When I arrived at Changi airport more than 4 years ago, the first thing I felt was humidity. However, it wasn’t as bad as I expected, and now I realize that sometimes Korea is hotter than Singapore in the summer. The people were speaking various languages such as Tamil, English, Chinese, Malay and Korean. It was an exotic and unique impression, quite different from two years ago, when I came here for a trip.  I had heard a lot of things about Singapore, like very strict laws, weird English accents (called Singlish) and a workaholic and global culture. I started to worry about how I could get used to living here, and overcome the language barrier. I had studied English for around 2 years and worked at a multi-national company for 5 years in Korea, which led to me being extremely confident. However, this feeling of confidence quickly eroded after I started talking to Singaporeans.

Everything was new to me, and cultural shock began to set in, especially during my first week of work. As official working hours were 09:00 to 18:00, I got to work every morning at 08:30 to show my diligence, but only a couple of people were in the office before 10 o’clock and they were mainly just  chatting to each other. By 11:00, less than 20 people were working in the office were 50 people work.  I asked my colleague, “Hey! Dick, do you know why people here are always late for work?” He was smiling and said, “Our manager is flexible.” I later found out that most of global companies in Singapore normally do not care about working hours. It actually depends on which company or what position you work in. Management wasn’t really strict here compared to Korea, but cared more about work performance. For example, my colleague sent an e-mail to our team that read “My dog is sick today, so I will work from home this week until his recovery.” And she actually worked for that week at home. This is indeed an unbelievable situation compared to work environments in Korea or Japan, where management is very strict. Many people admire this kind of work culture and want to consider finding a job here. Due to the fact that this person’s work performance was great, no one actually cared about her absence.

Later on I went for lunch at a food court called the Hawker Center; it was here where I had my second cultural shock experience. Average Singaporeans often have lunch at outdoor food courts. I believe that if Koreans were to eat at one of these outdoor food courts they might not like it because of the lack of hygiene. People there were using unhygienic tables, chairs, spoons and dishes that cleaners washed without detergent. These actions would have been unacceptable in many cultures around the world.  There was something interesting that I did notice about Hawker Center food court, that did impress me though. They had a brilliant employment system organized by the Singaporean government, whereby senior citizens worked there in fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, or they had jobs cleaning offices. Normally people at that age would find it extremely difficult to find employment, so I was very impressed. 

Singapore is a small country, similar in size to Seoul, Korea. Also, the current government has been in power for more than 30 years. Due to this fact, government control is firm here and I believe Singapore is one of the safest countries for women. If a man commits a sexual crime, sentences can range from a caning of around 10 strokes, but also could be life in prison. Caning as a punishment may sound mild, but in practice, one stroke of the cane can rip the flesh and cause serious bleeding. During my time in Singapore, I never saw any dangerous teenagers or any spitting on the street.  Teens here are quite innocent, polite to adults and well developed in terms of a global mind-set. If you would like to live in the safest country in the world, I strongly recommend you come to Singapore.

Living there for 4 years, I came to see that Singapore has its good and bad aspects. I witnessed the NEA (National Environment Agency) in Singapore consistently carry out dengue inspections and pest control all over the housing areas periodically. Singapore has an equatorial climate with virtually no mosquitos. Secondly, we can see many and various plants in this country and the air is very fresh, but it is hard to see any flowers. Thirdly, on the streets, in shopping malls, and even in the park, I always struggled to find chairs or benches to have a drink and take a rest.

One last thing I want to talk about is education. This is a hot topic in Singapore. The education system in Singapore focuses on languages, math and science because many students want to become professors or doctors. Opponents to this system complain about a serious lack of artists and experts in the humanities and sport. I entirely agree with both opinions and if I look at my children’s primary school, there is physical education and art, however they tend to push math and science on their students. I have rarely seen any great artists or sports figures influencing the world from Singapore. My Singaporean friends entirely agree with my opinion, but I also believe the current education system is good in that it allows children to freely express their opinions.

In this world, there are always bright and negative sides at the same time, and we must choose which ones we give up and which ones to take. I have decided to enjoy what I have chosen. Singaporean life is sometimes boring due to the lack of seasonal weather change, but I feel quite safe here and am enjoying the country I have chosen; I am quite happy to work and live here with my family.