Was having lunch with a buddy. We were colleagues in China and came back about the same time. He's a member of Mensa, had an IQ of more than 140, came back to marry a Malay and became a Muslim. I always admire his intelligence, positive attitude and his guts for going after the things he want.
We often had the usual conversations of how Singapore had changed so much over such a short time, influx of FT etc. and of course all the good times we had in China. We share the same views on a lot of things except for one thing.
I've mentioned that I had a 'culture shock' when I came back and didn't expect that after spending just a few years overseas. I'm sick of working with so many useless FTs esp the ah nehs. Sometimes I feel like a foreigner myself, which is a total contrast when I was in China, where the people treat me like one of them. Of course I'm also fed up with the govt, the high costs of living..........etc. I'm disillusioned and don't think things will get better in the future in Singapore. I'm planning to go back to China. Its similar to what my dad did more than half a decade ago but in my case, its the other way round.
My buddy said that although he did not agree with the FT policy, he still thought that its inevitable and this is not going to change. Its just like the HDB prices or COE - don't expect them to drop to historical lows cause its not going to happen However, he thought that since this is the way its gonna be, we should learn to adapt and be that change agent, if we are not happy with the things in our life. In a nutshell, he thinks we should learn to adapt and not just run away from here. This is afterall, our home. During my dad's time, its either he leave or starve to death in China but we are not in that kind of situation now.
So what do you think? Who is right? Is this a pessimist vs a optimist views of Singapore? Is this a high IQ vs low IQ peoples' points of views? Am I a quiter and an escapist who don't have the guts to adapt and be that change agent in his homeland?
We often had the usual conversations of how Singapore had changed so much over such a short time, influx of FT etc. and of course all the good times we had in China. We share the same views on a lot of things except for one thing.
I've mentioned that I had a 'culture shock' when I came back and didn't expect that after spending just a few years overseas. I'm sick of working with so many useless FTs esp the ah nehs. Sometimes I feel like a foreigner myself, which is a total contrast when I was in China, where the people treat me like one of them. Of course I'm also fed up with the govt, the high costs of living..........etc. I'm disillusioned and don't think things will get better in the future in Singapore. I'm planning to go back to China. Its similar to what my dad did more than half a decade ago but in my case, its the other way round.
My buddy said that although he did not agree with the FT policy, he still thought that its inevitable and this is not going to change. Its just like the HDB prices or COE - don't expect them to drop to historical lows cause its not going to happen However, he thought that since this is the way its gonna be, we should learn to adapt and be that change agent, if we are not happy with the things in our life. In a nutshell, he thinks we should learn to adapt and not just run away from here. This is afterall, our home. During my dad's time, its either he leave or starve to death in China but we are not in that kind of situation now.
So what do you think? Who is right? Is this a pessimist vs a optimist views of Singapore? Is this a high IQ vs low IQ peoples' points of views? Am I a quiter and an escapist who don't have the guts to adapt and be that change agent in his homeland?
