Moving

It's a real comfortable life in Singapore. I have an apartment, a car, my own work where I'm free enough to fetch my wife to work and to work out, enough disposable income to eat out and to go on overseas trips, etc. Friends and family here. Healthcare is decent here too. As someone has remarked, it's Disneyland here.

But surprisingly, it's also not hard to find reasons to move. Even though things are fine now, nothing stays the same forever. For example, the cost of living rises astonishingly fast. When the COE for my car expires, I'm not sure I can afford a new one anymore (Or even at current prices. It was cheaper when I bought my car). That would mean a drop in my quality of life. The Minister of Transport just made it clear that people are just not encouraged to drive, so things are not going to change.

Eating out has also gotten more expensive. Not surprising with the increase of rental prices. You're looking at a minimum of $40 for something in a shopping mall that isn't a food court for 2 pax. These are prices I would expect more in Australia or other countries where labour is expensive. The government's response is to give CDC vouchers. I mean, yea better than nothing but I would rather have the things I like be cheaper. Related to that, I feel sad seeing people who are passionate about their craft having to close down due to the high rentals. There was the Indian stall at Maxwell, the chee cheong fun stall in Bedok, and even the steamed fish stall at Maxwell. A place where passion is made impossible.

The number of people in Singapore has probably reached some kind of tipping point when people can't get driving lesson slots or tennis or badminton courts. Sure, schools and clubs have their own resources, but what about the general populace? I guess swimming or running still works.

The weather is hotter than ever. And there is nowhere you can go to escape that.

Jetstar has moved out and Terminal 5 is going full steam ahead, indicating that the prices for travel are going to further increase. Can Singapore remain competitive? When everyone is just making money from property and finance, all the more it's sinkie pwn sinkie. While it's true Sg has always made money from being a hub, everything feels more juiced up these couple of years, with banks and landlords benefiting massively whilst the consequences are suffered by the rest, exacerbating tensions.

Personal reasons: Whilst I do have an apartment, it's not that big, if let's say I want to have a kid. And I would have to make a fuck ton more money before I can make a real difference to that. I could sell this and pay more to move to a bigger HDB, but that seems like a bad financial decision. And I don't have a path to make more money doing what I'm doing. Like, maybe I could offer more marketing services? But those are labour intensive and growing it that way is just not that palatable.

Of course, the wife has a big part to play in this as well. If she had a job with good prospects here, we might strive here together. But as it is, her job just exposes the elitist philosophy underpinning the structure here, and it's well, comfortable work with no prospects. And probably not wages one can comfortably live on in high-cost Singapore.

In summary, it feels like the upside is limited, whereas there is still the downside. Actually that's Singapore in a nutshell.

And I suppose this is a good time, when one is still comfortable instead of sinking, to take some risk and make a move.