Mr N's Email

Dear Sir, 

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mr N, i'm born and bred in Sg for the past 27 years. I graduated from Bioengineering from NTU, now 1 year into my job as a business analyst. 

I dont remember how i came across your blog. i dont leave many comments on your posts, probably once or twice under the name of "cannothear". 

i'm sorry to say this: i dont like living in Singapore. i respect the brand name and prestige the country has today, built on the labour and sweat of our grandfather's and parents' generations. To be specific, people who are aged 50 and above. It is very insulting to me that these group ended up as the most underprivileged class in the society. My father works as a luggage handler/barcode scanner at Changi Airport T3, my mum used to be a housewife and now works at NTUC Fairprice. My dad lost his job during the 2001-2003 Great Relocation Campaign to China. And we still have 17 years of HDB loan to repay. I'm not convinced to buy a 4-room for $400k. Maybe as a fail-safe (nearly) investment and reap the rental yield. Over-consumption as a mean to stifle the people's desires, letting materialism be in-grained into the people's minds, as consumers are the easiest to control. Here's your iPad if you fulfill this list of must-dos!   

The recent influx of foreigners has made me think twice about national service. Who and what are we really protecting? My colleagues urge me to look at the big picture of nationhood; it's difficult for me as i'm jealous of them having better opportunities than myself. I have no qualms about racial discrimination if i were to work in aussie/nz. I have my fair share when i was working in Alaska in 2008. (that was a paid work programme though.) 

I always have this feeling of emptiness, especially at work. Business analyst sounds great, but in essence i'm a clerk. i'm not disgruntled about how people look at my role, nor my skillsets. The IT portion is missing from my job component, and it's impossible for me to jump to Big 4 - PWC, KPMG, etc. Maybe it's easier with a IT degree. 

I have just returned from a trip to Bulgaria, living at my friends' houses. I realised what does it mean to spend time with your family, even when everyone is trying their best to make ends meet. Literally. Time to sit down together for breakfast, cook and bake together, wait for one another for dinner, etc. I realised that i actually have no skill sets. Anyone can take over my job, i took 4 months to learn and led a company for certification, after the senior consultant resigned. There is no resiliency in my role. There isn't a technical skill set for me to fall back on if i'm retrenched.  

I'm thinking of going to Australia or NZ to work permanently. Not just for money, also for lifestyle and education. I'm getting sick of the rat race now. The feeling of being stuck doesn't help. My boss tries too hard to connect with me by asking: when are you buying your HDB flat? hurry up and get married. erm, which is more important? setting up the family first or buying the flat should be priority? 

I dont believe in the crap that MOE is teaching, thus teaching is out. I have been giving tuition in Chemistry since 2006, and my students usually get at least an A2 in O levels. i'm single now, my family is pretty much self-sufficient even without my $300 monthly allowance. I dont know if i'll get married, but i do know is that i dont want my kids to go through education in Sg. "Molding the Future of our Nation" does not resonate with me. 

I have a few options which i'm trying to contact various organisations and forumers on the internet: 
1) Most secured: WDA's PCP Conversion to Diagnostic Radiographer. The bond will end in 2018. 

2) Plumber in Aussie and NZ. not sure if this S$700 course will work. 
http://www.bca.gov.sg/academy/courses_tests.aspx?Course_Exam_Code=CS000217

3) Bus driver. I have always been thinking of a Class4/5 driving licence since 2008. It's not expensive, about S$1000 for first-time-pass. Conversion to Aussie licence is required. 

4) Medical technologist. still trying to get a position in Sg. 

Can I ask you a few questions? 

1) What type of work visa did you apply? i'm quite confused by it. 
2) You mentioned that Mr Chew and Patrick encouraged Penny to get a bus driver job. How did Penny get her work visa? What are the differences between the bus driver systems in Perth compared to Sg? 

Please send my regards to your wife too! I salute both of you for your courage to set up a new family in Perth. 

Best Regards, 


******

Dear N,


Please drop all formalities and address me by the name here so that I could to the same without feeling awkward. Please bear with me and allow me to share a bit of that. Ever since I came to Perth, there was not a day where I wore pressed shirts and pants. I wore a T-shirt with a rugged jacket with jeans on the interview of my first job. I was specially told by the friend who recommended me for the job not to wear formal attire. If I were to do so, I might look suspiciously out of depth for the job I was trying to clinch - a metal trade assistant. Needless to say, I spent not a single day in formal attire since the day I started work even till now that I am on my second job. We call the boss by the name and perhaps, so do most. 


This 9 months in Perth has been blissful as far as I am concerned in this aspect. The only time anyone commented about my attire was "Siao ah, so cold still wear shorts?!" I'll tell you another secret. I could have squeeze into a lousy JC in my time as far as I could remember. I didn't even look at way and applied for a course in the polytechnic the next day. My secret reason was blasphemy, because I hate to wear school uniform and I dreaded the possibility of another 2 years of that shit. Needless to say, NS was a torrid period for me. Not the physical side but for personal bizarre reasons. One of them you could possibly guessed by now.


Why am I telling you all these?


I had received quite a number of emails from Singaporeans regarding migration issues by now. I replied most of them privately and quickly, except for some issues which I had to seek for 'public assistance' in which I would ask for the sender's permission to publish. For some reason I left your email un-replied for a long long time. It could be just bad timing where I got into a car accident, weariness and the period I decided not to blog anymore. Perhaps not because I read your email a few more times this week and realised I didn't know where to go about replying it. I could have gone straight to your questions and answer them. Even for those, I don't have clear answers. So I decided to pen it out as a blog post and see if I have better luck getting past that block. It seems to be working now. So here goes.


Though your heartfelt thoughts are not uncommon among rather unhappy Singaporeans who contacted me previously, I felt a difference here somewhere which I couldn't put my finger to. Please allow me to voice my take as I give this stone a wild throw.


You think too much and you reminded me of myself. Prior to my migration to Perth, I knew very little about Perth and Australia. I am having this feeling you are in similar standing. Now to answer why I started off telling you about work attire and stuff. I found that work environment is a lot more informal here compared to Singapore only after I came and started working and I am lovin' it. 


My point here is important. I am lucky, very lucky. I was fortunate that this environment I ended up in suit me. My meat here is probably another man's poison. If I were to end up in say, Melbourne or Sydney, I may find myself unable to fit in totally and go into a mental breakdown. That applies to every aspect of a new environment. Australia is such a big big country that it could be continent itself. I am not sure it is a good idea to rely on the usual stereotyping to decided if Australia is a place for you.


I am not trying to discourage you. Many months ago, I would have probably just send you a "Go for it!" type of email. Months into Perth, my perspectives changed. It changes every day. For those who read all my posts, they'll find me inconsistent and fickle. I will probably not recognise myself in many of my post should I read through the one day but that is also the point of it all to write down my thoughts without reservations so that I can understand what is going right or wrong.


One of the biggest thing for Singaporeans about moving to Australia is racism. 9 months is a short time I know but I've yet to experienced a racial discrimination. Let me tell you the brutal truth, whenever I got into a nasty experience, I did have my doubts. "Is this bullying/racism/discrimination?" Such questions rang through. It was too tempting to fall into it and felt bad about it. I pushed myself to pursue things and got to bottom of things and had happy realisations each time. The difference in culture, language and values are so different here that misunderstandings can happen too easily. Thinking back, I would have easily fell into the trap of coming to conclusion that "Australia is fucking racist."


The same goes for having a relax life in Australia. If there is such a thing, I am still seeking. I've yet to have a day of relaxation here. Again, definition is the culprit here. I define relaxation by having the privilege of doing nothing and having the luxury of no one questioning me of doing nothing. When people said, "Australia very relac one." I thought, "I wanna be there." I ended up working the hardest and most challenging 8 months of my life. You've heard the one about how Australians are lazy, I bet? You'll get an eye opener here if you come with this mindset.


Work/life balance, hey it isn't a myth but it still may be for others. I'm trying to be as objective as I can. Starting work at 0800hrs, knocking off at 1630hrs and reaching home at 1705hrs everyday for the past week allowed me to enjoy the early stages of fatherhood. I get to cradle my baby everyday, hug her for at least an hour, sing to her, make her laugh and watch her learning new things everyday. I would have been a VERY angry man yesterday, today and tomorrow if I were to be going through the routine in my last job in Singapore in comparison. It is hard to dispute this. The facts are right here and this is straightforward. These are moments that money cannot buy.


I'll go to the point now. As a fellow Singaporean I have the responsibility to warn you about the bad turns of your possible migration move. I had been told off for painting a lovely green flowery picture about Australia without the warning road signs. First and foremost, I urge you to spend some quality quiet time alone with a piece of paper. Write down why you want to move to Australia or any other country. Forget about why you want to leave Singapore.


Write down as many reasons as you can about why you want to move to your preferred country. When you are done, that is your roadmap. From there, you'll see how much or how little you know about the place and what kind of reading up you need to do. You don't want to land in a place after all the trouble and find that the place is just as shitty as the one you just left.


By then you would have even more questions for us. My knowledge is very limited but I hope I could draw the wisdom of the crowd once again to assist you. I'm sorry for telling you so much and not offering much to your questions but from your story, I knew you went through similar thoughts as I did when I was in Singapore. Since you have taken time to ask around, (though I may be a bad choice) I think you have taken the first step. Congrats.


The below are my opinion for your reference:



1) Most secured: WDA's PCP Conversion to Diagnostic Radiographer. The bond will end in 2018. 
Avoid this one. It sucks because it simply takes too long. After which you are still not eligible to apply for Visa 175 because you do not have the working experience. By the time you have the required experience, hmm.. it has taken quite a while. Personally, I knew a mid-career changer who dropped her well paying job to switch to nursing and had clocked up enough work experience to qualify. She launched her application a few months ago. It was a long, long journey. Unless you have the patience and time to burn, avoid. 

2) Plumber in Aussie and NZ. not sure if this S$700 course will work. 
I've got no idea if this is recognised here but do give the skills assessing authorities a call to confirm.

3) Bus driver. I have always been thinking of a Class4/5 driving licence since 2008. It's not expensive, about S$1000 for first-time-pass. Conversion to Aussie licence is required. 
We can only automatically convert up to Class 3 here (Western Australia) without having to take any theory or practical test. It might be wiser to take your bus driving license here to avoid wasting money. From the seller of my current car who works as a bus driver, the company actually sent him to obtain the bus driving license. For more reading, try this : http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/20400.asp

4) Medical technologist. still trying to get a position in Sg. 
I'm not sure what this is but it sounds cool. Why not?

Can I ask you a few questions? 

1) What type of work visa did you apply? i'm quite confused by it. 
2) You mentioned that Mr Chew and Patrick encouraged Penny to get a bus driver job. How did Penny get her work visa? What are the differences between the bus driver systems in Perth compared to Sg? 
1) I came by Visa 309.
2) I may have confused you. Mr Chew have never met Penny, neither have I yet. It was the seller of my car who was encouraging. Penny came with Visa 176. 

I do not know enough to answer this. For the bus driver in Singapore, if you drop by a staff canteen in any bus interchange and eat with some of them, I'm pretty sure you'll get a full story of how things are run in Singapore.

For WA, according to the bus driver guy he works less hours than my impression of how many hours the Singapore bus driver works. He handled me a 'bus plan' and I briefly had a look and passed it to Penny. I'm not too sure if she still keeps it. Beyond the standard hours, OT penalties are applicable, 1.5X, 2X depending if it is normal hours, weekends or PHs. 

For prospects, he claimed there are many routes he can progress. Such as moving on to the mines as a bus driver or a driver of a heavier vehicles. That was all I could remember from that short conversation with him. Perhaps one day if I meet up with Mrs Chew (she drives a bus), I could help you find out more.


Apologies for my incoherent reply.




I'm sure others can offer much better information than me. If you know more accurate facts to Mr N's questions, please help him out? I'll send you some lemons for helping okay?

26 comments:

  1. what a coincident. I was browsing through nursing type of courses today and saw Diagnostic Radiographer diploma which is sponsored and with a $900 monthly stipend. The problem here is time, 3 years course and 2 (or 3?) years bond. That's 6 years in total. Need some serious thoughts.

    Got to check if qualification and experience here meet their requirements. I check through such courses in AU and they were degree courses while ours is diploma.

    Mr N, maybe you can email me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dear MJ, my email is cannothear(fullstop)deeplake (at) gmail.com. I have some information to share with regards to Diagnostic Radiography.

      Delete
    2. Here are the information for the registration of overseas qualified DR to work in australia.
      http://www.air.asn.au/overseaqual.php

      As NYP only award a diploma, it is unlikely that one will get accredited directly with the diploma. You will have to do a bridging degree from an AIR recognised Uni which will take you 1-2 yrs of studies.

      Delete
    3. MJ, I am a medical radiation technologist migrated to Australia and graduated from NYP as well. Bear in mind the stipend is NOT an entitlement, it is more like sponsorship. You need to go through selections and pass the interviews. each Year there are about 30-40 radiographers you need to compete with. A 3yrs course comes with a 3yr bond with your sponsored hospital. The starting pay that you are looking is ard SGD2300. NYP diploma is not under the accredited course for AIR thus you will need a bridging course to get a degree. university of Sydney has unfortunately stopped providing the degree conversion in spore. I got mine through this path and got accredited. you also need to proof recency of pratice and work experience to come under visa 175.

      Delete
    4. N, the DR path is indeed too long. I think the career switch path is 2yrs study and if you took up the bond, it will be another 2yrs. You also need 2yrs experience on the job to qualify for Skilled migrant scheme if I remembered correctly. AIR will consider overseas qualification on case by case basis. everyone who migrated overseas possessed a degree except a friend of mine who migrated using the diploma but that
      was in year2005. AIR has no issue recognizing Nyp syllables but I reckon they need to establish the curriculum is "degree equivalent" which is hard to establish as the scroll has clearly indicated Diploma in diagnostic radiography. What a shame that only NYP conduct the course in spore because a polytechnic can only offered Advanced Dip at the most. But any 3yes course ard the world is awarding a degree including Hongkong polytechnic university.
      It doesn't make sense as the min req for this course in NYP is A level and you still get a Dip upon graduation. Maybe should let NUS or NTU teach the course and you get a degree

      Delete
  2. Nix, I think there is a new migration law via Expression of Interest from 1 July 2012 onwards. The old system does not apply anymore unless the visa application was before 30 June 2012. Please take note if you are keen to migrate to OZ. Check it out here http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm

    Cheers,
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1st July: EOI before they invite you to apply for PR. Note that you can get state sponsorship for additional points, without obligation to stay in that state.

    266 jobs in Australia with Business Continuity roles. http://www.seek.com.au/JobSearch?DateRange=31&SearchFrom=quick&Keywords=business+continuity . One could narrow it down to cities for work/salary/life balance. BCP is a big deal especially in IT companies, and that's thriving in Syd/mel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GA,

      Please do not mislead readers. Any migrants that accepts State Sponsorship MUST stay in the State for a minimum of 2 years. (They won't give additional points for nothing.)

      To all potential migrants, read my comment posted on 3rd July on singaporeanson's blog. (http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/how-to-apply-for-australian-permanent.html)

      This new scheme is pure evil.

      Delete
    2. You're right, I was wrong. The obligation is on the state level, not DIAC.

      Nonetheless I missed the point of visa 190 for state sponsorship: schedule 2 SOL is easier to quantify if necessary (loser than schedule 1).

      Thanks for correcting me.

      Delete
    3. Depending on the PR visa grant letter whether specifically indicates that the main applicant has to reside in the state for first two years after being sponsored by the state govt.

      Delete
  4. Hi Mr. N,
    If youre looking at this comment. Please be advised that healthcare in Australia requires strict licensing procedures. You need to have a relevant degree that is recognized by their licensing authority. So if you're thinking of becoming a diagnostic radiographer or medical technologist and converting to a Australian one. Do not do it this way. Take up a relevant degree instead. You can also try to get a job with your current degree. I'm not sure if the last one would work out.

    regards
    tommy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Also for the WDA NYP diploma, It starts april 2013, you will only graduate in april 2016. After adding a 3 year bond, it will be april 2019

    tommy

    ReplyDelete
  6. My 2 cents.

    Landing a job in Australia may not be easy (especially in the field you want) even though you may have experience and qualifications.

    So be prepared to be flexible and be prepared for the long haul in job hunting. Of course, you may be lucky and land a job immediately upon arrival; that would be very welcome indeed! But, as the boy scouts say - always be prepared.

    ReplyDelete
  7. a lot of fts are making their way to oz, they use sg as stepping stone, do you think if u move there, you will be free from foreigners?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least the foreigners there are well qualified than those here.
      If you want to be free from foreigners, try to avoid metro city areas.

      Delete
  8. Racism experienced in Oz is often a result of over-sensitivity on the part of the "victim". My husband (who is an Indian by race) was at work the other day and overheard a colleague saying, "That's what happens when you're a curry boy". He stiffened and was about to tell the colleague off for being racist when he realized from the ongoing conversation that the colleague had actually said, "That's what happens when you are a Kurri boy". It turns out that the colleague was from a place in Oz called Kurri Kurri and was talking about himself.

    Oftentimes, we perceive offence when none is intended. It doesn't help to walk around with a chip on the shoulder and assume the worst of people. In our 3 years of living in Australia, we have encountered only kindness and goodwill from the Australians. Maybe it's because we don't live in large cosmopolitan cities like Sydney and Melbourne. All I can say is that from our personal experience of life in regional Australia, far from being racist, people here have looked beyond cultural and race differences and have extended to us their hand in friendship. Moving here has been an eye opener and a blessing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Stay tuned. . . the poor student here shall attempt to answer soem of these questions tonight. yes I want the lemons -- they are expensive here!
    YC

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sorry, i could only help out with the bus driver question. Bus drivers here are paid AUD 25 to 35 per hour and yes, the 1.5X or 2x OT applies. Do take note though, drivers work split shifts. Some like it because this means they get enough rest, while others find it annoying because they have nothing to do in between shifts --ie waste of time, and not being paid for these hours they are not working.

    Each bus driver covers a variety of routes in a single day, unlike our drivers in SIN who pretty much covers just one route, and on a long-term basis. It's not that uncommon for the bus drivers to miss a turn/go in the wrong direction over here, and the passengers are usally cool about it. And the shifts/working hours could vary considerably from one week (or a fortnight) to the next.

    It's a criminal offence to abuse bus drivers here. Spitting at bus drivers is a big no no, and offenders could be jailed. Most passengers are pretty polite to begin with. . .

    It's quite common for bus drivers to move on to driving trucks at mining sites. If you're single, you could consider a mining job (the fly in, fly out work style pretty much kills social/family relations). Oz allows travellers to take up short-term employment (6months?), so you might also want to check to see if SIN citizens are eligible for the scheme. Hope this helps.

    YC

    ReplyDelete
  11. Here's also my take on the perceived 'racism' issue. I would wholly agree with an earlier poster (Anonymous) about sensitivity levels of the victim. I have been here 11 years now and haven't had any issue.

    I read about people complaining that they can't find jobs just because they are Asians, but I truly believe that's not the case! Many of them have low confidence level, horribly inarticulate and are really inept when it comes to interviews.

    Bosses here do not care about the colour of your skin as long as you are qualified and is capable to do the job. I deal with people (face to face) from all walks of life on a daily basis and I don't see that they treat me any differently (I'm a tax accountant BTW). My workplace is like a UN, we have an equal distribution of migrant Europeans, migrant Asians, Ozzie born Asians and Caucasians alike. To the contrary, my workmates embraces the diversity that we have and are always interested to know about the quirks and what nots about other cultures.

    The perceived lack of tolerance comes from the mentality of the 'victimised' person. Also, it does seem that people who come from the SEA region tend to be very cynical and negative as opposed to the Ozzie "you'll be alright mate" attitude. So that doesn't help.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think Nix's reply is very honest. Oz is not a everything-so-green place. It can be as bad as any other country. My wife always complains she works as hard if not harder than before. But in general, family time is definitely more than before.
    From my circle of friends, some are fortunate in finding good jobs in their original industries, while many don't. Recently I met someone who is here (Mel) for almost 2 years and still yet to find a job.
    Racism can be subtle, just remember that culturally we from different places are just different. Hence do not expect people of different races to mix fantastically well. Again, there are exceptions...
    Foreigners (as in PRC or from South Asia sub-continent) are aplenty. So one cannot run away from them. But at least here, proximity is not as close as in sg.
    So to cannothear, do come (if you finally decide to come) with open eyes and do not expect things to be always plain sailing for you. I am not trying to be discouraging, but just be prepared rather than disenchanted later.
    All the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess there should be a fall back when things such as jobs, do not work out well for new migrants.
      My fall back is going back to S'pore to continue with my contract or project basis job which I am doing now, if I cannot find a full time perm job in my field of work after 2 yrs of staying and working casual or part time job in Aust.
      As long as I meet my PR visa renewal requirement, it's ok for me to return to S'pore to work after 2 yrs in Aust and come back again to Aust for the next 2 yrs.

      Delete
    2. Yes, have fall back plan where possible.
      However, push yourself hard enough here when you land, don't let "I have backup" to affect you, and at the end, neither here nor there (not sure if you get what I mean...).
      It may not be wise to move back and forth every two years - quite unsettling. So explore as many avenues as possible... all the best!

      Delete
    3. Hi Anonymous@17 July 2012 19:16
      Wow, 2 years and still cannot find a job?

      What skills/qualifications does that person have? I may not be able to offer him employment but I can certainly help to point to the right places to search.

      Let me know if I can help.

      Delete
  13. i'm actually quite surprised at the number of replies and the people who contacted me on this subject. I honestly did not expect so many people out there having similar plans, i thought i stuck out like a sore thumb among my friends. Just that a lot of my friends are kind enough to endure my frequent rants and attitudes.

    i have my fair share of racism when i was working in alaska. My approach? smile and walk away, or pretend i didn't hear anything. i was complimented frequently for speaking good english - i altered my tone and accent to suit their ears. (American english has a higher pitch than British english, the Brits didn't have an issue with my Sg english.)

    见人说人话,见鬼说鬼话。

    Alaska taught me how to think on your feet - try taking a nap in the stop bays along a busy stretch of Alaska highway and wake up to find a depleted car battery, because i forgot to switch off the headlamps. Would you wait for rescue or would you walk 15 miles to the next inhabited areas? I lost my starhub sim card shortly i arrived in Ak.

    it's going to be a long and arduous journey to get there, with a timeframe of 3-5 years. I do not intend to try to migrate there. I want to get it done the way and the standards i want it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am rather tired of people believing that Aussies aren't hardworking and one can relax on the job. All the migrants I know all agree that within the first 3 years (at least), we probably work harder than we did in SG. The reason is simple - firstly, except for a few lucky people, we can't find permanent full time jobs at least within the first year. Even for locals, the bastion of the permanent full time job has long disappered. Most of us work contract or even casual jobs, as do their locals. The only difference is that locals can probably find such work more often and faster than we can (due to our lack of network and 'local experience').

    I work 2 casual jobs and I work 7 days a week. The only 'up' side is that I don't work nights and I work from home. Working from home alone is a huge huge benefit, because it means I save 2 to 3 hours of commuting a day. A lot can be done during this time. In Aust, people travel huge distances to work, even across state lines. I see my husband 2 days every month because he works in a different state. Can't find work in this state despite looking for a year.

    All recent migrants agree that we work harder now at work than we did in SG/Malaysia. Simply because in Asia, work is a social thing. We take 1 hour lunches and chat as we work. We go for coffee breaks, smoke breaks, etc. We hang out for dinner and/or supper. So people end up working long long hours. Nothing wrong with that - socialising and 'relationalism' is ingrained into our Asian culture, we need to build networks and guanxi.

    Here, no one chats. People take 1/2 lunch breaks, often at their desk. They work uninterrupted during work hours, and then go home on time. Everything is professional and business-like. Who stays back? The Asians. We are still doing 12 hour days, but feeling a lot more ragged because it's a full-on 12 hours now. (btw, it is illegal to work beyond 12 hours, and tradies have mandatory rest periods/tea breaks).

    Do I regret coming over? Absolutely not. The bosses are more appreciative and no one expects you to work during non-working hours. That's the big difference - the expectation. Yesterday, my vendor even apologised profusely to me for calling me during lunch time. More importantly too, working as a casual, I don't have to deal with the office politics that also emerges out of all this socialising and guanxi.

    One down side for casual work, other than its 'casual' nature is that I earn far less in Aust than I did in SG. No thanks also to the taxes. However, I find a lot less need to spend on 'luxuries' like holidays, eating out and shopping in Aust. I spend most of my money on daily neccessities and improving my home. I derive great joy from my garden, including the manual labour like a farmer. Perhaps in SG, we feel so cooped up in our chicken pens that we don't enjoy our homes, and we need to go out for food, movies, shopping, holidays.

    Racism - hot button but I firmly believe you can find it anywhere if you look hard enough. What matters is the attitude - whether you choose to feel like a victim, or not. I attribute most of it due to cultural differences and ignorance. I have not been discriminated against (at least overtly) in the 2 years that I've been here, although by govt surveys, I am in the most racist state in Aust. Speaking good English (and slowly!) makes a difference. Coming out of my shell does too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. To Mr N,

    This story was posted almost 10 months ago. Perhaps I could drop a simple comment, hope it helps.

    Singapore -> Australia.

    1. Uprooting is not an easy decision. Think carefully.

    2. Nobody guarantees you a better living in Australia. Consider more job options, if you cannot find the one you are most experienced and trained to do.

    3. If you fail in Australia, do you plan to return to Singapore? I think you should not because we must learn to move on and overcome. If everywhere you go, you are injured and move elsewhere, forever you are bruised and you will never succeed wherever you go.

    4. Make new and more friends. We need to open up our network in Australia. Don't drag yourself thinking your friends in Singapore are the only ones. That only makes you feel negative for as long as you stay in Australia, only to lead a very miserable life. Then your purpose of migrating to Australia is a complete failure because you fail to adapt to local culture and adjust your expectations.

    In all, it is easy said than done. We all know. Then do more, worry less. You only worry because you know you have to compromise something good for something uncertain. Then it narrows to how much you are willing to take. If you want to keep it, stay in Singapore. If you want to leave it, be brave and take that risk.

    ReplyDelete