It is no doubt a perceived insurmountable obstacle to a Singaporean when thinking of migrating overseas.
I for one, even with a good number of years of education in Australia, found it hard to pluck myself out from Singapore and make the move back then. What convinced me to move was watching my nephews and nieces growing up to school age and seeing them put aside their childhood for the sake of their studies and not having a chance to grow and explore their lives as children.
Most disheartening of all was when my favourite niece changed from the beautiful, bubbly baby into a timid and cynical primary school girl who was saddled with all manner of after school activities just because her parent felt the proverbial need to keep up with the Joneses; tuition in Chinese and Maths, then swimming, then ballet, then piano, then drama, then choir, then tennis, then golf, and now, some new-fangled personal grooming class.
It just bugged me to no end to think, if all these were so beneficial to the child, why the hell the need for "Foreign Talents" in Singapore then? Based on the list of activities she had after school, she should be a supreme multi-tasker later in life, able to handle at least 3 separate high powered jobs, 3 high paying salaries that would solve any manpower issues the PAP is braying about!
Unfortunately, it seems like in Singapore, the force-feeding of knowledge into young minds is the order of the day, not the holistic upbringing of the potential within each child.
Clearly but sadly, the quantity of education far exceeds the need for a quality education.
So I took a risk by believing to the contrary and believed that "quality education" would have to encompass not only formal but also a "family" education.
Having seen children from far less privileged background, far less educated parents, who have succeeded in life that the Singapore newspapers commonly attribute to a fluke or "against all odds", I found that the common theme amongst these individuals was their ability to shine their inner selves and eventually attract or receive some form of mentorship that would put them into a benevolent cycle of broadening their life experiences and thus putting them in a path of becoming a more wholesome adult.
I saw that this could not be achieved in Singapore (or at least in my social circle), especially when parents on the superficial surface, heap fake praise on your kids, but only out of pure jealousy that would translate to them placing even more demands on their own kids to outdo and outperform.
A very warped concept not unlike keeping a caged bird but expecting them to sing a new tune every time it comes to show it off.
So me migrating to Australia was perhaps a risk in raising my kids as you would "kampong ayam" style; Give them the freedom to enjoy their childhood, let them blossom socially and emotionally while my role as a parent be to keep an eye and see where their talents would lie that I might then invest more time/money in.
So, instead of being the taskmaster, slavedriver or bringing my working role home as the boss to my kids, I resolved to adopt the role of shepherd, to be involved with their everyday lives enough for them to want to share their day with me and for me to listen, learn and guide them, all with the hope that they will not feel that success is demanded of them, but that success is theirs and theirs to pursue.
Yup, that's why I left Singapore, not for money, not for career, but for the love for my family and its future.