Why I’ll Never Return to Singapore

I absolutely understand what the author was writing about - I really love this country - it's clean, safe, really clean, has really affordable food and incredible transportation system. The buses are actually worth using, and the people have been universally friendly. But, there is something missing.

When I go back to Canada, people live to do things outside of work. They go to the Abbotsford Apple Barn, Hang out at Stanley Park, spend an afternoon in the Vancouver Library, Head up to Cypress Bowl to go Snowboarding, etc, etc.. Maybe it's because there is more "space" - but I'm still trying to find out what it is that people in Singapore do, and why? So often, the answer I get, is "Go to the Mall" or, "Take my kids to tuition".

The country has accomplished incredible things with so few resources - the people are the only resources - and they've achieved a level of social and cultural harmony that really shows how poorly other countries are.

Perhaps I just need to spend a few more years to soak up the local culture and events - at the very least the hawker stands could keep me occupied that long.

I agree it isn't perfect; I prefer living in the US, both because I'm a citizen and because I like land, cars, guns, etc -- but compared to where Singapore could be, it is almost unbelievable.

Let's take National Service (NS). Dover writes: "after graduating, every citizen is required to do active service in the military." This is wrong on at least three points, which is impressive for a sentence that short: 1) NS is not required of all citizens, only men; 2) NS is also required of male permanent residents who turn 18 in Singapore, and 3) it's an age requirement, not a graduation requirement.

He goes on to write that "pride is the result" of the NS requirement, in that part of the article that seems devoted to unqualified praise of Singapore's success. Really? Pride alone? Yes, male Singaporeans are proud of their service in NS, but plenty — especially younger Singaporeans — also resent it, resent the foreigners and women who don't have to do it and who they believe get an upper leg in society as a result. I've had Singaporean men explain away sexual harassment of women — harassment they witnessed first hand — on the grounds of the hazing they received during NS. If "sense of pride" is the only thing Dover has to say about NS in Singapore, even after months of living here, I'm not surprised he never had deep conversations with any Singaporeans.

Pro tip, Dover: there are better ways to investigate peoples' heritage than walking around asking people about their heritage. And if you do ask, and the answer you get is "what heritage?" and a laugh? Well, that may not mean what you think it means.

There's a lot happening in Singapore. It's an evolving place, with a growing civil society, increasing activism, growing nationalism and anti-foreigner sentiment, brutal competitiveness (the Singlish word is "kiasu", which is a Hokkien term that translates as "afraid to lose"), a terrible Gini coefficient, complex underlying racial tensions, and some absurd historical hard-edged nanny-state reflexes. There are a lot of things Singapore needs, but the dynamics are complex, not ripe for banal oversimplification.

I've spent 10 years in the education system in Singapore, and when I came to the US to continue high school, I was surprised at how dumbed down things are here. For example, topics typically covered in AP Chemistry would be part of the normal chemistry curriculum over in Singapore, and taught at the 9th grade level. High school lab sessions here were nothing more than simple experiments and anything more advanced were replaced with demos by teachers in the interest of liability and what not.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson_pr.html

EDIT: not that it isn't a good blog. But if you like it, you should really read the gibson article too.

I read a lot about what's supposedly wrong with suburbia (the media and hollywood seems to view it as morally wrong), but I find myself drawn to the relative peace and slow pace they describe. I often think it's because of where I grew up.

To me, the author is making a similar move, though in the opposite direction. Life was too simple, too comfortable, and too polite in Singapore, and now he's had his full of it, and needs the opposite. I can relate, except I'm coming from where he's going, and I went to what he's trying to escape.

Nitpick: Men only. It's a common lament here that the men start higher education/work a couple of years later than their women counterparts, hence "losing out".

And this guy is American. A country which invades other countries, kills civilians and holds people locked up in Guantanamo Bay. Yes, surely that is much better.

I haven't lived in Singapore but spent a bit of time there when I lived in Malaysia.

[1]: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/your-view--don-t-come-home-to-soull...

As a Britain who lived in America, this is how I felt about Americans. I think its more of a cultural illusion.

This article's points are weakly argued, and Singapore's staidness is entirely a first-world problem which people from some neighbouring countries wouldn't find much of a problem at all. But on the whole, I'd agree with the author that Singapore is lacking in quite a few ways compared to the top cities (economically or culturally) of the world. Off the top of my head:

1) A conservative, risk-averse, wealth-focused culture of keeping up with the Joneses. This is mostly the modern result of traditional Chinese competitiveness and desire for 'face'. Parents live for their children - you want your kids to do well so you can proudly tell others about them, and because you expect to support you financially when you're old. You pressure them to take the well-respected and profitable route in life, and you prohibit them from taking the risky path to inevitable ruin as a starving artist, etc.

The children then go into executive jobs, trying to be managers, avoiding the low-paid engineering/technical positions (programming, pfft, that's for cheap foreign labour), and not caring very much about things that don't have an immediate impact on their careers or everyday lives. The endgame is to own property and collect rent, which is the main gateway to wealth (as it is in most of Asia - just look at how the majority of Asian tycoons made their fortunes).

This causes most Singaporeans to be relatively homogeneous in the things they do and their outlook on the world. You won't find anywhere near the range of activities, passions and hobbies that Americans engage in. Everyone does the same few things, and talks about the same few topics, all of the time.

2) A dearth of dreams, imagination, and world-changing idealism. The core value of Singapore is pragmatism, and it's built into every facet of this place. The parenting, school system, government, and even national service in the military all shape citizens toward a very stable and staid pattern of thought: that things can't be changed, that responsibilities to family come first, that there's no point trying to correct the system or working to change it because the school/army/corporate/government bureaucracy is too entrenched and won't ever listen. This sense of "nothing's going to change, why bother fighting" was particularly bad in the '90s and before, and I still hear such opinions from my parents. Is it a surprise, then, that innovation wasn't too prized until recently?

It doesn't help that there didn't use to be a wide range of employment available in the earlier decades, so not many people tried to eke out careers in more unusual areas, much less start campaigns to change Singaporean society and the world. The older generation of Singaporeans would deride these endeavours as mere dreams and silly teenage notions; you'd grow out of it eventually and become a doctor or executive or whatever. Hardly anyone has made a big impact internationally - whether as an athlete, artist, scientist, or entrepreneur - which meant that there were few role models for kids to look up to. No Michael Jordans or Bill Gateses here.

3) Size. Many of Singapore's problems stem from its size. The lack of space results in runaway rents. Sky-high rents drive out less profitable business and ensure few people can experiment with new, risky concepts that don't turn a big profit. This keeps businesses more conservative and makes it hard for organic enclaves to emerge here. (You rarely see unoccupied shop space here, much less abandoned buildings where someone might throw a pop-up party or hold an exhibition.)

High rents also mean everyone lives with their parents, can't afford to buy a house till they get married, and is reluctant to rent a place. They don't have their own space to socialise, have people over, live their own lives, which makes for a pretty sober existence - literally and figuratively. (I suspect this is one reason the rate of singlehood is really high; we simply don't have enough fun with friends, and rarely meet new people.) Then the high density also leads to massive peak load on public transport, which worsen the daily experience.

The island's small size and heavy urbanisation leaves it with few natural scenic spots. You have to fly out to get anywhere scenic (this is related to point 4).

Finally, the small population isn't a very attractive target for entrepreneurs, and the lack of a shared culture with nearby countries makes it hard to penetrate those markets without moving there. It also makes it a much more comfortable bet to be a professional than an entrepreneur or artist. Having few successful entrepreneurs leads to fewer kids having big dreams.

4) Climate and geography. The heat and humidity mean that it's simply not enjoyable to hang out in the sun. You can't enjoy long walks or bicycle rides here without getting drenched in sweat. If you hang out with friends, you do it in air-conditioning, which means restaurants, bars, and shopping malls. I can't go and sit on the grass like I did in the US, much less head out of town to snowboard, walk through vineyards, or camp by a lake.

It's also a relatively flat island. An American friend's visiting mother remarked that one problem with Singapore is that it lacks a mountain, and she's right. Add to that the lack of seasons and the relatively monotonous tropical foliage, and you end up with nature that isn't all that enjoyable and barely any scenic vistas. In stark contrast are the natural and man-made sights of Japan and Taiwan, which awe Singaporeans endlessly - it's no surprise that they're probably the most popular travel destinations for us.

5) A lack of natural community and social openness. Like many dense cities, we don't have many events and local festivals that naturally bring communities together. This is in contrast to the festivals that occur in many neighbouring countries, in Europe, in Japan, and wherever old traditions have been preserved. Many Singaporeans are strangers to their neighbours, which makes for a small social circle and a closedness to making new friends outside of school.

There's no culture of talking to strangers at all, and children are actively discouraged from taking an interest in other people (being a "kaypoh" busybody). I remember this acutely from my own upbringing; you minded your own business, because you'd probably look silly if you tried to interfere in others, or even get in trouble.

A co-worker from Vietnam commented that while he makes much more money here, he finds that home offers more enjoyment and celebration of life and friendships, more things to do, and less of a focus on work and earning money. This echoes comments I've heard from foreigners from France, New York, China, and elsewhere.

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Some of these things have changed a bit, especially with the changing outlook of top politicians, the livening up of the city centre, and the loosening of old bureaucratic rules. Many more people have travelled or lived overseas, which has lead some to import foreign ideas: witness the boom in cafes, bars, campaigns and organisations started by yuppies who fell in love with an idea, a style, or a culture while they were abroad. But the historical inertia of being a pragmatic, competitive, unidealistic, and unopen culture is too much to overcome in a mere decade or two.

No magic ever happens in Singapore. Godzilla attacks Tokyo, mobsters run Hong Kong, down-and-out writers shoot to fame in New York, Hollywood stars zip around Los Angeles, tech revolutions start in Silicon Valley - but Singaporeans would scoff and laugh at a movie that set the fantastical or whimsical in Singapore. We're enraptured by the fairytale fantasies that Korean dramas spin, because we have none of that. We can't imagine anything interrupting our routine, everyday lives and stolid bureaucracy. It's like being in a small town and knowing that monsters will only ever attack New York. That's the upshot of a Singaporean upbringing.

I completely understand why people would leave for more culturally rich places. I hope to eventually spend at least half my time out of the country, probably through building a cross-national business - but for now I'm stuck here, looking for the right connections and opportunities (if you're in town and have a good idea, get in touch).

> I describe my time living in Singapore as sterile. Nothing particularly bad happened but it wasn’t particularly good either. Daily life was convenient but it was only the bare minimum of living. I had everything I needed to be comfortable but I didn’t have anything that inspired me. Even though there wasn’t a language barrier, I encountered a hefty communication barrier. In my experience, people were polite but conversations rarely moved past surface-level niceties. Of the conversations that I took part in and overheard, the vast majority of them were about work. I routinely watched people work 15 hours days and stress over strict deadlines. Yes it was living and they were making progress but it wasn’t holistic and people openly admitted to me that it wasn’t fulfilling.

1. Costa Rica 2. Vietnam 3. Colombia 4. Belize 5. El Salvador

I have to admit that I don't believe people in Belize or El Salvador are happier than say Mexico or Panamá just to name a few neighbors. It's weird how the first "Industrialized" country is Israel at 15th place, and the next is New Zealand at 28th followed by Norway. Also most of the top 30 are latinamerican countries, so maybe is just a cultural thing to be always happy.

It's also open to outsiders, and a model for good governance, and a mutli-cultural hub.

It's ok to leave, but to say, "Screw you, I'm gone forever and never coming back" just seems childish.

This person argues about foreigners - in only to become one henself. Ironyyyyy