I missed my homeland, really.

Written August 9, 2007 in Personal

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After a long fortnight of the developmental seminars, I finally got my breathing space on Thursday to really enjoy my homeland.

Looking back, it’s been 2 long years since I left my past behind to study overseas. I have to admit I never felt more Singaporean that I have since forever. People have always said the grass is always greener on the other side, and I agree. I have never appreciated so much about Singapore until I survived overseas for long periods of time. I was reading the 20 reasons why we adorn Singapore in 8 Days today, and here are some of my personal points which I would like to say it’s this that makes me Uniquely Singaporean.

Singlish. You have to see it to believe it. When I work with Est.1819 & OSU to organise overseas gatherings, you will never believe the number of times people say, "Oh my god, it’s been such a long time since I can speak Singlish to anyone and have them understand me! OH MY GOD!" and they carry on rattling on in puuuurfect Singlish. Yes, I am a Singlish proponent. Anyway, even my Brit tutorial mates have started speaking Singlish to me.

Food. Enough said. Food all round the clock, within 30 minutes drive of your home. Anything you want, you name it, you will get it. What else? Driving 30 minutes across the island and you are complaining? Wait till you need nearly 3 hours to get to friends in Cambridge. HAH.

Efficiency. Singaporeans overseas usually die before they can get the local administration to get anything one. Here, anything comes at the snap of the fingers. If not? Complain lor. Elsewhere, they smile and screw you over.

Safety and security. What? I hear you, overused and overmentioned? Never, especially if you are like me. I got my house broken into once, and got robbed at knife-point in Kensington-Chelsea of London.

It’s just home. You are treasured, and loved. The government takes decent care of you, just short of welfarism. You got a nice place to smile and live your life. You want more? Sure. But to some who are just content with a simple, quiet and secure life, Singapore’s the place. If not, the world’s your playground. But trust me, chances are you would want to come back home after you have flown for a couple of years. There’s no place like home.

Happy Birthday Singapore.

And as you can see, I’m revamping the blog. It’s in view of the bigger picture to tie down my integrated site design for biinary.com. I am working on several interests, and I hope to put them in under the biinary brand.

Tags: Personal