This entry is essentially an introduction to an occasional series on life in Singapore. I moved back here in mid-2024 with my Singaporean wife, Jenny. I was here from 2006 to 2015, so it’s not really a new experience for me. But as Heraclitus noted, No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.
My last stint in Singapore was actually my first OE. While most kiwis take their OE in their 20s, I was in my early 40s before mine started. Life in Singapore was just so different from my life in Auckland. It took me a while to adjust, to make sense of the place. I made the same mistakes so many expats before me made. I learned, I pivoted, and came to love the place.
In 2015 we moved to Melbourne, and two years later back to Auckland. Living in New Zealand again was, of course, familiar, and it was quickly as if I had never left. Almost. While we initially thought our stay in Auckland was going to be another two or three year stretch (and that we would end up back in Singapore), life, family, and COVID all got in the way. It was seven years before we managed to get back.
I now have two quite different perspectives from which to evaluate the Singapore we have returned to: One perspective is effectively comparing pre- and post-COVID Singapore. Since I wasn’t in Singapore during the lockdowns and social response, I can starkly compare these before and after worlds without being clouded by the smaller, gradual changes that took place during the COVID years. I do recognise that not all changes in Singapore over the past 9 years are solely due to COVID. My perspective is focused on the Singapore I knew then and the Singapore I experience today.
The other perspective is essentially noting the differences between Singapore and Auckland now.
I am not even confident that I will be able to determine why something here seems different. I certainly can’t always determine causation. But I will try. Let’s see how we go.
So, to follow are some occasional stories and observations.