morning play @ T3
last week, the government’s White Paper was all the rage on the internet in Singapore. Forums, Facebook..you name it, someone was talking about it. Even my mom got on the bandwagon grousing about something that was written in it. The major point that got everyone talking was the projection of a population of 6.9mil people in Singapore by 2030.
me? I just listened and watched the world go by, just Ollie & I. haha. Seriously. Amidst all the grousing that I have heard, and I probably have added some myself, I came to a conclusion that I was comfortable with when I moved back to Singapore. I had been fortunate enough to live in Australia for 6 years and have my fun there. Sure, housing is expensive in Singapore, more so when you want to buy from the open market, and you have to wait for a good 3-4 years if you want to obtain subsidised housing. Sure, the rat race is super competitive in Singapore, leading to stressful lifestyles, resulting in possible lower birthrates. I could see where all the arguments were heading.
But I chose Singapore to be my home (for now) because of my family, and the decision that we would maintain the lifestyle that we had and experienced in Australia. That made it bearable. Donald and I made some choices like deciding that I should step out of the rat race so that I could care for our child(ren). We bought our apartment from the open market because we didn’t want to have to wait for subsidised housing. I was pretty happy with the choices we made. Yes, the cost of living is getting higher, salaries do not make it any easier for us to obtain housing and buy a car. But we make do with it. (Wait till you have to pay 13 bucks for a plate of hor fun in Australia haha). I mean, not everyone is going to be happy with change made. There have been changes for the better (paternity leave..etc). Yes, lots of room for improvement, but hey, at least we are moving forward just that teensy-weensy bit, no?
I guess the hype about the paper brought about another discussion: schooling for Oliver. Donald brought up the thought of moving back to Australia to “escape” the impending overpopulation in Singapore, like how things could just go downhill or worse from now on, compared to how things were say, 10 years ago? Housing could just get even more scarce, cost of living get higher, competition for jobs..etc. I was a little “huh?”. I wasn’t about to move back to “avoid” these potential issues. I mean, hey, Donald and I have to deal with it, surely the kids will have to deal with it too. I mean, well, of course we want the best for our kids, but I’m not about to let them take things for granted. We could see how things go before we bail them out.
IF we have to capability to bail them out then. haha. But for now, I have that much faith in our system, and I want them to be able to be around as much family as possible.
So the discussion led us to checking out some forums and schools for Ollie. He is only 1, and I’m checking out schools?? Talk about being kiasu. We actually discussed schools all the way up to when Ollie would start high school. Hahah. What our choices would be based on, and how much we would let Ollie make some of the decisions (grades vs environment). Oh man…parenting is gonna be a major ball game. But for now, we are checking out some preschools which Ollie could go to a couple of times a week just so that I could have some time with #2, if and when we do have #2 next year. Just some pre-planning. =D