<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>24003.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Nov 8, 2009
THE EX-PAT FILES
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Never a dull moment
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nilanjana Sengupta
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Recently, a Singaporean whom I had just met asked me to tell him one thing I didn't like about Singapore. I had no answer to give him. There was nothing that I hated so much as to articulate it to a perfect stranger.
But he had one thing that he said disturbed him. And that was the growing number of immigrants in the city speaking in their own native languages and dialects. Sometimes he wondered if he was living in a foreign land, he told me. I could not identify with that, I told him, since I myself am an expat. But the conversation left me thinking.
Singaporeans probably have a right to feel encroached upon when they see the number of new faces speaking foreign tongues around them growing. But I am more inclined to believe the authorities when they say the influx is not at the cost of national talent and Singaporeans should not feel alarmed by it.
I also don't think Singapore's inherent culture or vibe will be dented because of this. If anything, expats and immigrants ought to adapt themselves to their host country's ways than the other way round.
At least that is what I have been trying to do.
When I left Mumbai to come here, the weight on my chest felt heavier than the luggage I was carrying. Yet I kept pushing myself to go ahead, telling myself, 'If I don't jump, how will I learn to swim'.
I came here because, as I have said in my first piece in this column, I wanted to gain the experience of living and working in another country. Singapore was familiar because I have friends living here for long and my family and I had visited it as tourists a few times. Plus, it is not that far away from home, 21/2 hours behind and a six-hour flight away.
More importantly, I wanted to explore and expand my horizons and Singapore gave me that opportunity, for which I am grateful.
Living here has not been a tough challenge, although the first few months were hard - a new country, new people, new office, looking for a place to live and for food to fit my palate.
Now, after a couple of years and then some in Singapore, I have formed some views about my host country, most of it nice, and one not so charming.
What I have grown to like about Singapore:
The floor I live on is a mini-Singapore in itself. My neighbours are Malay, Chinese and Indian. Some of them have young children and one of them has a dog. I wake up to the sounds of the temple bell that my Indian neighbour rings while praying. I leave home to the smell of incense sticks that my Chinese neighbour has put at the altar outside her home. When I return home, I am greeted by children playing and running along the corridor and by the dog's welcoming bark.
Singapore keeps itself relevant on the world stage. Whether it is by being the first to fly the Airbus A-380 or hold the Grand Prix night races, or by hosting prestigious events like the Apec Summit this week.
It is constantly evolving and changing. There is something new happening somewhere or the other. As a result, it is not monotonous to visit the same places again and again. If I go back to a favourite haunt after a month's gap, rest assured I shall find something new to see, whether it is a new mall or a new piece of architecture. Even though it is a small city, just a little bigger in area than Mumbai, there are nooks and corners that I still have to explore and visit.
I can do my bit for the environment without putting in too much of an effort. In order to recycle my papers, bottles and cans, all I have to do is put them in a green bag and keep the bag outside my flat. Two days a month, the people from the National Environment Agency come and collect the recyclable waste.
I don't oversleep, thanks to the karung guni man who comes around at 11 every morning. The song he sings after blowing his horn sounds as if he is telling me, 'Get Mo-o-oving. Get Mo-o-oving'.
I like the sound of rain outside my window every single month of the year.
What I heard about Singapore but haven't seen yet: I haven't seen trees being planted overnight.
What I wish I could see less of: Cockroaches. I am terrified of them. But they seem very much at home here, sometimes scurrying alongside me on the road or crossing my path taking their own sweet time. If I ever leave Singapore, it will be because of these terrible critters, the sight of which has made me cry since I was a child.
Nilanjana Sengupta is an assistant to the editor on the Straits Times Foreign Desk. An Indian national, she has been in Singapore for two and a half years.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
THE EX-PAT FILES
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Never a dull moment
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nilanjana Sengupta
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->
Recently, a Singaporean whom I had just met asked me to tell him one thing I didn't like about Singapore. I had no answer to give him. There was nothing that I hated so much as to articulate it to a perfect stranger.
But he had one thing that he said disturbed him. And that was the growing number of immigrants in the city speaking in their own native languages and dialects. Sometimes he wondered if he was living in a foreign land, he told me. I could not identify with that, I told him, since I myself am an expat. But the conversation left me thinking.
Singaporeans probably have a right to feel encroached upon when they see the number of new faces speaking foreign tongues around them growing. But I am more inclined to believe the authorities when they say the influx is not at the cost of national talent and Singaporeans should not feel alarmed by it.
I also don't think Singapore's inherent culture or vibe will be dented because of this. If anything, expats and immigrants ought to adapt themselves to their host country's ways than the other way round.
At least that is what I have been trying to do.
When I left Mumbai to come here, the weight on my chest felt heavier than the luggage I was carrying. Yet I kept pushing myself to go ahead, telling myself, 'If I don't jump, how will I learn to swim'.
I came here because, as I have said in my first piece in this column, I wanted to gain the experience of living and working in another country. Singapore was familiar because I have friends living here for long and my family and I had visited it as tourists a few times. Plus, it is not that far away from home, 21/2 hours behind and a six-hour flight away.
More importantly, I wanted to explore and expand my horizons and Singapore gave me that opportunity, for which I am grateful.
Living here has not been a tough challenge, although the first few months were hard - a new country, new people, new office, looking for a place to live and for food to fit my palate.
Now, after a couple of years and then some in Singapore, I have formed some views about my host country, most of it nice, and one not so charming.
What I have grown to like about Singapore:
The floor I live on is a mini-Singapore in itself. My neighbours are Malay, Chinese and Indian. Some of them have young children and one of them has a dog. I wake up to the sounds of the temple bell that my Indian neighbour rings while praying. I leave home to the smell of incense sticks that my Chinese neighbour has put at the altar outside her home. When I return home, I am greeted by children playing and running along the corridor and by the dog's welcoming bark.
Singapore keeps itself relevant on the world stage. Whether it is by being the first to fly the Airbus A-380 or hold the Grand Prix night races, or by hosting prestigious events like the Apec Summit this week.
It is constantly evolving and changing. There is something new happening somewhere or the other. As a result, it is not monotonous to visit the same places again and again. If I go back to a favourite haunt after a month's gap, rest assured I shall find something new to see, whether it is a new mall or a new piece of architecture. Even though it is a small city, just a little bigger in area than Mumbai, there are nooks and corners that I still have to explore and visit.
I can do my bit for the environment without putting in too much of an effort. In order to recycle my papers, bottles and cans, all I have to do is put them in a green bag and keep the bag outside my flat. Two days a month, the people from the National Environment Agency come and collect the recyclable waste.
I don't oversleep, thanks to the karung guni man who comes around at 11 every morning. The song he sings after blowing his horn sounds as if he is telling me, 'Get Mo-o-oving. Get Mo-o-oving'.
I like the sound of rain outside my window every single month of the year.
What I heard about Singapore but haven't seen yet: I haven't seen trees being planted overnight.
What I wish I could see less of: Cockroaches. I am terrified of them. But they seem very much at home here, sometimes scurrying alongside me on the road or crossing my path taking their own sweet time. If I ever leave Singapore, it will be because of these terrible critters, the sight of which has made me cry since I was a child.
Nilanjana Sengupta is an assistant to the editor on the Straits Times Foreign Desk. An Indian national, she has been in Singapore for two and a half years.
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