Ten reasons why it is time to leave Singapore

Hello everyone. I have actually had quite a few messages after the results of the 2015 general election in Singapore and they all have the same theme: how do I get a job abroad, with the view of eventually leaving Singapore to get a citizenship in another country? I had a good read of all of these messages and am summarizing some of the sentiments in this post as to why you should really think about leaving Singapore to seek greener pastures abroad.

Are you ready to take the plunge and seek greener pastures?

1. The weather is getting from bad to worse.

Ironically, the one aspect of life in Singapore I hate the most is the unbearably hot weather - and you can't even blame the PAP for that. But in recent years, the haze problem has gotten from bad to worse - every year around this time, haze season will hit Singapore and for weeks, Singaporeans will hope for rain to clear the skies and even when it does, it only brings a temporary reprieve that lasts a few hours before the next cloud of haze drifts over from Indonesia. This is a problem that cannot be solved given how corrupt and ineffective the Indonesian government is - it is not like Singapore can send in the troops to put out the fires in Sumatra. With no solution in sight, the problem is just going to get worse and worse - Singapore will end up as polluted as some of cities in China and India and there's little you can do to solve the problem as it originates across the border in another country! My friends in Singapore who have asthma are suffering particularly badly at the moment and many are not allowing their children to play outdoors when it is this hazy. So, for the sake of your health and the health of your family, this is a very good reason to consider moving to a far less polluted country where you simply don't have to worry about the quality of the air you breathe.

Hazy day at lunchtime 

2. The population is growing despite the infrastructure not coping.

With the overwhelming endorsement by the voters, the PAP certainly have the mandate to go ahead and increase the population to 6.9 million. What will life in Singapore be like when the population increases to 6.9 million (and more)? The pressure on public transport, housing, schools, education, healthcare will all increase and the 2015 MRT breakdowns have shown that the system is near breaking point already. This will hit those at the bottom of the food chain the hardest. The rich can afford to drive or take taxis - they don't have to try to get on the MRT at rush hour. The rich can always afford the fancy condominiums in town and don't have to worry about the HDB's waiting list. The rich can always afford to buy their children the best education they need even if the local schools are stretched to the limit. As for healthcare, the rich can always afford to go private and not worry about waiting times at the government hospitals. But if you are poor in Singapore, then oh dear - good luck to you. The good news is that if you want to move abroad to another country, it will depend on you having the right skills, rather than money per se. Thus a fully qualified nurse will find it very easy to move to the West and get a work permit there, but a rich person without the right skills will simply not be able to get a visa unless he is willing to become an investor (and in the UK, that is set at £2 million).

Changing trains at Bishan station

3. The situation in the Europe is changing fast. 

With the current refugee crisis in Europe, the West doesn't quite know what to do with this massive influx of mostly Syrian refugees (but also from countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Yemen). Some countries like Sweden, Germany and Austria have been extremely welcoming to these refugees, whilst others like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the UK have resisted calls to let in more refugees. As of September, the EU has already received 0.6 million refugees pouring in since the beginning of the year and the number is still rising. Many of the refugees are not satisfied once they have reached a safe but poor country like Bulgaria, Romania or Turkey, many are willing to risk their lives to reach a richer country like Germany or the UK for a better life. Something has got to give with this massive influx of refugees and one of the side effects is that those refugees with useful skills will be able to find work quickly, filling in gaps in the labour market which would have been traditionally be filled by foreign workers. These European governments are keen for the refugees to start working quickly, rather than become reliant on the state for support, so these gaps in the labour market which other non-EU migrants hoping to fill will close very quickly indeed.

4. Things are only going to get more frustrating for those who remain...

I have so many friends who were desperately disappointed and frustrated the day after the election, given the massive swing to the PAP. Like I said on my blog, I was not frustrated as I never got my hopes up in the first place. I just don't envisage the situation changing much in the next few elections and whilst I have a lot of admiration for my friends who went to those opposition rallies and tried so hard to win the hearts and minds of their fellow voters, I guess I just don't have their kind of patience. I pick my battles in life and I would rather not bother with one which I know I can't win because the odds are simply stacked against me. So as much as I would like to see the opposition triumph in Singapore, I think it is far easier to leave and seek greener pastures abroad.

Furthermore, I have seen way too many incidences of Singaporeans who merely stand back and film an incident whilst allowing the helpless victim to continue being attacked. I just wanna scream, what the hell is wrong with you people - if it was your mother being attacked, would you stand back and just film it? You can debate all you want about the culture of passivity and Stomp etc - but when I was in Singapore, I read about a woman who was raped in a car park in Singapore and there were witnesses who chose not to intervene, but one took photos. Great. I hope the witness who took photos gets attacked in a similar way, so I may stand by and film the attack - let's give that witness a taste of his/her own medicine. There's something totally rotten about Singaporean society, it has become incredibly selfish.

Oh and when I stood up for a member of staff who was receiving abuse for a very rude and unreasonable customer recently at the zoo, the bulk of my friends and family actually told me that I should have minded my own business. Like come on, the poor member of staff was so frustrated but was bound by duty to remain polite regardless of how unreasonable that idiot was. Needless to say, I will always stand up and speak up whenever I witness anything like that and I'll deal with the consequences whatever they may be. I am not the kind of person who will sit back and look the other way should something like that happen right in front of me. My friend said, "wait you kena Stomp then how?" I just replied, "Stomp then Stomp lah, as if I am scared - I am going to talk about it on my blog anyway."

5. So many people have left already, what is holding you back? 

One thing that I try to do each time I go back to Singapore is to try to track down old friends and each time I go back, I find that more and more old friends have left Singapore for greener pastures abroad - they are everywhere from Australia to America to Canada to Thailand. Some have planned the move for years, others were offered the chance to work abroad and took it. Moving abroad is a process that starts with working abroad for a few years before you earn your right to permanent residency in that country Most of my friends simply start of working abroad thinking, oh it's just for a a year or two, let's have some international experience to beef up my CV and return to Singapore once I complete the contract but as they get a taste of what life is like abroad, once they have a taste of the greener pastures abroad, very few return, once they realize there is a much better alternative to the kind of life that the PAP offers.

Have you ever had a taste of living abroad?

6. The next generation shouldn't listen to the last generation. 

This was a topic that I have actually raised with my dad - now my father is in his late 70s and doesn't speak English. He was (and probably still is) extremely racist towards white people and his default position is that all white people hate all Asian people and what evidence does he have for this? It is just an assumption of mutual hatred - if he hates white people, therefore white people must hate him in return. I know, it is a stupid assumption and makes no sense whatsoever. Well one day, we were talking about my neighbour's family (my parents had lived next to this family for 35 years) and one of the daughters of this family is now based permanently in America so I took the chance to explain this gently to my father, that times have indeed changed and that our generation have a very, very different relationship with the West, that he should take a moment to consider things from our point of view. 

I told my father that both my neighbour's daughter and I spoke English as a first language and we were brought up with a very western education system; thus it was far easier for us to assimilate in the West. We can do things that he can't (given that he can't speak English) : we can get good jobs, get work, make friends and it goes beyond overcoming the language barrier: it means being able to thrive in the West in a way my parents' generation would have never. My dad didn't contradict me and he even went as far as to tell me just how well our neighbour's daughter is doing in America, so obviously she is doing something right (though he wasn't quite able to define what it was). I am so glad that even people like my father are receiving positive messages about ex-Singaporeans who have moved to the West as this was clearly not the case a generation ago (remember uncle Norman). Come on people. We need a new narrative for 2015, let's ignore the racist, pessimistic narrative that the older generation has tried to feed us.

Unlike my father, I adore France. 

7.  The work culture is just insane

The Singaporean work culture is just insane - I have said this time and time again, I genuinely hope that you guys enjoy your jobs because you are spending practically every waking hour working. Let's look at Germany in contrast,  where the average working week is just 35.6 hours.  My sister regularly puts in 10 to 12 hours a day at the office, 6 days a week, I have no idea how the hell she does it. Don't get me wrong, she is very well paid but good grief, it leaves her with barely time to get enough sleep! I asked her if she could reduce her working hours and she just laughed it off - she doesn't have a choice as everyone in her company is working just as hard and she simply has to conform to the culture of working very long hours. Yikes. Aiyoh. No thanks. Do you prefer working 35 or 70 hours a week?

8. The increasing polarization of Singaporean politics. 

There is a rising group of hardcore PAP supporters who seem to equate being patriotic to pledging one's loyalty to the PAP and by that same token, anyone who doesn't support the PAP is somehow anti-Singapore. They have this, "if you can't beat them, you may as well join them" attitude. These people are so warped in their thinking that they are oblivious to just how twisted their logic is and if you are an opposition supporter, well, how would you like to live in a country where people like that are the majority and you're in the minority? There is little wonder why Singapore is ranked 153rd in the world's press freedom index (sandwiched between Russia and Libya) - Singaporeans are just so oblivious to how awful the situation is when it comes to the freedom of speech and having a free press. Is this something that bother you? If it does, then it's time to leave Singapore because this is something that won't change.

Do you have faith in the PAP?

9. The property ladder that many will never climb.

Think about it - Singapore's land is finite, it is a very small country (718 km²). What do you think is going to happen to the price of properties if you keep on increasing the population? You don't need to be an economist to work out that it is simply going to push property prices up and up - which means many Singaporeans will continue to live with their parents way into their adult lives.  With the population in Singapore projected to keep growing, you do the maths. Let's look at the situation in Finland for a comparison. Finland's population is practically identical to that of Singapore but Finland is way bigger at 338,424 km² - that means that there's far more space in per person, Finnish cities are far less congested and property prices are a lot more affordable in Finland. That means that your average Finnish adult will find it far easier to get on the property ladder than his Singaporean counterpart. Of course, if you're very rich, then you can afford the expensive condominiums in Singapore, but if you're not and you would like to get on the property ladder, then consider moving to a country like Finland. I've been there and it is absolutely stunning, I love Finland!

In Porvoo, Finland with my friend Kai.

10. In case you haven't realized, there's a big world out there...

Even if you are not bothered by any of points discussed above, here's a simple point for you to consider: there's a wonderful world out there, beyond the shores of Singapore. There are beautiful cities with exciting opportunities for young people, there are wonderful people to meet and befriend, there are so many interesting countries and communities to discover - the world out there really isn't scary but truly amazing. Now once again, the concept that "the world outside Singapore is scary and Singapore is the only place in the world I feel safe" is a mindset that is common amongst the older generation, people like my father who don't speak English and have not traveled much do think like that - he totally hates the idea of travel and holidays. Now it stuns me that there are younger Singaporeans who actually do still think like that, mostly because they have not ever had the opportunity to study or work abroad yet - so they default to fear and pessimism, this is but a reflection of their lack of self-confidence. You don't need to think like your parents' generation my friends. Give this wonderful world a chance, you won't be disappointed.

So if you haven't already started thinking about leaving Singapore yet, perhaps you want to tell me about what is keeping you in Singapore? Let's have a conversation about this - leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading.