Separately someone gave these drawer organisers, mint condition. I was sure Jen was pleased because she seemed to like her new walk-in wardrobe. No - it isn't quite a wardrobe. It's practically a room that works functions like a wardrobe. I'll take a picture one day and show.

The same family that gave me the dining table also pop in a coffee table. The wood is pretty good, not like those lousy ones you get in Ikea Singapore. Hey, but now I have 2 coffee tables. I'm not sure what to do with this one but I'll be able to think of something.

That's not all, that family also threw in a fish tank in my boot. The owner told me everything was working, pump and all. I placed it in my yard. Seriously this one has me stumped. Maybe I could let the old man rear some guppies when he comes over the a holiday. That'll keep him happy and amused I reckon.

Maybe I should collect all these, restore them to good condition and export them as a hobby. I wonder if I will make any money. I don't have the know-how though, I mean the import/export area. Always on my mind since I came. Collecting these is tough. I find it hard to load the items with such a small car. 

When we driving back we stopped the junction of Warton road and Spencer Road on red lights, with that dining table on Barry White's back. Jen pointed at a police car at the opposite of the road. Cool as a cucumber I didn't bat an eyelid. My mind drifted away to that night when Jen and I were just classmates, just friends. We were in a car, rented by Jen. I was at the driver's seat and the next morning was my driving test. 

My driving test history was quite a story. It was 2005 and I wasn't working yet. With all the time in the world, I decided to learn driving after procrastinating for years, to my mom's annoyance. With Jen's encouragement I decided to give it a go. When I started the program at BBDC, I was so into it that I took on lessons after lessons in a short span of time. It was akin to what we gamers call 'power leveling'. I finished my lessons in 1 month and booked my driving test. To my disappointment I could only be tested 2 weeks later. I thought that was stupid because I would have lost a lot of muscle memory by then and I might not be able to drive as well as I could at that point.

No choice. 2 weeks later, a night before my test I was driving unlicensed around Bukit Batok and Teck Whye for practice. I know it sound crazy but I know myself well. I learn the best when I'm allowed to figure things out on my own, with little interference from the side. At the junction of Choa Chu Kang Ave 1 and Teck Whye Ave, I drove into the right turning lane and waited at the red light. A police car stopped at the opposite of the road just exactly like what happened yesterday morning.

My blood froze. I could sense Jenny's aura of fear even though she kept quiet at the passenger's seat. The red light seemed to take forever to change to green and the police car was uncomfortably glaring, as if it was staring at me although I could not see the driver from where I was. There was no other cars on the road between the police car and us. The deathly silence could unsettle anyone, trust me.

When the lights finally turned green, I stepped on the accelerator quickly and engaged the clutch. My car glided gently forward and I braked legitimately on the waiting line. The police car maneuvered straight past us and I quickly made my right turn and sped off.

The next morning I took my test in BBDC. Within 5 seconds of moving off in the circuit, I chalked up 6 demerit points because I stopped behind a stalled car. The tester thought I should have signaled and overtake the car. I thought it was subjective. My first circuit obstacle was the ramp. For the record, I had never 'roll back' even once during all my practice sessions. On that fateful day, my car rolled back. I cursed silently but I pulled the handbrake in time and managed to recover and cleared the obstacle smoothly. For that effort, I took another 2 demerit points. All within the first 3 minutes of my test.

"This is a fucking goner," I told myself in my head. "Let's drive and enjoy the rest of the test and look forward to the re-test." One by one, I cleared the rest of the obstacles in the circuit and the tester instructed me to go on road. My drive was flawless. I cleared the 'traps' set by the tester excellently. At one situation, he told me to 'go' when there was no traffic from all directions. I ignored him and stopped at the stop line as required and moved off after a second. In another situation, he again told me to 'go' at the infamous 'death right turn' at Teck Whye Lane. What that guy didn't know was that I lived just at that HDB flat above the 'death right turn.' He wasn't fooling me. Within 2 seconds after I ignored his instruction, a motor cycle sped past behind the bus that was obstructing a lot of my view at the bus stop. 

Smiling to myself I cleared 'death right turn' and it was time to head back to BBDC. I thought at the time I had a chance to pass after all. Maybe, just maybe. I nearly had an accident just a few minutes away from the driving centre when a van refused to give way to me despite me signaling more than 6 clicks. It was the stretch after the U-turn at Phoenix LRT. Despite being a very busy road, the instructor insists that I change lane into the left most lane. I was already half way changing my lane and the van sped up from behind to surge ahead. I saw the tester panicking in the corner of my eye and moved his leg. He was going to step on the brakes, no doubt about it.

I didn't know where I got my reflexes from, I quickly steered back into my own lane smoothly, sped up a bit more, cleared the junction and then re-do my lane change into the left. By that time I was already on Bukit Batok Road and I drove the rest of the distance with a heavy heart. I probably blew it. From the corner of the eye, the instructor was expressionless.

Back at the driving centre, I was asked to go into the assessment room. The tester went away for a minute and returned shortly, making even more nervous. When he returned, he took off his sunglasses and stared at me. "Very close just now ah!" he bellowed.

"Er.... Ok what, sir."

He didn't answer and went through the check list on his hand. "Roll back at the slope right?" he came.

"A little bit only lah, sir."

After an awkward long pause as he went through the rest of the checklist he hand over the list to me and asked me if I wanted to donate to NKF as he had a donation card in his hand. "No obligation ah!" he said, seemingly friendlier. I took a glance at the checklist.  I passed! With a -8 score. "Come come, give me the card sir." I signed off happily and left him with S$20.00. 

Jen was waiting for me outside the centre. I couldn't wait to tell her the story. She was as happy as I was upon hearing my lucky pass but jealous of my 'good score'. It was her birthday that day. I took a total of 1 month 18 days to obtain my class '3' manual driving license.

The blog really serves me well as a memory store. Otherwise I would not have remember that more than a month has passed since my first and last job interview since I came to Perth. That took a while but like they say here WA also stands for Wait Awhile. Okay, so what do we have here today? They got back to me with a contract to sign and if I do that and send it back to them I reckon I would have landed my first full time job in no time.

The Singaporean gang, particularly Denise and Micky, has unanimously voted 'sign' over 'reject'. Their reasons are simple. The new job should do me good, perhaps better off than I am now. To me it wasn't so straight forward. Overall, I will be earning less annually but I probably work less hours as well. It's a simple trade off but I have to examine my priorities here. It is a fact I need more money than time than than any of them here with my circumstances. Much as I want to, I am not here to shake legs. That was why I work 5 hours of OT on Friday with a strained wrist for 2 weeks.

I can't dispute against Micky and Denise's reasonings though. Accepting this new job may be better for me in the long run. In many ways I see the situation similar to my migration from Singapore to Perth. I am  in a comfort zone now though it isn't really that comfortable. My work is a mere 9 minutes drive from where I stay now. That's really a short distance by any standard especially so if you consider I drive only at 60km/h here, which is the speed limit of that road that takes me to and fro work.

That makes a lot of economical sense to me. Consider this, if you drive 1 hour vs 15 minutes to and fro work you are practically working an extra of 1.5 hours per day. Assuming you work 260 days a year, that makes it an additional 390 hours. Divide that by an 8-hour day work you get 48.75 work days. That means you work an additional 48.75 work-days. Unpaid.

I know people will start telling me driving to work is not work so I cannot include that as working hours. That is where people start getting silly. If I don't have to work, I would not be even driving on the road! I would be sleeping in my bed or playing with Albany. Thus, driving to work is work and working an extra of 48.75 days is an issue to me. Worse, I don't get paid for these hours and on top of that I have to burn significant extra money in petrol to get there.

Fortunately my equation is not as dire. It will be around 32 minutes vs 9 minutes. That works out to be 46 minutes per day, 24.9 extra work-days a year. Still crappy but not as crappy. Though I have to admit driving in Perth roads do not make me piss shit like driving in Singapore, especially if I am not driving to Perth city. The potential new job site will be at Bibra Lake so I will be driving horizontally across the map while most will be driving vertically up or down, depending where they live. I may even have a mercifully pleasant drive, watching a few cows along the way in the more remote part of Southern River road.

I'll sign the contract and see where this leads me to. Wait - I don't have a printer.

Shit.

I never thought this day would happen.

Back then I was reading her blog as gospel, I was a faithful reader who soaked in every single post I could. Material about migration in the net is not lacking but most of these are government websites which focus on guiding (and they do it well) us how to apply for the visa that we need in order to work and live in Australia. While comprehensive and adequate, these information provide very little on what was it like to actually live and work here. Like minded people who are contemplating migration will depend a lot on hearsay, more than you actually believe. It was hilarious, now that I looked back.

The problem with hearsay is that it comes from people who heard it from someone's brother or cousin or ex-colleague or sister's brother-in-law's niece's twin sister. Thus, RATS was conceptualised. Remember that post I penned? I hardly re-read my blog because each time I do I cringed at how badly I wrote, how differently I felt from the time put it down to words and of course the embarrassing grammar errors. From the comments, I also realised some Singaporeans could not read between the lines and understood my underlying message in that post. We know that Singaporeans are naive in some ways due of the way we were brought up. We are just not street smart enough and it is quite obvious to people of other nationalities. Most of us do not want to admit that, or worse, try to act in a way we obviously aren't instead of trying to learn and patch our inadequacies in some areas. 

Also interesting to note that among the commenters, Thomas and Nora was not in Australia at the time they put in their comments. They are now, pursuing their goals in the far far eastern cities. Though they rarely comment in the blog anymore, I know they still read it now and then, evident by Nora's latest comment in this post.

Back in the early days of the blog, Nora was one of the first people to contact me via email. I wanted to publish her email but she was not fully comfortable so I didn't. How different Nora sound back then compared to now. From her email she reeked uncertainty, fear and confusion - just like the way I was when I was frantically searching for information and was overwhelmed with unhelpful data all over the internet. From there, I realised the blog is no more a site to merely update my friends about my well-being as it was first intended for. It became more. Fast forward to today, Nora's reply to our Singaporean mom, M, was confident and detailed. It was because she had seen the scene, walked the grounds. Now Nora has become an advisor herself, what a difference it makes between hearsay and experiencing. I'm proud of Nora, hope I can buy her coffee one day if she ever comes to Perth.

It has been a long time since I wrote in the dark. I have not have the energy to do so since a while. It is one of the rare raining nights here in Perth and I am oozing inspiration <-- that's the good word for it. In simpler terms it actually means I have a lot to bitch about tonight so bear with my unnecessary long post.

If hearsay was to be believed, I would not have considered stepping into Australia because I would have believed I would be killed by racial attacks, starved of a job, raped by summer flies and taxed 50% of my income and begging on the streets with Albany now while writing this post. Something along that line. Hearsay breeds ignorance. I wanted more, I wanted truths. So I searched hard.

Karing's blog was like an oasis in the desert for me. It was a few years back since I discovered her blog in a corner of the internet. It wasn't because Karing was a pretty girl (though it helps =x) but there was so much similarities at that time that intrigued me. She migrated to Perth with her husband and imported her dog. Even her dog is the same breed as Chocolate, a Jack Russell Terror. I read and read and could not have enough. I do not have a good memory but I remember Karing's blog posts were sullen, lonely, frightened and to some extent, frustrated. I contacted Karing and we chatted very rarely through MSN over the years. I asked about Perth but I didn't get a lot of answers from her so the conversations drifted from migration to dogs. She was a lot more responsive about dog topic and from there I knew she was a REAL JRT lover like me.

I almost forgot her existence after I started working in Perth. There was so much on my mind. Jen's pregnancy, our accommodation, the birth of Albany, my growing injury list, weariness and still, the uneasy feeling of uncertainty lingering. Lately I casually sent her a message and she responded uncharacteristically enthusiastic and even got her husband, Dennis to communicate with me. About 2 weeks later, we met up last afternoon at Micky's.

I have to say I was impressed that Dennis and Karing drove down from Banksia Grove to Southern River just to say hi. That was some distance, even by Perth standards if you care to look at the map. It was better than expected. Dennis is around my age so our experiences in Singapore might be somewhat similar. Being owners of a JRT also helps as 'we know'. It was easy to break the ice and feel comfortable with them. (I hope it is mutual). Needless to say, having being here for 4 years by now, Karing has a lot to say about her migrating experience. We just didn't have enough time to hear more. She sound so different as she was in her blog and is so much more cheerful and positive about living in Perth, I wondered if she is aware of it. After we parted, I persuaded her to reopen her blog though she don't write anymore, as to serve as an archive.

Karing is an unusual Singaporean woman. She married young and was a  very very Singaporean, Singaporean woman. The type who will hate living in Australia, particularly Perth. The answer lies in her husband I found out. After the conversation with Dennis I found that he was as determined as Jen about having a new life in Perth. That kind of steely determination which allow them to crush all deterrents and brush away worries and concerns from their skeptical spouses like dust. The resolve that filters facts from hearsay. Both Karing and I were the blur spouse, tagging along blindly.

The meeting up today felt almost surreal. To me, Karing was that internet girl after so long and felt almost like a hologram to me. In some way I could understand why some people email me and tell me I was their hero. When I was reading Karing's blog as a bewailed Singaporean that few years ago, she felt like a heroine to me too. Meeting up an idol is a good experience but there are better things to come. Dennis and Karing is happy to let me meet Xiaobai, their very white JRT. It will be some kind of therapy for me because I still miss Chocolate badly and often think of him at work. Struggling with one of his kind on the grass patch will do wonders for me, I think.

I can't wait to meet Xiaobai.

I refer to Tan Chuan Jin's reply to a blogger who wrote about his views about the underlying problems with our HDB system. You thought it will end when Mah Bow Tan was booted out of the cabinet don't you? Who can forget his insistence on "HDB is affordable"?

Tan Chuan Jin is simply parroting the same tune as what the government has been trying to convince us through propaganda. After his "Is it really so dire? Is the HDB flat really so out of reach?" statement in his second paragraph, I stopped reading. I can write these too, much more convincingly. I could probably arrest the public with my attempt to confuse much better than these cronies. Just give me a call for the job discussion.

Nevermind what Tan Chuan Jin said. We need to understand the lessons from this episode.

Lee Hsien Loong said he recognised the PAP has not done well during their last term, apologised and promised to do better. We know very well the escalating costs of HDB flats was one of the key issues discussed in during the rallies. In truth, by now it is pretty clear: they have never realise what have really gone wrong. Or they couldn't care less.

An MP's job is to alert the Ministers of any problems that was feedback to them on the ground. Whether or not they are PAP MPs or oppositions MP. Let's not talk about political parties or politics here. Let's think over this rationally. If a MP does not relay the citizens' issues to the Ministers, will there be any possibilities with a reform? The laments from the masses are getting louder over the years. The MPs should have realised by now this isn't noise. They need to stop slapping statistics on the public to justify  for the government's stance and start looking seriously into the problem. If the government keep brushing asides problems and be serious for once, there will never be actions taken to come out with proper viable solutions - much less implementing any.

The new batch of MPs are the same dull conformists that Singaporeans don't need. Remember Tin Pei Ling's "To be honest I don't have any specific policies I feel strongly against” comment even before she was elected? (and you voted for her?!) Chan Chun Sing's display how high he was up sitting in the ivory towers with his XO Chye Tow Kuay. Then Parliament jester Nair's ridiculous act to challenge an opposition MP in Parliament. Remember - an MP's job is to relay messages from the ground, not to waste precious time in Parliament with gutter politics. That is for election time and that is over.


I have advice for the rest of the PAP MPs:

"Better to remain silent and be thought a conformist than to speak out and remove all doubt."

Singaporeans, the opposition are hopeless you said.

Vote for the PAP, you did.

Look what you did. These are the people you chose to represent you in Parliament. To voice out your concerns and fight for your welfare.

Yet "Everything is alright," they said.

Have you learn any lessons here at all?

Today is Anzac Day. It is a public holiday so I am free for the day. Free to be busy. I get to bed early at 0100hrs last night. I knocked off earlier than usual at 0000hrs because any additional hours would incur a double pay and the company wanted to avoid that.

Dear brave friend,

I first read your postings on hwz as Standbybed, and then delved deeper into finding out who this brave person was who broke the cage and made the move so courageously, even with a pregnant wife in tow and without a job. I then followed your blog closely to know more about you, and how the transition was like when you made the move. I must admit I am filled with admiration and a lot of respect,not to mention reading on your efforts gave me a sense of strength and motivation to make the move, which I finally lodged my GSM 175 this week. You were right in so many ways, people and family, the sense of familiarity and security held me back at first, but eventually I knew that I had to do this. So, thank you. You have unknowingly inspired me and indirectly help to shape the destiny of my household, because if I had never read your posts or blogs, I would have not known that it is possible.

Like you said about yourself, I too am pessimistic , negative, sulky and moody always. And like your fate too, I have had a wife who was the complete opposite of me, who held tether me when I astray, anchor me when I am veering off course. I think we can be both called lucky to have that. Like you too, I hailed from the construction industry, graduated from SP civil engineering bright and looking forward to the workforce, only to know the hard way that without a degree you are useless in Singapore, that you are only as good as a site coordinator or supervisor. I struggled to push myself and break the stereotype placed on me, but I realized it is not the system who has give up on me, it is me who has given up on the system here which is unjust and unfair. That's why at 33 years now, I have nothing to lose to move out of Singapore, and with my wife we seek to have a better quality of life.

Truth be told, I must admit I am probably at a stage now where you were 200- odd days ago, when you first made the move to Perth. Worries about how to feed my family, about how to find work, living conditions, housing, the people and culture there, problems known and unknown, stresses of moving to a new country constantly fill me, so much so that I am questioning my move to give up my life here. But then I remember the reasons I wanted to move I the first place... Freedom, the freedom to be the master of your own destiny,to have your future determined not by the grades you got school, or pigeonholed according to the prestige of the school or company you worked for, to make my own success on my own terms.

And so, I hope you can continue to write more about your experiences, because with each letter your type, each word that you key, each sentence you fill, it is aggregately increasing those of us here stuck here inSingapore who have fallen through the cracks in the system, who read what your write and are filled with hope, the hope of a better future for our short lives here on earth.

Life in Aussie is not perfect, and you have written an unbiased account of your experience there, which I am for as an observer, because I can hen learn from the knocks and experiences you had to better prepare myself. Thank you once more, if I haven't thanked you enough already.

I hope to keep in touch with you, and I am embarrassed that I do not know how to address you, but I certainly think 'hero' is a befitting name.

Sincerely,

Wei Siang

******

Hi Wei Siang,

My name is Nix, some people refers to as singaporeanson these days. I don't mind, it's just a name.

Congrats for your lodging of the application as you know it, they are changing the rules by July. So you have avoided the crunch. When I first started the blog, it was intended to be a info centre so that my friends can be updated on what was happening to us. We couldn't possibly update them one by one. I didn't expect it to turn out to be inspiring to the others in any way. As I recalled, all we did was to record what's happening as it is. I'm glad it became of some use to the others.

I'm a year older than you so I believe we will have a lot to talk about being 'same gen'. If you were to choose Perth when you make your move, we'll certainly meet up as soon as you settled down and have a chat. Your email flattered me. I don't deserve it. I felt like posting your email on the blog at first mainly because of someone of my age sharing my thoughts and feeling about Singapore and migration but am embarrassed by your compliments. In any case, your permission is required before I publish anything.

How is your wife reacting towards your intention to migrate? The spouse is an extremely important factor. It will make and break your whole plan because as you have already feel, it requires great determination and motivation.

Having said that, Singapore is not a bad place. I cannot dispute the fact. So what the top factors behind your decision to leave? I'll have to end here because I gotta go to work. Keep me updated and stay in contact. Good luck

******

Dear Nix,

Sorry that I took so long to reply! I apologize as I have been rather caught up with work and doing some house-moving. I was surprised to see your reply on the 11th of April, and glanced through thinking that I needed to reply to this great guy! It's good to know that I have a friend in you, because someone who's 'been there, done that' helps ease the anxiety, even more so when we are of the same generation I guess we can relate better. .You sound (sic: write) very much like a christian-brothers school boy, were you from St Patrick's? (I was!) Please feel free to publish any correspondence that we have on your blog, not for fame but perhaps to let the readers know how I truly acknowldge your great work on getting your family to Perth (and the blog of course!) I read that you had your second eye surgery, I hope and my prayers are that you recover soon and that you will heal to 100% healthbar soon. I also chuckled abit when I read about your 'mis'adventure on the forklift and thought it was a brave move!

You asked why I chose to leave Singapore. Singapore is and forever will be my (spiritual) home. It's where I grew up, it's where the origins of my first crush and heartbreak, my first chalet "ton" night going to visit haunted houses in Pasir Ris, the fire-work filled nights of NDP at the Kallang Stadium singing "Stand-up for Singapore", my first cassette tape with "We are Singaporeans", playing catching and police-and-thief at the HDB corridor and void deck, the "cher-cher" educators and fearsome Discipline Master in primary school, having the Talent-show in army BMT and digging the foxhole when out-field exercise, Moe Alkaff's 'gotcha' , all the bitter-sweet tears and laughter which add to the flavour of home. I used to be proud to answer when I was younger whenever people asked, "where are you from", sadly, no more. 

Singapore has no longer become a home; filled with family, friends and neighbours, but has deteriorated to become a hostel, one with cheap tenants and uncouth leasees who seek to migrate their concept of home to our land. What should I and my future generations, subjugate ourselves to be the underclass to there foreigners, who conquer and invade our land not by force, but by the generous invitation of the government? Why should i serve a nation , where the social contract has been broken, when I know at age 60+ I have to look for a job either at McDonald's, KFC, foodcourt or salvage cardboard? Where are the people in the 80's and 90's who used to be friendly to one another, who would be neighbourly and care for the common man? To quote Oscar Wilde - "we know the price of everything but know the value of nothing". That is what Singapore has become. A soulless, faceless totalitarian nation of self-serving, self-justified pretentious individuals competing over what scraps the elite throw down from their ivory towers. Where our pledge used to be " we pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion", it now reads " All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Tears welled up when I first watched V for Vendetta, because deep inside I had hoped (perhaps too naively) for the day that the people in my country too would no longer fear the government, where the government truely listened to the needs of the people and worked for the people's good, but I grew tired of waiting because I knew the day would never come.

Don't get me wrong, I am truly grateful to Singapore for giving me the foundation for my education so that I have the ability to earn a living, for giving my the ability to think critically of what really matters in life, and for awareness to know what is really going on right now with the rising living costs here and mortgage "trap" to lock-in young people to a life of perpetual debt. Maybe you would think that I am a political activist, but I assure you that I belong to no faction and I just love the country, simple as that. So much that it hurts to see it prostituted out by the few to serve their insatiable thirst for profits, to milk whatever they can from the common man in the name of GDP, turning a blind eye to the poor and needy, and masquerading their profiteering schemes under a veil of good intentions. I will never give up on Singapore, but it just hurts alot to be a true-blue Singaporean right now. 

I know that Australia has its fair share of issues, latent biasness/racism, high taxes, crime and social problems. I know that being a minority race in Australia, there will definitely be obstacles and hazards in life. I know that all is not rosy and things may fall apart in Australia for me personally. I know that things aren't as accesible and efficient as in Singapore. I know that i will have to give up my career that I built up over 10 years in a managerial position and start all over again. I know I would have to restart my existence, to learn to walk, talk, behave, interact and live all over again. I know that. But I'm willing to take my chances, because I want my future generations to have what I didn't have, to not be labelled a failure just because I wasn't academically inclined, where creativity and the use of a man's hand is acknowledged as great a contribution the thinking man, I just want equality and to be able to define my own destiny.

Fortunately my wife is supportive of the move, she too can't wait to move out of here and to start afresh. We want to start our family soon, but am at a dilemna where to have our kids nationality to be.

Let's talk again soon Nix, I really enjoy writing these letters to you and to talk more with you. I'm counting everyday on when the Category 4 SC175 Visa will be granted sinve I applied on April 12th, hopefully wont be too long and I will try to visit you in Perth when I can.

Have a good night and well-wishes to Jen & Albany!

Sincerely,

Wei Siang

******

My Notes:

I posted Wei Siang's emails with permission, highlighting a paragraph which resonated with me. It is something I always wanted to say in this blog. I've been told many times by anonymous posters that I have a lot of resentment about Singapore and bullshit like that. I did not reply to these comments. Not that I read and reply only the good things, because lately I don't have the time to reply all the comments anymore like I used to. Doing so will drain my night away and that normally cost a new post. I choose to post, that's my decision. My memory isn't too good. Once I fail to write down my thoughts, they slip away fast.

Back to Wei Siang's emails, especially this last reply, took my thoughts back to Singapore again. I remembered Joni told me over dinner last weekend that I seemed to be 'around a lot' for someone of my generation. Being a kid from a lower income family, I do go around a bit for free entertainment. Such as walking to the next few neighbourhood through mansoon canals and stuff like that. I have a lot of fond memories of the games we used to invent ourselves out of nothing. I assure you if I start to share these, you'll find them interesting.

I have never shared any of these in the blog because sometimes reminiscing is painful, if you know what I mean. A lot of things have been taken away from us in the name of progress, the masses hoodwinked to believe that every single of these were necessary. Like Wei Siang, I'm not a political activist. I do not believe in any opposition party in Singapore but I despise a self-serving, power obsessed government which is long due for renewal. I don't have a problem with democracy. But when people are unaware of the damages this government is causing to Singapore and Singapore's future and attempts to sweep everything under the carpet to fool voters and mar their abilities to analyse and make a fair, informed decision, I have a big problem with that.

I love my country and I firmly believe, from my interaction with Singaporeans in Perth, that overseas Singaporeans love this country deep down and have never turn their back on Singapore, contrary to what the government loves to paint us as - quitters. Even for those who gave up for Singaporean citizenships, they are always keeping an eye over their shoulders for what's happening back home with concern. We do have an identity, built over the last few decades though the government is working hard (intentionally or not) to demolish it to replenish the population with a more hungry one with the transfusion of foreigners.

Lastly, the 'hero' status Wei Siang jokingly bestowed does not fit me. I'm just a wanderer, a storyteller with no aims to impress. Just another very average, very ordinary lower income Singaporean guy you don't want to talk to on the street. I have shared stories of many Singaporeans who did much impressive feats than me over the months. 

Patrick, who came alone with no job - something which I would never dare to do.

V - who offered friendship and a lot of help since we contacted and is still constantly worrying for us, despite being ill for a week

MJ & J - the hotblooded risk takers which I'll never be.

Micky and his family for dropping everything and moving here with even more at stake.

Stephen's story, which I just shared.

Grace's story and her constant support for us.

There are so many of these Singaporeans who deserve a hero status. I'll never accept it. I'm glad I help in any way, though critics will say my writings are destructive. 

Hope you still find the blog useful.

I had never mentioned him. The name just popped out from nowhere. Who is this guy? I'm still getting to know him. It was barely a week since we met during the BBQ at Lake Monger. A week on, he played a crucial role in shifting our home. Surreal. I don't normally warm up to new people fast, always been like that my entire life. I think that hasn't change. There were quite a number of people who contacted me since the blog exists but I wasn't able to create possible friendships with many of them.

I am a cold person and my first (2nd, 3rd and 4th) reaction towards strangers are usually evasive. It is never my intention to be rude, it's just the way I have always been. I have a knack of detecting people with an agenda to come closer, probably conditioned through naivety during the earlier years. But I'm not immune to the sincerity of people. The group of people in my social circle happens to be the same kind of people. Proactive, warm and initiative.

Stephen and his wife, Joni are another of the kind, which is welcoming of course. Stephen is in his 40s. I am wise enough not to reveal his wife's age if I want to be invited for another meal at their cosy cottage. However, both of them look like they are in their early 30s. It's quite puzzling to know people who don't look their age here. Alvin and Patrick look way younger than their age as well. Wonder what sick tonic they have been using.

Anyway, I couldn't really recall when Stephen was on my facebook (before it was deleted). I could only recall shooting questions at him when he posted a picture of his worksite after the long weekend Easter holiday groaning about getting back at work. When he replied me and told me he works as a Brickie (Bricklayer) I became interested and exchanged more messages on whatsapp.

I don't know much about Steph. After all it was less than 2 weeks since we met. All I can say that he is one tough nut to crack. He really didn't have to come to Australia. Having a decent comfortable career in a prominent listed company (one of those who gives 6 months bonuses), he could have just glide along and live a decent life in Singapore. Instead he patted the dust off his itchy backside and embarked on his journey to the south with his wife. He told me it has always been his dream to live in Australia and decided it was 'now or never' when he turned the big 4.

He took a bricklaying course for 2 years, graduated and found work as a brickie. With a turn of the eye, 4 years passed. There he is, still laying brick after brick everyday, literally fortifying his life in Perth. Stephen is just yet another story that makes my migration look small. That is the purpose why I shared stories of other Singaporeans when I get to know them. Everyone has a unique story and most of them were braver and had it tougher than Jen and I did. I have been constantly inspired by these people as I came to know more of them. If there are readers who find the blog inspiring, they will already have realise I'm only a mere triviality among many incredible precedents. And I will continue to share stories of these people.

I wish you can see  Stephen and Joni's place in Como. Their apartment is served by an exclusive narrow staircase from the ground level. The staircase landing serves as a balcony as well as the doorway to their premise. It feels like a concrete treehouse to me. 

In this cosy abode, another legend lives on.

I woke at 0700hrs on Saturday, a rather chilly morning but it was no time to snuggle. It was our big day. We started to pack the remainder of our items in the boxes that V provided us. I moved box after box out of the house as fast as I could. By 0850hrs Stephen and Joni arrived, earlier than the appointed time with hot coffee in their hands. Then Steph discussed the plans with me.

The biggest problem was our queen size bed. All the other items were small enough to be packed in crates or boxes and could easily fit into our vehicles. Fortunately, I found the right man for the job. An experienced 'mover' himself, Steph got my bed out of the house and we flung it over his car. He had a rather big car, bigger than what many of us would drive in Singapore. This guy was ambitious, he wanted us to move the bed frame out as well and finished everything in one trip. So when the bed frame went up as well.

As he began to lash, I felt unexplainable hopes running through me. I was bent on moving out quickly. Basically, 'let's get out of here'. Stephen almost could not come, his work was priority and we agreed on that. Fortunately for me, he didn't have to work or else I would have struggle with the moving. Nonetheless my resolve was clear, I would move that day even if I had to drag my bed there with Barry White.

I could not miss out Patrick, who has been supportive since the day I knew him. My first Perth friend just got to be there for us, even though he woke late, probably drove half asleep and arrived sheepishly. I felt bad loading unsterilised boxes into his car, still in mint-condition. Really appreciate his help yet again.

Despite the low speed, within 15 minutes, we reached our new home. This is the garage. There is an auto roller shutter so it's pretty cool. I can have my tool boxes at the back of the garage and do my own servicing or any work in a mini workshop I will set up in future.

Today is a good day to note. We finally secured a home lease after a week of intensive hunting and we are moving tomorrow, Saturday.

House viewing is normally in the morning or late afternoon. This time round we aimed for the houses opened for viewing in the morning. First, I could view the houses because I do not work until 3.30pm. Second, there would be less competitors viewing the places as it was normal working hours for most. I will write down my house hunt 'success tips' in another post.

The problem with our house hunting was that I was almost short of sleep everyday, sometimes having needed to wake as early as 0900hrs - 1000hrs. Baby Albany didn't have a good time either. Each time we would wake her from sleep, tucked her into car and sped off. She would be awaken again shortly after she managed to doze off in her car seat as our choice locations were mostly nearby. After viewing she would be back to her car seat and be disrupted one final time when we reached home.

Poor Albany, I'm glad we do not need to go through this process anymore, at least for 6 months minimum. Our meals were poor during this period as well. Jen didn't have much time to cook. My dinner last night was an uncooked potato with hardened butter and cheese in the slit.

The offer came as a surprise. I almost forgot we applied for that one. I was placing my hopes on a pretty old house in Langford. I did a lot of small talk, my utmost effort, to convince the owner to rent his place to me - which was a very rare thing as I don't like to talk to strangers. True enough, we were offered but only after we signed the lease for the place we gotten. He was too late. I knew it was bastardy of us but we didn't have a choice. Should we wait for him and reject the current one, we might end up with nothing.

Our new place is a neat 3 x 2 in Gosnells. Gosnells is a very big place. There are good and bad streets. Don't start off with the 'Gosnells is a shit place' statements. We were desperate enough to almost apply for a 30 year old house in Camillo. This part of Gosnells is decent. The only drawback is a slight train noise. However the trains here are very short (compared to Singapore) and very fast (compared to Singapore) and don't make much noises (compared to, yes, Singapore). So I guess we'll be ok. I'll probably snap some pictures and post it if anyone is interested.

We always wanted to move but we were hampered by Albany's arrival. Procrastination was always on the agenda for a lazy couple like Jen and I, who hates to venture out of our comfort zone. The catalyst was Sandy, Eugene's wife, who wanted to raise our rental from A$160 to A$180/week, citing carbon tax as the reason. We decided that they were pushing their luck so it was time to bid goodbye.

The house is fairly new, at about 4-5 years old. The master bedroom is about twice of the size of the room we are squeezing ourselves - and all our belongings into at the moment. That alone should be enough for us, technically. With 2 more rooms, 2 toilets n baths, a fairly decent living room, our own kitchen, a garage with automatic shutter that can accommodate 2 cars, a small paved yard, I reckon we are fine with the A$360/week rental they are asking for. Yes we need to pay utilities and all those shit but it's about time we experience an independent Aussie life. We moved here for freedom in the first place.

At 0900hrs tomorrow, comrades with big cars will be outside waiting. I have no idea how we are going to succeed in moving everything without a large van, trailer or whatever. All we have Stephen's 4x4, Patrick's Mazda 3 and the most powerful super duper ultimate Barry White. We do not have huge items. Our queen size bed is the only challenge here. I'll figure. By tomorrow, Jen and I will have some privacy for the first time since we got married, though not for long. It's alright, at least we are finally in charge of our own business. It's not our house yet, we are still renting I know. 

A step a time, a step a time...

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Milestone: Breaking Even

Month 4

Month 5
Month 6
Month 7