Hi Nix,
Am a Singaporean now living in Sydney. I have been reading your blog for more than 2 years ... even keeping track of your blog while you were in hiatus.
As a stranger, I wanted to convey my well wishes to you, hoping you have good health and life for many more years to come. I enjoy reading your blog posts, because I share the same political sentiment as you.
The reason I am writing to you, is that I realise that many Singaporeans actually approach you for help with aspects to Sydney. I like to volunteer my time and effort to assist your readers in whatever I can if they need help when moving to Sydney.
There is only one reason why I am making this gesture: I know it is very hard to come to Australia alone without any friends and families. I did that 3 years ago, and I experienced for myself the tough road ahead of me back then. Very quickly 3 years have passed, and I am finally settled down and in the position to help others.
What prompted me to write to you tonight was with regards to the recent blog post "Where Australia Isn't Greener Pasture", where your reader mentioned that " is it just me who hiam everything too much or am I missing out something and that everyone is enjoying Australia except me?".
I take great interest in answering that question. Of all places, Sydney is one of the few cities in Australia that is near to all the beautiful mountains, national parks, beaches, waterfalls and historic buildings. To read that she has nothing to enjoy here, that must be a travesty! I guess what she lack (and many others) is people who genuinely can show her the real beautiful places in Sydney and around NSW. I have been progressively showing my Singaporean friends the beauty of Australia, and I think now I am in the position to help other strangers if they are genuinely struggling to fit in. As such, if you have any readers who need assistance with issues living or working in Sydney, I am happy to extend my time to assist them.
Lastly, thanks for reading my email. I do hope to know you in person one day (be it in Perth or Sydney) even though I am a silent lurking reader. :) Take good care of your health, and may happiness be on you and your family always. Good night.
******
Thank you TM from Sydney,
I confessed I had absolutely nothing to offer Y*Y*. I knew next to nothing about Sydney. To me, it is a very, very faraway place from me though we are in the same country. In fact, Perth is geographically closer to Indonesia than Sydney.
The reason why I create the post for Y*Y* was in hope of Sydney Singaporeans stepping out to help her out a little by offering friendship. I don't think you can or need to do much more, unless you can make buses come every 5 minutes or build covered linkways out of your pocket. The rest of her unhappiness, such as racial glass ceiling in workplace was refuted by the anonymous commenter in that post so it is up to her to prove her worth (if she is still interested in making this work). Showing her the beautiful places of Sydney may show her work/life balance does not stop at leaving home from work on the dot.
No I was not being sarcastic here. I was sharing Emeritus Goh Chok Tong's "Net happiness" concept, if that made sense to anyone really. Who knows, while that crap fails on defective Singaporeans like me, it may work for generic, functional Singaporeans?
I have given Uncle Philip, Sydney Librarian and your contacts to Y*Y*. I am sure any of you will do a much better job than me to give her sound advice, unlike the unsound blogger you are reading. Let's hope she will contact one or all of you.
Thanks very much, TM. Thank you for stepping out to offer your assistance to a fellow countrywoman.
asingaporeanson
I totally agree, the best thing about Sydney compared to Singapore is the nature and places to go to, especially with a car, which is pretty cheap and essential in Australia. I also always bring my friends around in Sydney as much as possible. Not saying that Y*Y*'s points are not true, but there are always good and bad parts of a country, gotta take the bad and enjoy the good.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I have no car to travel around in~~
ReplyDeletePardon my ignorance.
ReplyDeleteHow can I get an email to establish contact this person?
Been trying to learn from others as much about Oz as possible.
Many thanks.