‘Hi Mum, no dinner for me tonight, I’ll be skydiving in Bangkok’: Gen Z and millennials

20 Jan 2024

More Generation Z and young millennials in Singapore are diving headlong into solo adventures – the more uncharted the territory, the better. Many are also posting about it to pay their way. Mr Dion Ong, 27, has tread a winding path in pursuit of wanderlust. After graduating with a diploma in tourism and hospitality management from SP, Mr Ong followed in the footsteps of his cousin and elder sister – both flight attendants – and worked as a cabin crew member from 2019 to 2022. “I was supposed to fly for only two years and return to Singapore to get a full-time degree, but Covid-19 happened and I did not manage to save enough money. I did not want to touch my parents’ money, so I continued working,” says the son of a renovation contractor and hardware storekeeper. But the glamour of flying soon wore out. His enthusiasm for travel waned, and he grew tired of travelling to the same places. In September 2022, he joined Lemon8, an app operated by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which gained traction in Singapore that year for its catalogue of lifestyle content. He now makes his living through brand sponsorships on social media, as well as an online jewellery business, Delicate Ornaments, which he founded in 2020. He also tends to a YouTube channel, @diongdion, alongside posting on TikTok and Lemon8.  He has more than 7,000 followers across all three platforms.

[The Straits Times]