after much consideration, i have decided to be the so-called
"quitter" and leave singapore...
anyway, in the last few years i have already spend very little
time in SG... typically i am travelling about three weeks of
the time every month in the last few years... and the more time i
spend overseas, the less i feel the need to be rooted to
singapore
here in SG... cost of living is expensive, people are toiling so
hard for so little, housing cost is astronomical, the
public transport is crap but they are raising prices and
calling themselves "world-class", and i feel crowded out of my own
country....
there seem to be so little benefits and welfare being a
singaporean that i'm wondering why i should stay around, and the
recent elections have left me disillusioned that there will be any
REAL change
our market is so small that if your job or your career
is just purely serving the local market, then basically it is
boring, static, and its a dead end.... worst if you have your own
local business, and you find yourself getting pushed out by an
organization that is linked to your government and have all the
unfair advantages that you don't have...
in the last few years in my travels overseas, i am finding
greater satisfaction, excitment and challenge in a much bigger,
dynamic and entreprenuerial environment out there... i feel so much
more liberated when i am outside singapore
and so, i am quitting singapore.... i am taking up a job offer
overseas. i will live in hong kong, and i will spend my time
in north asia covering china, hong kong, macau, taiwan, korea and
japan...
it is unlikely that i will return in the short term, if at all
except for the occassion holidays... i will still call singapore my
"home", although its a home that i am feeling more and more
detached from, and its a home where i feel less and less affliated
to... so its "home" in the technical sense of the word, as in i am
born here.... yeah, so local food is great, but hey, do you
know you can find singapore food in most major asian cities now,
and even beyond asia?
to all young singaporeans, i wish to say.... take the chance and
seize the opportunity to live and work overseas whenever you
can.... you are only young once... i can tell you that the
exposure, your outlook in life, and the new experiences that
you gain will be priceless... you will be so much more enriched by
your experiences compared with "stayers" who stayed
behind
our malaysian friends have been more mobile than us... many are
working in singapore and elsewhere... the japanese, they are
everywhere around the world... so are the chinese... of
course, even within china which is so big, most people
living and working in chinese cities are not from the
cities... so in this sense, they have moved and relocated
themselves as well....
hence, you are not as in-mobile or as rooted as you think!
you can also take the leap of faith, and have the courage to change
your lives and to live overseas...
the apprehension that i felt initially, and therefore i took
sometime to decide whether to leave, is really the fear of the
unknown or the fear of leaving my comfort zone... the area that i'm
familiar with.... the family, relative and friends
here....
i can tell you that many thousands of singaporeans have made the
move overseas... some have brought their families along... some
have left their families behind and are adjusting to a new way of
interacting and meeting up with their family members.... just ask
many hong kongers, who typically have this "global" set-up of
having family members and relatives in hong kong, canada,
australia, uk or usa...
the world is a big place, but it is getting smaller and smaller
if you know what i mean... there are many many people whom i have
met who are so much more "global" than I am, in terms of their life
experiences and outlook... they were born in one city, brought
up in another, studied in another, and have worked and lived
in a few others....
so, go if you can... leave singapore... grab your
chances... you will meet so much more people, you will live
out many interesting experiences, you will see a big and vibrant
world, you will feel the different energy and the vibes of
different cultures and languages.....
its not all a bed of roses of course... you might get cheated by
some locals, you might experience culture shock, you may feel
homesick sometimes, you may long for the comfort of your bedroom
back home, you may find that the food takes getting use to, you may
find it expensive if you don't know where to look for bargains, you
may find the market even more competitive and cut-throat.... but as
i said, you will find the experience priceless and the learnings
you get out of it will be invaluable...
My heartfelt good wishes for you. Don't let others
discourage you by quoting PAP.
