Archive for May 2015

All good things come to an end. As far as I'm being concerned, this year's Autumn is as good as the last three. Autumn in Perth provides the best weather anyone can ask for. It spells the end of the infuriating bout of fly infestation during Summer and serves as the transition season between Summer and Winter. Thus, each passing day in Autumn actually gets better.

To many Singaporeans, especially somehow the Singaporean daughters I know, Winter is a tad too cold. So, I am pretty sure I am not the only Singaporean who regard Autumn as the best season in Perth. Say whatever you like about how bad Perth is. I am convinced 6 months of such weather (counting Autumn's poorer cousin Spring) in a year is worth overlooking your trivialities, such as the disability to overcome your ego and perpetual needs to be loved and feel esteemed like a "First class citizen", whatever that really means.

Now, that's first class weather and that serves us really well, 24/7. No doubt some wouldn't agree, because the great feeling as a First Class Citizen probably puts a smile even in their sleep in their sauna. Cost of living in Perth may be (arguably?) higher than Singapore. I don't bother to do comparisons anymore, since I don't have access to updated figures in Singapore as time goes by. At least, I don't have to pay for cool, clean air here for 9 months of a year (including Winter)

As I have no business to do in Perth City, I have been so accustomed to not paying parking fees that I found that a real annoyance when I returned to Singapore. However I kept my comments to myself as I watched my friends tear coupons or get their cash cards in place as the way of life. I never had to pay for parking even once whenever I visited a friend's home. I don't have to worry about running out to "add time" halfway through a football match. I don't have to feel paranoid if my parking ticket dropped beyond the view of the warden or my cash card being left in my car carelessly. I don't think anyone will disagree that these are unpleasant moments in life. Find me one who really love the beeping sounds of their cash cards or one who enjoyed the attention being stuck at a carpark gantry forgetting to bring along a cash card, with a queue of honking cars behind. Get this clear - This isn't about money. It's about having to cope with a shower of annoyances in a day of our Singapore life. These stuff may seem like negligible issues to most Singaporeans, including myself when I was there, but take my word, it adds up.

Parking fees does not exist in my life. I have the option to make a U-turn at any point of a dirt central divider during rare traffic accident build up. I am not required to login certain websites once too often or risk losing privileges or face persecution. I don't physically queue, for food or seemingly whatsoever. I cannot remember the last time I was being honked on road. Drivers still give way. Cars still merge into single lanes in an orderly manner. I still knock off from work on time, at 2.30pm every day. I never had to deal with the frustrations of picking my daughter late from childcare because I was delayed at work. I pick lemons and guava from trees, with the owners' welcome. I don't wash my car for months without anyone commenting on it. I have the access to connect a real vacuum cleaner to an electrical point to clean the interior of my car. There is space to dismantle the engine if I have nothing better to do. I can plant in the ground, and not pots, if I want to. I can plant a fucking tree if I want to. I can choose any builder to build a house and any settlement agency to deal with my conveyance. Bonus for a sicko who just cannot overlook the injustice of being forced to use Lee and Lee. I don't get dogs knocking on my door before a national popularity vote. I don't see strange potted plants being lined along my residence when someone important comes by. True, Aussie politics stink in their own ways but at least no one farts directly in my face. However pathetic my car looks, I enjoy the fact I own it and not rent it for 10 years. I bought it for $1,450 with my own money and not a loan from a financial institute. One less annoying payment to look after. Again, petty trivialities. But when it all adds up...

One of my associates said, "Life is all but an illusion."

Perhaps. Most unfortunately though, the human brain is too simple to differentiate illusions from reality. At the end of the day when illusions fall apart, at least I still have the cold caress of Autumn to sooth my sleep.

Over the years, I've received so many emails from strangers who gave me ego lifts by telling me I was such a brave man to come to Australia with no job, a little savings and a pregnant wife. All these despite the fact that I knew nothing about Australia and had neither work or school here prior to my move. I grew to believe these misconceptions. Well, it is nice to be told I was someone better that I actually was, until a point I cleared my mind and stopped believing in my own hype. Simple fact, I had never been brave at all.

I was never the Knight of Pentacle, who strongly stuck by his own beliefs and took beatings that came his way in the earlier Perth days, where conditions were harder for new migrants. In contrast, I was the Fool, not just a ordinary one but an inversed one where it represents naivety, foolishness, recklessness and risk taking.

I believe I must have mentioned this somewhere in one of the earliest posts. If I didn't, then it is time to do so. When we finally got our Permanent Resident visas, our first plan was to hope for my wife's successful job transfer from her auditor firm in Singapore to the one in Australia. If her transfer went through, we would have moved to Adelaide and not Perth, I would then spend the first months sponging on my wife's earnings and our move would be almost risk-free, having secured a permanent job even before we step into Adelaide. As you can see, I was just about as kiasi as any Singaporean migrant wannabe who told me they wanted to move but were too scared to do so. I was just another one of the Singaporeans who had no balls to make a move until I was absolutely sure that wouldn't end badly.

Then the traits of the Inversed Fool took over my cowardice. Our pregnancy with Albany was likely to be the key to that radical change. Paternal instincts, a dosage of alpha, desperation, just foolishness or plain anger. Call that whatever you want. I recalled myself being very angry during my last days in Singapore. That night when my wife did not return home from work by midnight was the catalyst to the cataclysm of my Singapore romance. I went for a long jog along the CCK PCN. I jogged to the end of Yew Tee, took a turn to Kranji Camp, then a detour to Brickland Road and headed back to Teck Whye via Bukit Batok Road. I covered easily 15km that night. It was a painful but necessary attempt to distract myself from being overcome by the perpetual indignant that shrouded me during that few weeks. I took a break just outside ITE West and checked my mobile road. Still no response from my wife. It was already 2am in the morning. I was rather pissed off.

Much later in the morning, I received a text from her informing she was in the meeting just now and she was on the way back. When she was back, I asked her why couldn't she knock off from work "earlier", say 12am. She told me that her team was staying behind and it wasn't nice to leave them behind. Great. Great powers comes with great responsibilities. What about the global MNC, one of the so called "Big 4", a title they are always so proud to associate themselves with? What about their great responsibilities to, not just their clients but staff as well, that came with their great powers? Why is it such that they expect pregnant women to work till wee hours and come home by 4am in the morning? My wife wasn't the first and she wouldn't be the last.

So fuck it.

It wasn't my responsibility to change things. I don't believe in being the change I want to see. Save that for the deluded. Changing the environment I want to be sounds quicker to me. I don't have a whole life to commit to bullshit or lofty ideals that wouldn't be achieved in two lifetimes. Anyway, who am I to change anything for Singaporeans, whom ourselves never wanted to change? I've seen for myself how the so call "silent majority" treated Singaporeans who stood up to speak for them. Ha! Yet we like to point fingers at Singaporeans who migrated and call them names like "ingrates." Such irony.

So I left, despite the failed job transfer. Most Singaporeans will be happy to see someone like go fuck off. The feeling, of course, is mutual. So everybody is happy which is great. My only problem was that I had no Plan B. Apparently, sponging on my wife was my only plan and that failed. Nonetheless, I boasted to my wife that I would find work and support her till I drop dead. She would not need to work another day of her life again if she didn't want to. I was fearful because I broke every single meaningful promise to her (including promises to myself) prior to that. However, I knew where my strengths were. I always respond strong when my back is against the wall. It happened again and again throughout my life such that I secretly believe I could trust myself to do that one more time. Odds were certainly against me.

That didn't make me braver. I was planning for failure right from the start. I told my wife, we would be spending two years in Perth. Then we could return to Singapore, to our comfort zones, and work for 3 years. That would still qualify us for a RRV, to extend our PR visas for another 5 years of limbo rocking. These two years, I would be picking up casual jobs just to make ends meet. We would be unlikely to have savings at all. If anything, I would have a super break from the hectic Singapore lifestyle and treat it like a paid holiday. To recharge, to revitalise for another 3 hard years of work in Singapore. As a bonus, I will be able to find more confidence to speak in English. That would always be helpful in Singapore employment. Then with the savings from the 3 years of work, we should be able to buy ourselves another 2 years of "working-holiday" in Australia once again. Speak better English? More confidence? Working holiday? I was that fucking naive.

Fortune favours the bold. In my case, as I found out, fortune favours the foolish as well. For it takes a bit of courage to be reckless and take some risks, even for a fool. My naivety rewarded me (perhaps unjustly) with a job that pays me enough to feed a family comfortably and a peaceful, quiet environment to save my soul. As a fool, I cannot complain. I am contented and found peace within myself by my second year here.

Thereby I realised, there was no need to be brave, where it was easier to be a fool.

Dear Sir/ Well wisher,

I want to migrate in Australia from Bangladesh. But I couldn’t understand in which occupation will be allegeable for me in the basis of my current job status (Job description & experiences) !!!

I mean I can’t nominate an occupation listed on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) .

So I need your cordial help and suggestions. Please help me to find this and give me some valuable migration related suggestions including how can I fill up the form of skillselect if I want to do my migration application related works by own self . And what kind of visa(s) can I apply ????

I attach my detail CV with this letter.

Waiting for your reply.

Take care.

Regards

Suman Chowdhury

Attached CV

Hi Suman,

From your impressive 8-pages CV, I noted that you are a Master Degree holder.

In the country where I came from, a Master Degree holder tells, and not ask, lowly peasants (such as myself) what to do. So I am afraid that I will not be able to act without your directive. If filling up your migration form is what you task me to do, I shall comply but only if our terms of employment are being agreed upon. From the information provided in your email, you may have missed out my employment contract details. If that is the case, please send me a reply with your terms attached and I shall respond in proper at the soonest possible.

On the side note, I also noted that you have put down four relatives references living in Australia holding respectable jobs such as doctors and teachers. Thus my suggestion for you would be to seek their assistance to fill up your migration forms. That would be much wiser (and economical) option than choosing an eccentric, unreliable stranger who chase kangaroos to fight Monday blues to do the job.

Also, do consider applying for a job in the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore [link] if your migration to Australia turns out unsuccessful. I heard someone of your credentials will be well received. You can look for my friend, Nisha Padmanabhan, working there. She will be able to pull some strings for you.

Thank you,

asingaporeanson

Nearly 4 years ago, I could have came here all by myself and leave my pregnant wife in Singapore with my family. We have a roof over us there. So there will be no additional expense in that aspect. There will be living expenses no doubt, but all will be managed easily by just living within my means here in Perth. That would mean renting a single room instead of a house of any size by by myself, having simple meals and keeping entertainment expenses extremely low.

If the purpose of isolating myself from my family is to position myself such that I could focus all my time on making a living, or even building a business or an empire, it isn't a convincing one. For I can still do the same by insisting my wife to stay at home full time instead of taking on PT work like she is doing now and take care of the household while I work from dawn till far beyond the set of sun to rake money in. That wouldn't be much of a difference compared to my previous Singapore work regime. If I were to stay behind then, I would certainly have spend these 3 years watching my daughter grow up sleeping in her bed.

I know the price I have to pay. Time waits for no man. My decision to commit tremendous amount of time for my family over building a proper career will eventually come back to slap me in the face. By them I will not be in the physical condition to chase after lost time. Even before I turn 40, I am already feeling an obvious deterioration in my physical fitness. Components that once gave me strength to impress, gave much pain to digest these days. Time continues to slip away. By the time is through with me, I will have nothing noteworthy to leave behind. The bank balance will show neither a trail of illustrious career nor profitable business. My family and I will never live in better circumstances, not to mention attaining the epitome of living life within our terms.

What I have, are intangible titles that I will keep secretly in my mind. I would be the Singaporean father who holds the world record by giving his daughter the most number of hugs in her childhood. Worth nothing to you, means the world to me. Even there comes a day where my daughter grows up and leave me, perhaps not even with a word of appreciation but I shall have no regrets. We may be young only once but the same goes for our children. They will only be that young once, before they get too old for you to take a bath with, too heavy for you to carry and too mature for you to play silly games and scream the house down with. No money will ever buy these treasured moments.

It is undeniable that parenthood brings pain of the same magnitude of joy. Thus to me, to endure the pain and letting moments of joy slip by isn't logical. Only by squeezing out every precious moment of happiness does parenthood makes sense. That can be effectively done only by spending quality time with our children.

That being said, my ambitions will never be extinguished. Time will be the judge if it will be better late than never for me when I am through with my priorities.

Dear Nix,

My name is Louise and I have been reading random posts off your blog. It is a good break (from reading stuff for studies) reading your blog. I appreciate the frank opinions, advice and the very sense that you do try your very best to be as tactful as possible. You are indeed an icon of your own and it is good to know that people of Singapore can write to you for un-flowered advice.

I am Singaporean, married to a dear old pomp. But unlike the usual SPGs, I met my husband, Chris, in Jakarta where we both worked for the same company. Long story short, I came to Australia because of Raphael, our 7 year old boy. Raph is non verbal and severely autistic. From this, you can most likely draw the conclusion that I am here because of the inclusion-ness that aussie land offers. Yes indeed, and I think we have come a long way. Raph is very fortunate to receive a 12k funding with his diagnosis and used for therapy and equipment before his 7th birthday. He goes to a public school and receive extra funding for a full time aide. I live in a small country town called Temora, our nearest city is Wagga Wagga, where most 'major' services are. For anything more serious, we go to either Canberra or Sydney. My 9 months old twins were born premature and I spent 2 months in Shitney- but another time for that story if anyone is keen.

I realised that a lot of your queries are directed to living in Perth or Sydney. And quite a bit from mothers with children with disabilities. I am most willing to help out if there are any queries regarding country living (in general.) and I know a lot about disability care and education, various care groups, fundings and grants in NSW and Tasmania (I lived there with Raph for 2 years before Chris found a job in country NSW and we reunited as a family again. He was a FIFO- fly in, fly out)

If you are ever interested for a holiday in NSW, you and your family are most welcome to stay with us. I am sure Geoff, our donkey, Lucy, Ohio and Barker, the horses, and our gay bull, Du Lan, will appreciate some nice company. Google Temora, if you have time.

Best regards,

Louise

Looks like a great place to go!

Hi Louise,

This is the first time someone from the East has offered me a stay. Thank you very much! Just by the name of your animals, especially your gay bull, I'm already tempted to fly there for a holiday this Summer. Unfortunately, that is a luxury that I may not be able to afford for a while yet. I'll love to hear more about Temora and stories about setting up home there though, if you can afford the time off your studies in the future. Tell me about your twins too.

Thank you for your kindness in offering to help out to address queries, especially in the eastern state where I have absolutely no clue about anything there. Future inquirers will surely benefit from your information. For myself, I'll be sending country living questions every now and then soon enough - for I've made it no secret that I want (and will) live in a regional zone eventually. For a start, perhaps, do you happen to keep bees?

Once again, thank you for writing to me and offering to help. I wish you and your family blissful years to come. In the mean time, take care and please let me hear from you sometime again.

asingaporeanson

It was the first time I attended a church wedding and I actually liked it. Well, at least many parts of it. For the start, I was attracted to the props all around the places. Like some sort of a vase and a bottle of wine that the mothers of the newly weds had to retrieve on a pedestal and marched the aisle to hand over to the couple eventually. No idea what that meant but it was cool. The priests were clad in funny wear with designs like the clerics of Dragon Quest, the RPG game I played since I was young. The annoying part came when the priest began to talk about religion, which I disagreed with the bulk of the things he said but I didn't have the balls to voice out lest I get nailed on the cross like the guy hung on top. I wanted to take the best photograph of the ceremony that I could to use it as the feature pic for this post but guests were gently advised by the priests not to do so because "there were already photographers assigned to do a good job". I decided to comply after I stole another glance up there.

But I felt really happy to see two friends getting married. It was truly a joyous occasion. That was despite the fact that all attendees had to endure a cold 14 degree Celsius rainy weather throughout. There was no video montage on how they met, which was great in my opinion, because I could never figure out why people who need an introduction to the couple's love story should be attending that wedding in the first place. Plus the fact that how they looked 2 or 3 decades ago has nothing to do with their wedding, which the attendees are there to give their blessings for. Besides, the past is boring. I will probably stay awake if a couple decided to show a power point presentation of their future plans. Thankfully, this wedding has none of these bullshit in both the ceremonial hall and the makan hall.

Among the weddings I have attended both as a guest and a helper, rarely had I witnessed one without a tinge of conflict or unhappiness somewhere. At one particular one for instance, I witnessed relatives of the newly wedded unable to settle down in their designated tables, debating with wedding helpers loudly why it should be arranged another way. Not this one. Free sitting. Take it - or sit at the lawn in the rain outside. Everyone sat down happily. There was enough seats and tables for everyone, not to mention a comfortable range of free space between every table. Everyone queued up for their food without a fuss. Parents and relatives were in high spirits, beaming after the wedding ceremony. There was no going around every table taking photos, all were done randomly in moderation. Not a single table were required to do a "fall in" for regimental photo taking session. I couldn't help but began to enjoy myself after the initial fright in the morning for waking up late, as I was tasked to buy some table cloth to drape a few tables that were short and a rather large amount of ice for drinks. No fans, air conditioners were required for the dining hall. Only natural cool air under the rhythm of the falling rain. What was there not to love about?

No doubt, some Singaporean guests who flew over to attend might have compared this wedding to a typical one held in a hotel in Singapore and felt it was underwhelming. If any, none of them showed it. I suspect, they secretly enjoyed such a laid back atmosphere where nobody were asked to stand up halfway munching that braised mushroom to clap for the newly wed making a second or third entrance. No emcee picking the unfortunate chap who just stained his clothes with sweet n sour sauce to go on stage to act like a monkey to amuse the crowd nor lame stale jokes and games we had to endure with. There wasn't anyone on stage reading a speech at a time where neither picking on that steamed fish nor stopping everything and pretend to pay attention seemed appropriate.

At the end of the dinner, guests even helped to assemble the chairs and dismantle tables before bidding the newly wed goodbye.

What a great wedding it was. I was honored to be invited to attend and enjoyed myself throughout. I wish both of you a blissful, happy marriage.

I am Sam and I am migrating with my Aussie fiance (getting married in Jul) to Sydney in Aug. I came across your blog when I was trying to find Singaporean groups in Sydney (there was Singapore Kongsi but it seems very inactive now?) and I can't find anyone I can reach out to.

I am just pretty scared to move to Sydney. I have visited Sydney a few times with him and I just never felt like I can fit in. I am also worried what I would be doing when he is working. I am getting the bridging visa which allows me to work and I was thinking of working at a cafe / language centre whilst getting a full time job.

Do you have any advice for me or can direct me to any Singaporeans who moved to Australia for their spouse so I can mentally prepare myself (Singaporean kiasu/kiasi syndrome dictates that I must plan everything swee swee before I leave)

Thanks so much in advance smile emoticon

Hi Sam,

As far as I know, Singapore Kongsi still exist, though I am not 100% sure because I left the group quite long ago after the group decided to deviate from its initial direction that I can resonate with. Today, it's just another OSU masquerading as a community help group. What overseas Singaporeans need is less of such nefarious groups if a complete non existent isn't possible. That being said, I should emphasize that is just my personal opinion and not an allegation lest I get sued over bruised egos. Thus, first and foremost, avoid associating with such groups.

If you have no Singaporean contacts and think it is more assuring for you to know somebody, I will make a request to Agent Y or Sydney Librarian and see if they are interested to link up. I have met them in person and guarantee they are great, reliable people to hang out with. In fact, I am worried that I'll be passing them a hot potato so please don't let me down by being appreciative of the offer of their warm friendship if they do. Please confirm if you want to get to know them.

I can't help you regarding fitting in. To be honest, I highly doubt I will fit in Sydney myself, at least at the kind of pace I prefer. However fitting in is an eventuality because human beings are very adaptable. You will fit in, but it can be a matter of years. So I advice you to have be mentally prepared, have patience and give the city a chance to show you its charms among the initial obvious flaws you will pick out rather quickly.

I know of a lady, D, who moved to Australia for her spouse. She wasn't (as it appeared to me) receptive to Perth in her early months but eventually (again, as it appeared to me) warmed up to this city. I believe the key is how your spouse is going to treat you, rather than anything about the new environment you are moving to. If D's spouse does not treat her well enough, nothing about the city will convince her that the migration was a good idea. This isn't much of an advice because it is not within our control how our future spouse will turn out in many years to come. However, if luck is with you, your great marriage will help you warm up to your new city in a profound manner. Here, I wish you good luck and a blissful marriage.

The last and perhaps most important advice I'll give to you is to forgo your Singaporean kiasu/kiasi syndromes. In any case, these are not syndromes. They are diseases and we are convinced that we should be proud of them. The syndromes of these diseases are inconsideration, annoyance, discourtesy, tactlessness etc. In your case, it isn't even necessary to plan for anything other than getting a checklist of what to bring with it done timely. If you come with the correct mindset, everything will be swee swee. Otherwise, there is no plan that will ensure the level of sweeness that you will be expecting.

After lying in bed through Monday and Tuesday, I got back to work reluctantly on Wednesday. My throat was hurting and I wasn't in a good condition to communicate with colleagues. My only focus was to clear the stuff that was shockingly left untouched by unmotivated folks in my absence and get the day done. We got everything sent out and a container unloaded. It was a good day at work. I couldn't wait to go home to nurse the throat, which felt like needles piercing within by then, as well as the fever caused by it.

I hugged Albany a lot because I couldn't use words. I also threw her in her bedroom when she stole food without asking when I wasn't looking because it was too painful to talk, let alone in a louder, stern manner. She wailed and reflected in her bed and came out to apologise. It was never easy to hold anything against Albany but I had to pretend at times, for the sake of emphasizing the importance of certain values. She would grow up to be a fine woman, not because of but in spite of her dad. She has grown a lot in the blink of the eye. I miss her naivety but welcome her wisdom and her ability to surprise me with her new capabilities. My only regret was that I never blog progressively about her growing up. I won't want to do that for the second child either because Albany will always be special to me. Perhaps one day, I shall backtrack and jot down my stories with Albany in another blog, since these private memories are of nobody's business in a site where newcomers are fishing for migration details and I will be doing them a favour by not flooding the blog with irrelevancy.

By today, I totally lost my voice. I'm glad nobody came up to me and ask, "Nix did you lose your voice?" That way, I can still turn up for work without feeling being surrounding by morons.

I have to turn up in a church tomorrow to help the upcoming groom to move furniture around for his wedding on Saturday. Unfortunately, the helping hand does not excuse me from attending the wedding. Normally, I'll shun these events if I can but for this couple. This wedding will a rare one among my friends in Perth because the rest of them were already married. The reason of my attendance isn't the rarity of the event but for the bride who is an important family friend of ours. This shall be the first wedding I attend in Perth. I'm sure I will enjoy it. Without a voice, it makes it even easier not to talk to anybody. My only hope is my fever subsides tomorrow, though it will not be bothering me that much in a cool Autumn afternoon.

I wanted to write daily since the previous hiatus. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I was down with something similar to what I suffered in Singapore again, this time at a worse intensity.

Aha! I said I hardly get sick in Perth so what is my excuse this time?

Well, I did not really feel 100% for 2 weeks since I came back for Singapore. Normally I stop medication for common illnesses to allow my body to fight its own battles, albeit it takes much longer to do so. Before I could finally put the bugs away for good, I experienced something crappy for the first time since I came to Perth.

Thick smog had partially engulfed the normally clear blue Autumn sky for days by now. It was an interesting observation because when we experience a haze attack in Singapore, we will always be affected island wide. In this case, thick haze seems to originate at the Canningvale frontier. Canningvale again - the suburb where most Singaporeans in the Singaperth somehow always choose to stay when they first move to Perth. That's probably why I limit my visits to this suburb to some friends staying there long before it was cool. These days, whenever I see newly arrived Singaporeans declaring that they are going to stay in Canningvale, I make a mental note to avoid them. Nothing personal. Just me being me the weird.

Don't get me wrong. I am not implying that Singaporeans living in Canningvale set bushes on fire because they miss choking in their annual haze festival back in paradise. Singaporeans are too law abiding to do that. It will normally be someone else setting fire and Singaporeans calling the police to complain. Not sure if any Singaporeans actually did that. If they did it will be in vain, as this haze is caused by a phenomenon known as Prescribed Burns.

I came to know about this term from Ms Joni Yeo, who live close enough under the enlarging miasma to be concerned. There was actually a warning by the Parks and Wildlife Department about bad smoke and health risks who were actually the fuckers, along with private property owners, behind the burning. If someone comes along and give you a tight slap and warn that you may feel a stinging pain on your face but that's normal because you just got slapped, you'll feel exactly the same way as I do. Thanks for the warning guys. Fuck you!

You can justify your actions for all you care. It's going to be just like the guy in the swimming pool who smiles at you after you felt something warm in the water. No reason provided will be good enough. If that isn't bad enough, they came up with nice sounding term like Prescribed Burn. These days, people can't even call a spade, spade. Just like that week when our Founding Father died, He passed away, He moved on, He left us with greatness, He ascended to a finer realm, He didn't actually die. And these fucking assholes didn't actually burn their bloody bushes because they couldn't be bothered to chop them up. It's Prescribed Burning, which sounds like something good for us from the doctor. And these fucking hypocrites are the first to condemn Indonesia for burning up their forests. Cheebye, I hope you get your houses burnt down.

I have to say I have an affinity with Christianity. You see, my maternal grandmother is a staunch Christian. As a devotee, her faith of the religion reached a level where she would play Santa Claus at every family gathering. Whoever among who attended church was nice and whoever who didn't, was naughty. She dictated her choice of religion towards her five sons, including my father. All of them conformed without questioning, as a demonstration of filial piety. Oddly enough, none of her sons ended up marrying a Christian woman, much to her annoyance.

As such, Grandma demonstrated her iron fist by making such a racket about the prospective marriage of 4th uncle, her remaining unmarried son, to a Thai Buddhist lady till 4th uncle gave up on the relationship. He remained single since. Throughout the years, growing up as a young boy, I witnessed how Grandma condemned the religions of her daughters in law. She left my mother alone, as she was wise enough to declare she was a free-thinker. The rest, particularly my 5th uncle's wife who was a devoted Buddhist, was accused of worshiping "devils" or "idols" by my Grandmother regularly. These were nothing but the truth. As Grandmother did not make videos or blog about her beliefs in Christianity and what she, as well as other worshipers in her church, were taught to damn other religions, and therefore hurt no innocent member of the public, nobody made police reports demanding her to be charged under the Sedition Act. However, she did cause fractures within our family through the years.

Despite that, I love my Grandmother. To me, Grandma's actions were involuntary. She was merely carrying out actions that depict what she was taught about love. To convert a non-believer is saving. My Grandmother merely wanted to save the ones she loved.

Those were the kind of information taught by her Church. It aligned with the style of gospel that once got Senior Pastor Rony Tan, founder of the Lighthouse Evangelism, into trouble with the ISD in 2010. Like Grandma's church, Rony Tan's church mocked the precepts of other religions during services on regular basis. What Rony Tan received was a visit from the ISD, who informed him that what he did was wrong and he was given a chance to apologise for it. That chapter was quickly closed but behind the scenes, many Christianity organisations continue to propagate their ways. In 2012, the NUS Campus Crusade of Christ was made to apologize for their allegation that Thailand was a place of little joy because of their core religion (Buddhism) in one of their activity posters. Both incidents were brought to public attention, and had undoubtedly annoyed many, but no one was charged under the Sedition Act.

When I was 9 years old, I was one of the termed "key holding" child, an emerging trend of young children given the keys to home because both parents are at work. One day, I was stopped by a slim lady in her 20s just a minute away from my HDB flat. She told me to give her 5 minutes, just 5 minutes, for her to share with me about God. As a kid who wasn't accustomed to saying no, I meekly agreed and sat down on the stone bench nearby. She flipped open a tiny booklet and pointed her to the gigantic cross that connected the earth to the heaven, told me Jesus Christ was the bridge and I would be saved only if I believe. She lied. I had to sit there for more than 30 minutes and was constantly urged to give out my contact number and address. My puny mind was focused on her dishonour than my salvation. In the end, I lost my patience and darted off. That one mere one example of harassment out the many I have faced in my life. More examples will be provided upon request. All sharing are absolutely nothing but the truth.

I'll now come to my point.

By now, the name of Amos Yee is well known in Singapore for both his offending remarks about Christianity devotees as well as his astonishing fighting-spirit of a 16 year old. Well, no prize for guessing, I agree with Amos Yee. Not his speech delivery but the message. Throughout my life, I have endured constant harassment from Christians but was taught to swallow it each time for the sake of harmony, since religion is taboo and shall not be discussed or debated publicly. From my perspective at least, if believers were taught in such a way that their thinking processes are no longer capable of filtering their actions to turn against family members, or harass random members of the public, is it so offending to call them mindless drones? If it is, would that be more offensive then being labelled as an idol worshiper? In my opinion, if the religious can take offence easily over minor banter, then Singapore should go religion-less to live in harmony. After all, we were already indoctrinated to worship money, and Gods or Goddesses that somehow require a lot of money from us. A convenient common factor.

Instead of taking a step to reflect upon themselves, religious fanatics (Christians or LKYians) took the opportunity to lynch a boy into oblivion. Even my simple minded Ah Beng friend can tell you his principle of harmony, "Ai bai mai dulan, ai dulan mai bai" Go figure.

This 16 year old known as Amos Yee was punched on the way to the Shrine of Justice. Sadly, not a single among the hoard of reporters were willing to take on the moral duty of care or show a tinge of civic professionalism to zoom their lenses on his assailant. Instead, everybody continued doing exactly the same thing like programmed automatons to focus on the Amos Yee wincing in pain. After being put into days of remand for refusing unreasonable terms for bail, Amos Yee reappeared in court shackled in both hands and legs, donned in prison attire as if his offence was serial killing, terrorism or drug trafficking. What Amos Yee did was speaking words that displeased people. What kind of first world society chains up a youth for speaking, be it rightly or wrongly? Yet, Singaporeans cheered and said he deserved it. I couldn't help but wonder what our religious bodies have been teaching us. To be kind, to be merciful, to be forgiving. Singaporeans have shown none. Shame of us.

We may be the richest country and have built the best airport in the world. We will boast about our multiple achievements for the entire SG50 and go into an overdrive during the NDP week. However, we are just a hollow society, with a population without basic human decency, the ability to think right or the honor to protect the weak.

Hi Nix,

How are you doing? I am an avid reader of your blog and enjoy reading your stories especially the one on SG mum M as it strikes a chord in me.

My son was diagnosed with ASD at 3 and ever since then I spend my every waking moment (drama a bit but you get what I mean ;) ) working on giving him a fighting chance to thrive eventually as an adult in Singapore. I put him through therapies, assessments and tuitions, indeed he blossoms into a lively talkative 11 years old. But SG education system is like a bullet train, once you slow down it's hard to catch up. In aid to pull up his English (as he suffered speech delay when young), his Chinese is neglected. On top of that, he is still weak in English and it's affecting his Science.

The short of it is even though we are putting in long hours daily on his studies, we will be lucky if he gets into express stream. And he is only in primary school! Probably need to study 20 hours daily to get a pass in sec school :x As such, I'm throwing in the towel and applying for PR in Oz.

I know that SG mum M had a list of references in her guest blog on her experience 3 years since she came. Can you share the list with me please (with her consent)? I have thought about this for a while and the only thing I can't really work out is on how to know which neighbourhood and school have good environment? I'm not into rat race school system again, just want find a school that is conducive and relatively crime free. I am also concerned about chances of school bullying.

Will appreciate if you can share any info that you have, many thanks!

Cheers

Hello,

I'm good.

At this rate, Singaporean Mum, M will turn out to be a legend among Singaporean migrants, at least in the tiny community that revolves around the blog. (i.e. I got to know a small and slow growing community via this.) That is because Singaporean Mum, M is a precious knowledge resource for those being concerned, such as yourself. There isn't many you can seek for real advice than someone who walked the talk like Singaporean Mum, M.

Just a quick update for Singaporean Mum, D [link], who came over to Perth after just a week of communicating with Singaporean Mum, M. Like M, D spent her first few weeks in Perth like a frightened mouse. There might be a lot of drama mamas event that happened since but from the way I observed, D has settled down brilliantly despite the hiccups. She even got both her children over. The older one has been enrolled and attending school. We, the older birds, may be critical over new migrants' decision making skills because we have forgotten how difficult and frightening it is as a new migrant. I haven't because I remind myself constantly of the early days I had went through when I first arrived. If not, I will lose the empathy that is needed to (at least) reach out to new and lost sheep.

Having said that, not all who wanders are lost. I skipped many emails I received because of 3 reasons. One, I lost them among the junk emails I am receiving. Two, I have no idea how to help. Three. Pure laziness which eventually leads to forgetting to reply. Singaporean M told me that she observed a soft spot in me to respond to Singaporean mothers in particular, perhaps because I am a parent myself. It is a decent reason. On other days, she may say I have a MILF fetish.

Singaporean Mum, M had have a list of useful links in the her guest post for me [link] but I have since removed the links because she was paranoid that she would be "tracked down" if people analyse the links. Remember, we Singaporeans live under 4 climates. Sunny, fucking sunny, rainy and fear. The fourth doesn't change even if the first three do, anywhere we go. Thus, I respected her wishes and got the links permanently removed. I shall seek her consent and let her decide if I can send you the links (and if she is interested in doing another good deed in helping you out like she did for D)

Meanwhile, regarding school bully, are you concerned about your boy being bullied or bullying the others?

Encik G forgot to mention a crucial detail. Why should anyone migrate to Darwin? Bananas. Bananas!

GUEST BLOGGER

Encik G

7 May 2015

The Jewel in the North

As I lim kopi with Chiobu Kopimaid and Satki Yoda, I reflect on my journey here. After graduation, I sent resumes are all around Australia, Darwin came back first with the highest pay and said, we will pay to get you up here. As a fresh grad with no money, its an offer hard to refuse. But for people migrating, Darwin is probably the last place for consideration.

The 2 most common questions on migration appears to be “Will I have enough points?” and “Can I get a job”.

As I understand, the only two places for which regional areas and extra points apply are Adelaide and Darwin.

The second concern people have is finding a job. Unemployment is rising and hitting above 6% in all States and close to 7% in Adelaide.

But it is only 3+% in the NT. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Northern Territorians have the highest employment to population ratio in the country. Assuming that those two factors are the biggest consideration, I wonder why Darwin is the last place people want to migrate to.

Of the 20+ million people in Australia, Darwin is only home to about ~130k. The main economic drivers of the State are defence, mining, tourism, construction, and govt (public admin, hospital, and safety etc).

Some people are concerned with the higher living cost most of which is taken up by rental but regardless of the rent what use is there if you cannot find a job? Rent for a 2 bedroom unit, rent ranges from $400-450/wk which is not that dissimilar to Sydney. And if you are planning on buying, 2 bedroom apartments (within 10km of the citycentre, sizes range from 80-120 sqm) can be had for $380-450k.

Yes, the cost of living is higher if you choose to eat out all the time. I do not deny that a meal at a restaurant would cost more than a similar meal down South. Average cost of coffee is $4-5 as opposed to $3-4 down South.

Carparking: starts at $1.20/hr to a flat rate of $5-7/day. Free on the weekends. Try finding me free carparking in another capital city?

Tax time: You get a tax rebate for being in Darwin. Annually my accountant often ask if I went camping, apparently I get money back for that too.

Leave: If you work in the public sector, it is a given that you get 6 weeks paid leave (cashable).

Weather: Unlike the Southern States, we do not get the winter chills of the 40+C heat wave as its closer to the equator. Based on the BOM monthly averages, temp range from 21-33C. The only thing that changes is the humidity level. I love the weather but the force is extremely weak with Yoda on this one. He needs to be kept in the freezer.

Often I also get asked “Is there a Chinatown”. Well, there isn’t but it is only because of the fact that Darwin is so multicultural that the whole city feels like ‘Chinatown’. It has a very high migrant population - about 27 per cent of the population is born overseas. Population is made up of Greeks, Chinese, Pinoys, Indonesians, East Timorese, Fijians and other Pacific Islands as well as the African nations.

And if you are ever homesick, I just got tickets to fly home for $170 (return taxes included). Bali on sale is about $100 (return, taxes included). With such cheap fares, I might have to fly back for Yoda’s wedding to Princess Leia.

At the end of the day, its not the place for everyone. The population is very transient, make no mistake, people are here for one thing, make money and leave, or use it as a stepping stone to bigger things. But even as I reach my long 10 years of service leave (i.e paid leave for 3months or ½ pay for 6months) and have the opportunity move to another State, I still find it hard to leave this Jewel in the North.

A Singaporean In Australia

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