Ex-SQ steward, 35, now a stay-home dad with guitar repair business while wife continues flying
For many cabin crew members, stepping off the aircraft is just the beginning of a new journey.
Introducing Stomp’s new original series, Life After Landing, where we spotlight former flight attendants who have traded the skies for unexpected careers, pursued personal passions or navigated life-changing experiences after leaving the aviation industry.
One might envy former Singapore Airlines cabin crew member Nicholas Sim for staying home while his wife continues her career in the skies.
Following his departure in 2025 after almost a decade with the airline, the 35-year-old is now a stay-home dad to an adorable 15-month old boy named Shay — an important task he juggles alongside running East Guitar Works, his guitar repair and maintenance business.
Sitting with Stomp in their Pasir Ris flat in July, Sim’s wife, Ivy Chuang, told Stomp she has heard comments from male acquaintances about their arrangement that have made her bristle.
“Someone told me, ‘Wow, so lucky! How I wish my wife could be the breadwinner and I can be the stay-home dad’,” she recounted.
Sim is on standby with a quick comeback. “You try first lor, then you see,” he remarked.
From serving passengers to full-time baby duty
When the couple learned they were expecting in 2024, they knew they wanted to raise their child on their own — without relying on external help.
That meant one of them had to give up their jet-setting life. As it turned out, Sim “didn’t even think twice” before ultimately deciding to leave his job.
He admitted that he had started to feel “jaded” by that point in his career, and would suffer from pre-flight blues that kept him cooped up at home before every flight.
Finding out his wife was pregnant was just the nudge he needed to get out of that rut.
That said, he still carefully considered his next move before making the decision. “If I leave (SQ), it’s not 50 per cent of our income that’s gone because I have (the guitar repair business),” he explained.
While he shared that he currently earns less than what he did as an air steward, the income from his guitar business is still helpful.
The biggest difference between his current life and his former one as a cabin crew member? The lack of free time.
“(Before kids), sometimes you feel like you have no time to do something, but after you have a kid, you realise you had all the time in the world,” he explained.
Now, his days consist mostly of making sure his son is well taken care of during the day.
“I wake up at the exact same time as my baby, because he will crawl on my face, smack and say, ‘papa, hungry’,” Sim said with a fond chuckle.
By 1pm, father and son would have had breakfast, played in the garden, gone to buy groceries and finished lunch.
Shay typically sleeps from 1pm to 3pm, during which Sim will work on his customer’s guitars in his home studio, while keeping an eye out for Shay via the baby camera monitor.
When Shay wakes up, the pair may play or take a walk before dinner at 6pm. Once the baby is in bed at around 9pm, Sim returns to work on the guitars in his home studio until midnight.
“This (home studio) is where I spend time being happy alone by myself,” he said, beaming.
Interest in fixing started young
As a child, Sim had a penchant for taking things apart and leaving them for his father to fix when he returned home from work.
“When I started playing the guitar, I think it’s very natural that I was curious about how the guitar works,” he said.
He still remembers spending entire weekends in Peninsula Plaza, observing a guitar technician at work and learning “a bit here and there”.
In the beginning, Sim also often found joy in buying secondhand guitars. However, he would get bored of them within months, proceed to resell them online, and repeat the cycle.
“When you buy (a secondhand guitar), it’s usually in quite a bad condition, so you have to fix it up,” Sim explained, marking the beginning of his passion for fixing the instrument.
As his skills improved, he began helping his friends with their guitars — working off an ironing board when he was still renting with other housemates — though he did not start charging until after he resumed cabin crew duties as the world opened up post-pandemic.
Even then, he charged only “coffee money” as he was only in Singapore around 10 days a month — which meant customers would need to wait for some time to get their instruments back from him.
Now, he’s raised his fees to a more standard pricing, with most customers spending between $70 to $100 on average to fix their guitars.
“Works can be as affordable as $20 for simple jobs like replacing a broken electrical component, and go up to about $400 to $500 for a complete electronics overhaul and revival of a really old guitar,” Sim added.
His advice to those thinking of becoming a stay-home dad
Sim told Stomp while it was less common in the past, he believes stay-home dads are a more “normal” sight now, and people barely throw a second glance when he brings his son out.
In fact, he often bumps into a fellow dad pushing around an eight-month-old baby in his estate.
That said, for men who are considering leaving their jobs to be the primary caregiver — or anyone who envies his position — Sim’s advice is to try it out.
“Tell your wife to go out with her friends for the entire weekend, while you try taking care of the baby (and the house) without help,” he challenged.
“I never understood how tired parents of newborns actually are (until now)... the energy it takes is insane,” he said of his admiration for stay-home parents, especially breastfeeding mothers.
“You feed your baby every two to three hours or so (for 45 minutes each time), no night and day... Imagine never getting a stretch of sleep for months on end.”
Sim says a couple should only commit to a single-income household arrangement — regardless of who stays home — if it is financially feasible, and the stay-home parent can deal with full-time caregiving.
“Don’t quit your job and suddenly realise you cannot do it. Then you’re screwed,” he cautioned.
Dreaming big for their little boy
Now that Sim has embraced stay-home life — while Chuang continues flying — Stomp asked, what would they say if their son Shay wants to become a cabin crew member in future?
“Go, 100 per cent,” the couple said in near unison.
Sim reminisced about travelling to different cities, and being able to explore and enjoy new places during his nine-year stint with Singapore Airlines. Looking back on his own experience, he is open to his own son following in his footsteps if he so chooses.
“Fly for two years and if you don’t like it, you can leave. If you like it, you can stay,” Sim said.
While he does miss flying, Sim is ready to put his past life behind him. “I miss it, but I don’t need it. I just moved on to a new chapter,” he said.
The father-of-one knows that baby Shay will only grow older — an inescapable fact that makes him emotional for what he will miss.
“My nights will be quiet once again, and I’m going to miss my baby crying, needing me for a hug at 4am.”
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