9 year mark and I am ready to leave Singapore!
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What can say about Singapore since my 7 year article? Well for one while I do like living here I am ready to leave now. You reach a point in your life where enough is enough and you need something better suited for you. I have reach that point and looking at my options really hard now.
If I stay in Singapore I will have to work until I die to maintain my live style. Things could be a lot better for me her if I had a college degree or was bilingual but I don’t and i’m not. So the jobs I am able to get here do pay me ok, average for the local unskilled worker. The security industry has been good to me in the way of pay over all I have to say that but at the same time the pay remains at the same level as when I started in 2003. with prices going up every day to to survive on a pay scale that is 7 years behind the prices.
I look at the governments programs to up grade skills on jobs and that is a never ending cycle. In the security field there are a lot of classes you can take but do you get a raise if you complete one of the classes, no! Unless you move from a security officer to a supervisor then yes if you are filling the position if not oh well so sorry! Yearly pay raises don’t exist don’t come in security since the price is based on the contract so as long as the company has the agreement the officer are paid the same for years to come.
Then you have the constant changing of requirements to do jobs. Trainers / instructors when I started teaching only need a 3 day class, then it was a 4 week class and depending on the level you wanted you needed to take 3 of the 7 parts, now that too has changed so you need to attend other classes to do the same job. I see it as just a way to keep people employed doing the training and to keep money moving around from school to school. The need to re-qualify every 4 or 5 years is crazy I think, but these are the rules so no choice, retrain or find a new job.
Before when I would go to the store to buy food 50 dollars would be me a lot now only a few items. Hell a good steak with cost you 25 dollars from grocery store so we eat a lot of chicken now and I mean a lot! Now I could eat at the coffee shops but after a while you get tired of the same old stuff every day or at least I do some times. Then and in the factor of the number of cases of food poisoning going around could make a person think twice about eating at these place. I’m not saying they are not safe to eat at because they are, it is just one of the factors to figure in, thats all.
As I get older I understand more of things around me and at the same time I find my self being more critical of things also. Most people here are not very curious, this really burns my ass, just the little thing are getting to me now like I open the door for some one and no thank you or anything, people on bikes on the side walks ringing their bells so I can get of their way, hell man go on the grass or ride in the street where you should be anyway the side walks for people to use. If kind of sad when you can go to a much poorer country and the people are so much nicer, life is more relaxed and you can really enjoy your life more and not be so stressed out like here in Singapore.
I look around the country and how much has been done since I moved here in October of 2001 and a lot has been build in that short amount of time, the country continues to grow at a rapid pace still which is good for some but for many more means nothing at all. But this is normal for any country so nothing new here, you will always have the one who have and the ones who have not. Wanted to be the ones who have is everyone dream. We call it “keeping up with the Jones!” the neighbor who has everything and you want the same thing. Maybe that is why so many more in Singapore are deep in dept and have their credit cards maxed out.
I just look around and see people rushing here and there and for what? I am not getting the connection, I guess I just want to be a lot happier and can’t see it happening here anymore.
26 Sept 2009
Well here I am starting year 9 in Singapore, seen a lot of changes in a short period of time some good some bad but that is just the way life goes.
For me the thought of staying here is fading really fast for several reasons. As everyone knows Singapore is a not a cheap to live unlike other places in Southeast Asia so my thoughts now are, “Why stay in Singapore?” Yeah it’s safe and you don’t have must to worry about when you are out in the town but is that the only reason to stay here? Prices go up and pay remains the same, at least for me, so it is really like fighting a loosing battle and the thought of working until I die is not all that appealing to me and that is what I am looking at if stay here.
When I see some 70 year old man applying for work I can only think to myself, “What the bloody hell, is that me in 20 year?” oh hell no! When I walk around I see the elderly work crap job for little wages because they have no other choice but to work. Well when you have a option work or not to work most will pick not working, after all that is why we bust out ass when young so one day we can retired and not work and have nothing to worry about, right? But how can the average person do that in Singapore? Like any other place in the world prices will continue to go up and god help you if there is another stock market crashes or there is some other major event that occurs which affect the region.
Now I am not talking about rich or those working making 5 to 6 thousand a month because they are not the average Singaporean, ok? For me I am in the average rage I make less they 2K a month from my company I work for but for me what makes is big difference is my retirement checks I get from the Navy each month. If not for those check no way could or would I live here. So when I know I can live some place else and maintain the same living standards and save month and not have to work why in the hell would I stay here? I can rent out my flat and put all that money in bank so if I did want to return at least I would have that nest egg waiting for me to help carry me though my stay back in Singapore.
The funny part is about 60% of the Singaporean I talk with want to get the hell out of Singapore too when they retire and for the same reasons too, can’t afford to stay without working. The women 4 out of 10 marry men from other countries, students what to attend collage in other countries and get jobs over seas and don’t want to come back so what does that tell you about the people of Singapore and country as a whole? Well what it tells me is get out while the getting is good!
People ask me, “would I return to states?” No, I wouldn’t only because I love the area and people S.E.A. more, but I’ll tell you this, I’ll never give up my U.S. Passport! My first responsibility and loyalty to my country so that is all I need to say about that.
PART 2
What is happening in Singapore?
1. The Sands resort is due to open by the end of the year
This I want to see and how it all is going to work here in Singapore? When word first come out the main issue was about people loosing they saving in the casino’s so a charge of S100 was talked about just to enter the gaming area if I recall right, haven’t heard anything else since then so that I need to find out if I can. On the TV we started seeing all the government adds for gambling addiction and getting help, ok that is a good a thing because I have seen people get hooked hard on slot machines. The second issue, prostitutes inside the casinos and how to stop them? Boy this I really want to see in action because the two are like a magnets for each other and you can’t pull them apart either.
2. They are going to build a race track over the Changi Airport
This is to help make Singapore into a regional motor sports hub by riding on the F1 fever that has hit the country. Due to its size, the proposed Grade 2 track is not designed for F1, but other smaller races. Races like the A1 are just some of the exciting events that could come to Singapore should this proposed track design materialize.
A 20 hectare land off Changi Coast Road will be the site for the permanent facility. Its seafront location will make it one of the most scenic circuits in Asia. More importantly, the track will allow year—round usage and have benefits beyond sport.
“With limited space, there will be a compromise because the longer the track, the more corners there will be. This also means the track is likely to be slower compared to a shorter track. But having said that, you also depend very much on the design of the track,” said Fan Chien Jen, Deputy Director, Motor Sports Development Division, Singapore Sports Council.
The track will also allow the sport to grow here and develop future champions at a racing academy. It will allow the masses to enjoy this, not only as a spectator but also to drive,” said Oon Jin Teik, CEO of Singapore Sports Council. The track is expected to be up and running by 2011.
3. The casino at Sentosa is under construction
4. The first part of the new circle line is now running, only 5 station when this was written from Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount stations.
Commuters can transfer to the existing North-South line and North-East line at Bishan and Serangoon respectively. The Circle Line opened up multiple new connections for residents in the north and the north-east. About 55,000 commuters are expected to use the first five stations every day.
The remaining 24 stations of the line will open from next year (2010). Once fully operational, the line’s daily ridership is expected to go up to 500,000.
Tunneling work for the entire line is almost completed, and is expected to be finished by September 2009. While it is not clear yet which other stations will open next, the LTA said six stations have already received the Temporary Occupation Permit - an indication that they will be next in line. These are Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah, Esplanade, Promenade, Stadium and Tai Seng.
SMRT’s president and chief executive officer Saw Phaik Hwa said the operator expects to collect about $400,000.
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5. Daily raids in the Geylang and also in Chinatown to curb prostitution – this started about Feb 2009 I think it was. Now when these happen before it would be for a few weeks then end and over time the girls would return but in this case the raids have continued and the police are more or less camped out in the alley way at Lorong 18 in Geylang all the time. So now the area is pretty much empty of streetwalker. The few girls you find there now are very nervous and try to not stand out or in one place to much so they can not be easily spotted. After the raids started some of the Chinese (PRC) girls moved over to Chinatown are around Peoples Park to work but the Police followed them there so that area is seeing raids also. Basically what has happen is the girls are now forced to work in different area of Singapore instead of one concentrated area like Geylang making them harder to find. So what do the foreign workers do to find there girl now, well they have 2 option, 1) To use the approved government houses or 2) Go on a search for where the working girls are. When you consider the money that is being lost by the pimps running the girl new methods had to be found to make up for the lost in income to the organization.
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6. They are cracking down hotel that offer short term stays to curb prostitution
(See the Singapore news section for the story) Ok so why the crack down on the Hotels? My guess is to make it harder to find places for the girls to take customers which is obvious but that just means the girls may be forced to take them back to their own hotels. But besides the prostitutes it also causes a problem for the young lovers on the country that can’t take their girl friends home since someone is always there or the chance of getting cause my family is a lot higher. So where do they go now, parks or the beach at East Coast and set up a tent? I guess so! Another alternative is the car parks around the housing estates not the most romantic but when forced to, well, we do what we have to do where ever we can I guess. For the hotel it is surely a lost of income also so how many places will survive this only renting the room 1 time a day vice 8 or 12 times.
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7. The number of internet site to find prostitutes has risen
(This done not include escort agencies since they are not “prostitutes”) – most of the girls are from Thailand and prices range from S$120 for 90 minutes to S$180, over night charge are about S$280. Since you will not find the Thai girls in Geylang on the street you can still find them if you are willing to pay the price which is about the same when you consider a 30 minutes in Geylang would cost you between S$40 and S$60.
8. More young Singaporean women working in the sex trade.
This is the first sign of harder times in Singapore for the locals. Before it was the Malay girls you could find on the streets of Geylang last at night and not very common to see the Chinese teenagers working in the sex industry but now the numbers have gone up and it is even possible to fine Indian girls selling them selves too. While most of the Chinese girls are using the internet to reach customer it would be obvious that they are also making it known in other areas where they meet people too they are just not as openly seen as the other girls. The main reasons given for working are things like, 1) needing money for school, or 2) parent is ill, some are even offering up they virginity (yeah right) for a very high price. So with the legal age of consent being 16 in Singapore a law was passed that says a girl can not prostitute her unless she is 18 year old, ok fine. So you meet a girl on the net where she says she is 18 you and you meet up, she says she is 16, ok you can not buy it outright but you can give her a give of new hand-phone right? Or just give her a gift for being such a good friend and long as you make it clear what you give her is not for sex. So what is the difference I have to ask? Because I don’t know!!
9. Within the top 50 web sites in Singapore is a site that deals solely with sex in Singapore and where men can find girls from 18yo and up both local Singaporean’s and from other countries also is a site for free downloading from porn movies in the top 100 sites so never think that sex is not a big issue here in Singapore because it is. There is a lot of money spent here but the locals and visitors on sex rather it be from massage parlors, brothers, freelancers, street walkers, escorts, bar girls, traffickers, students and yes even wives.
Much of it is keep very quiet and some of it can be hard to find but if you do a little digging and pay attention to what is going on around you you’ll see it all over the place.
