$24m or $200: No job is too big or small for tweens
By Kenny Chee
ONE tween wants to be a rugby player and expects to earn $24 million a year.
Another aspires to be a doctor on a monthly salary of $200.
These are some of the findings from a study conducted by employment-services company Adecco that provided interesting insights into the aspirations of tweens in Singapore aged seven to 14.
The most popular job choices for tweens include becoming a teacher, lawyer, policeman or doctor.
Daryl Woo, nine, wants to be a policeman because "I want to catch the bad guys".
His father, accounting consultant Eric Woo, 38, told my paper: "It reflects values like justice that my wife and I try to teach him."
Parental influence also inspired Julia Tan, 13, to aspire to work in a bank like her mother.
She finds the work "challenging and interesting" after hearing about her mother's work experiences.
The Adecco survey also showed that some of the less traditional career ambitions of children here include being a food taster, game designer, astronomer and singer.
Most of the tweens expect a monthly salary of between $1,000 and $5,000.
Dr Ken Ung, consultant psychiatrist from Adam Road Medical Centre, explained that such career choices are not surprising.
He said: "Traditional professional career choices, like being a doctor or a lawyer, are inculcated at a young age... Being in a society like Singapore, we are fairly conservative and have our core values and these are passed on to our children."
The tweens who took part in the survey were also asked what they would do if they became prime minister.
The report said that many wanted to continue improving the environment and helping those most in need.
"Many children were knowledgeable beyond their years about how...they would influence taxes, education, government and society in general," the report concluded.
