I read this in the July issue of Singapore’s Cleo magazine (this is the only article worth reading) (Dot left behind the mag, maybe to hint to me that I need some fashion tips haha), and found it hitting a raw nerve. Hmm.
In July 2004, I made the decision to leave Singapore and pursue my passions abroad. Three years on, I’m leaving Shanghai and embarking on another journey, south to the Maldives, for a new job and new possibilities. This probably sounds like a dream come true. After all, it’s the Maldives — a dream destination for most. But although I look forward to the invaluable experiences ahead, I can’t help but think about the world of treasure I leave behind.
The French author Anais Nin once said, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” My friends make up my world. I may have lived in different parts of the world but without them, my world would be an empty shell. The motley crew of people that I’ve met these past few years in China have maintained my sanity and given me a world of experience that China alone cannot.
My colleagues no doubt frustrated me at times, but they also gave me the job experience that will establish me as a team player in future employment. I also formed steady allies with people who laughed and cried with me in my happiest and saddest moments. And even if I did meet some pretentious acquaintances claiming right to friendship, I do give them credit for enriching my life experiences too. For without experiencing betrayal and disappointment, how can one become stronger?
Some might say that it would be possible to experience the same things even if I had stayed on here. That is true. In fact, when I first left Singapore, I was upset for days and wondered if I had made the wrong decision by leaving a comfort zone that I had nestled in for so many years. After all, why would anyone want to leave a utopia where you can have everything under one roof?
Simply because life isn’t life when you haven’t experienced it. No one can deny that Singapore provides the best of both extremes of the world. We exude the Asian exoticism that the West craves, yet also offer the sophistication and modernity that many parts of Asia lack. But the world is not an island near the equator.
My first trip away from my family was three months of backpacking around Europe after graduation. Back then, my friends had made plans to travel together but I chose not to do so in the end. Something told me that this opportunity to leave home would be marred by the need to cling to familiarity — in the case, friends who would always remind you of what you were missing at home.
So instead, I joined Contiki tours and ended up making lasting friendships that extended my world beyond Singapore. And this continues as I made my travels throughout adulthood. Going solo enabled me to immerse myself in the host country’s culture and my world grew larger from the solidarities I established, eventually leading to my wish to relocate, thanks to this desire to expand my horizons.
But here’s the hitch — relocation is a bitch. On one hand, you benefit from the challenges as a complete alien in a foreign land, becoming stronger from what doesn’t kill you. On the other hand, you find love of all nature that you know you have to leave behind if you wish to continue on the journey of broadening your mind And that is the perennial dilemma that I face. I move on to another country not because I’m bored, but because of my desire to see the rest of the world. I move on because I know friendships last forever and no matter where I go, the friends that I’ve made will always be with me in mind and spirit. So to all the friends whom I’ve left behind, thank you for being a part of my world.
