To migrate or not?

[phtthp]

hi shine,


if your children have settled down happily now in SG and are doing well in their studies here, why risk your kids’ education & uproot them to go Australia, an unfamiliar place to begin with ? Chinese are treated like 2nd class citizen.

Australia is a country with a different culture - your kids may or may not adjust well there to the school education there. (there are 2 sides to a coin)

besides, your children had been exposed to studying Chinese here in our SG local environment. Over there, do the local schools teach Chinese at all ? if Yes, do they teach Chinese well ? i doubt so. If you place your child in International school, going to be costly. Long term wise over next 15 to 25 years - do you want your children grow up in an environment that is exposed to so little Chinese culture ? (i presume you are Chinese )

fyi - my nephew grew up in Australia since pre-school kindergarten days. Today he has thick black hair, looks like a Korean hunk - but can’t even speak Mandarin properly. He said he dislike Chinese, totally angmo type. The moment he open his mouth to speak - the heavy Aussie slang comes out. If not for his black hair, people won’t think he’s Chinese. Next year need to return SG serve National service.

maybe one of you go there first (either you or yr husband). After you settle down, bring yr kids over - try out minimum 3 to 4 Terms, experience, have a taste of their local school education first. See if kids & family can adjust. It is not advisable to migrate just like that, without even trying out first see if environment is suitable (in case regret). After you’d tried out, you face the realistic challenging issues face to face. From there then decide if still worthwhile to migrate.

another thing you need to adjust is - over there, dun have hawker centre so convenient in SG, whereby anytime you’re hungry can just go down nearest coffee shop or hawker centre to grab a bite. My cousin who had stayed in Melbourne > 20 years said cook everyday until very sian - every meal you got to cook yourself. Eat outside food in Australia in restaurants or even cafe is expensive! This is something you need to be mentally prepared.

costs of living in Australia is high. Thus, average salary workers seldom eat out. For lunch time - you see a lot of office workers including the local Aussie themselves pack sandwiches from home to bring to office for lunch, save $. They bring their own lunch box to office. After work then they go back home & cook a proper dinner for whole family. Occasionally they may eat out, but not everyday.

another inconvience is travelling time. Sometimes may need to drive for more than 1 hour (just for 1 way journey) from home to office. Why ? because Australia is very big - depends on where you stay & where your office location is. Everyday to and fro both ways can take up 3 long hours, driving very tiring. Over there no MRT.

the grass may seem greener over the other side, but there’s a lot of hurdle need to overcome once you’re there all alone, worsened without parents nor siblings support over there, esp. when you’ve young kids (physically & emotionally). Can be very lonely, bec you’re on your own. Are your parents or parents in law willing to help you, stay there & accompany you, look after your kids while you work, help you cook ? for how long are they going to help you ? can they speak English ? can they drive - be mobile independently ? Over there, no foreign maids allowed. These are real issues need to sort out, grapple with.

when my cousin’s son was small - a toddler, she and hubby had to work. So her mother & father flew over for a period, to help take care of toddler, cook meals. But both can’t drive, so stay at home all the time. They can’t speak English, only speak Cantonese. The neighbours to the left & right of their house are all Aussie angmo - blond hair. My uncle & aunt hated staying Melbourne. They said it’s like being imprisoned / caged, like live in a jail. They can’t communicate with angmo neighbours. It’s like one chicken talking to a duck. Also, old folks can’t take cold weather in winter. No matter how many layers of winter clothing they wear, still very, very cold. Sometimes don’t bother to bathe. So each year when comes to winter time, both can’t wait to buy air tickets quickly fly back SG. And when reach home, so happy. Every morning looking forward eagerly go down hawker centre downstairs - eat their favorite mee pok, chee cheong fun, char kway teow, mee rebus, nasi lemak, etc. (can’t eat these easily in Melbourne).

[happy to be mum]

agree with phtthp, seem have stayed there before huh?


was struggling like you also..to go or not to go Aus that time when DH's PR was almost expired. in the end, went there when i was 6 mths old pregnant with DS1.

before DS1 came out, was enjoying the different environment, dun need to work..hehe. Then when DS1 was out, reality strike and got depression as no one to help, quite standalone family. in the end we came back to sg after 2 years and DH has given up his PR status last year as cannot fulfil the requirement to extend and also DH does not like Aust even though he study there, always complain nothing to do there and we were in Sydney! Though the other part of him worried about retirement and the benefits we are giving up. Anyway, boys hold both Aust & SG citizenship, so there is still a fall back

you have to ask yourselves what do you want. If you do not mind to be a standalone family there, then go and try to make as many friends / familiies as possible and you have to give yourself an adjustment time of one to one and a half year. Yey, cooking is a necessary as food is expensive! In the end, it boiled down to how you and spouse want. And yes, if possible, get a job first cause for a start, jobs are difficult to find unless you are a nurse, etc.. One of my gf also got depression when in Aust, in SG, she is a professional, went over there, depressed she can't get jobs of her level in SG and has to stoop lower level jobs in order to survive.

good luck to your decision!

[kiddo]

happy to be mum:

agree with phtthp, seem have stayed there before huh?

was struggling like you also..to go or not to go Aus that time when DH's PR was almost expired. in the end, went there when i was 6 mths old pregnant with DS1.
before DS1 came out, was enjoying the different environment, dun need to work..hehe. Then when DS1 was out, reality strike and got depression as no one to help, quite standalone family. in the end we came back to sg after 2 years and DH has given up his PR status last year as cannot fulfil the requirement to extend and also DH does not like Aust even though he study there, always complain nothing to do there and we were in Sydney! Though the other part of him worried about retirement and the benefits we are giving up. Anyway, boys hold both Aust & SG citizenship, so there is still a fall back
you have to ask yourselves what do you want. If you do not mind to be a standalone family there, then go and try to make as many friends / familiies as possible and you have to give yourself an adjustment time of one to one and a half year. Yey, cooking is a necessary as food is expensive! In the end, it boiled down to how you and spouse want. And yes, if possible, get a job first cause for a start, jobs are difficult to find unless you are a nurse, etc.. One of my gf also got depression when in Aust, in SG, she is a professional, went over there, depressed she can't get jobs of her level in SG and has to stoop lower level jobs in order to survive.

good luck to your decision!

if it 10 -15 years ago - yes it good to migrate.........
when it is less crowded less competition in places like Australia
because now you have influx of people from china and india, philippines,
unless you have extended families or many friends there
it really a standalone time- depressing situation......

alternative better place would be new zealand, canada...friendlier

Good Luck :hi5:

[LOLMum]

happy to be mum:

Anyway, boys hold both Aust & SG citizenship, so there is still a fall back

should the kids decide to give up sg citizenship, better make sure all legal papers are filed properly with all respective govt depts.

i understand the whole process of giving up the citizenship is complex given that ns is involved.

[phtthp]

never give up SG citizenship. You never know what happens in future …

[happy to be mum]

ya, that is what I will advise sons when they are older, not to give up their SG citizenship and hope by then SG will allow dual citizenship. Anyway, I have given my sons a choice and hope the choices will not give them headache because they need to make a decision when they are 21 years old

[shine]

Hi everyone, thanks very much for all your views. As of now, we're still deciding! :frustrated:


But with the announcement of the population white paper, sentiments seem to have changed, and it might just trigger us to really go over.

[Attolia]

I was going to start a new topic, but maybe I’ll just ask my question here instead and maybe someone can help. I’m actually asking this on behalf of a workmate here in NZ. Her family migrated to NZ from Singapore when she was 9 years old, and they’re all PRs here. She’s now 26 and still holds Singapore citizenship. Recently she’s been thinking of going on her OE to the UK for a few years and can’t decide if she should give up her Singapore passport and apply for NZ citizenship, as I think it’s easier to travel and stay in the UK with a NZ passport? (not sure about that, actually). Are there any benefits to keeping her SG citizenship? It is highly doubtful that she’ll ever return to Singapore to work or anything (although never say never), but she’s just not sure if there are any significant benefits to retaining her SG citizenship. Thoughts?

[Mawar]

Attolia:

I was going to start a new topic, but maybe I'll just ask my question here instead and maybe someone can help. I'm actually asking this on behalf of a workmate here in NZ. Her family migrated to NZ from Singapore when she was 9 years old, and they're all PRs here. She's now 26 and still holds Singapore citizenship. Recently she's been thinking of going on her OE to the UK for a few years and can't decide if she should give up her Singapore passport and apply for NZ citizenship, as I think it's easier to travel and stay in the UK with a NZ passport? (not sure about that, actually). Are there any benefits to keeping her SG citizenship? It is highly doubtful that she'll ever return to Singapore to work or anything (although never say never), but she's just not sure if there are any significant benefits to retaining her SG citizenship. Thoughts?

If she has lived most of her life outside of Singapore, and has no family ties to hang on to, then the decision is straightforward.

There is no benefit to consider. If there is no emotional connection, she should just tidy up her paperwork and sink roots where she feels she belong.

[Attolia]

Mawar:

Attolia:

I was going to start a new topic, but maybe I'll just ask my question here instead and maybe someone can help. I'm actually asking this on behalf of a workmate here in NZ. Her family migrated to NZ from Singapore when she was 9 years old, and they're all PRs here. She's now 26 and still holds Singapore citizenship. Recently she's been thinking of going on her OE to the UK for a few years and can't decide if she should give up her Singapore passport and apply for NZ citizenship, as I think it's easier to travel and stay in the UK with a NZ passport? (not sure about that, actually). Are there any benefits to keeping her SG citizenship? It is highly doubtful that she'll ever return to Singapore to work or anything (although never say never), but she's just not sure if there are any significant benefits to retaining her SG citizenship. Thoughts?

If she has lived most of her life outside of Singapore, and has no family ties to hang on to, then the decision is straightforward.

There is no benefit to consider. If there is no emotional connection, she should just tidy up her paperwork and sink roots where she feels she belong.

Thanks. To me, the answer is straightforward too. I don't see why she's hanging on to her SG passport or why there even is a dilemma here, but she said that someone told her that if she ever wanted to work in Singapore and buy an apartment to live in, her citizenship would come in handy? Emotional ties to Singapore - I'm not sure. I mean, she was a kid when she left. She's got extended family there and she goes back for holidays almost every year, but is that reason enough to keep her passport? I think she's mainly holding on to it *just in case*, but in the same vein, she's wondering if NZ may tighten citizenship rules in the future or that the increasingly vocal call to restrict the sale of land and properties to non-residents may even extend to PRs one day, and then without a Kiwi passport, she wouldn't be able to buy a house.