LETTER TO SINGAPORE
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dear sg,
i'm in love, with a sg girl, so i love u.
hpnw
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Originally posted by highlands:
dear sg,
i'm in love, with a sg girl, so i love u.
hpnw
Well, I wish you good luck then. However, you should ask your Singaporean girlfriend whether she still wants to live in Singapore....her opinion could be different. I met once a 70s plus former British national at the town council one day. She told me that when she first came to Singapore in the 50s she was very happy but now she found that the life in Singapore is difficult for her. I had a neighbour who was formerly a Malaysian national from Malacca and then became a Singaporean citizen. He told me he regretted for taking up that Singapore citizenship. He said that now he is old and he still need to work because he sold his 4S flat and bought a bigger unit flat twenty years ago. He still has to pay his new flat unit now and he regretted. He wish he had remain a Malaysian citizen or PR status in Singapore because now when he wants to purchase a grounded property or a land in Malacca he can't purchase it based on being a Malaysian. There was this Malay Malaysian guy who had accepted the Singapore citizenship when he was young and now he regretted. He said he had accepted the Singapore citizenship because he listened to other people whom had advised him that after he was a Singaporean it was easier for him to get jobs in Singapore. Now, he is trying to return to Malaysia and try to get his Malaysian citizenship back but it is difficult for him. I know a Filipino family with PR status in Singapore with two daughters but they have migrated to New Zealand to build a new life. However, he said that should they failed in New Zealand, he and his family will return to Singapore again. I asked him why he wanted to migrate to New Zealand, he said because he disagreed with some of the Singapore government policies but he didn't eliberate more than that. -
I have a friend who had gone for a backpacking travel in the early 80s. He started out from Singapore by bus, cross over to Malaysia and began his journey. Then 5 years later, he came to Singapore from France with a French wife. He told me that as he went on backpacking travel, he would stay in whichever place and countries that he could work for awhile, saved some cash and then continue his journey. He never thought that his journey would end in France and he had travel overland from Singapore all the way to Europe. He gained many experiences and learned alot from his journey. He met many people from all walks of life and from different countries with variety of cultures background. I was amazed with his courage to do that alone. He went for that backpacking journey because he was broken hearted. He is a French national now and happily married with 3 kids all fully grown ups now.
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Rising house prices,rising COE prices. Lack of politeness(mannerisms),doubts on whether to live here or not
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Zing, Singapore can tolerate your K-pop obsession but not UK a latest shitty songs nation.You just don't accept the fact that you cannot use high end smartphone anywhere you go.Go figure.
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Many Singaporeans retired overseas now especially in Malaysia. RETIREMENT http://sgforums.com/forums/8/topics/463272
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I found this in the net. Sunday, August 19, 2012 Singapore prevents young men from migrating to the West Ladies and Gentlemen, Under Singapore law, young men who turn 18 are required to do national service, which is spending 2 years in the Army. After that they have to serve about a month or less each year in the army as reservists for 10 years. During this time, the citizen requires permission to go overseas, and his passport is valid only for the duration of the trip. This causes several problems against free movement. The citizen is only allowed to remain aboard for the duration of the exit permit which may be only a few months. If he decides to remain abroad longer, his passport becomes invalid which requires his attendance at a Singapore Consulate in that country to ask permission for an extension, which is never granted if the army refuses his request; which they always do. This means from that point, he becomes a fugitive, liable to arrest and imprisonment if he returns. Let us not try to deceive ourselves. This 10 long years during which time, the poor young man is kept under a leash, is nothing other than an attempt to prevent him from migrating. We can imagine numerous scenarios where the citizen, once abroad finds an opportunity to stay. But he cannot do it, because unless the government grants him permission not to return, which never happens, he simply has either to break Singapore law and become a fugitive, or return and remain in Singapore until the 10 years have passed before he could leave. This thing is nothing but slavery at the hands of the Singaporean dictator, Lee Kuan Yew. And he manages to get away with it, because Singaporeans have become so submissive and docile after years of indoctrination that they do not understand that they have a right to refuse the government and simply not come back, in which event, there is nothing that Lee or anyone else can do. I ask Singaporean young men not to be afraid to simply break this unjust law of bondage through the guise of military service. Singapore is not fighting anyone and there is simply no need to require every young man to remain in Singapore for 10 long years after national service. And by the way, national service in Singapore, by itself, serves no military value whatsoever. The whole idea is not to teach you to fight, but to teach you to submit like a mouse, which is completely achieved by the daily routine of having to obey orders, and usually, I may add, stupid orders. After submitting to his military superiors every day of his life for 2 years, he comes out perfectly willing to take orders from Lee Kuan Yew. Break this unjust law. Leave Singapore anytime you want and live out your life, aspirations and career in the West if that is what you want. And Good Luck to you. Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Fremont, California Tel: 510 657 6107 or 510 491 4375 http://singaporedissident.blogspot.sg/2012/08/singapore-prevents-young-men-from.html
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EX PRESIDENT DEVAN NAIR LEFT SINGAPORE On March 28, 1985, Nair resigned in unclear circumstances. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew stated in Parliament that Nair resigned to get treatment for alcoholism, a charge Nair hotly denied. According to Nair's counterclaim, he resigned under pressure when their political views came into conflict and Lee threatened to seek a motion in parliament to oust him as president. Nair also alleged that he was fed drugs to make him appear disoriented, and rumours were spread about his personal life in an attempt to discredit him. In 1999, an article about the case in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail resulted in a libel suit by Lee. Some claimed that the suit was thrown out of court after Nair's counterclaim. However, in a letter to the New York Times, it is said that Lee agreed to discontinue the suit only when two of Nair's sons issued a statement, reported in the Globe and Mail on July 1, 2004, maintaining that Nair was no longer mentally competent to give evidence in court. The Globe and Mail statement concluded that "having reviewed the records, and on the basis of the family's knowledge of the circumstances leading to Mr. Nair's resignation as president of Singapore in March, 1985, we can declare that there is no basis for this allegation (of Mr Nair being drugged)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devan_Nair
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29/02/2012 About 1,200 Singaporeans renounce citizenship annually in last 5 years SINGAPORE: An average of 1,200 Singaporeans renounced their citizenship every year between 2007 and 2011. Of these, 300 were naturalised citizens. But the renunciation rates for both naturalised citizens and Singapore -- born citizens were low at 0.1 per cent or less. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean gave this update in Parliament on Tuesday. Mr Teo also explained why some give up their citizenship and assured members that every application for citizenship was carefully evaluated. Mr Teo said: "Every application for permanent residence or Singapore citizenship is evaluated holistically on a range of criteria, including economic contributions, qualifications, age, family profile, and length of stay in Singapore. "The reasons for emigration vary. Some emigrants leave for family reasons, because of marriage or to reunite the family members overseas, while others do so for a different living environment. "All Singapore citizens and permanent residents who own HDB flats will have to sell their properties if they renounce their citizenship or cease to be permanent residents. There are no exceptions to this rule." -- CNA/fa/de http://news.xin.msn.com/en/article-commented.aspx?cp-documentid=5941442
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More than half of S'poreans would migrate if given a choice: Survey The New Paper Tuesday, Oct 09, 2012 SINGAPORE - In the anonymous freedom of surveys, away from the glare of the National Conversation, more than half of us apparently do not want to be here. A Mindshare survey carried out early this year found that 56 per cent of the 2,000-odd polled agreed or strongly agreed that, "given a choice, I would like to migrate". Migration specialist Brenda Yeoh, dean of the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, is not surprised and is hardly alarmed. "The percentage would be much higher than the reality of emigration (because) then, there is the reality check (of) resources and emotional ties to family. So it shouldn't send the nation into a massive panic about 50 per cent of our population disappearing," she says. Even so, there is a world of difference between actively wanting to be in Singapore, and simply being here because you can't be anywhere else. If more than half of Singaporeans harbour some suspicion (no matter how idle or misinformed) that life elsewhere might be more relaxed, more enjoyable, more vibrant - just more - it does not bode well. It does not help that for some, the vice of paucity continues to tighten in Singapore, heightening the contrast with the perceived abundance in other countries. The Mindshare survey, for instance, showcases a large wedge of Singaporeans who increasingly feel themselves painted into a corner. In Singapore's Consumer Price Index last year, the cost of housing rose 8.3 per cent year on year, a rate of increase bested only by that of the cost of transport - another national bugbear - at 11.9 per cent. For the first time in the history of Singapore, a whole generation of wage earners face the chilling possibility that their lives are going to be worse than their parents'. But 49 per cent of the respondents in the Mindshare survey agree or strongly agree that the Government is doing a good job running the country. And the "vocal minority" theory is borne out, with only 8 per cent disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. What bears further scrutiny, however, is the figure of 43 per cent who are ambivalent on the matter. So, where does one go from here, literally? Will there be an exodus to the 5pm quitting times of Australia? In June, there were 200,000 Singaporeans living abroad for at least six cumulative months in the previous 12 months, a 27 per cent increase from nine years ago, says the National Population and Talent Division. The World Bank has higher figures, with almost 300,000 Singaporeans considered migrants in 2010. "The way I teach migration now has changed. I don't teach it as uprooting and settling (but) as a fluid to-ing and fro-ing," says Prof Yeoh. It is a comforting thought that more people are not necessarily leaving for good, but what happens when the people you govern are no longer exclusively yours? Most countries' policies, including Singapore's, have not kept up with this national fluidity. "My view is that we should give more credit to more flexible kinds of identities today. I have evidence to show people are able to cope with multiple identities," she says. It is ironic, then, that in a time of malleable nationalities, the attitude towards foreigners has hardened. And the perception of job scarcity is bemusing, given that Singapore has a lower unemployment rate than the countries Singaporeans are moving to. Why then do people think they would like to be someplace else? Perhaps the National Conversation will clarify matters. It will not be easy - for as we ponder the nation's navel, we have to look past the fluff. This is a condensed version of the article "Singapore's emigration conundrum' by Joyce Hooi, published in The Business Times first. http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20121007-376116.html
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Of migration and the Singaporean diaspora WRITTEN BY Kelvin Teo / Published on April 14, 2009 at 11:49 pm SINGAPORE – A survey conducted by the Singapore Polytechnic revealed one sobering statistic – more than 50% of youths aged between 15 and 29 years old want to migrate overseas if given the chance. Another ironic piece of statistic is that despite going through National Education in their schools, 37% admitted that they are not patriotic. Another interesting number is that despite 60% of the youth not being interested in local politics, half of them want to see more opposition in parliament. And this migration statistic is worrying our leaders. Senior Minister (SM) Goh Chok Tong admitted in a meeting with Iranian leaders that Singapore is leaking talents, especially the top notch ones. And this leakage of talents extended to the civil service as well. This was ironic considering the fact that SM Goh fired a rhetorical salvo in challenging Singaporeans’ resolve to stay to fight for the nation instead of taking flight at the first sign of trouble, ending with a famous question – “are you a quitter or a stayer?� Admittedly, this rhetorical question triggered an emotional response. The quitter reference didn’t go down well amongst a number of Singaporeans, especially those who have migrated or have already considered migrating. A variety of reasons were offered to explain their unhappiness. Be that as it may, sometimes it would be interesting to dwell on the causes behind Singaporeans’ decision to migrate rather than the furore over the stayer-quitter remarks. Mr Seah Chiang Nee, in an article published in the Sunday Star, attributed one of the causes to a self-centred generation with no personal bond to the nation. Half of it is figured by Mr Seah. The other half is possibly attributable to the fact that Singaporeans are rarely offered a part to play in the running of the nation. Singapore has always been run in a top-down approach, the catch phrase for that is a paternalistic form of governance. Basically, Singaporeans have not much say in the running of Singapore. Thus, there is a need to engage Singaporeans in the sense that they should be given a say in the direction that Singapore should take, and in doing so, shoulder more responsibilities. When citizens are given more responsibilities in running the country within a decentralized system of governance, the national bond naturally comes. In fact, this engagement should be extended to Singaporeans who have left our shores. The case study of India has taught us that despite the brain drain, the Indian diaspora worldwide has benefitted India in terms of cash injection and technology transfer. It would be tragic if the Singapore government fails to engage the Singaporean diaspora worldwide. One solution to the brain drain in SM Goh’s words is “to turn to talented people from other countries, get them to work here and eventually turn them into Singaporeans�. That in itself is a gamble because not all foreigners would end up taking up Singapore citizenship. However, the pertinent question is – has the government completely forgotten the former sons of Singapore? It appeared that SM Goh’s reference to them as “quitters� will only further alienate them. One really wonders if it has ever occurred to the Singapore government that the Singapore diaspora worldwide can still be considered a valuable resource in terms of knowledge and finance. Even SM Goh conceded that these talented former Singaporeans are “harvested straightaway by top companies and institutions�. Thus, wouldn’t a friendly engagement allow Singapore to tap on their expertise or benefit from their cash injection? Alienation would only burn the bridges for eternity. When there was talk about building up a knowledge-based economy, the government rolled out the red carpet in welcoming foreign luminaries. Perhaps, the same red carpet should also be rolled out to welcome overseas-based Singaporean or ex-Singaporean experts too. Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong envisioned Singapore as “an inclusive society where no one will be left behind�. It is a beautiful vision worth attaining. However, former Singaporeans should also be included in this vision. Even as they have left our shores, they are still a part of us nonetheless. Instead of burning bridges, more bridges should be built to reach out to such Singaporeans. http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=2544#sthash.g3MZR3R0.dpbs
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Originally posted by zulkifli mahmood:
I found this in the net.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Singapore prevents young men from migrating to the West
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Under Singapore law, young men who turn 18 are required to do national service, which is spending 2 years in the Army. After that they have to serve about a month or less each year in the army as reservists for 10 years.
During this time, the citizen requires permission to go overseas, and his passport is valid only for the duration of the trip.
This causes several problems against free movement. The citizen is only allowed to remain aboard for the duration of the exit permit which may be only a few months. If he decides to remain abroad longer, his passport becomes invalid which requires his attendance at a Singapore Consulate in that country to ask permission for an extension, which is never granted if the army refuses his request; which they always do.
This means from that point, he becomes a fugitive, liable to arrest and imprisonment if he returns.
Let us not try to deceive ourselves. This 10 long years during which time, the poor young man is kept under a leash, is nothing other than an attempt to prevent him from migrating.
We can imagine numerous scenarios where the citizen, once abroad finds an opportunity to stay. But he cannot do it, because unless the government grants him permission not to return, which never happens, he simply has either to break Singapore law and become a fugitive, or return and remain in Singapore until the 10 years have passed before he could leave.
This thing is nothing but slavery at the hands of the Singaporean dictator, Lee Kuan Yew. And he manages to get away with it, because Singaporeans have become so submissive and docile after years of indoctrination that they do not understand that they have a right to refuse the government and simply not come back, in which event, there is nothing that Lee or anyone else can do.
I ask Singaporean young men not to be afraid to simply break this unjust law of bondage through the guise of military service. Singapore is not fighting anyone and there is simply no need to require every young man to remain in Singapore for 10 long years after national service.
And by the way, national service in Singapore, by itself, serves no military value whatsoever. The whole idea is not to teach you to fight, but to teach you to submit like a mouse, which is completely achieved by the daily routine of having to obey orders, and usually, I may add, stupid orders. After submitting to his military superiors every day of his life for 2 years, he comes out perfectly willing to take orders from Lee Kuan Yew.
Break this unjust law. Leave Singapore anytime you want and live out your life, aspirations and career in the West if that is what you want.
And Good Luck to you.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California
Tel: 510 657 6107 or 510 491 4375How about,if you go overseas to study,will that be an exception?
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Originally posted by a mugger:
How about,if you go overseas to study,will that be an exception?
I'm not sure but I think you can approach eac http://sgforums.com/users/59445 on this matter. She/He seems to know alot about SAF and Reservist matters. -
Originally posted by troublemaker2005:
no leh she looks red
Ooi, that is not her pic.This is her pic.
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ABOUT BG GEORGE YEO LEFT POLITICS AND SINGAPORE SCENE If Only Singaporeans Stopped to Think Pause, engage brain, attain enlightenment Saturday, 3 November 2012 George Yeo - Life after Politics It's nice, says George Yeo of his new job But ex-foreign minister misses being involved in formulating policy By Li Xueying, The Straits Times, 1 Nov 2012 HONG KONG - As Singapore's foreign minister, Mr George Yeo was a tireless advocate of engagement with a recalcitrant Myanmar junta within the Asean fold, chivvying it along the path of reform. Now, as vice-chairman of Hong Kong-based conglomerate the Kerry Group, Mr Yeo is exploring investment opportunities in the country that is fast opening up - whether to build hotels; how to transport goods, given its position between China and India; and hey, what about agriculture? It is "nice", he says in his characteristic understated way, that as a businessman, he is helping his company reap "powerful benefits" from the policies that he, as a minister, had helped pushed for. "It's almost as if you've been dealing at it one level, helping to design and build the swimming pool, and now you are swimming in it." The 58-year-old looked relaxed when he met The Straits Times for an interview last week, his first with the Singapore media since he lost his seat in Aljunied GRC in May last year, putting an end to his 23 years in government. Perched in his office on the 31st floor of the Kerry Centre, overlooking Victoria Harbour, Mr Yeo talks - over milk tea - about how his life has changed in the 17 months since he left politics. While he declines to speak on Singapore or domestic politics, Mr Yeo, who helmed four ministries in his time, says he misses being involved in policy formulation. "That part - where you're involved in policy formulation which affects Singaporeans - you don't have that as much in the private sector. When I look back on my various portfolios, there were opportunities to do good. "I do view that with a certain nostalgia and gratitude." Politics, though, is a different matter for the father of three, whose People's Action Party team lost in Aljunied GRC during the last general election to the Workers' Party's "A" slate led by its secretary-general Low Thia Khiang. "Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy. That part, I don't really miss," he admits with a laugh. "Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure." Asked about criticisms over his decision to quit politics, leaving the PAP team and its activists to fight the next battle, he would only say: "I didn't resign. I was voted out." He remains in touch with his former grassroots leaders and, when in Singapore, would head to Bedok Reservoir in his former constituency for a run. Residents are friendly - they wave and tell him, "so sad not to have you around". While not speaking specifically of Singapore in the aftermath of the 2011 elections, Mr Yeo dwelt on how the nature of leadership around the world has changed. With the rise of social media and a smartphone in every pocket, "if a leader puts on airs and pretends, he loses credibility". "In the old days you're protected by ritual, by hypocrisy, sometimes by ignorance. Today it's no longer possible. If a picture is too perfect, you know it can't be real." In this context, political leaders - whether in Singapore, China or Hong Kong - are facing rising cynicism among younger citizens towards them and the political system, he observes. There is thus an urgent need to build trust so that leaders can craft policies that strike a balance between individual needs and the collective good. "If people feel that, in the end 'I'm in your heart', they're less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good. "But if I begin to suspect you, that you're in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met." Most of Mr Yeo's time now is spent outside Singapore - mainly in Hong Kong, where he has set up a second home with his wife Jennifer. Just last Saturday, he received an honorary doctorate in social science from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He also travels the world for business and as a speaker at universities and forums. While he has left the foreign office, he has clearly not lost his love for meeting people and exchanging ideas. But the past year, during which he joined the Kerry Group and now helms its logistics arm, has been a leap into the unknown for the President's Scholar, who had hitherto spent his entire career in government. Asked what new insight he has gleaned from his time in the private sector, he muses: "In business, every step has got to be a sure step, because otherwise you stumble and fall, and that can be the end of the story. There's no luxury of big buffers, which a country would have to ride through cycles." If a parcel does not get to its client within 24 hours as promised, "you've got a problem". Was it a difficult adjustment to make? Mr Yeo says with a smile: "I'm still learning." MORE FREEDOM NOW Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy. That part, I don't really miss... Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure. - Mr Yeo, on life after politics BUILDING TRUST If people feel that, in the end 'I'm in your heart', they're less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good. But if I begin to suspect you, that you're in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met. - Mr Yeo, on changes in the nature of leadership around the world http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.sg/2012/11/george-yeo-life-after-politics.html
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I came across this in the net and thought I share within this topic. Take a look.. OVERSEAS SINGAPOREAN UNIT http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/
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In 2002, I know a Singapore PR status professional Indian national who was working in Singapore. He had rented the whole HDB flat when he initially started work in Singapore. Then 2 years, after his wife and son came to live with him, I asked him whether he would stay in Singapore permanently and become a Singaporean when he bought HDB flat at Tampines. He replied, "No, my family and I will never become Singaporeans. The life here is too stressful and anyway this HDB flat is considered very small. Back in India, I have a house that is much much bigger than this HDB flat. I bought this HDB flat only as an investment. When we return to India, I will sell the flat."
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1,200 Singaporeans give up their citizenship yearly: DPM By Chua Yini | SingaporeScene – Tue, Feb 28, 2012 Around 900 Singapore born citizens and 300 naturalised citizens give up their citizenship yearly, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Teo said that renunciation rates for both citizens born in Singapore and foreigners who take up citizenship were "low" at 0.1 per cent or less, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA) According to CNA, the given renunciation rates were for the years between 2007 and 2011. Teo also offered reasons as to why people chose to give up their citizenship. "The reasons for emigration vary. Some emigrants leave for family reasons, because of marriage or to reunite the family members overseas, while others do so for a different living environment," CNA reported him as saying. He added that every application for permanent residence or Singapore citizenship is "evaluated holistically" on a range of criteria, which includes economic contributions, qualifications, age, family profile, and length of stay in Singapore, according to CNA. Teo also reiterated that it is compulsory for all Singapore citizens and permanent residents who own HDB flats to sell them if they renounce their citizenship, reported CNA. http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/1-200-singaporeans-citizenship-yearly-dpm-091548225.html
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There was this Filipino guy, an architect with PR status. Wife was also PR status. Their son and daughter PR status too. Company in Singapore where the guy was working closed and shifting to Taiwan. He decided to return to the Philippines, told his wife to resign from her work and return to the Philippines. They gave up their SPR status to collect their CPF money. Initially they had planned to open business back in their own country but then their plan changed. Husband now working in Netherlands, son with the mother in the Philippines but daughter still studying in Singapore but will return to the philippines after graduation. Wife now processing their family papers in the philippines and later will go to Netherlands with the whole family to live there. Changed of plan because they said they are still able to look for more wealth outside the philippines before they return to the philippines to retire.
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Why I am quitting Singapore Three weeks ago I departed for graduate studies in the US, where I hope to eventually be able to sink my roots. My plans are not motivated by the prospects of greener pastures but rather, because there is simply no place or future left in Singapore for a citizen who is completely snubbed by the government sector. I have been applying for many public service roles in the various organizations for over a decade without ever receiving even a single call for an interview until last year for an Administration Manager position at the Ministry of Education (MOE). However, it was so short and hurried compared to the interviewees before me that I could not help but believe its whole purpose was to serve as a hint to stop applying whenever this position reappears, probably because regardless of the number of times or vacancies – recently 7 available according to the Careers@Gov website – MOE would simply never consider me. I have also applied for the Language Analyst position at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), satisfying the listed requirements exactly and perfectly – by this I mean possessing even the skills that “will be considered favourably� yet still not being overqualified. One of these is my knowledge in not one but two foreign languages, which should be less common among the pool of applicants. But like MOE who rejected me due to a “good crop of candidates� despite continuing to advertise the numerous vacancies, MHA’s reason for not even shortlisting me for an interview was also that they had better candidates and similarly they are now posting this position for the 5th time: http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/04/17/why-i-am-quitting-singapore/
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Singapore's Brain Drain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAvr-6Dtym8
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Some stupid Singaporeans just don't bloody get it.... I'm busy with work at the moment but this is one of those quick rants that I just have to write in order to let off some steam because of some bloody stupid idiots on Facebook. My last post went viral in a big way, I have had 36,000 hits on my blog in the last 16 hours and in less than 24 hours, it has already become the 5th most popular blog post of all time on my blog and it'll probably be the 3rd or 4th most popular post by tomorrow. Whilst I am always glad that my message of support to Leslie Chew attracted so much attention, there was one comment on theonlinecitizen's Facebook page which well and truly pissed me off. This idiot Tang Jon wrote, "Limpeh is FT alien in limpeh's country". OK, let me lay out a few facts for you since you're clearly a fucking idiot. I am not an alien in the UK, I hold a British passport, not a Singaporean passport today. London is home for me, I have lived here for many years before deciding to cut off my ties to Singapore by taking up British citizenship and renouncing my Singaporean passport at the same time. Ironically, I had no problem whatsoever returning to Singapore to work as a British expatriate for a short stint in 2011- that just goes to show you that I can have the best of both worlds should I ever decide to work in Singapore again, I don't need a Singaporean passport given the PAP's open door policy on foreign talents. Am I an alien in my country, the UK? To answer that question, we have to first understand the question. Now I have written a piece a while ago about my experiences working in Prague, in the Czech Republic where I had encountered migrants from China who speak neither Czech nor English. Certainly for them, it was a terribly lonely, alienating experience to face such a linguistic barrier, being trapped in the very small Chinese speaking community in Prague, unable to communicate with the rest of the Czechs in the city. Indeed, most of them are on limited work visas tied to their jobs in the Chinese restaurant trade and without a decent command of the Czech language, few of them have any hope of gaining any form of permanent residency in the country. For those Chinese migrant workers in Prague, of course it they feel like aliens in someone else's country. I look at the experiences of many of my Singaporean peers who have chosen to spend their adult lives in Singapore and whilst alienation may not be the best word to describe their experiences, they do often complain that they are treated like second class citizens in their own country. Where do I begin? How about the way scholarships have been given out generously to PRCs like Sun Xu and Malaysians like Alvin Tan whilst deserving local students are passed over? How about the way Singaporean men have the burden of national service followed by years of reservist liabilities whilst having to compete with foreign workers who have neither NS liabilities nor CPF payments to meet? Or how about the way the governments pays no heed whatsoever to the people's wishes and do what the hell they want on the issue of the population white paper? The sense of frustration is palpable and the reason why they all put up with being second class citizens in their own country is common. "My parents are here, yes life here sucks but what can I do? I hate it here but I have no choice but to be here." I get the feeling that many of my peers remain in Singapore by default, rather than by choice. There is a very big difference between the two options. Some of them are luckier than others in that they do enjoy a warm, loving relationship with their parents and their other family members, giving them a very good reason to want to remain in Singapore - but not everyone is so lucky and for those who don't, I really don't know why they stay on in Singapore since the government has long jilted them like an unwanted ex. Whether you feel like an alien where you live, whether you feel happy where you live depends on many factors - do you have a good job? Do you have many friends who are there for you? Do you have a good work life balance? Do you earn plenty of money? Do you have leisure activities that you enjoy? Are you in a happy relationship? Are you pursuing your dreams or are you merely doing a job you hate to pay the bills? Do you feel thankful for the life you have or do you stay awake at night worrying about your problems? Are you in good health? Do you have the money to enjoy the fun things in life you like? The list of question goes on - however, one theme is clear: you reap what you sow. Choosing to spend your adult life in the country you were born does not guarantee happiness or help you with any of the factors listed above. It doesn't make a difference whether you choose to live your entire life in Ang Mo Kio or if you have done what I did and have lived and worked all over the world in my adult life - if you want to make somewhere 'home' then you need to invest a lot of effort to make enough friends, develop meaningful relationships, find your place in the local community... Are you ready for the litmus test? Imagine if you have had an accident and you sprained your ankle - who would you be able to call to take you to the hospital for an X-ray? Would you have a number of friends who will drop everything and come and help you? What if you encountered a difficult situation at work and needed someone to talk to and give you advice - do you have people whom you can totally trust and will be there for you, even at one in the morning? If you found yourself in financial difficulty, would you have friends who wouldn't hesitate to lend you money to make sure you could pay your bills and not go hungry? Or take what happened to me this week for example - I have some legal documents to look at arising from a tenant. You see, I have a flat which I rent out - I let that flat out through an estate agent and there have been some problems with the contracts. I needed a lawyer to go through the contracts to check if what the estate agent had done was legit - so I texted a few of my lawyer friends and David was the first to respond. He said, "just come over any time, what do you need?" I jumped on my bike and got the documents to him the same afternoon - he sorted it all out there and then. Those of you in Singapore - would you be able to get free legal advice like that amongst your network of friends? I know I can both in Singapore and London because I have plenty of lawyer friends in both London and Singapore. Actually quite a large number of my former VJC peers have ended up in law... You know, one thing I do when I catch up with my old VJC friends is to talk about what everyone else is doing, "have you heard about Jane? Where is she working these days? Is she married? Do you talk to her on Facebook?" You get the idea. It was through this grapevine that I heard about how someone from my cohort killed himself a few years ago. Let's call him VJ since he was from VJC. Now VJ was always a bit of a loner, he didn't have many friends - he simply seemed more interested in studying than making friends. When the rest of us were playing basketball or just chatting, he would simply be sitting in the corner, alone, reading a book. Nothing out of the ordinary - we just thought he was shy and left him alone. That was how he spent his two years at VJC. The first sign that VJ was unstable was when we got our results for our JC1 exams. He did reasonably well, I thought, but clearly he wanted to do a lot better. He argued with the teacher over the grading of his essay in quite an aggressive manner, making the teacher feel quite uncomfortable. I remember her saying, "Please calm down, we can always talk about what improvements you could make in the future but I cannot go back and change the grade and it is not for you to challenge my judgement." He then threatened to complain to the MOE about the issue and started crying hysterically. That was when the rest of us thought, good grief, this is just an internal exam? Aiyoh. You get it, his studies were the focus of his life - in the absence of any friends, his relationship with his grades was quite different from the rest of us. There was no doubt that he was academically brilliant, but he clearly lacked the kind of skills to make friends. During lunch breaks, he would always been seen on his own and we thought, well he wants to be left alone and none of us really made too much of an effort to approach him. Friends who knew him back in his secondary school told us that he was like that too back in his secondary school. VJ disappeared from our radar when I enlisted in the army and I never heard anything about him until fairly recently. It seems he had a really terrible time in the army, because it was the kind of environment where you really needed to get along with those around you. Without the need to study and the validation of good exam results, his raison d'etre was lost - he didn't know what to do with himself or how to get along with those around him. He was constantly bullied throughout his army life and it was the dream of going to university that kept him going. He did go to university, graduated with flying colours and then the same problems persisted as a working adult. I found out that he had a difficult boss who made life difficult for him and well... one thing led to another, he was passed over for a promotion despite being far more qualified than the rest of his team. He tried to argue with that boss in the same aggressive manner he argued with our teacher in JC and he hit his boss. His boss made a police report and rather than face the music, VJ killed himself as he simply couldn't cope with the situation which had spiralled way out of control. Yes it is a very sad story, but this is about a Singaporean man who remained in Singapore all his life but did not make the effort to invest in building meaningful relationships with those around him. That was why he felt so isolated when life got difficult - he had no one to turn to, no one was going to come to his help and he was effectively an alien in his own country by that token. You reap what you sow, VJ didn't bother sowing any seeds of friendship and he paid the price. As for my life in London, I am very content thank you and it is not a question of luck or the UK being a nice country - quite simply, I am reaping what I have sown. I have many friends who are always there for me when I need help (and I am always there for them by the same token). Even in a tricky work environment, I am able to find allies and friends to guard me against my enemies. I have worked hard for my company and my employers have rewarded my loyalty financially. I am financially very sound and can afford to retire tomorrow if I wanted to - but I still have many more dreams to pursue and am in a position to hold down my day job whilst still pursuing other interests in the arts. I lead a varied social life with my friends, am active in two sports (springboard diving and gymnastics) and am very fulfilled in my relationship. I'm not saying my life is perfect - right now, I am left with ambiguous instructions from my boss on our latest project and I'm like, what exactly does he want me to do with this marketing campaign? I don't want to spend ages doing this only for him to tell me it's all wrong later. Groan. No, my life isn't perfect - far from it - but it doesn't change the fact that I am very happy, very satisfied with where I am right now. There is still ridiculous, downright stupid assumption on the part of some Singaporeans that Singaporeans who move abroad will face a sense of isolation and feel like an alien in the new country - but let's look at this more closely. My dad doesn't speak much English (well, he has a smattering of very basic English), so when he came to visit me in London, he was terribly suspicious of everything and everyone. Take for example, the prices we were paying in the restaurants: he would often accuse the waiters of trying to cheat us, despite having been presented with an itemized bill clearly stating the cost of every single item - but he didn't understand enough English to read the bill. Clearly, someone like him would feel very alienated in the UK given his inability to speak English well enough to function in British society. Would he acknowledge that? No, not in a million years. In sharp contrast to my dad, I speak English as a first language and am fluent in Welsh on top of that. Well, I am a linguist. My second language is in fact French, not Chinese and I do use French regularly at work. Well, to be honest, my conversational Mandarin is probably a bit better than my French, but I read and write far better in French than in Mandarin. But just to irk my dad, I would always tell him that my French is better than my Chinese. Given there are no linguistic barriers for me in the UK, I am then in a far better position to start making friends, finding my place in the local community and pursuing my ambitions. You know, I realized one thing a long time ago. You stop seeing the ethnicity, nationality or skin colour of the person you are dealing with pretty quickly and you start treating them as an individual when you get to know them as a person. Did I learn this experience whilst working around the world? No, I learnt this is my primary school in Sembawang Hills back in the 1980s - I had friends who were Chinese, Malays and Indians. I didn't choose my friends on the basis of their skin colour or ethnicity - I basically chose the people whom I liked, who were nice to me. I gravitated towards those with whom I shared common interests and it was this process that I still use today in seeking new friends. Is this rocket science? No, it was such a basic principle about friendship that I managed to figure it out at the age of 7. This is why I was appalled that an adult like Tang Jon can make such ridiculous assumption based on the perceived notion of being an alien in another country just because I am of a different skin colour- how utterly ludicrous is that. So there you go. I am disappointed that Singaporeans who grew up in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious society can still emerge so ignorant and make such bloody stupid assumptions about this issue. I sincerely hope such idiots are in the minority and most Singaporeans would have benefited a lot more from having lived in a multi-ethnic environment. Peace out. http://limpehft.blogspot.sg/2013/04/some-stupid-singaporeans-just-dont.html#!/2013/04/some-stupid-singaporeans-just-dont.html
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Came across this article in the net, thought I share it in sg forums. RETIRING ABROAD: ONE EX-SINGAPOREAN EXPERIENCE I HAVE read many negative comments on the plight of Singaporeans retiring abroad and I would like to share my personal experience. I have been retired for more than 10 years and have and spend my time between Guangzhou in China and Vancouver in Canada. Both these cities are inviting, fun and less expensive than Singapore. In Guangzhou, I live in a penthouse apartment I bought for $150,000 five years ago. It is situated in Tian He district (similar to District 10 in Singapore) and next to the beautiful 400ha botanic garden condo residents can access for free through a side gate. It is a gated community with a clubhouse and first-class facilities, an Olympic-size swimming pool and modern security services. A similar apartment in Singapore would have cost at least $900,000 or more. For about 5,000 yuan or about S$1,000 a month, I live extremely well. A similar lifestyle in Singapore would cost me at least $5,000 a month. One can easily survive in Guangzhou on 2,000 yuan. It is cheaper if one decides to live in smaller cities like Fushan or Chungshan. A Singaporean who speaks proficient English can easily get a part-time job teaching English and earn 3,000 to 5,000 yuan a month. A retired professor from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore lives in the same estate as me in Guangzhou for the past few years. He teaches science at a local university and earns about 10,000 yuan a month. He too can testify to the cost of living in Guangzhou. He is unlikely to return to Singapore as he has liquidated all his assets there. In Vancouver, I live in a 5,000 sq ft waterfront property that costs me less than $1 million. A similar piece of waterfront property in Singapore would cost $3 million or perhaps more. I drive a Honda Civic Hybrid I bought brand new five years ago for $25,000. A similar new Honda Hybrid in Singapore would have cost close to $100,000 if you include COE. If one prefers a more prestigious cars like a new Mercedes 250 or a BMW 325, these cars cost less than C$50,000 (S$67,000). The cost of living for my wife and me, not including housing as it is relative, is less than $2,000 a month. The cost of living for me in Vancouver will drop significantly when I reach the age of 65 when I am entitled to old-age pension from the Canadian government. My wife and I will then receive more than $2,000 a month from the government. This pension is given whether one is rich or poor. If you factor in savings in the cost of buying a house and a car in Vancouver and in Singapore, the difference is more than enough to pay for a happy and comfortable retirement for the rest of one’s life. If one is more adventurous and hands-on, the cost of living in Vancouver can be only a few hundred dollars a month. This can be achieved when you fish, catch crabs and prawns, grow your own vegetables, hunt and so on. There are lots of places to fish and hunt. All you need then is to buy rice, sauces, spices and pay for essentials like gas and electricity at home, telephone bills and transport. These items amount to no more than $500 a month. I have tried it and it is fun. It is impossible to find similar possibilities in Singapore where one can survive solely on Mother Nature. Some readers have complained with depressing tales about lack of friends for retired Singaporeans living overseas. To these people, I suggest we shed our introvert and ‘kiasu’ mentality. If one is an extrovert and willing to engage in and be proactive, one will have lots of friends. I have lots of friends of all races in both Guangzhou and Vancouver. I participate in dragon-boat races in Vancouver, San Francisco, Guangzhou and Hawaii. I am the only Singaporean with the rowing team and the oldest. The rest of the team are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Thailand and some European countries. I play golf with friends of all races. I give free English lessons to Guangzhou university students, as well as local businessmen. I am a member of both the Guangzhou and Vancouver Toastmasters clubs, Guangzhou Canadian Friendship club and Friends of Taiwan club. I am always welcome by friends in Guangzhou and Vancouver. We have activities all year round, such as snow hiking and skiing in winter, fishing, gardening, cruises to Alaska, and barbecues during summer, pot-luck, mahjong and hunting the rest of the year. There is hardly a dull moment. My wife, who is a retired teacher from Singapore, gives free English lessons to doctors and nurses at Chungshan Hospital in Guangzhou. She does volunteer work in Vancouver. Life is so rewarding and there is no time to be depressed. There have been a number of comments that we are treated as second-class citizens in our adopted countries. It is inevitable there will be a small minority of people who are racists and bigots. These people even hate their own kind. It is not the norm and it happens in any country, including Singapore. I have kidney failure and it costs the Canadian government $8,000 a month to treat me at no cost to me. There are nine friends willing to donate a kidney to me. They include a Caucasian, a Taiwanese, a Malaysian, a Korean, a mainland Chinese (a doctor herself) and four members of my family. It not true to say we are second-class citizens when people like Dr Ron Werb, head of department at St Paul’s Hospital, accompanies us in dragon-boat rowing practices twice a week, together with other doctors. As immigrants, we have the same opportunities and rights as other citizens, regardless of race. I remember when I first emigrated to Canada more than 20 years ago, my three children were given C$250 each as ‘milk money’ until they reached high school. This policy is still on going. There are a lot of support and help organisations for new immigrants of different cultures and race to help them assimilate into Canadian society. I was born without a father, expelled from Outram Secondary School in Secondary 2 and worked for less than $100 a month at the age of 15 years in Keppel Shipyard as an apprentice. With that kind of credentials, I doubt I could achieve much in Singapore. But in Canada, we have a level playing field where we are rewarded by what we can do and not strictly by academic qualifications. Please don’t tell me we are treated as second class citizens. The Canadian government pays for my medical treatment when I travel overseas. Health care is very costly and an important factor for retirees. To have access to good free medical treatment during retirement is like striking a million-dollar lottery . The benefits of free health care offered in Canada make Singapore’s claim of a lower cost of living meaningless. I welcome any member of the press to visit Guangzhou or Vancouver and stay with me for a month and experience the truth. However, there is one condition. Don’t send an introvert or eternal pessimist who engages in self-pity and complains. Retiring overseas is not a bed of roses, but only if one is not prepared to make the necessary adjustments and sacrifices to suit the environment. If one is prepared to work hard, stay positive and stop complaining, it is hard to fail. For me and many others, we are happy immigrants. Life could not be better. There is no shame and we certainly have a clear conscience when immigrating from Singapore. Cheong Wing Lee http://forums.vr-zone.com/newsroom/323513-forum-news-retiring-abroad-one-ex-sporeans-experience.html
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Evergreen forges agreement to shift transhipment hub to KL Asian Wall Street Journal April 6, 2002 By S. JAYASANKARAN SINGAPORE'S ports business is under siege. The structure of Singapore's state-owned PSA Corp, which involves relatively high costs in exchange for high efficiency, "is falling down," says Alan Greene, a credit analyst with Barclays Capital in Singapore. "There's simply too much overhead cost there." http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020406aw.htm ***************************************** Dire straits as rivals cut up rough over ports Australian April 5, 2002 Eric Ellis ONCE joined as a nation but now bickering regional rivals, Singapore and Malaysia are fighting a bitter ``war of the ports'' that Malaysia seems to be winning handsomely. Less than two years after building a facility a 30-minute sail from Singapore, the world's No. 2 port after Hong Kong, Malaysia has lured two of the world's biggest shipping lines to the new operation. Tanjung Pelepas, the new port that flanks the heavily trafficked Straits of Malacca in southern Malaysia, yesterday announced the Taiwanese shipping giant Evergreen would move the bulk of its handling operations to the facility. Evergreen's announcement follows the move by Denmark's Maersk line to Pelepas last year. Evergreen's defection is a bitter blow to the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), which has lost its two biggest customers, or about 20 per cent of its annual throughput of 16 million containers. http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020405a1.htm ********************************* Singapore port operator loses Taiwan's Evergreen to Malaysia Agence France Presse April 3, 2002 SINGAPORE SINGAPORE'S port operator PSA Corp. said Wednesday, April 3 long-time client Taiwanese shipping giant Evergreen Marine Corp. would be relocating its regional transit hub out of the city-state. Efforts by PSA to retain the contract of Evergreen had failed, the government-owned port operator said in a statement http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020403af.htm
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Sogo kicked out of Singapore shopping mall SINGAPORE, July 5 Kyodo The Singapore subsidiary of troubled Japanese retailer Sogo Co. has been kicked out of a popular shopping complex in the city center. Sogo Department Stores Singapore Pte. Ltd. said in a statement Wednesday it has received notice from its landlord that the lease for the shopping space occupied by its flagship store in the Raffles City shopping mall will not be renewed when it expires at the end of this year. The space will be taken over by two other large retailers. The news is a blow to Sogo Singapore because the landlord, Raffles City Pte. Ltd., is not only its landlord, but also a shareholder with a 15% stake. In addition, the shopping mall is strategically located next to a busy commuter train interchange station and several international hotels. In the light of the development, Sogo said it will now have ''to re-examine its position in Singapore.'' It also said it will announce details on its plans in due course. The firm, which is 85% owned by its parent company in Japan, has been the anchor tenant at Raffles City for the past 14 years, operating a 119,484-square-foot (11,100-square-meter) department store and basement supermarket. It also runs a supermarket in the Orchard Road shopping district. An industry source said Sogo plans to keep the supermarket. In its statement, Sogo voiced ''grave disappointment that its own shareholder has decided against renewing its lease without giving it a reasonable opportunity to match the offers of the other prospective tenants.'' Sogo said that under its joint venture agreement with Raffles City, both parties are obligated to use their best efforts to assist in the success of the department store. Discussions had been going on for the past few months about the renewal of its lease at Raffles City, it said. Public-listed Raffles Holdings Ltd., which owns Raffles City, said in a statement to the stock exchange Wednesday that Sogo's space will be taken over by local retailer Robinson and Co. and Dairy Farm International Group, which already operates a string of supermarkets in Singapore. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sogo+kicked+out+of+Singapore+shopping+mall.-a063276176