Yeah I spend a bulk of my pay on travelling and on Instagram, it seems like I live a life out of the suitcase. Carefree and no worries, I do look like I live the dream. But you know what? I deserve every single thing I own. Enough with the "you rich what" comment I hear from priviledged kids every time I travel. Contrary to popular belief, I am NOT rich — I am just FREAKING HARDWORKING AND THRIFTY.

Please stop calling me rich, even as a joke. It's freaking disgusting to hear those words from your mouth as you sit in the comfort of your own room, carting out branded bags and planning what to order from FoodPanda. While you spend $4 on your LiHo bubble tea without blinking, I hestitate thrice before ordering a $1 drink in a coffee shop — and my eventual decision is typically to walk away. When you take Grab daily because of its $5 promotion, I haven't taken a taxi if I could help it in years. No, Singapore's humid weather is not an excuse to take taxis, in case you're wondering. I made sacrifices. I cut down on drinking, clubbing and socialising so I could save money.

I spend a lot on travelling but I spend only what I earn. I pay for all my air tickets, shopping and eating. Sometimes my accomodation is sponsored but I worked hard for those sponsorships. While you complain about sleeping late at 1am, I stay up till at least 3am every ight editing my photos, writing my blog posts, putting together my travelogues on YouTube.

I've been working constantly since I was 15. At a point, I held three jobs to support myself. What were you doing then? Tiring as working and studying was, I never whined, never complained, and never asked my mom for a single cent since my first pay check. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth — I was poor and my family couldn't afford food. Till today, I haven't gone on to university because I can't afford it yet.

Desipite my family's financial difficulties, I saved a neat five-digit figure in one year since I started working full time, while travelling. I can do so much and go so far because I knew what I wanted since I was 15. I decided as a kid that I wanted to see the world so for the past seven years, I've been working damn hard towards my goals. Unless you've been planning your finances and mapping your future since you were 15, you have no rights — no rights AT ALL — to criticise my seemingly extravagant lifestyle.

You don't know what goes behind the scenes.