More Singaporeans starting side hustles for extra income
More people are likely to start side gigs as a contingency in the face of economic uncertainty, and some even turn the stints into a main business
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2023, the year of the side hustle: Here’s the lowdown on earning extra income
ST20230218-202312760759-Lim Yaohui-Stephanie Yeo-syside/ Mr Muhammad Irfan Azman, 17, Year 1 Polytechnic student, outside his flat on Feb 18, 2023. Sunlife cover on trend of side hustles. Muhammad Irfan Azman is a full-time poly student and part-time barber who operates outside his flat. His TikTok account @irfancuts is quite interesting and he says everyone should have a side hustle for personal growth. (ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI)
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
By day, Muhammad Irfan Azman is a polytechnic student studying computer engineering.
But on weekends, he takes out his hair clippers, ready to snip and shave as a freelance barber.
Irfan, who turns 18 in May, turned a frustrating experience into an idea for a side hustle.
Single mum with dyslexic boys teaches special-needs kids to swim
syside/ST20230129_202303921960/Ng Sor Luan/Ms Aine Wong, 45, is an administrator by day but on Saturdays she has a full day of teaching special needs kids to swim. She is a single mother of dyslexic boys so she saw firsthand the struggles they had with unsympathetic instructors. She got her certification and started coaching in Jan 2022 in her condo pool. Anie coaching a child who is blind, has speech impairment and is autistic.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
When Ms Aine Wong enrolled her two dyslexic sons in swimming lessons, she was dismayed at how they were treated.
“The swim coaches scolded them, but they were not naughty. A lot of people don’t understand dyslexic kids. If the teachers are not strong enough to capture their attention, they will not learn,” says Ms Wong, 45, whose sons are 10 and 12.
“I asked myself, ‘Why can’t I teach my kids instead?’” So, she did.
Photographer by day, cremation ring artisan on the side
Andrew Lim poses with the finished ring that contains ashes and opal stones on February 14, 2023. Sunlife cover story on trend of side hustles. This shoot is for one of the sidebar profiles. Andrew Lim, 31, principal photographer of Drewperspectives Underwater photographer by day, creator of cremation rings on the side. He specialises in underwater photography (https://www.drewperspectives.com/). Last year his active dad had a suspected heart attack and it spurred him to think about death. He decided to start a small biz selling cremation rings called Apart.sg (https://apart.sg/). He gets the ring bases overseas, then people send him 1g of the cremated remains and he mixes it with opals in the ring (there's a hollow part in the middle). He gets orders in multiples (because when someone dies the whole family is affected) and 30 per cent of customers want cremation rings for pets. He's even been asked to put someone's grandma's blanket in the ring (the grandma died a long time ago) and toys of decreased pets. Because he travels a lot, the rings take about 2-6 weeks lead time. And when they receive the rings, it's not like when you receive a gift and you're happy but there's a slight smile and it's a deep and solemn experience Sunlife cover story on trend of side hustles. This shoot is for one of the sidebar profiles. Andrew Lim, 31, principal photographer of Drewperspectives Underwater photographer by day, creator of cremation rings on the side. He specialises in underwater photography (https://www.drewperspectives.com/). Last year his active dad had a suspected heart attack and it spurred him to think about death. He decided to start a small biz selling cremation rings called Apart.sg (https://apart.sg/). He gets the ring bases overseas, then people send him 1g of the cremated remains and he mixes it with opals in the ring (there's a hollow part in the middle). He gets orders in multiples (because when someone dies the whole family is affected) and 30 per cent of customers want cremation rings for pets. He's even been asked to put someone's grandma's blanket in the ring (the grandma died a long time ago) and toys of decreased pets. Because he travels a lot, the rings take about 2-6 weeks lead time. And when they receive the rings, it's not like when you receive a gift and you're happy but there's a slight smile and it's a deep and solemn experience
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
A piece of grandma’s bedsheet. A pet toy. Part of a leather wallet.
Mr Andrew Lim, 31, has received all these sentimental objects from clients with one simple request – to immortalise a memory of their departed loved one in a cremation ring.
The underwater photographer behind Drewperspectives started his side hustle, Apart.sg, after the shock of seeing his father suffer a suspected heart attack in March last year.
