What was edited out of my BBC interview

My reader 'thisismyvoice' asked me today, "Hi Limpeh, glad to see you appearing in BBC. Do you mind summarizing for us what you shared with BBC, those parts that were edited away. It should be be interesting." May I just point out that for the record, this is not the first time that I have appeared in a BBC news report - the first time was back in 2005 when I was interviewed about raising funds for the Asian Tsunami relief efforts. I have also done plenty of BBC radio and TV over the years, you can see my photos from my trip to Media City Manchester last year for a BBC radio gig.

But onto thisismyvoice's question, I am happy to summarize for you what I shared with the BBC - I did go try to get as much as I possibly could out to the BBC journalist but needless to say (gosh I blog about this, a lot), because the article featured 20 interviewees, my long story was trimmed to just one measly paragraph! So allow me to give you ten bullet points about what was edited away - this is a great idea, thanks thisismyvoice!

My panda Bui at BBC Media City last year. 

1. I went into more details about why I had no faith in the Singaporean government despite Singapore's economic success over the last 50 years. I did take the time to talk about Singapore's economic transition from a third world country at the time of independence to the world's third richest country in 2013. I don't think any discussion about migrating to/from Singapore would be complete without paying heed to that transition which has a huge impact on the mindset of Singaporeans. In particular, most migrants typically move from a poorer country to a richer country (eg. from Kenya to Australia, from India to Canada, from Cambodia to Germany), but in my case, I was doing the opposite in settling in the UK which meant that I was not your typical migrant to the UK.

2. I discussed the very long and slow process it took for me to get my citizenship - how I first came as a scholar on a student visa and why it took that long for me to naturalize as a British citizen. I felt it was important to share that information as many people simply do not understand how you switch nationalities - it's a process that takes many, many years to change your status. Getting a British passport (or an American/French/German/Australian etc passport) however, is a process that is very, very slow - like watching paint dry.

British culture has wooed many to the UK over the years.

3. I explained in a bit more detail why national service discriminated against Singaporean males - I suppose because some of the others also talked about national service as the primary motivation to give up their nationality, they didn't feel the need to elaborate on that point. I also explained how the CPF system works (employers' contribution) and why that puts locals at a disadvantage over foreign workers in Singapore who don't have CPF.

4. I talked about the difference between living in the UK as a Singaporean with "permanent leave to remain status"(the British equivalent of 'permanent resident' status in Singapore) and getting British citizenship. It was then deciding which passport would be more useful to me in the long run, for what I want to do: the UK passport was more useful as it would allow me to work anywhere in the EU with no restrictions. A Singaporean passport would mean having to get work visas and more restrictions if I wanted to work in any other country apart from the UK or Singapore.

I was working in Belgium earlier this year for a French company. 

5. Furthermore, a British passport would allow me to waltz into Singapore as an foreign talent and I would be treated far better as a British FT than a returning Singaporean given how the system in Singapore favours Brits over locals. Why would I work in Singapore as a Singaporean when I can work as an FT and enjoy better treatment by the system? The PAP loves FTs!  #donthatetheplayerhatethegame So even with a British passport, I still have the option to return to Singapore to work if I want to (and on much better terms than a local).

6. I talked about how the Singaporean government is actively trying to grow the population in Singapore despite the land area being very limited - this has led to Singapore becoming far too overcrowded and the signs of strains are everywhere. There is such intense competition for school places, there is overcrowding on the public transport. property prices have been inflated and the population density is just becoming silly. And by the same token, life in the UK is just so much better, away from the madness of the overcrowding.

Would you like to be caught in that crowd?

7. I explained why I didn't want to stay and fight the system - I realized from the start that I was in the minority. Most Singaporean voters (60.14% to be precise) are happy with the PAP and even if 40% of Singaporeans rejected this path the PAP has set the country on, there's virtually nothing they can do about the situation since 60% of Singaporeans have voted for the PAP. This is democracy in action, you may not like what is happening, but if you're in the minority, then what can you do? It sucks to be in the 40% with no hope of seeing change happen in my life time, so I had to leave. So it's not just the PAP per se, it was the 60.14% of Singaporeans I didn't like. There were many things about Singapore's society that I just didn't think would change quickly enough in my lifetime - from gay rights/section 377A to freedom of speech to the culture of conformity. If that's the way Singapore is and that's what Singaporeans want for themselves, fine - good for you - but it's not for me and it's not for me try to change you.

8. I also talked about the ideological differences between the way democracy works in the UK and how it works in Singapore. There are quite a lot of differences actually despite Singapore being a former British colony and having experienced both systems, I can tell you which one I think is better and prefer. (Please see my vlog piece below)

9. I explained that it's not just 'push' factors that made me leave Singapore but there were 'pull' factors that attracted me to the UK and I told the journalist why I fell in love with life in Britain, felt far more at home in Britain than I ever did in Singapore and didn't want to go back to Singapore because of the big differences between Singaporean and British societies. It was a no-brainer for me, I would be so much happier in the UK than in Singapore.

10. The journalist asked me if I considered holding on to my Singaporean passport (ie. have dual nationality), I said I could have held on to my Singaporean passport quietly after I had obtained my British passport, but that would be breaking the rules - Singaporean law does not permit dual nationality. I wanted to have the right to travel freely to Singapore to visit my family, to work, to go for business trips etc without worrying if I would be arrested for breaking the rules - so I 乖乖 gave up my Singaporean nationality within a few weeks of getting my British passport. I have Singaporean friends who have obtained a second nationality and told me that there was no way the authorities would find out about my British passport, but seeing that there was no way in hell I would ever want to live in Singapore as a Singaporean, there weren't really that many advantages to holding on to a Singaporean passport - apart from maybe travelling to certain countries like China, Vietnam and Indonesia without a visa (I need a visa for those countries with a British passport). The journalist asked me if I would consider dual nationality if the Singaporean government changed the rules - I said that it was a hypothetical question as I couldn't get it back now that I had voluntarily given it up.

The journalist asked me many interesting questions. 

So there you go, if the journalist was just interviewing me and no one else - then he could've included all of the above. But as I was just one of 20 interviewees, then only that one paragraph made it into the final article. The rest of the points covered here were edited out, unfortunately - but I am glad I am able to use my blog as a platform to share that with you. Thanks for the idea thisismyvoice! Let me know what you think, please leave a comment below.