Happiness is freedom to choose for herself
"Ms Lee Wei Fen, 24, recent graduate
'I don't think money has to get in the way of happiness. Unfortunately, it often does because it confuses people about their priorities in life.'
How she found happiness:
While others her age headed straight for the corporate world after graduating, Ms Lee took the path less travelled. She went on the road to pursue her interests in South Asian culture and literature.
She has visited India, Bangladesh and Nepal, among other countries. She is learning Tamil to prepare for her master's degree course in South Asian studies at the National University of Singapore next year.
For her, happiness is the freedom to make choices for herself, instead of simply doing what is expected or instructed.
She says: 'We learn more about ourselves when we take time to decide what we actually enjoy doing and why we are doing what we're doing.'
She is also a founder and editor of literary journal Ceriph, which publishes short stories, poems and photographs by local writers and photographers every quarter.
While the technical and administrative parts of putting Ceriph together 'are not much fun', she finds joy in discovering new writers and their work.
The people she meets overseas tend to be encouraging about her taking a gap year. But when she comes home, she feels she is 'judged for not embarking directly on my career'.
She remains sure that 'travelling and learning will never be a setback in life'.
She adds: 'If I want to pursue academia, I want to be able to take my time and learn as much as I can about my field both through an academic institute as well as outside of it.'"
In short, Happiness is having someone to fund your travels and studies
