Surely you have to be kidding! What difference does that make? If you great grandfather had said the same thing your grandfather would have stayed put and you'd be a chicken or pig farmer somewhere else.
People move on for a better life. Everyone does it. Americans move to Australia. Kiwis move to Britain. Poms move to NZ. Many of them don't have all the advantages that Singaporeans have when it comes to relocating. For a Singaporean, emigration is a breeze.
You might not have noticed this but Singaporeans feel the most at home IN SINGAPORE!!!
It breaks my heart to think that we have to be forced off this land because the govt doesnt know how to manage the country so that the ineterests of the native singaporean is enhanced....The govt is managing this country so that the ruling class' interests are enhanced and they are making sinkies the pinata of their problems.... maybe the problem is not sinkies but this CCB PAP govt ....
anyway one point which I agree with you, it may be inevitable that this govt is allowed to stay in power, this country will be run into utter ruin. Better prepare to run road if we dont deny the PAP CCBs a 2/3 majority in 2016 . that will be the year of reckoning......
p.s. if my greatgrandfather had stayed put in southern china, he would have inherited an equal share of the huge tract of land in Dongguan left behind by his rich uncle, which would have translated into billions of RMB. in another life, we would have been tycoons in China and not wage slaves in Singapore. But life is like that .......