As it turns out, Gordon Ramsay didn't visit Singapore just to sample the fish and chips at one of his restaurants.

He was also in town to give a talk to young Singaporeans hoping to follow in his footsteps and become a master chef themselves.

On Jan. 16, the chef spoke to an audience of about 80 attendees at Marina Bay Sands.

Marathon, not a sprint

Youths from the social service organisation AWWA, the Industrial and Services Co-operative Society (ISCOS), Students Care Service, At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy and the Culinary Institute of America got their chance to ask the 51-year-old celebrity chef the secrets of his success.

According to Ramsay, nothing beats hard work. He recounted his early years in the food industry:

"We didn’t get paid well and you don’t start cooking because you want to become rich and famous. I say to all my young chefs – get that knowledge, turn that knowledge into something unique, spend that time studying. A doctor would read medicine for 10 years, a lawyer would read law for 15 years, it’s the same for food."

View this post on Instagram

Had a great afternoon at @marinabaysands talking to the youth of #Singapore about their culinary future ! Hope you guys had as much fun as I did Gx

A post shared by Gordon Ramsay (@gordongram) on Jan 16, 2018 at 4:07am PST

He also described the path to success as being a bit like a marathon:

"That won’t come quickly, but persevere, because this is a marathon, not a 100-metre sprint. Break down the marathon into four 10K runs. Do the first 10K, congratulate yourself, and again after the second 10K. Achieve something that’s important to you and give yourself some joy, then the third, and fourth – all of a sudden, you’ve done a marathon."

[related_story]

Against the odds

Ramsay has had first-hand experience with overcoming adversity.

During a 2016 interview in Singapore with Talk Asia, he revealed how tough life was for him growing up:

"I started with nothing and was dealt a dysfunctional card. My father was a severe alcoholic and my mom worked as a cook, and a nurse at night. We moved around... I went to 17 different schools between the ages of five and 16."

Despite his fame and wealth today, Ramsay is adamant not to spoil his children.

He said in a 2017 interview that he would not be leaving his fortune to them.

After his hard work, Ramsay can afford to give advice however he likes, whether with a talk at MBS or on Twitter.

Top image from gordongram, firzeng and fyckeverthjng's Instagram pages

Here's an unrelated but equally interesting article:

You need to get with the times, both for your bank account and your life