With 18 countries and counting, avid traveller and writer Ron Lim shares his story on how he took a leap of faith, went against the conventional norms to pursue his passion and interest.
By: Raiyi Koh & Rachelle Kirsten Evangelista
PSLE, O’ Levels, A’ Levels and then securing a spot in a globally recognised University to obtain an ever so sacred slip of paper proving we have a Degree qualification.
Those who have studied in Singapore would have been bound to have heard the above at least once, as the adults ramble on about the importance of education in our society.
Singapore’s competitive nature is prominent where much emphasis is placed on our educational qualifications. Over the years, causing a stigma of having to pursue the ‘conventional’ route of attending university in order for one to obtain success and stability.
But is it truly necessary in this day and age?
An Unconventional Decision
In parallel to many young adults, Ron Lim Jun Hao also went through the same process where he pondered on what the future holds and how he should progress in the future.
The now 26-year-old, did not make his decision to opt for the unconventional path right from the start. Instead it was through part and parcel, numerous experimenting and taking multiple first steps to reach his decision.
Between 2016 to 2017, when he was serving National Service (NS), he started questioning a lot on his plans post ORD (Operationally Ready Date). While the decision to attend university has always been one of the most obvious choices for him, being in a rigid environment made him question whether the path is truly what he wanted in life.
What started as part of a joke with his mates, turned into a thought that lingered in his mind, which was the act of travelling the world after completing his term of service.
The gnawing idea started to seem realistically achievable the more he thought about it, and that was when he took the first step of taking a week’s leave off NS to book a solo trip to Melbourne, Australia.
LIFE-CHANGING TICKET: Ron Lim realised the unprecedented joys and thrills of travelling during his first solo trip to Melbourne, Australia on a week leave of NS. (PHOTO: Ron Lim Jun Hao)
That act was what fueled his unconventional journey as the idea of travelling after ORD started being seen as a plausible goal rather than a mere reverie of his.
The lingering conviction impacted his decisions moving forward as he stated “It was something I kept thinking about throughout the rest of my time in NS. Upon ORD, I booked a one-way flight and I left.”
As of now, Ron has managed to travel to over 18 countries. Respectively to name a few, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Qatar, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, United Kingdom, Norway and Croatia.
Weighted More Than Enough
Ron Lim is an alumnus of the Diploma in Business Innovation and Design in Singapore Polytechnic. Despite graduating with a rather high cumulative GPA enough to get into the “Big 3” Universities (NUS, NTU, SMU), he looked at the situation from a more practical standpoint.
While there were a few courses he was curious about, they weren’t enough to justify having to spend four years and a large sum of money for something he was simply curious about. There wasn’t exactly anything he was sure of either which was the main driving factor that stirred him away from pursuing University.
Coming from a small polytechnic course with only over 40 students and over 90% having made it to University, the peer pressure was indeed high especially in Singapore where going to University seems like the all end education goal for most.
Unlike the compulsion atmosphere Ron received from his peers, the pressure from his family was never prominent. Instead of pushing their son to take on the famous old-fashioned route, his parents supported him and constantly encouraged him to pursue what he enjoys doing and emphasised on being able to provide for himself rather than on academic qualifications.
“All my family wanted for me was to have a down to earth honest life and earn my own keep,” shared Ron.
Therefore, while he had the capabilities to continue and obtain what's known as the “righteous” path, his analytical outlook towards what he desired in life kept him on the route of pursuing his interest.
ALL SMILES: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ron Lim spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam after spending his New Year’s in Pai, Thailand before making his way to Bali, Indonesia. (PHOTO: Ron Lim Jun Hao)
Out of the Group
Choosing a different path and opting for a route out of the norm meant that Ron had to deal with isolation and the constant struggle between continuing what he loves and fitting the status quo.
“The hardest thing throughout this journey was actually to believe in this vision that I have for myself. Because it is so drastically different from all of my friends' and everyone around me” stated Ron as he explained the main obstacle that he faced through his journey.
The people around him all had a different outlook and chosen path, yet he pushed on to pursue what he truly enjoyed.
However, amidst the uncertainty he came to terms that he had to find it out by giving everything a try and seeing how he felt and use the opportunity to experience and garner new skills.
In the social media landscape, most specially Instagram, Ron Lim is more identifiable as payformycoffee - the name that started it all, derived from his countless hours spent sitting in cafes and drinking coffee and a tinge of humour.
At the start, payformycoffee was created as a form of documentation to share more about his travels and day to day experiences on Instagram. Starting off with normal baseless pictures to writing on torn pieces of paper and polaroid pictures, Ron is well-known for his raw writings that tug on your heartstrings. Many of which come from simply his thoughts and learning experiences through his travels and even conversations he has had with the people he met along the way. Currently payformycoffee has over 77.5K followers, in which he posts many of his pictures taken during his travels.
BACK ON THE ROAD: Upon the launch of the Vaccinated-Travel Lane (VTL) between Singapore and Germany in August 2021, Ron got himself back into the momentum and was one of the first ones out. (PHOTO: Ron Lim Jun Hao)
DAWN OF ALL: Ron made his first post during his first trip to New Zealand on 19 March 2018 and continues to brand himself through his unfeigned phrases till today. (PHOTO: @payformycoffee on Instagram)
His official writing account, ronwritings was born in early January 2020, when he realised how his primary account was transitioning too much into a writing page and wanted it to go back to its initial purpose of documenting his personal experiences. In less than two years, the account has garnered over 594K followers, even gaining notice from famous celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Addison Rae who have shared his posts on their Instagram stories.
Apart from his social media accounts on Instagram and Twitter, Ron also runs his own email list in which his followers can sign up to get exclusive timely content, reminders and updates.
Paired with his humble and outgoing personality, his journey continues to inspire numerous people around the world of ages both the young and old.
Building Forward
Currently self-employed, Ron primarily focuses on social media marketing for businesses. Excluding social media, he manages his own e-commerce store and creates products that resonate with his branding. All these garners him an income that allows him to travel off-handedly even without the university degree.
As ronwritings exponentially gained more followers over the months, Ron decided to expand to more than posting his writings on the Internet and started his own business. In May 2021, Ron launched his own blog and website providing others with an extra platform to enjoy his work while also selling everyday products they may be interested in.
He started off with simple products, such as stickers, t-shirts and hoodies eventually moving on to postcards and posters and even phone cases.
EVER GROWING: Ron’s merchandise focuses on minimalism and what his brand is best known for - coffee and straightforwardness. And has sold over ten different shirt designs since the start of his brand. (PHOTO: Rachelle Kirsten Evangelista)
Currently, he is working on his very first book that is almost ready for launch and to be an official part of his business.
A Subjective Term
When it comes to determining the term “success”, Ron describes it as one that is subjective and up to an individual’s perspective.
The general notion of success is relatively different if we are to compare 20 years ago and in recent years. 20 years ago, it would have referred to being in a stable job, with a consistent and decent salary and good employee benefits and a university degree might be a huge stepping stone to attain that.
In contrast to today's society, most individuals are striving to break records and aiming for more than just a stable job. Hence, the thought of getting a university degree would guarantee stability is an idealistic concept that is no longer applicable. Skills and experience are what the market prioritises, not high qualifications or simply book smarts.
“The stereotype still works, but the problem is that we do not want what the stereotype will get us anymore.” was what Ron shared when asked about his views on the general stereotype behind “University guarantees success”.
A university degree will act as an aid but it does not mean that it is a necessity. Fundamentally, what matters is one’s skills and interest, as those triumphs over academic qualifications.
“At a young age, you don't need success, instead you need experiences and these exposures can be life changing.”
Proving Numbers
According to Statista.com, there was an increase in the percentage of University graduates from 23.7% in 2010 to 33% in 2020. However, despite the increase, and according to a Graduate Employment Survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, it showed a general decrease in full-time employment for both fresh and follow-up graduates in 2020.
The justifiable reasonings for such an occurrence is due to how common university degrees have become as well as how experience and one’s skill sets are more valued in today’s employment scene.
Through a survey conducted regarding the public’s views on the conventional route and whether University guarantees success and stability, we found out that 76.7% of our respondents believe that while University does act as a safety net, it does not guarantee stability or success. Hence it is more important for one to seek relevant skill sets of personal interest and passion to build knowledge and experience.
Net of Knowledge
Now that technology is as advanced as ever, where information is abundant and at a touch of one’s fingertip, everyone is able to pick up skills and knowledge easily. Letting the promise of accessibility to information and opportunity that university used to be looked upon for, becoming a mediocre appeal.
With online courses from world-renowned institutions being available online, anyone has the ability to start a business, build a brand as long as they have the interest and eagerness to make it big. Making university far from the sole option for attaining success or stability.
The World is One’s Oyster
As his journey continued to progress, Ron shared how this “unconventional path” impacted him as he noticed changes in himself, growing and gaining more than he ever knew.
APPRECIATING SIMPLICITY: No matter what Ron faces in his journey, the most important thing for him is to enjoy the things he is doing regardless of how significant they are. All are counted as a process for him to learn, grow and solve at a comfortable pace. (PHOTO: Ron Lim Jun Hao)
One might face struggles in life regardless of whether they decided to opt for the traditional university route or the “unconventional” route. But what matters is the process and the mindset of looking forward. According to Ron, “In the macro of things, if you feel good about your process, I think that is the biggest indication to keep going.”
“It's so much better than spending the rest of your life thinking about "what if".
The fear of making the first step should never be a barrier for one to seek their true passion. One should always put in their full effort, regardless of what they are pursuing, be aware of their capabilities, and determine if they are able to deal with the consequences of their decisions before starting on any “route”.
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