Of migrants and stayers

This piece of musing is a follow-up from Elia Diodati's and Aaron Ng's blog on the issue of migrating Singaporeans. The issue of brain drain is quite ancient whereby it is being repeated ad nauseum in media, forums, blogs, etc, and the catch phrase for it is migration, a word that I prefer to the politically loaded term "quitter".

It remains to be seen if scientists can prove with certainty that the ability to migrate is one of the primal instincts in higher animals like Man. I will certainly not doubt that our ancestors desired to seek an oasis of plentiful resources that they made the choice to cross mighty oceans from all corners of the globe and settle in this Lion City. Fast forward to more recent times, it seems that this very primal instinct to migrate is revitalized in later generations of Singaporeans as they desired to seek pastures abroad.

Whilst our leaders expound the value of loyalty to one's country irregardless of the circumstances that one faces, one must acknowledge that such a form of altruism is a rarity. Loyalty to one country is nowadays a form of commodity traded in exchange for say, a security of livelihood or the opportunity to fulfil one's dreams. Thus, for the remainder of my write-up, I would discuss the reasons as to why Singaporeans set their sights on destinations beyond our shores.

The first reason is the topic of disillusionment amongst Singaporeans especially the young. They are talented in their own capacity, yet the system established DO NOT RECOGNIZE their talents. The end result is that these people are thrown out of the system and denied of an opportunity to nurture their talents. As a result, these people become disillusioned, and feel that Singapore is not the place to develop their talents. If they are given the opportunity to nurture their talents in overseas destinations, usually these people would stay on overseas.

The second reason is the limited diversity within the Singapore sphere. Are there opportunities for budding rocket scientists (rocket designers for space and NOT weaponry), the Winter Olympics hopeful who loves winter sports, our future astronautical engineers or nuclear physicists? It's an inevitable fact that Singaporeans with such aspirations will seek their playground elsewhere.

The third reason is the relative cheapness of air travel. Budget airlines that ply air-routes within a region allow Singaporeans to get quickly from one place to another. Singaporeans settling in other lower living costs countries in the Asian region can take advantage of budget Airlines to keep in touch with relatives in Singapore. The upcoming Airbus A380 that is capable of direct flight from Australia to Chicago will be the future of air travel, and will allow relatives from further destinations to travel at greater convinience.

The fourth reason has more to do with the Singapore system's (legal) tolerance with certain categories of people. It has to be said that our laws are in a way not conducive towards certain minorities like the homosexuals for instance. Don't get me wrong, I am not a homosexual by any means (a straight in fact), but I would like to relate accounts from my friends who are homosexuals. I know of a friend who is one. He studied overseas and grew to like the country where he completed his undergraduate studies because of its tolerance towards gays. Comparing it to Singapore that criminalizes acts of homosexuality, he made the choice to stay on in the foreign country because he found its tolerance of gays a pull factor and Singapore's criminal prosecution of homosexual acts a push factor. He was considered a talent in his field, and was head-hunted before he even graduated. These are the type of top brains that Singapore will eventually lose, a sentiment echoed by SM Goh. This situation was not helped either with the constant encroachment of religious lobbies calling for the criminalization of homosexuality and lesbianism. On a lighter note, I would suspect die hard gum chewers might find Singapore a little inconducive, because it may be a little hard to purchase gums, and secondly, they need to get a medical certification.

Perhaps, the issue of migration is a consequence of globalization. We may do well to recall the old adage,"The world is our oyster". As it is, the world is increasingly seen as the travellers playground that even my humble little tavern is nothing but a temporary stop on the traveller's highway. As much as I want travellers to stay on in this tavern of mine, it is inevitable that they would resume their journey on the highway..........................