Wednesday, January 31, 2007

A new begining, risky but rewarding

Yes! I am now in Melbourne.

I unabashedly proclaim myself as a QUITTER (a term coined by SM Goh).

Good riddance then.

I may not have found a job yet. Yeah, I am taking a big risk which makes no sense in a Singaporean culture/thinking where everything has to have a bottom-line dollar and profit or positive financial figure tied to it (yes, I know I am worth just a figure to you).

If everything is to be spelt out and given on a silver platter, where is the sense of adventure then? How do you 'teach' creativity, thinking out-of-the-box? How do you encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, the dare-discover-the-unknown factor in a venture? The first move is always to step out of your comfort zone.

And we wonder why there is the brain drain.

Anyway, this draft was in my blog for at least 4 months. I hardly even have time to publish it! So here goes:

"Did the government ever cared that for the past 4+ months (the Dec holidays included), I have been working my butt off?!!

I have been going home late after 9pm approximately 3-4 times a week! I hardly see my daughter (now that she goes to pre-school for >3 hours) because she sleeps early by the time I reach home.


I have also noticed how she began to distance herself from me. I come home weary, tired and grumpy. Think a bear with a sore head. I shout at the least bit of irritation or when things don't work out well for me.

Let me spell it out to you clearly: Your labor law sucks! So do your pro-creation carrots-dangling-with-sticks-behind-your-backs policies! Even if I have the means and finance, I will not have another child. And it's not that I don't have the means.

Go figure."

Come to think of it, instead of having really good pro-creation benefits (see Japan, France, etc.) to increase the birthrates and to encourage mothers to stay at home, foreign talent becomes the Singapore answer - to fill in the gap of low birth rates and 'cheaper' labor.

And the result? Singaporean citizens will pro-create less!

Why? It's a chicken and egg thingy.

The more the government employs foreign talent (no offense, rather I feel they do contribute to the society. Personally, it is not the foreign talent issue but the policies supporting it. Anyway, I digress...), the less secure a citizen feels. The less a citizen feels secure, the less he will think of raising a family in Singapore.

And the government brings in more foreign talent. They will pro-create more than a Singaporean couple. This in turns make a Singaporean citizen feel unworthy.

And so he leaves.

So it goes on in an endless cycle.

Except that the foreigners will take the money and leave. 10 out of 10 colleagues I have asked and know of don't want to take Singaporean citizenship.

Well, I have taken the blue (or is it red, but who cares) pill. Let's see how it works in AU. The only thing that matters is - I have more time for my family.

This is something Singapore cannot provide me.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Bro, all the best to U, Selene & Rachel. I wish u blue sky and keep reaching for e sky. His riches & glory b upon ur fam. Dun keep us posted okay. Always remembered by Micky, Beeleng, Kylie & Kyler. email:mickybible@yahoo.com.sg

Rachel said...

*claps* GOOD FOR YOU!!!! We are also making plans to be fellow "quitters". yes, you paplapdogs if you are reading this, another one flies the coop! I am proud to aspire to be a "quitter" in this sense. Kudos to you for your gungho spirit. *respect*

Rachel said...

More updates from down south pls... so excited for you and your family. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Adrian, DO keep us posted. Butterfingers! Sorry for the typo error in my early comment. Our blessings and prayers go to all of u.

QQ*librarian said...

You'll be fine everywhere you go, remember, when you have Jesus, you don't need anything else. We'll visit you and hopefully have a chance to join you too when we have accumulated our millions (haha! must have hope huh, God is good).

House of rabbits said...

homcalanPap should not start categorising people, esp calling sgpeans who leave as quitters.
It has made it worse as it made people more determined to succeed and prove pap wrong.
anyway, the pay increase really is classic, the pathetic excuses they give to justify it.
read an article somwhere that sgp is a disneyland with an undemocratic ruling party.
this is what you get with dominant party where the elected people represent the party instead of the people.
Have fun in Melbourne.
say hi to the kangaroos and koalas for us.
we'll visit you soon...

Anonymous said...

I chanced upon your blog while updating myself with Singapore issues.

I left for South Australia 3 years ago.

Totally agreed with your reasons why Singaporeans like us are leaving.

Glad you are doing extremely well now.

My husband and I are cruising along here ;)

He left the Administrative Service for a simpler and more enriching life here. Our son used to accuse him of treating home like a hotel. It hurt him and so inspired his quitting.

At 40, we are into semi-retirement. Something Singaporeans can never imagine!

We are looking forward to caravan - ing to see more of this beautiful country we call home now.

We love quitting. The only darn thing we regret is that we still need to "settle" our son's NS liability !

I am Buddhist but I guess god's blessings are inter-faith?

Many good wishes to you, mate.

Unknown said...

.Hi Adrian,1st time reading your blog .Hope by now u have settled well in your new home, but more importantly that you have make PEACE with the anger issues about singapore thats been troubling you.
It may be good for you to rethink your stand as its early days yet .Who knows ,unfortunate situations beyond our control may be force upon us that may lead us back to your birth place Sing. Issues like world economy,Health and family issues .As you know the weather is so unpredictable nowadays......so it is good to always leave one door open just in case.....any way, I do not mean to dampen your spirits but its good to kiv...we will continue to wish you all well.
Ok enough said....Maybe next time you may want to write in a satirical way to make it more fun reading and for us to remember you as you were...this way serious issues becomes not so serious