2011 in Review: Arriving in Singapore

This time last year I was working in Harrods and making preparations for my emigration to Singapore. I thought I could be gone for several years before returning. However, I returned to London in less than 6 months, after what was a varied and eye opening experience.

I sent a few emails out to some of my friends who made me a lovely farewell card and so the email updates were sort of a reward to them for going through the trouble.

This is the first email I sent (though it has been edited and cut down). This was sent on the 30th January 2011, after being in Singapore for about 2 weeks.

Apparently, this email was interpreted by its readers as a depressing plea for help. Well, it wasn’t intended to be miserable, but I can’t say I was entirely happy in Singapore at the time. Much like now I was somewhat confused about my life, but I was also wondering if I could actually bring myself to living in another part of the world (let alone Singapore, a city renowned for being suffocatingly boring) for a few years, which could easily lead on to being the rest of my life. I felt thoroughly sick of London by the time I left and was filled with wanderlust, so I found it shocking how much I missed life in the UK. I was filled with anxiety when I realised that I would ultimately have to decide if Singapore was truly a place where I could spend the rest of my life. 

My gut reaction to this was a nauseating “NO!”

“My time in Singapore has been interesting in its purposeful nothingness. I’ve made a deliberate attempt to not do holiday stuff whilst here and instead try to get a feel for what it is like to live in this strange foreign land. I’ve made sure not to turn this into a trip of simply meeting up with old relatives and friends of my parents. 

Singapore actually isn’t that hot at the moment, since it’s currently the wet season it can be rather nice and breezy (though on days such as this I can be stranded indoors due to the heavy rain). 

I’m currently living with my cousins and my uncle. Living with my cousins is better than I thought it would be, though there is this highly peculiar family make up. The whole family feels rather fractured (largely due to a divorce) with everyone keeping very much to themselves. The family never eat together, and it is not unusual for everyone to get their own meals and eat out separately. 

The headlines can make be a rather interesting contrast. Yesterday’s dramatic headline in the Straits Times was “Number of job vacancies hit a 4 year high” which does make a refreshing change from news about cuts and lengthening dole queues. Though it’s interesting to find familiarity in the concerns both countries have, with Lee Kuan Yew (the “Minister Mentor” and de facto king of Singapore) recently discussing the issue of Musilm integration and threats of radical jihadists.

The most interesting change in my trip this time is me bringing my laptop and my continuous access to the internet. What made previous trips different is that I often watched local TV (something that I have rarely done this time round) and read the local papers. The difference this time is that I’m still seeing the same newsfeeds online that I get in the UK – giving me the sensation that I still haven’t really left home. In this globalised world the internet allows us to take our personalised experience with us to every corner of the globe. It’s not so much a “small world after all”; rather it is whatever we want our world to be (or appear as). I’m still reading British papers and listening to BBC podcasts, still being partially connected to my London experience.


The odd thing is how much I realise I love London, Singapore is just lacking in something, and has a certain empty feel. One thing that I find quite disconcerting is the wide spaces, indoor shopping culture and the absence of bustle that you get in London. Things are more or less the same price as London, though live music is rare and alcohol is really expensive. It’s strange, as I realise how much I miss all the little things in London, such as having family meals, eating out with friends, walking around High Holborn, taking the bus to Croydon high-street, getting groceries in Sainsbury’s, drinking in the Wetherspoons pub.

I guess a part of the issue is that I don’t really have anyone to hang out with, since my cousins are rather to themselves and I don’t really know anyone my own age here. It does make me wonder if I could work here for several years. Anyways, I’m going off to Malaysia on Tuesday for Chinese New Year celebrations and hopefully a few travels.”

Well, I guess that there is a bit of a miserable and moody tone. Fortunately, things got better and more interesting over the next few months.