Emigration Matters: Advice Needed + My Thoughts

[Raiders]

My Thoughts

My first dislike of this country started when I was 14. For those who are born in the late 70s to early 80s, streaming was part of academic life. Mathematics was never my forte and I struggled even with elementary mathematics. For those who can still remember, without good grades in elementary mathematics, the glorious path towards pure science stream was out (Because pure science stream requires students to study additional mathematics as a core subject) I hated the educational system since then.

When I was 18, I was enlisted for National Service. I was happy to serve my country because this is my country, this is where my family is. I do not mind taking time out every year to go for ICT because this is my obligation as a citizen. But I hate it when my country is flooded with foreign trashes from all over the world. Do not get me wrong, I am not anti foreign talents. Our country needs foreign talents in order to compete with the rest of the world. But everyday, I see trashes on the street, in the trains, in companies when I go and do sales visits. They could barely speaks and understands English, they have never attempted to assimilate themselves into our society and the best of all is, they have never intended to stay in our country for long.

When I was 26, I married a Vietnamese girl. She studied, worked in Singapore for the past 5 years. She is a great wife. Without her, I would have never learned how to save financially. She works, does the housework, is able to communicate and gets along very well with my family and we are happy and satisfied on the bed. Sounds good? Yes? But she is still without permanent residence status. We went to the MPS session to see our MP. The first time we were there, he was not around. His assistant helped us to draft a letter to ICA to look into her application for PR. 2 months went by and we did not hear from ICA. We went to look for him again. This time round, he was there. He promised to help us write another letter and repeated at least 5 times to us the following sentence, "You have to keep coming back to see me if your application gets rejected until I feel it is time, then maybe I'll help to forward your case to higher authority"
1 week later, we got the rejection letter. We went to see him a 3rd time and he was not around. We understood. Madam Kwa had just passed away and it was neccessary for him to be at the Istana. We understood. We were ushered to an assistant to help us draft a letter of appeal. It must have been a bad day for that assistant as his face was darker than Justice Bao. We tried to explain our situation to him but 30 seconds into the conversation, he took off his glasses, threw it on the table and gave us the 'dont tell me what to do' look. My wife and I has since never return to the MPS.
We just want a simple life, have our own flat, own children, save enough for retirement. But the resale flat market has inflated so much until we could not afford one in the open market. Our only hope was new flats but without her PR, we are not eligible.

To Be Continued (Admins, please leave this thread in Emigration Matters. I will continue tonight)

 

[Leongsam]

You label all foreigners in Singapore as TRASH. You then marry one of them and reclassify her as "a great wife".

Have you ever considered the possibility that much of that TRASH could potentially make great husbands or wives too.

There's also a distinct possibility that many other Singaporeans who share your views regarding foreigners consider your wife to be TRASH. The officers at ICA obviously do and that's why they won't give her residency.

What goes round comes round to bite you in the rear end.

 

[Raiders]

Mr Leong, I used to wonder why some forummers would want to flame you when you set up 2 wonderful forums for people to share their sexual exploits and daily ranting. Now I understood why. You are someone who chose to read what your head wanted you to read instead of understanding the passage as a whole. It's your forum, you can do and say what you want

 

[neddy]

My Thoughts
When I was 26, I married a Vietnamese girl. She studied, worked in Singapore for the past 5 years. She is a great wife. Without her, I would have never learned how to save financially. She works, does the housework, is able to communicate and gets along very well with my family and we are happy and satisfied on the bed. Sounds good? Yes?

I found out the hard way that some Vietnamese girls can be quite fierce and they rule the roost and your money. Esp the shorter ones. They have a certain way of doing makeup and they like wearing pants.

You must have picked the right girl. Lucky man!

 

[Raiders]

I found out the hard way that some Vietnamese girls can be quite fierce and they rule the roost and your money. Esp the shorter ones. They have a certain way of doing makeup and they like wearing pants.

You must have picked the right girl. Lucky man!

You are right! Shes very nice, sweet and gentle BUT the day when her pent up frustration explodes, I'm dead Basically, people are divided into 2 types. One that makes alot of noise, act fierce but when you throw them a knife, they starts to run. The other type is those that are nice, quiet, dont make so much noise. But the day they explodes, is the day your arse gets roasted.

Ok, back to the topic. Wondering if Sam will publish my post as Im still under moderation

We were in Taiwan for holiday last week and we visited a nice but lesser known beach 七星潭。We visited a small BBQ shop opened by a local Taiwanese guy and towards the end of the meal, we were chatting about our lives. Apparently, he was in the construction line but grew tired of the urban life in Taipei and decided to go back to Hua Lian and open a BBQ shop with his wife. So I asked him, "It must have been difficult for you (to make the change)" and he gave me a very simple and honest answer. "没有什么难不难的，是你要不要“ It was at that moment that I remember the great quote in emigration folder.

 

[Leongsam]

You are someone who chose to read what your head wanted you to read instead of understanding the passage as a whole. It's your forum, you can do and say what you want

I have no problems understanding what you posted. Like many, you make sweeping statements such as "but everyday, I see trashes on the street, in the trains, in companies when I go and do sales visits. They could barely speaks and understands English, they have never attempted to assimilate themselves into our society and the best of all is, they have never intended to stay in our country for long."

Yet you start the very next para with "When I was 26, I married a Vietnamese girl. She studied, worked in Singapore for the past 5 years. She is a great wife.".

Has it not occurred to you that each and every individual you collectively label as "trash" has a story to tell and that many of the stories could be similar to the one that narrates your wife's journey through life thus far?

Generalisations are great for rabble rousing but they usually fall far short of describing reality. May I suggest that someone who is married to a foreigner be extra careful when it comes to making sweeping statements about the TRASH around you.

 

[tanwahtiu]

Sam,

you are right with your assessment. PAP has been campaigning "Speak Mandarin' for years to tell Sinkies of all ages to learn to read and write Chinese and yet these idiots don't get it. LKY, GCT, LHL at their age in their 40's and 50s took great effort to learn mandarins and yet Sinkies still don't get inspired to follow up.

When China is going to become a major economy player for a long time, Pommies are learning mandarin too. When I met a PRC I speak to them in mandarins and I am proud of speaking my mandarin with them.

Gone are the days the Pommies rule the waves. Fuck off the Pommies and their English language when I can speak manadrin with a PRC I will, and speak Hokkien if the PRC can speak the same.

The real trash is not the PRC but the Pommies and the West. They bring in their unsustainable economy, financial trading systema and bank notes to trade with the Far East. Every 10 years you shd expect a kind of cycle and expect the economy to crash. Every few years you expect the currency exhange rates to behave fluctuate badly and high bank loan interest rates to kill your home repayments.

These are real foreign trashs that are not welcome into Far East becos they bring in their bad luck - unsustainable businesses and ideas to bankrupt the Far East.

Foreign trash Ang mohs now want to live in straw-bale houses, m&d clay houses or cave-like houses. They also want you to join them to re-cycle and re-use used materials to build your new house and buildings. So will Sinkies still licking Pommies arses and join them to build straw bale or m&d clay houses?

After they started their so call industrialised revolution and want to sell their 'unsustainable industrialised products' that cause toxic and pollutions and when the Far East reject their products Pommies become angry and they invaded, killed and colonized you to force you to buy from them. Furthermore, they reject and refuse to speak native languages when they colonized the natives.

The best example is Hong Kong, the Cantonese rejected and refused to speak Pommie English and stick to speak Cantonese dialect as their main form of communications and the Pommies lan lan got to accept it and just wait for their contract to end and to be thrown out of Hong Kong as trashs.

But Sinkies are the opposite, they espoused Pommies and prefer to be 2nd grade Pommies known as bananas (yellow outside white inside). When they meet a PRC, they behaved like angry Pommies and start to discriminate they own race and sad to see Sinkies either reject or refuse to speak mandarins.

Is PAP to be blame for this?

 

[heartlander]

My Thoughts

My first dislike of this country started when I was 14. For those who are born in the late 70s to early 80s, streaming was part of academic life. Mathematics was never my forte and I struggled even with elementary mathematics. For those who can still remember, without good grades in elementary mathematics, the glorious path towards pure science stream was out (Because pure science stream requires students to study additional mathematics as a core subject) I hated the educational system since then.

The educational system sucks because you were a bad student with low intelligence. What a great insight!

 

[heartlander]

What exactly do you need, could you please get to your point? Do you want to emigrate or what? Why do you tell a long-winded and boring story that nobody is interested to hear and which doesn't seem to be remotely related to any advice you might need for emigration? So you dislike Singapore, good, that's a motivation to emigrate. Why do we need to listen to all this? Do you think you're the only one? Who really cares about your thoughts and your Vietnamese wife?

If you're going to survive in a foreign land, please acquire a basic understanding of how to get people to help you and get people to listen. Right now, you're taking so long to get to your eventual questions that people are losing interest. Worse, you're revealing yourself to be a henpecked and whiny person who also cannot take criticism when someone points out an obvious contradiction in your writing. It makes people not want to help you. Please get to your point.

 

[nayr69sg]

Ok lah, to be fair I think everyone goes through the following stages...

1) As a young child brought up in the education system is taught to think that Singapore is great. Singapore is the centre of the universe. Small but powerful. Good but yet vulnerable. National Day Parade, sing patriotic songs and all. All the blah blah blah.... feel real proud about Singapore and to be a Singaporean.

2) Start to feel stressed in the education system either because not doing well or have to work really hard to continue doing well. Start to face up to reality that whether you go to university or poly is dependent on how well you do in school. And then whether you go to university or not determines how well you do in life. At least that's what the education system tells each student. (which is a lie of course!)

3) For males, go through NS. See the real under belly of the famed Singapore system. Scholar vs farmers.

4) Enter the workforce with bold ambitions and hopes only to see more of the true system in Singapore which is totally different from what one knew as a child.

5) Stressed with financial realities. Get sucked into the Asian kiasu kiasee super competitive status conscious culture.

6) Discover forums on the internet with like minded fully enlightened individuals posting all the negativity which actually makes sense to the point it is "true".

7) Start to assimilate the "truths" revealed on the internet forums by the "wise men" as their own thoughts and start sharing with others. Spread the word. See the reactions of the "deluded" and feel the "superiority" of knowing the truth.

8) Happy people spoken to by the individual scoff at all the "complaints" dished out

Which leads to the important question.......

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

As your taiwanese friend rightly pointed out, you can choose to do whatever you want. But the 2 next important questions are what do you want and are you willing to pay the price for what you want?

I leave you with something my cousin blasted back at me 7 years ago at a dinner table when I had reached stage 8 of the above process of "enlightenment".

He said to me "You complain so much! You have 3 choices :

1) Do something to change what you don't like about Singapore. Join grassroots. Join some welfare organization. Join politics. Do some community work. Start some big time business and earn lots of money so you can be the elite in Singapore.

2) Leave Singapore since it is so bad and hopeless as you say it is. Migrate!

3) Shut up

He kept it sweet and simple I guess.

 

[Leongsam]

Gone are the days the Pommies rule the waves. Fuck off the Pommies and their English language when I can speak manadrin with a PRC I will, and speak Hokkien if the PRC can speak the same.

That's a really dumb thing to do. Millions of Chinese are struggling to learn English. You should be making every effort to help them along rather than to communicate in a Language that only a few countries embrace.

 

[Raiders]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I have initially thought that by giving a complete background and my thoughts before seeking advice, it would allow people to have a clearer picture. Alright, I learnt my lesson. My future postings will be short and to the point.

Brother nay, I've chosen option 2, that's why I came for advice here. So my very first question is, do I DIY or pay an immigration agent for advice and helping me with the application.

 

[neddy]

The educational system sucks because you were a bad student with low intelligence. What a great insight!

What is the point of having good students who never grow up to face the real life.

"没有什么难不难的，是你要不要“ It was at that moment that I remember the great quote in emigration folder.

True. We need less regrets in life. Some people choose to climb mountains. Others may want to seek out a country that is more compatible with their lifestyles. But it is hard to look back in regret. No venture, no gain.

 

[Raiders]

True. We need less regrets in life. Some people choose to climb mountains. Others may want to seek out a country that is more compatible with their lifestyles.

Yes brother, some chose to leave for better money, some for more compatible lifestyles. At the end of the day, as long as you know that you live your life the way you wanted and your family is equally happy, then that's enough. Others can say what they want behind their keyboards, but remember, it's our own lives.
By the way, which city are you residing at the moment?

 

[Ash007]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I have initially thought that by giving a complete background and my thoughts before seeking advice, it would allow people to have a clearer picture. Alright, I learnt my lesson. My future postings will be short and to the point.

Brother nay, I've chosen option 2, that's why I came for advice here. So my very first question is, do I DIY or pay an immigration agent for advice and helping me with the application.

Simple, decide which country 1st, then go to the appropriate website to find out how you can migrate to it. That is what I did and never looked back. If you have any question about the process ask here. But please do check the materials that are online nowadays.

As for migration agents, it depends how much time you have. I chose the DIY route because it was really unnecessary for me to get one. Spend some time looking through the requirements and get the appropriate cert, paper, verifications etc. In essence, a migration agent does not do much other then collect or apply these things for you. The "knowledge" they have from the process can be gotten online nowadays. Most "developed" countries have government sites that explains all these procedures. I'll start you off with Australia, since that is where I am now.

http://immi.gov.au



You mentioned your wife studied here for 5 years, she should be able to get a PR after graduation. SG PR are the easiest to get, just find a job and the employees can apply S-pass etc.

 

[neddy]

So my very first question is, do I DIY or pay an immigration agent for advice and helping me with the application.

I DIY.
Australia is easy to DIY, even for more complex cases like getting a Partner visa. I am sure Canada, NZ, etc are easy to DIY.
Eg www.immi.gov.au has a wealth of information.

Immigrant agents do make costly mistakes which you will not.
But then again, if you go for certified immigrant agents, they are kept up to date with changes in govt policies, and even give good advice.

But don't be surprised if your wife find more comfort food and Vietnamese goodies in the country you are moving to.
Vietnamese growers' fresh produce are excellent and value for money

 

[Ash007]

But don't be surprised if your wife find more comfort food and Vietnamese goodies in the country you are moving to.
Vietnamese growers' fresh produce are excellent and value for money

Indeed, the Vietnamese food here are authentic! some say the thai, lebanese, korean food are even better then back home.

 

[nayr69sg]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I have initially thought that by giving a complete background and my thoughts before seeking advice, it would allow people to have a clearer picture. Alright, I learnt my lesson. My future postings will be short and to the point.

Brother nay, I've chosen option 2, that's why I came for advice here. So my very first question is, do I DIY or pay an immigration agent for advice and helping me with the application.

Sorry bro raider, but I think nowadays the emigration forum fellas are all the old timers who have been there done that or the trolls, if you get what I mean. We will get to know you as the questions come along from you. Do ask. I remember 7 years ago I gained a lot of information from various members here as I asked questions. They challenged me and gave me a real picture of what to expect. Interestingly, it is working out almost exactly as they had described. Remember, you don't have to justify to anyone why you want to migrate. If you want to do it, just do it. If you want it, go for it.

I think the very first question should be which country do you plan to migrate to?

There are many factors involved in this decision. Sometimes the country that you want to go may not be one that you can qualify for an offshore PR.

Also what are you expecting when you migrate?

As for immigration agent vs DIY, it's really a personal decision. If you have got the money, then a good immigration agent helps you do the paperwork. If you want to save money, then DIY. Not much difference. A migration agent can also help advise you on the latest programs available for each country and see which one is suitable for you.

Having said that, migration is not necessarily better but it will definitely be a different experience for you and your family. Do you have any children? That plays a factor. Another factor is the spouse. What does your spouse think of this? Is she raring to go as well?

Any country/countries in mind?

Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better. Wish for more skills.

 

[Raiders]

Any country/countries in mind?

Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better. Wish for more skills.

Hi bro Ryan, Australia is my first choice. I was lucky to be given a chance to work in Sydney for 8 months last year on a company attachment. I have witnessed rotten eggs being thrown at pedestrians while the car drove by, I have read news whereby a whole chinese family was brutally murdered (mutilated to be precised as the heads were hammered beyond recognition)
But I know very well that there is no perfect country in this world. In any place, there is bound to be good or bad as there is 2 sides to every coins. At the same time, I also enjoyed how Aussies celebrated Mardi Gras the same way we celebrated Chingay, how everyone was dressed on Melbourne Cup day. I also remembered driving past north Sydney and seeing a banner that reads, " Kevin (Rudd), dont forget what your promises during election" I love the train ride from Sydney to Wollonggong whereby beautiful beaches can be seen just by looking out of the window. I love the drive from Sydney to Melboune and seeing rabbits, kangaroos hopping across the road. There are so many more beautiful things to say and to sum it all, I appreciate the slower lifestyle of the Aussies. They have perfected the art of balancing work and leisure. In short, I feel happy.
My wife is very supportive of my decision and we have decided to do something about it rather than regretting after 10 years.

 

[Raiders]

You mentioned your wife studied here for 5 years, she should be able to get a PR after graduation. SG PR are the easiest to get, just find a job and the employees can apply S-pass etc.

Hi Neddy, She has been holding the S pass for the past 2.5 years, I've paid my tax, is debt free, never married before to other foreigners or simply never married before. The only reasons I could think of for her not getting her PR is the recent tightening of PR application due to elections being near and alot of Singaporeans complaining about the influx of foreigners. Maybe if we had applied 3 years ago, things would have been different.

But don't be surprised if your wife find more comfort food and Vietnamese goodies in the country you are moving to.
Vietnamese growers' fresh produce are excellent and value for money

Yes, those Vietnamese foodshops in blacktown serves really authentic Vietnamese food. There are plenty of Vietnamese in western Sydney and Im sure my wife will love the place