<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt_89_ <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">Jun-4 8:08 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>52197.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt id=msgtxt_1>Jun 5, 2011
'Half-pats' find grass greener in Singapore
By Lydia Vasko
The work opportunities and cultural diversity here are some reasons why children of expats such as Mr Hughes and Ms McAdam have returned and found jobs here. Mr Hughes is now the duty manager and music director at the Prince of Wales bar, a live music haunt in Little India, while Ms McAdam is a business analyst with Accenture here. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
They are the 'half-pats' - children of Western expats, raised here but not sure where to call home.
For decades, these youngsters have tended to up sticks after school to study or seek work back in their countries of origin, with Singapore filed away as a diverting Asian interlude.
But this neither-here-nor-there generation is increasingly realising that the grass might just be greener in Singapore after all.
The sea change is the result of some harsh realities: Many Western economies are flatlining, and the future is looking bleak, with good jobs - and even entry-level ones - out of reach.
For many half-pats in this cold, new world, Singapore suddenly looks like a lifeline, with loads of work opportunities, low taxes and, if your luck is in, a spare room in Mum and Dad's condo unit.
There are also sentimental and cultural reasons behind the move back for many half-pats, but the economic pull factor is the hardest to resist.
Just how many people have made the passage back is uncertain as no figures are available. Tracking those who were previously here on student visas or as permanent residents is near impossible.
The trend is so new that embassies and associations have not yet begun tracking it. None of the British, American and Australian embassies and associations approached could provide statistics of the number of their citizens returning after studying abroad.
Of the five main international schools interviewed, only two had established alumni organisations, and these also struggled to determine exactly how many former students have returned here. Yet the rising trend of returnees has not gone unnoticed. 'We know there are a lot of people coming back,' said Mr David Shepherd, director of college advancement at United World College South East Asia.
'When they've been overseas for a while, studying in the UK or the US or wherever, they realise that (Singapore) is a nice place to come back to work.'
Some have little choice, given tight job markets and the expense of trying to keep body and soul together while hunting for work.
Briton Oliver Hughes, 23, moved to Singapore at the age of 16 when his father was sent here as regional director by insurer AIA. At 19, he returned to Britain to do a degree in music technology at Staffordshire University. He graduated in 2009 but no one was hiring except McDonald's. Burger-flipping is 'not a career', said Mr Hughes, 'and not a job that would pay bills and rent'. Singapore beckoned.
'My plan was just to ride it out and see what happened, wait until the recession got a bit better,' he said. 'I came back to Singapore knowing I could (afford to) get a minimum wage job because I'd be living with my parents.' It still took 10 months before he found a job related to his music technology degree - as duty manager and music director at the Prince of Wales bar, a live music haunt in Little India. It pays enough to rent a room in a flat in Paya Lebar, which was fortunate as his family moved to Hong Kong in January.
He plans to remain here for the near future as it is one of the few places in Asia where he wants to live. 'It all sort of worked out,' he added.
Ms Lucy Stannard, 19, a Singapore PR, was in the same boat. She was two years old when her father was transferred here by the British Army and returned to Britain for boarding school at 13.
With dreams of becoming a writer and no immediate desire to attend university, she high-tailed it back here in December after realising there were more job opportunities in Singapore, even for those without degrees. Within two months, she was hired as an advertising and public relations executive for an international shoe company.
She was the only Westerner in her office and found cultural and communication difficulties - her colleagues mostly spoke in Mandarin or Hokkien - but it was a post she admits she would not have got in London. 'They would never hire a 19-year-old girl... There's no way I would get a job like that.'
Her lack of experience and difficulties with her co-workers were ultimately too taxing. She quit after three months and is now working part-time with an events planning company, which gives her more time to write.
Singapore provides a similar haven for Irishman Jon O'Sullivan, 25, who returned in 2009 to find work.
He first arrived here at the age of 12 when his father was transferred here by Apple Computer. He later completed a degree in business administration at Boston University, then hit a wall.
American employers did not want to sponsor his visa and jobs are as scarce as hen's teeth in his native Ireland. After a depressing year, his father advised him to return to Singapore, where more jobs were available. Within a month of his return, he was working at Dell as an analyst. 'I came back to start off my career,' said Mr O'Sullivan.
Singapore's heady cocktail of cultures is proving a potent draw for some half-pats. American Ashley McAdam, 23, whose family moved here from Tokyo when she was 16, said the cultural diversity played a key role in her decision to accept a business analyst position with financial services giant Accenture here.
'I missed being in Asia and missed being around other people who had a similar background and an international lifestyle,' said the recent Boston College graduate. 'I guess Singapore has kind of become home,' she added.
Family ties also lured Brazilian Clarissa Cavalheiro, 25, back. She moved here at the age of 10 when her chemical engineer father took up a local posting and returned here to be with her family after completing a communications degree at Brisbane's Griffith University in 2008. 'My parents and older brother are here, my little brother will come back as well' when he finishes university this year, she said. 'I wanted to be in Singapore.'
But it still proved difficult amid a recession, hiring freezes and employment pass complications. By March 2009, having spent almost a year applying for jobs, she had 'a bit of a breakdown'.
'I was really lost,' she said. 'The thing about being an expat and growing up outside of your country is that you don't really belong anywhere. Even in the place that I consider home, where I've lived for over half my life, without a visa I can't stay.' She finally found work at Thomson Reuters as a photo sub-editor but it still took three months to get an employment pass.
Beyond Singapore's cultural mix, its business-friendly environment also has a magnetic effect on go-getters.
Take American Christopher Fussner, 23, who was born and raised here and earned his high school diploma at the Singapore American School. In 2008, he took a leave of absence from Boston University, where he was studying international relations and economics, to start his own men's clothing line, sifr, with a partner from Indonesia.
Both his father, who was posted here by electronics manufacturer Amistar 25 years ago, and his mother have started businesses here, so 'the idea of entrepreneurship was always in the background'.
His sifr line of menswear is now sold here in stores like Rockstar in Cineleisure, and in Sydney, Jakarta and Bali.
Mr Fussner feels the fresh, young nature of the design scene here is exciting. 'It's not jaded like London or the States. There's so much opportunity in Asia. Singapore is very young so there's a lot to do. You can make an impact just by doing something a little new.'
While Mr Fussner is considering finishing his degree at a design school in the United States, he says he is 'just really enjoying being here right now'.
So is fellow American Stephen Procida, 24, who found a niche that allows him to capitalise on his bicultural upbringing. He moved here with his family at the age of 11 when his father worked for American Express, then studied hotel management at Mesa College in San Diego, California.
A year ago, he returned and scored a job on the management team for a hotel in the Marina Bay area.
'I decided, why not start out at home where I know (the place) really well; I can talk to the guests, tell them about Singapore, get them excited about being here.'
The move back is often not seamless, with returnees struggling to adjust to rapid changes in Singapore's landscape. Ms Cavalheiro said: 'It's really sad that they sometimes, in building these new, amazing, trendy things, destroy the heritage.'
Briton Kirsty Carr-Hartley Smith, 23, who came here as a young girl, says the changes in Singapore have left her feeling disconnected. When she returned after completing a degree at the University of Edinburgh, she found she had 'outgrown' Singapore.
'It's in Singapore's nature to keep evolving and changing which means a lot of the things that were there when you were growing up have changed or gone. I can't find myself in it any more,' she said.
It is perhaps the inescapable fate of half-pats, that feeling of being neither here nor there, of being a little bit lost no matter how many years you have clocked up and no matter how well you know the place. 'Being an ang moh, I'll never be Singaporean in the eyes (of locals), despite this being my home since I was about five,' added Ms Carr-Hartley Smith.
'Not being accepted or being able to find your place somewhere you are trying to call home is wearisome.'
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'Half-pats' find grass greener in Singapore
By Lydia Vasko
They are the 'half-pats' - children of Western expats, raised here but not sure where to call home.
For decades, these youngsters have tended to up sticks after school to study or seek work back in their countries of origin, with Singapore filed away as a diverting Asian interlude.
But this neither-here-nor-there generation is increasingly realising that the grass might just be greener in Singapore after all.
The sea change is the result of some harsh realities: Many Western economies are flatlining, and the future is looking bleak, with good jobs - and even entry-level ones - out of reach.
For many half-pats in this cold, new world, Singapore suddenly looks like a lifeline, with loads of work opportunities, low taxes and, if your luck is in, a spare room in Mum and Dad's condo unit.
There are also sentimental and cultural reasons behind the move back for many half-pats, but the economic pull factor is the hardest to resist.
Just how many people have made the passage back is uncertain as no figures are available. Tracking those who were previously here on student visas or as permanent residents is near impossible.
The trend is so new that embassies and associations have not yet begun tracking it. None of the British, American and Australian embassies and associations approached could provide statistics of the number of their citizens returning after studying abroad.
Of the five main international schools interviewed, only two had established alumni organisations, and these also struggled to determine exactly how many former students have returned here. Yet the rising trend of returnees has not gone unnoticed. 'We know there are a lot of people coming back,' said Mr David Shepherd, director of college advancement at United World College South East Asia.
'When they've been overseas for a while, studying in the UK or the US or wherever, they realise that (Singapore) is a nice place to come back to work.'
Some have little choice, given tight job markets and the expense of trying to keep body and soul together while hunting for work.
Briton Oliver Hughes, 23, moved to Singapore at the age of 16 when his father was sent here as regional director by insurer AIA. At 19, he returned to Britain to do a degree in music technology at Staffordshire University. He graduated in 2009 but no one was hiring except McDonald's. Burger-flipping is 'not a career', said Mr Hughes, 'and not a job that would pay bills and rent'. Singapore beckoned.
'My plan was just to ride it out and see what happened, wait until the recession got a bit better,' he said. 'I came back to Singapore knowing I could (afford to) get a minimum wage job because I'd be living with my parents.' It still took 10 months before he found a job related to his music technology degree - as duty manager and music director at the Prince of Wales bar, a live music haunt in Little India. It pays enough to rent a room in a flat in Paya Lebar, which was fortunate as his family moved to Hong Kong in January.
He plans to remain here for the near future as it is one of the few places in Asia where he wants to live. 'It all sort of worked out,' he added.
Ms Lucy Stannard, 19, a Singapore PR, was in the same boat. She was two years old when her father was transferred here by the British Army and returned to Britain for boarding school at 13.
With dreams of becoming a writer and no immediate desire to attend university, she high-tailed it back here in December after realising there were more job opportunities in Singapore, even for those without degrees. Within two months, she was hired as an advertising and public relations executive for an international shoe company.
She was the only Westerner in her office and found cultural and communication difficulties - her colleagues mostly spoke in Mandarin or Hokkien - but it was a post she admits she would not have got in London. 'They would never hire a 19-year-old girl... There's no way I would get a job like that.'
Her lack of experience and difficulties with her co-workers were ultimately too taxing. She quit after three months and is now working part-time with an events planning company, which gives her more time to write.
Singapore provides a similar haven for Irishman Jon O'Sullivan, 25, who returned in 2009 to find work.
He first arrived here at the age of 12 when his father was transferred here by Apple Computer. He later completed a degree in business administration at Boston University, then hit a wall.
American employers did not want to sponsor his visa and jobs are as scarce as hen's teeth in his native Ireland. After a depressing year, his father advised him to return to Singapore, where more jobs were available. Within a month of his return, he was working at Dell as an analyst. 'I came back to start off my career,' said Mr O'Sullivan.
Singapore's heady cocktail of cultures is proving a potent draw for some half-pats. American Ashley McAdam, 23, whose family moved here from Tokyo when she was 16, said the cultural diversity played a key role in her decision to accept a business analyst position with financial services giant Accenture here.
'I missed being in Asia and missed being around other people who had a similar background and an international lifestyle,' said the recent Boston College graduate. 'I guess Singapore has kind of become home,' she added.
Family ties also lured Brazilian Clarissa Cavalheiro, 25, back. She moved here at the age of 10 when her chemical engineer father took up a local posting and returned here to be with her family after completing a communications degree at Brisbane's Griffith University in 2008. 'My parents and older brother are here, my little brother will come back as well' when he finishes university this year, she said. 'I wanted to be in Singapore.'
But it still proved difficult amid a recession, hiring freezes and employment pass complications. By March 2009, having spent almost a year applying for jobs, she had 'a bit of a breakdown'.
'I was really lost,' she said. 'The thing about being an expat and growing up outside of your country is that you don't really belong anywhere. Even in the place that I consider home, where I've lived for over half my life, without a visa I can't stay.' She finally found work at Thomson Reuters as a photo sub-editor but it still took three months to get an employment pass.
Beyond Singapore's cultural mix, its business-friendly environment also has a magnetic effect on go-getters.
Take American Christopher Fussner, 23, who was born and raised here and earned his high school diploma at the Singapore American School. In 2008, he took a leave of absence from Boston University, where he was studying international relations and economics, to start his own men's clothing line, sifr, with a partner from Indonesia.
Both his father, who was posted here by electronics manufacturer Amistar 25 years ago, and his mother have started businesses here, so 'the idea of entrepreneurship was always in the background'.
His sifr line of menswear is now sold here in stores like Rockstar in Cineleisure, and in Sydney, Jakarta and Bali.
Mr Fussner feels the fresh, young nature of the design scene here is exciting. 'It's not jaded like London or the States. There's so much opportunity in Asia. Singapore is very young so there's a lot to do. You can make an impact just by doing something a little new.'
While Mr Fussner is considering finishing his degree at a design school in the United States, he says he is 'just really enjoying being here right now'.
So is fellow American Stephen Procida, 24, who found a niche that allows him to capitalise on his bicultural upbringing. He moved here with his family at the age of 11 when his father worked for American Express, then studied hotel management at Mesa College in San Diego, California.
A year ago, he returned and scored a job on the management team for a hotel in the Marina Bay area.
'I decided, why not start out at home where I know (the place) really well; I can talk to the guests, tell them about Singapore, get them excited about being here.'
The move back is often not seamless, with returnees struggling to adjust to rapid changes in Singapore's landscape. Ms Cavalheiro said: 'It's really sad that they sometimes, in building these new, amazing, trendy things, destroy the heritage.'
Briton Kirsty Carr-Hartley Smith, 23, who came here as a young girl, says the changes in Singapore have left her feeling disconnected. When she returned after completing a degree at the University of Edinburgh, she found she had 'outgrown' Singapore.
'It's in Singapore's nature to keep evolving and changing which means a lot of the things that were there when you were growing up have changed or gone. I can't find myself in it any more,' she said.
It is perhaps the inescapable fate of half-pats, that feeling of being neither here nor there, of being a little bit lost no matter how many years you have clocked up and no matter how well you know the place. 'Being an ang moh, I'll never be Singaporean in the eyes (of locals), despite this being my home since I was about five,' added Ms Carr-Hartley Smith.
'Not being accepted or being able to find your place somewhere you are trying to call home is wearisome.'
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