l| a time to be silent and a time to speak |l

Growing Pains

If we grow to be a better person with each passing day, then wouldn't old folks be the best people around? - chooz

Recently the irrational, perhaps even escapist, thought of starting a new life outside of SG (for a few years?) has been gnawing my mind. Discarding all (kinds of) ties and whatever monetary/security concerns, it sounds like a pretty neat idea to immerse in the culture and way of life in another land. Preferably, it isn't a totally foreign place. Which means, English or Chinese has to be the lingua franca in the place, so that I'd have no problem ordering my usual kopi-siu dai (less sweetened coffee) or getting round to the local hangouts. It should be a place where my limited skills can be usefully employed, with sustainably good returns so as to live my bohemian kind of life there. Yes, I'd like to be employed so that the 'S-1' obstacle would lessen. Not really thinking of the going-abroad-to-study kind of leaving, which is more short-lived and requires a lesser demand of having to fit in.

It's been gnawing my mind because it seems like a real possibility. Ok, until the various concerns and real-life worries fade in. BUT, it's still undeniably possible. The will can be a very strong thing, like it or not, good or bad.

Am I just momentarily envious of the people around me who have left (willingly or not), or is this a sign of the much acclaimed quarter-life crisis? Actually, I think I might have passed my 'quarter-life' already. I don't feel healthy enough to be confident of living till 100. (Gosh, this pushes the panic button even harder I think!)