I have never met the man and have no communication with him. But I do know something about the wealth management industry, which according to internet reports was what he was involved in as a fund or wealth manager.
Thus, I am able to formulate a theory based on what I know. In the wealth management industry, Casey has to deal with many wealthy clients. His job is to serve them by giving advice and managing their money well so that they will get richer.
To win the clients’ confidence in him, he has to appear rich himself. If he looks poor, a potential client may think, “If he can’t make money for himself, how can I rely on him for his advice or management to make money for me?”
This could be the reason behind the nature of his facebook postings. From his postings, he wants people to think of him as rich. Thus he lets on that he has a Porsche. He portrayed his 5 year old son as asking, “Who are all these poor people?” when he was in a MRT train. This may be to tell his intended audience that he belongs to the wealthy class - the kind of class who are his target clients.
From my experience, truly rich people do not want other people to know they have money. Their friends and associates already know that they are rich. So there's no need to boast. For all we know, Casey could be struggling to make the payments on the hire purchase of his car, which is helpful in his line of work.
Casey’s posts on the net betrays an urgent need to be thought of as rich. He was not writing for the general public but for his rich friends, clients and potential clients. He probably wants to be thought of as one of them - rich and successful. By gaining acceptance, a wealth manager hopes to also gain their business.
Who are his clients? They are probably mostly Asians. According to this Forbes article, Singapore has the highest percentage of millionaires in the world. Asia is a fast growing region and its share of millionaires is growing fast. That is why so many wealth management companies from America and Europe are setting up shop here.
He might have developed an inferiority complex after having served so many rich and demanding Asian clients who could be giving him a hard time. That could be why he needed to boost his self esteem and win their respect by showing off his Porshe.
Anyway, that is just a theory. If the theory is right, it means that the public anger is misplaced. He does not hate or look down on Singaporeans or Asians which is the impression his posts gave most people. If he did, why did he marry a Singaporean? Singaporeans are angry because Casey’s stupid posts led them to believe that he looks down on us. Could it that the opposite is true? Maybe he has an inferiority complex.
Cass Owary
TRS Contributor