Hello, friends! Last week, we heard of Jimmy’s humble beginnings. Despite being devastated by his sister’s death, he decides to work hard for his future. In this episode, Jimmy successfully builds his career and starts a family. However, just as things were finally looking up, Jimmy lands himself into unexpected trouble.

After his sister’s death, Jimmy realised that he had no one else to depend on but himself. However, without the proper educational background, Jimmy found it hard to understand the technical aspects of his job. To overcome this, Jimmy memorised all the model numbers, specifications and prices based on their positions on the shelves. Each time they were shifted around, Jimmy had to memorise them all over again!

Things eventually improved for Jimmy. In just a span of six years, he was promoted four times, from being a Sales Assistant to a Store Manager! The company even entrusted Jimmy to run a new branch at Boon Lay Shopping Centre. Under Jimmy’s management, the branch did very well and Jimmy became the Director. He was making a few thousand dollars a month and owned a company car. At that time, Jimmy thought it was quite an achievement for someone so young and with no proper education!

One day, a beautiful lady walked into his store to buy a cordless phone. Jimmy tested the phone for her and told her to charge it for eight hours before use. He then asked her to call him the next morning to let him know if the phone worked. That was how Jimmy met his ex-wife, Lindy.

Jimmy and Lindy married each other after dating for two years. He hosted a big wedding banquet for more than 1,000 guests at a restaurant at World Trade Centre. He also bought a five-room HDB flat at Yishun. Jimmy and Lindy then had two children, Demi and Shaun. At 28, Jimmy was living his dream life.

If things are going well, enjoy it because it won’t last forever. And if things are going badly, don’t worry. It can’t last forever either.

At that time, the audio appliance business was very successful. With Jimmy’s outstanding reputation of being a top notch salesman, Jimmy was recruited by two brothers. They wanted Jimmy to be their Managing Director for their a similar business in the area. The potential boost in income was a much needed one after Jimmy’s extravagant wedding and new home. Also, it was quite an impressive title Jimmy could not refuse!

Without much hesitation, Jimmy resigned and joined the brothers at their new venture. With Jimmy’s good relations with his suppliers, he immediately ordered a lot of products and used the profits and cash that came in to buy more products at discounted prices. Things moved very fast and Jimmy’s hard work paid off as the business boomed in just a few short months!

Indeed, things are looking up for Jimmy isn’t it? However, will his success continue for long? Let’s find out!

Soon after, an elder brother came on board which redistributed the brother’s shares in the company. Things became complicated due to differing ideas. Eventually, a new outlet was opened at Choa Chu Kang, but it did not do well. Tensions built and cracks appeared in the partnership. Everything soon escalated into a royal mess and they all went their separate ways. The brothers took over the Boon Lay shop while Jimmy managed the Choa Chu Kang outlet.

Jimmy wanted to dissolve the partnership but did not have the funds to pay for the stocks that he had. Fighting to stay afloat, Jimmy roped in another partner. He also foolishly opened another branch at Boon Lay Shopping Centre, which only made things worse.

Jimmy sank further into debt. He realised that he had no experience managing the financial aspects of a business. This lack of experience affected his relationship with his suppliers. The business eventually collapsed and he ended up with $600,000 in debt. Jimmy had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

After Jimmy became bankrupt, he had to go to the public trustee to declare all his remaining assets. All he had to his name was $12.95. It was a very, very low point in Jimmy’s life.

In today’s society, paper qualifications are very important. As Jimmy had none, he could not get a job interview despite sending out a lot of resumes. To make matters worse, Jimmy had to declare his bankruptcy in each job application form.

When Jimmy first started looking for a job, he tried to look for something equivalent to his previous position of Managing Director. As time wore on, his expectations got lower and he ended up searching for a sales executive position. Even then, no company wanted him despite having five years of experience in sales.

Jimmy became very desperate and he decided to be a Forex trader. He managed to persuade all his remaining friends to invest with him. However, he ended up losing all their money - ranging from $10,000 to $40,000. As a result, Jimmy had no job, no income and now, no friends.

I had a sinking feeling that things would never get better; I was lonely and dejected. In my mind’s eye, I was a goner.

With no income, Jimmy had to borrow money from his family and friends to survive. Due to his loans, finance companies also hounded him constantly. The only time Jimmy could get some peace and quiet was late at night when the collection agents were fast asleep.

It was humbling experience for Jimmy especially as he used to be very proud and showy. Looking back, a big factor to Jimmy’s financial problem was being extravagant while not putting money aside for rainy days.

So, how did Jimmy’s family fare?

As Jimmy could not get a job, his wife Lindy supported the family by going back to work as a credit card executive. Initially, Jimmy tried to make light of his situation by telling her positive things about all his job interviews. In doing so, Jimmy made her one empty promise after another.

One Saturday afternoon, Lindy and Jimmy were at Thomson Plaza where their son, Shaun, took enrichment classes. Suddenly, one of Lindy’s clients called her and Lindy had to meet him immediately. She told Jimmy to bring Shaun home and drove off in their car.

Jimmy did not dare to tell her that he only had 50 cents in his pocket—not enough money to go back home unless they walked for more than 10 km! Jimmy was at his wits’ end. He walked around aimlessly with Shaun as he tried to find a solution. In the end, Jimmy had no choice but to call his father, who was still working as a taxi driver, to send them home. It was a very humiliating and humbling experience that Jimmy will never forget.

As Jimmy lost his dignity, his marriage began to suffer; he became very insecure and suspicious of Lindy. Luckily, one of Lindy’s clients Mr Raymond Koh managed to get Jimmy a job as an Assistant Sales Executive. His company dealt with ship supplies like anchor chains and ropes. Jimmy earned $2,000 a month which Jimmy was truly grateful for, after a year of having no income. As Jimmy required a car for his new job, he scraped together whatever money he could find to buy a 16-year-old 1000cc Daihatsu saloon car with almost zero down payment.

One day, Jimmy was waiting in his car by the road. He was behind a huge lorry when suddenly, it began reversing into him! He tried sounding the horn but it was not working so Jimmy scrambled out of his car as fast as he could. The lorry crushed the car, barely missing him! That was Jimmy’s second brush with death and it could not have come at a worse time in his life. Jimmy really felt that God was truly testing him at that time.

Despite all the bad luck, Jimmy worked really hard and was promoted to being a Sales Manager in three years. Thereafter, he was transferred to the Head Quarters and where he reported directly to the company Chairman, Mr Ricky Lau. Jimmy continued to give everything he had at work and his efforts paid off when he finally was promoted to Senior Sales and Marketing Manager.

However, Jimmy was still haunted by his past. He was impatient and tried to look for a faster and easier way out of his debt through the lottery outlets. Sometimes, Jimmy blew half his salary on 4-D, hoping that Lady Luck would come and pull him out of this financial rut. But each time, he just got deeper and deeper in debt.

So far, Jimmy has had a rollercoaster ride in his finances, career and marriage life. However, will he finally manage to turn his life around, or would he keep falling into endless troubles? Come and listen to his story next Thursday. Stay tuned and good bye!