"Wanted Roamers to Return"

daily entries do not mean tat i am too free. although i am quite free now and am slacking, i dun have the intention to post everyday. is just tat i happened to read up on some interesting articles in the Straits Times newspapers, so i would like to share some of my tots.

today's Saturday Wanted section on Straits Times has red carpets spreaded across the page and with the big headlines of "Wanted Roamers to Return". hmmm... i got very interested to read on cos somehow i am involved as some of the articles tok abt life for some overseas graduates and i am an overseas graduate in Spore ah.

basically this section highlight on the phenomenon as oberserved in Spore whereby there are more and more pple leaving the country for good. they have chosen to migrate to other countries, work and live in these foreign countries. many have chosen to give up their Spore citizenship in searching for a life which is perceived by many of them to be better. so Spore govt is trying to lure these pple whom they r once deemed as 'betrayers' or 'quitters' of Spore. so the reporters interviewed many of these returnees on how they are coping with the life back in Spore. many of them have been away for like more than 5 to 10 years so with the ever-changing landscape of Spore, they will surely meet up with challenges as to how to re-adapt to the life in Spore. the articles oso mentioned on how the Govt is using different approaches to lure the overseas Singaporeans back to Spore. local food r provided at gourmet fair held in the overseas countries. local hawkers r flown over to these countries to prepare local delights for the overseas Singaporeans. on the other hand, using forums to discuss and emphasis on Singapore's economic progress is another popular tactic used to attract these overseas Singaporeans' attention. some of the returnees who r being interviewed feedback tat the actual and main motivating factor for their return to home Singapore is to b able to reunite with their family and loved ones back in Spore. all the previously mentioned tactics will only work for initial period or to a certain extend. cos at the end of the day, the real meaning for returnees to return to home is becos of kinship and family. in addition, the report oso revealed tat many of the young Singaporeans are keen abt migrating and leaving Singapore for good. summarising all these points made by the report, i have my own views too.

1stly, i am very sure tat returnees will have a hard time to re-adjust to the life back in Singapore. for me, whenever i return to Singapore for holidays, i already have difficulty to adapt. for those who have left Singapore for ages, i bet they will take a longer period. as for those young children who r born in other countries and being brought back to live in Singapore with their parents, the process may be even longer and more tedious. however, as mentioned by one of the interviewer, since these returnees choose to return to Singapore, no matter wat kind of lifestyle it will be, juz learn to live with it and adapt. longing to lead the previous lifestyle or grumbles abt current lifestyle in Singapore will not help to make the situation any better. CERTAINLY! i 100% agree with this comment. is true tat there r difficulties to re-adapt and re-adjust but everything can be overcome as long as effort is being put in to get used to the current lifestyle. i can forsee i may have to do some adjustments when i go back to Spore after my studies, but i have faith in myself tat i can do it. the theory is the same for when one 1st arrived into a foreign country. when these returnees 1st arrived into the foreign countries, they had to try to adapt to the local lifestyle. if they can spent the effort to adapt to these foreign countries, i dun see y they can't spend tat effort to adapt to their home country, Singapore. as for me, when i 1st came to Brisbane, i had a hard time adjusting and adapting. but i still get on with it. so when i get back to Singapore, i juz have to put in a little effort to carry out the process once again.

2ndly, i really have to agree tat kinship and family r the impt factors tat can really lure one back to Singapore. true enough tat local delights r attractive components but at the end of the day, they may not be the most impt elements. as for economic progress in Spore, many other countries r doing juz as well as we r, so there is not much to emphaise on, i guess. however, kinship and family shld be the unique elements which one can never find any replacements for. u can choose to eat a different type of food if u can't find ur fav local delights, u can choose to go a country with good economic progress but can u choose ur own family? probably my thinking is very traditional. for me, no doubt tat i love to travel, i love to explore other countries, i dun mind working overseas but at the end of the day, i juz wan to go back to my family, my home whereby i noe i can be safe and secure with my loved ones. to me, kinship is something tat is no amount of money or no other elements can ever replace.

3rdly, young Singaporeans r keen to leave the country as they r complaining abt the stressful lifestyle, pressurising environment and unbalanced lifestyle. they seek to go to countries which they deemed to be able to offer them with a so-called better lifestyle. they feel tat they can excel better in these countries. they feel tat Singapore is too small for them to do something great. they just wan to leave and seek for a 'heaven' in other countries. well, as the saying goes 'grass at the other side is always greener'. how true is this saying, seriously it has to depends. i dun deny tat Singapore is small and tat we have limited resources. i dun deny the fact tat it is a stressful living environment in Spore. work-life balance is hard to maintain in Spore. however, i dun really tink things can be tat bad to drive pple away from the country. to me, no matter where u r, it is ur own mentality tat is deciding ur lifestyle and ur pathway. u can still b tat workaholic when u r in a different country, so where is tat balance lifestyle u r looking for? u can still be as stressful, in fact more stressful as u r in a foreign land where u need to work hard to make sure u earn ur rights to be there. i tink is a good idea to be able to go overseas and experience life in a different environment. Spore is juz so safe and secure tat many of us may not get enough exposure and take many things for granted. travelling to foreign lands may allow us to get out of our comfort zone and broaden our exposure. if at the end of the day, one tinks tat Spore r not the place to live in, one choose to leave the country, i would tink is really becos of one's own mentality and not the country's inadequacy tat drives pple away from the country. call me old fashioned or traditional, at the end of the day, no matter where i am and how long i am away, i juz wanna go back to my home country where i belong.