily on me and became one of the strongest reasons we chose to act sooner instead of waiting. Throughout the preparation period, did we ever doubt our decision? I thought we would struggle internally, because the sacrifices were real. But the truth is, we never looked back, not even once. We were so certain about what we wanted that we quit our corporate jobs together and bought a house in Japan before securing our visa. Some viewers thought we were taking an unreasonable risk, especially with two kids and maybe it did look that way from the outside. But we felt completely at peace, even after walking away from a significant amount of active household income overnight. That's because we had full clarity over our finances, with a clear net worth projection. Financial clarity played a huge role. For many years, we lived simply, saved diligently, invested consistently in equities, kept our debt low, tracked our net worth closely, and built alternative income streams. None of it came from luck or shortcuts, no crypto or meme coin lottery, just discipline, awareness, and a clear sense of direction. That clarity gave us the confidence not only to relocate, but to redesign the way we live. If you are navigating your own transition or exploring a major change, my Life Transitions service may help you think through the choices ahead. And if you want to understand your financial position and long-term possibilities more clearly, you can explore Financial Independence.

Moving to Japan was never about rejecting Singapore or rebelling against the comfort we had. It was recognising the options available to us, and making full use of the position we were fortunate to be in. We are grateful for everything Singapore has given us in the first half of our lives, and now we want to use that "capital", financial, emotional, and experiential to build a life that we want for our family. We are choosing a rhythm that aligns more closely with who we are, and the environment we hope our children will grow up in, and also make a positive contribution to the society wherever we are. SG Dad JP exists because I wanted to document this transition honestly, as a 40 years old Singaporean mindset shift into a new phase of life. If you are here reading this, thank you. I hope our story brings you clarity, encouragement, or simply the assurance that you are not alone in wanting something different.