Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I miss you Singapura!

To those living in Singapore, be thankful for every convenience that the country provides and stop cribbing about the over-protective, seemingly over-paranoid nature of the government! This shall be the opening statement for this post :P

Yes, I have officially moved to the USA. More on that in the next post. I definitely think the whole process of settling into a new life deserves a separate post on its own. But I felt like I really must write a post on Singapore before I moved on to the newer happenings in life.

Before I went to Singapore for my education, to me, it was nothing but this tourist destination that people go to because the flights from India were relatively cheap and you could go to “foreign” using affordable tourist packages. Singapore used to be the land of cheap key chain souvenirs, not to mention the merlion t-shirts and magnets! Even without visiting Singapore, my family had a huge collection of Singapore related stuff. That’s what Singapore was to me, a tourist destination for a long weekend. Not a place to live in!

I was uber shocked to find myself living there a few years later. I never expected to be living and studying in a tourist country! As a teenager, it was one of the hardest things to do, moving to a new country and leaving parents. But only today, four years later, in a country across the pacific ocean, do I realize how easy it was to settle down in Singapore and how much easier it was there to overcome home sickness!

I miss being in a country where its absolutely safe to walk down the streets after dark, even at 3am! I definitely and most certainly miss the convenience of public transport there! Singapore public transport rocks! And anybody who disagrees needs to be banished to where I am now! The grocery store is a mile away and the bus frequency, even during peak hours, is half an hour. That’s if you are lucky! NUS was also a very convenient place to study. You can never get lost there. All the buildings are marked clearly and the directions given are simply superb!

Basically, after spending a week here in the USA, with crappy public transport and having to depend on people who own cars to take me around even to get basic necessities, I have found a new love for the country where I did my undergraduate studies. Not only Singapore, I also have a renewed love for my own home country, India. As much as we crib about corruption, crowds and what not, public transport (at least in my city!) rocks. India is not that bad, people! Places are at least accessible there! Even if the nearest grocery store is a mile away, you can get there without much problem!

Bottom line, Singaporeans, be happy and be proud of the conveniences your nation has painstakingly provided to you! Be happy you can visit any mall or any store for shopping at practically any time of the day without needing to buy a car! Be glad to see so many taxi cabs on the street (I barely spotted a few here… scary!). And Indians, love your nation, you might not have the highest standard of living, but you have a pretty good standard of convenience!

I love you India! I love you Singapore!

Hope to be back some day soon :) Till then… keep rocking! :)

4 comments:

doublehead said...

India, land of your ancestors and family. Singapore, land of convenience, safety and comfort. USA, a marvelous land of opportunity and land where talent is appreciated. Yes, true the transport sucks. The safety is an issue. But wait until you get your own transport, the land offers unlimited opportunity to travel and explore. You can hardly do that in Singapore. Every country has its drawback and advantages. MOve on with the advantages and try to overcome the drawbacks. India rocks because it is your country. Singapore rocks because it is a tourist destination. USA rocks because it is every body's land of milk and honey.

soleil said...

Singapura misses you too GG! *prays for kind friends to take you around in their cars*

Confused Soul said...

I miss the public transport of Singapore and the safety too!!

Anusha said...

I'm pretty sure the only thing I miss about India is my family and the easy availability of Indian food, but I agree on Singapore being a very convenient place to live in. In fact, I find myself saying quite often these days that Singapore has spoilt me in these four years, and that I'm not sure I'll be able to live so comfortably anywhere else in the world, even India.

Having said that, however, I'm sure there are plenty of things to look forward to in the US, that will hopefully balance out the crappy transport system. And here's to you discovering them one by one! :)