It's a question of loyalty...

The other day I was called a traitor by a friend.

I was happily telling him my plans for the National Day holiday. I intend to go HongKong for a shopping trip and escape the National Day crowd. Since the holiday's going to fall on a Tuesday, I figure it'll be a good idea to book my holiday for the entire block of the week. That will give me like a super long week.

"Leaving the country on National Day?!" he sounded scandalous, "That's like turning your back on your own country!"

Singapore is such a small country. One of our favorite pastime for most Singaporean is to visit neighboring countries and tour. We need to venture out since whatever that can be seen and explored here we would have probably done so in our first 20 years of our lives.

Speaking of venturing out... my visa for Australia has recently been approved. That means I'm now officially an Australian PR. Come this December I'll be flying over to down under to try and make a new living for myself.

Why leave the comfort of home and go to a new country and be a 2nd class citizen? There will be people who are against this idea and feel that I'm just another starry-eyed hopeful attracted by ang moh culture. Well, whatever it is that they think, I have always followed my own instinct and so far I've survive. This shall be no exception.

The main reason for me leaving is not because I'm an SPG or what... I'm just doing what our fore-fathers have done. They travel across the continents in search of a better life. I might not be as poor as my ancestor, and I don't really know what I want...however, I do know what I don't want. And I can see my future in Singapore down the road. That is precisely why I decided to leave.

I'm trading in my home here, my job, my friends and colleagues, my culture and my comfort zone for the unknown. Will I make it? I don't know. But I'm willing to try. I'm not the first to migrate and I shall not be the last either. Am I a traitor? Well, being true to myself and having faith that things will work out... it's a question of where the loyalty lies isn't it?