Odd that I was asked the same question by two people on the same night. The question was, "Why did you leave Singapore?" The first was posed by Cutearmpit when we were chatting in GW2, after Tucky claimed that I was 'anti-PAP' and warned me not to get sued. It was an amusing moment for me because I couldn't imagine anyone leaving their country because he hates his government. Perhaps over the years, the people have been reading too much into condescending statements such as, "Not happy with Singapore, migrate lah!" With the countless times I came across a person who genuinely feared the idea of migrating, I couldn't fathom how another could decide to leave his country in a willful fit.
Alright. Perhaps I was wrong. My maternal grandfather was one who allegedly did just that. According to mum, my grandfather was born to a rich family. Needless to say, being an ah sia kia, my grandpa had it easy in life. The fateful day came when my great-grandfather apparently had enough and crushed grandpa's best fighting cricket to death. In a fit of anger, grandpa migrated to Malaysia, dragging his young wife along with him. After that, he was caught in the WWII years and never returned to China since. He passed away in Malaysia.
Again, according to mum, grandpa was a man with a wide variety of talents that sound like stuff of the legends to me. He was proficient in herbology with ability to identity wild herbs and concoct them into medicine. He was good in agriculture, a good cook, weather reader, a fearless hunter and a dog trainer. A man who raised a family of 6 in a thick jungle in Kuantan must be well versed in survival skills as well. Indeed he could craft like an engineer, slaughter animals like a butcher and heal animals like a veterinarian. Aside from his manly hobbies, he was a people leader who rose from the rank of a plantation supervisor to a land owner and businessman.
That was where the reason why Grandpa left China didn't quite connect with who we knew he was. Would an ah sia kia be well equipped with multiple life skills of such levels? There was little to suggest the story was dubious because much of it was secretly revealed by my grandmother who was a indignant observer as a young innocent woman then. If so, did migration bring out the man in Grandpa? I guess we will never know.
The second person who asked me the same question later in the night was my poly mate Allen. My usual answer was that I found Singapore too crowded for my liking. That was the simplest answer I could offer anyone without raising further questions as I wasn't too keen in participating in another PAP debate. Not that my friends would even bother to listen or believe when I told them I was against the policies, not the people or political parties making them, anyway. So the lesser said, the better. Besides, my life isn't about the PAP. So shouldn't yours be.
The answers to the question of, "Why did you leave Singapore?" was never going to be a straightforward one. No, I didn't leave in a fit like Grandpa did either. When I was unemployed for 8 months in 2008, I had a lot of time to stroll the quiet streets of Singapore during office hours. I remembered telling myself how much I loved my serenity of Singapore but regret how it turned into a circus after office hours. If I say there is something wrong about living in Singapore, I will not be telling the truth. Singapore remains one of the best countries to live in the world. So the decision to leave ran much deeper than that. It was carefully thought over during my long period of unemployment that year, far from a willful move that some friends might assumed up till today.
Allen is temporarily unemployed currently. Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that he contacted me again to find out more. Understandably, he was concerned about find a job. After all, he is a father like me and can care only about himself no longer. It was bedtime by then so I sent him a link and concluded, "You can drive right? So you have no excuse." After subjecting ourselves through the confounding decision making process, it is important to make a complete mind shift so that we can focus on the goal itself. In such a situation, in my personal opinion, the Occam's razor is the best approach to adopt. Just like what Grandpa did.
A Singaporean Son
*The writer blogs at http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com/