Why I want to leave Singapore

Re-reading this post, maybe it was too vague.

I’ll just be direct and say the few things why Singapore no longer feels like home:

• Priced out - It’s getting crazy expensive, even to just stay afloat on basics. I want to stretch my dollar more, provide a quality of life to my family that’s more than just basic, where we can have some fun, enjoy a little.
• Too crowded - On weekends, everywhere we go are crowds and more crowds. And not always the kind of crowds I enjoy being around – loud talking, phones blaring, jostling, lack of consideration for others. I want to be somewhere where people are quiet, move about calmly, talk softly, and have social grace.
• Too noisy - Not just pure decibels but also attention. Everything claws at your eyeballs. Screens everywhere, ads everywhere, people handing you flyers, buy this, get that, consume consume consume. I want to live somewhere without all the always-on consumerism and commercialism.
• Too stressful - Just being here is stressful, even if you don’t compete. It’s the people, the vibe, the environment. Mainstream education - even worse. Mental health issues among youth is trending. Not the kind of environment I want my kid to grow up in. I want an education for my kid where he can enjoy learning at his own pace, from his own interests and intrinsic motivation, about things that matter to him and his future, with like-minded, well-parented kids.
• Class divides - We might be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, harmonious melting pot (whether that’s really true is a topic for another day), but other social divides are starting to rear their heads - class and ideology. Rich get richer, poor get poorer. Woke gets more woke, conservatives get more conservative. People slinging mud, fighting online. There’s no civility. I want to stay in a place where it’s more communal and grounded.
• Theatre - Singapore does theatrics and branding very well. Aka in local slang, wayang. Underneath the shininess, lots of structural issue and frustrations. Jobs, economy, population, identity. Even infrastructure—our crowning glory—is lagging behind tier 1 cities in China. It’s not all it’s sold to be. At this age and life stage, I’m allergic to pretense. I want to be at place where it’s honest and direct, even if less shiny.
• System over individual - The system, the government, the country, the reserves, eat first. Then the citizen eats. If you get in the way of the larger system, you’re marginalised. Or even martyred. Only collective conformity here. That’s why I want to leave. To live out a life that’s doesn’t conform, that doesn’t need to seek permission for being.

Sure, Singapore will always be home, in name and by birth. It will be a home base for legality. But that’s pretty much it.

I’m going to find a better quality of life that’s more affordable, calm and grounded, elsewhere.

I’m leaving Singapore.