Born and bred Singaporean here working a pretty decent job. I realised that many of the expat colleagues I know live a life that is quite different from what the local population experiences and many of my local friends do envy their carefree lifestyle.
I also realise that the reason many of my local friends are feeling so unhappy is because of the social pressure from their SOs, friends, parents, bosses and whatnot causing them to spend all their time worrying about money and status.
So I always wondered, given the fact that Singapore is quite a safe and fairly vibrant city and assuming one has a decent wage, is it possible for someone who is local to actually create that kind of life for themselves?
Can a local just tune out all the noise, rent a room, and then plan and go on activities just like as if he/she was posted to another city to work, just that instead of Chicago or Sydney the city is Singapore.
Forget about BTO, forget about social pressure, forget about ippt and reservist, oh wait the last one cannot.
Add On: Not referring to the super high level expats like presidents and ceos and talents of course with the insane packages, but the many who work white collar junior to mid level jobs like many of us.
Here are what netizens think:
- Yes, if you have money, a high flying job, a liberal outlook on life and a circle of friends who are the same.
- The main reason you think they live a rather carefree life is because these expats are exactly the demographic that would risk it all to move to a new city and start afresh. The ones that are unhappy and grumbling about life are back home (like most Singaporeans).
- Well, their mid level salary and benefits package already win locals by a mile for one. That plus having the same relaxed/wlb attitude they have back home, of course they are going to have it better. Why the hell would they come otherwise
Former Expat in Singapore shares his views
As a former expat that used to live in Singapore.
The biggest thing holding back any expat from living in their home country so carefree is precisely because there are societal pressures at home.
And in Singapore the pressure to live a certain way is in my opinion is much much stronger compared to other countries because Singapore is so small and everyone sees everyone so regularly.
So I would think it’s impossible unless you move out of Singapore. And funnily enough the Singaporean expats that I encountered in Europe and the US were way more open minded so i think the societal pressures at home play a big part