Confessions of A Student

I realized i haven’t been writing much about my life (isn’t what online journals are for?) so today i am going to write about school. I am currently in the second year in university, most of my friends had transfered to Australia this semester and i am feeling really bored stuck-in-singapore. I want to transfer to melbourne too! I was looking around places that i could rent around the school and this is what i found.

Modern Contemporary Home in Melbourne
$135 per week incl utilities and internet
( $540 per month for a room!)

Not bad at all! There are vast open spaces with nice views… not to forget.. bigger houses. On a closer look, one of these houses costs an average of AUD $240 000 around Berwick in Melbourne (our equivalent of Jurong to City Hall). The come at the cost of a HDB flat, amazing! You will be sure that you will not be seeing me in Singapore very soon… (hahaha). An additional note, the median salary of a business graduate (fresh graduate) in the state of Victoria (includes Melbourne) is AUD $40 000. As compared to Singapore university graduates average of SG$36 000 ( if they end up in a $3k per month job, according to NUS Business school ).

On further inspection, although the lodging in Australia is cheaper, the cost of eating out is higher (due to minimum wage, which is a good thing). Overall, the quality of life there is so much better, housing prices are reasonable (not unreasonable in the case of Singapore). I don’t want to be stuck in a pigeon hole and pay for it for the rest of my life!

The miserable pigeon hole which 80% of the population lives in Singapore.

Everyday, my resolve to migrate seems clearer and clearer. This might not be the place for me, this country does not provide my ideal lifestyle. The income gap between the rich and poor is widening. There is a restriction in the freedom of expression, and even human rights. I feel constrained in this country.

I need a break through… space… to breathe. I can’t breathe when this place is so overly congested with people and more people. With more and more foreign immigrants occupying every tiny space in this island. I could hardly find a place for some peace and quiet. Maybe that is why i am accustomed to going out at night - to avoid the crowds and unbearable heat in the day.

I might be making Singapore sound like a really horrid place. You might politely disagree and say, “Hey, it isn’t that bad, we are a safe and clean city!”. I beg to disagree, i am living in an old estate in Aljunied constituency and you will notice that most of the buildings around here are very dirty ( what are they doing to our billion dollar constituency funds anyway? ). I don’t feel safe at all with the immigrant workers sleeping below void decks getting drunk on beer. Even the public is feeling uneasy after the leader of the terrorist operations walked out of his prison cell in broad daylight.

I am sorry to have shattered your crystal clear image of what a “fine” city Singapore is. After all Singapore is ranked 131 out of 178 on the Happy Nations Index. I think we are a very unhappy nation indeed, with rising inflation and cost of living, no wonder we could barely survive without working, thus, the need to work till we drop (and still be unable to withdraw our CPF funds).

Rest assured, you can still head down to your nearest kopitiam and enjoy great food no less!