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For the numerous visitors to my travellog that don’t know yet, I am thinking of leaving Singapore early next month. Which will mean that I’ll be departing 500 days after I arrived. So, what have 500 days in Singapore been like? I think the last months of posts on this site have given everybody a good picture of what I experienced. But really, how has it really been? Some people think Singapore is overrated, some say it’s boring. Others think it’s clean and safe. But what has it been living here for 500 days?
Basically, in summary, 500 days in Singapore has been enough. When we first arrived on May 23rd 2008, Singapore seemed like heaven in Asia. It seemed to be the perfect place to enter a different continent and culture. I still remember what the cap-driver said on the way from the airport to our hotel the day we arrived. He said: ”Singapore doesn’t have any natural resources, customer service and the Singapore people is all we have.” Certainly a true statement. Already at the airport, immigration was smooth and getting from the gate to a taxi was a matter of minutes and not hours. But even after, getting a real-estate agent to go and search for an apartment was easy. Getting my Employment Pass was straight forward and completely painless.
This continued when we moved into our dream condo (the one we picked from the internet in Melbourne already as being the place we wanted to live), which surprisingly was only 2 stops away from where I ended up working, getting all services (Gas, Electricity, Water and Cable) connected, all the way through to my first working day in the office. Public transport is frequent and air-conditioned, taxis are cheap and always available. We had 2 supermarkets on (almost) walking distance, but they also deliver. We had markets, restaurants and other shops close by, multiple choices of food-courts. It really was safe and clean. Our condo was incredible, with a mix of wealthy locals and expats on all-expenses-paid-for packages.
But what happened then? Well, exceptional customer service is only good if you need it (and after everything is organised, you don’t need a lot). Public transport, taxis, cheap food-courts, safety all become part of daily life and are taken for granted (although I love Asian cuisine). Relationships with your neighbours remain superficial, even after you invited them all to your welcome BBQ (and sure, there’re one or two exceptions!). You see their maids more often than the expats themselves. It’s always too hot and humid to walk to and from the supermarket or anywhere else and you sometimes long for a cold winterday. The local shops and bars are a magnet for more expats and tourists, which really annoy you in the evenings after they had too much to drink. Although Singapore is a hub for travel in Asia, apart from KL you never travelled anywhere else in the region, because it’s too busy at work. Your partner ends up not being able to work and eventually your relationship ends.
And then there’s the whole work thing. Working in Singapore has been an experience to say the least. It’s not at all similar to Malaysia for example. I was rather surprised, that the Asian professional culture is very much about risk evasion and long working hours. I completely understand why certain senior positions are preferably filled with foreigners who are willing to take a risk. But during my 500 days in Singapore, I have seen a lot of positions change from foreign to local for various reasons. Although this influenced my work, it wasn’t the main reason why I decide to leave. It certainly changed the political climate in the office and eventually made me feel too much of an outside. It felt like I went from being an expert willing to take responsibility and accountability for his actions, to somebody that didn’t fit in anymore. On top of that, the world was hit by a financial crisis that effected some of the expats (not me) and neighbours started leaving.
So, 500 days seems like a good moment to look around for something new. I would like a new challenge, somewhere less safe, something with more risk. I really want to stay in the region though. Ideally I would move back to Kuala Lumpur, also an easy city to live in, but with unreliable public transport, crooked taxis and less than perfect customer service. But still with the same good and cheap food, cool places to got to like Cameron Highlands and still central enough for travel and weekend trips. But I am also open for the bigger adventures, thinking of maybe Hong Kong or even China. Honestly, at the moment I am open for anything and everything, but I want to move away from Singapore. I will always have a soft spot for Singapore and I tell people that as an expat with all relocation-package and a family (with school-going kids, a pet or 2 and shopping-addicted wife plus a maid), Singapore is probably the best place to be. But for me, 500 days seem to be enough!
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