Anywhere, if you worked 9~5 in a honest job, you will not earn much.
You must be smart and cunning and gutsy to do some "not legal" &/or illegal jobs to afford more.
But, firstly, are you prepared for the six-stars
Changi Ritz-Carlton if caught?
yes, I do tell my kids that the world is not fair. If you are not there, you will never be there.
If they work hard, they will only go so far. Like Army, you work hard you retire as a Colonel but to get a star, you must be in the inner-circle. In civil service, if you work hard, you retire as a DD but not D, it's ok even if you are a slacko. You just need to be able to go against your principles and keep secrets.
I also share with them examples of china and indian people cheating and going against the rules in the course of my work, eg. Indians set up companies in Singapore get China/Taiwan products and relabel them as made-in-singapore and enjoy low-tariffs when sending to India.
Of course, if you do bad things, must be smart, don't get caught.