In my country Singapore, success is defined as the 5Cs, or more recently, the 5Bs. These indicators of wealth, as in the five Car, Credit Card, Condominium, Cash, and Country club, has been replaced by a even higher bar of Billionaire, Bentley, Birkin, Black Credit Card, Bungalow.

What is success, really? Among the 20s to 30s crowd, the popular ‘man in finance’ meme where a woman is trying to find a man with “Trust fund, 6’5″, blue eyes” has also found traction with young men in their 20s and 30s as that song symbolises the impossible standards of young women as they have dozens of if not hundreds of options on dating applications.

Success to me is being recognised for what you love doing. Someone who has poured countless hours to become highly skilled professionals have demonstrated grit, resilience, hardworkingness, discipline, and also great pride in what they do.

For example, a civil servant may have spent hours reading policy papers and writing policy papers, and also spent time analysing and thinking about various issues pertaining to government and societial affairs. Although that may not have been a great passion of his or her, his or her discipline tells us a story: That they are seriously involved in their work to the point where they have devoted significant thought and much intellectual ability on the wicked problems of today.

These quiet heroes deserve more recognition and kudos as we must have a culture where we tell our Singapore story to our own population especially youth to inspire them and before we do so, we need to weave a compelling story.

The Singapore dream is no longer one focused on the ‘5cs’ said then DPM (Deputy Prime Minister) Lawrence Wong and instead one that is focused less on material success. Instead, the shift is towards building a vibrant and inclusive social compact. Individuals are more concerned to pursue purpose, meaning and fulfillment in their lives.

A shared compact is where we have a common vision, balance roles and responsibilities, share aspirations and values to build our lives together for a Singapore of the future. What PM Wong has shared in the Forward Singapore Report is both inspiring and speaks positively of a future generation of Singaporeans who, as stated in the report says “When young people today talk about careers and jobs, they often express a desire for meaning and purpose in what they do, not just for good salaries. In other words, we want to embrace wider definitions of success.”

Do most Singaporeans’ attitudes cohere with the Forward Singapore report? Are we as progressive in terms of our dreams for the future as which is reported? While I cannot say its a yes or definitive no answer, I can say that we have made great strides from a society that values grades and career remuneration as status symbols, to one which is more caring, more loving, and more progressive. Let us always remember a society is made up of humans who deserve love, care, respect, and compassion.