Originally Posted by
spareparts
I am originally from Singapore and have spent much time there (just there last week!), despite emigrating from there over 40 years ago. Singaporean culture is uber competitive (as you probably know) and it is not empathetic (sadly) to kids who are not top of their class academically. It is a very unforgiving society. Schools like ACS are more 'traditional' in the British sense of it, but it is still so unbelievably competitive given it is populated by local kids. The international schools like SAS are not forgiving either because of the Yanks who send their kids there who feel privileged to run riot along Boat Quay on a Friday night and you'd swear many of them are paid by the 15mins... I don't think that school culture is forgiving either.
Singapore can be good financially/career wise, but it tends to be a slightly one-way street. I have many friends/ex-colleagues who emigrated there as expats and have never left. They have benefitted financially, but they have also lost out on many things which I think become more important in later life. By the time you realise this, it's too late and becomes quite difficult to relocate back to Europe/US especially if your kids have grown up the 'Singapore way'. Your expectations of efficiency/availability/instant-everything become ingrained, and it's just not the way Western culture is engineered (yet). Imho.
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