A Singaporean In Australia

4 years. We have reached a new milestone.

Achieved much.

More than I am comfortable to reveal, in fact. However, some things are meant to be kept in the dark.

What I can share though, is what you already know. I came here with a near empty pocket and soul. In this 4 years, I gained great assets as well as enjoyable liabilities that I would never be able to indulge in from where I came from. The biggest of my gains is of course, fatherhood. Something that I would never even consider if I hadn't left. I have the luxury of enjoying this not just once. In less than two month's time, I will be a dad of another. Today, I feel rich and fulfilled in all sense of the word. 

They can say all they want, or do comparisons to the end of time but I cannot deny what my move have brought me. Australia has treated me well. This a fact that I cannot make up. It will be unfair to suggest otherwise. Perhaps I have been the lucky one among the tragedies, not that I heard many of, in all honesty. Nonetheless, I count my blessings. I am lucky to be the lucky one.

Did I expect that this day will come?

If I may be honest, no.

Although I came here with a strong motivation to settle, I did not come here with a do-or-die or succeed-at-all-cost mentality. In fact, I told my wife we would come here and treat this as a self funded long holiday or an over extended honeymoon we did not have since we wedded. At worst, we will simply accept the opportunity costs incurred being away from Singapore. That is no big deal. I am not going to participate in a race that capitalise on every opportunity. At the end of the day, we die. Our obsession with materialism leaves us nothing at the end of the day. Not even bragging rights. For your gold trimmed air conditioned coffin is never going to differ to what my shabby, splintered one holds - a miserable rotting corpse. 

On the other hand, running the race in Singapore has its opportunity costs too. There are always 2 sides of a coin. In the fanatic pursue for excellence, we lose the chance to live. We forgo the possibility of how life can be lived another way, many other ways. We sell our options in exchange for a foreseeable future. In my books, that is not how life should be. Imagine having a crystal ball that shows you the rest of your life, how dull must it be for live it out without surprises? No. Life must be lived without an option to save and load. Only when risks are involved, defeats can be fulfilling and success will taste doubly sweet. That is why I am still where I am, because my thirst for life can never be quenched within the chained gates of the dot.

Life here allows me to talk less, eat less, lie less and even sleep less. By expected to do less, I don't have to eat or sleep as much to feel rejuvenated. By doing less, I can see more, explore more, play more and think more. I can care more. That is important. The lesser we care, the more we are drained of life. When a human being has nothing he cares about anymore, he is none but a living dead.