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I moved to Singapore

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Re: I moved to Singapore

#11
I'm surprised at his choice of location - Singapore is quite a nanny state, and the punishments are sometimes quite severe.

"Singapore society is highly regulated through the criminalization of many activities which are considered as fairly harmless in other countries. These include failing to flush toilets after use, littering, jaywalking, the possession of pornography, and the sale of chewing gum."

"Singapore has one of the highest execution rates in the world relative to its population, surpassing Saudi Arabia."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_law_of_Singapore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_death_penal...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offence_of_scandalizing_the_cou...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Law_(Temporary_Provisi...

Re: I moved to Singapore

#12
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I was wondering about that too. But is that number publicly available? If so (or if nothing bad happens if people do know it), is there an issue? Edit: Hmm ... "This has led to complaints of the possibility of fraud and identity theft. Therefore, now when NRIC numbers are publicly displayed, only the last three digits and the letters are displayed." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Identity_…

This is one way to find out. You've also got my home address and mobile phone# in the public corporate records (see bottom of http://50pop.com/ ) - so I'm not relying on security through obscurity.

After proudly getting my driver's license I put an image of it online. Someone printed it out while replacing the picture with their own face. Police saw this fake ID. Even though the quality was laughable, I was called in for questioning because they thought I might have cooperated in the fraud.

But yeah, probably an unlikely enough event to not worry about it.

Re: I moved to Singapore

#13
Strange, considering Singapore is a pretty musically desolate place. Then again, Imogen Heap was just there, so I guess you'll get the occasional rain.

Try restaurant andre.

Re: I moved to Singapore

#14

Are you enjoying living in a police state? Seriously.

We aren't a police state. We enjoy different kinds of freedom. Sure, previously some of the 'freedom to' stuff was clammed down upon,but the recent elections showed that we might be moving forward in the right direction. I am casually optimistic that we will find the right balance to allow our citizens both 'freedom from' and 'freedom to' liberties.

Re: I moved to Singapore

#17
The whole stay-abroad until you see "their" point of view is admirable. The flip side is that after that, you can never really go home. I mean obviously you can physically, but you give up your ability to fit in with your own people. This may or may not be a downside for you, but something to be aware of.

Anyway, congratulations on your move.

[edit in response to questions below: there is a big difference between living abroad for a few months a year or a couple of years and doing what the OP is suggesting - living abroad for long enough that your adult life is permanently established abroad. There is a turning point (in my experience around 15 years) at which point you have lived away from your family and old friends (which is what I meant by own people) that your different experiences come to overshadow your old similarities, especially if there are significant cultural differences. For an academic example imagine a woman from Saudi Arabia where women are not allowed even to drive living and working in the US for 20 years integrated in normal US life. It is unlikely she can ever return home and slot back as if she has never left. Americans are not exempt from this phenomenon - as can be reported by expats living in Europe going home to visit their families and ending up in epic arguments over US foreign policy. I live surrounded by expats (not short term visitors) from many countries and they would all report various degrees of this. Basically, once you become a citizen of the world, any one country and culture can come to be seen as parochial).

Re: I moved to Singapore

#20
Congrats Derek.

This favors a trend I've noticed. White men moving to Asia or marrying/dating Asian women. It seems like half or more of the engineers I work with are married to Asian women, which is how I noticed this (I am also). It's an interesting trend. It's increasingly harder to find a white woman who will marry and have kids, let alone even talk to a man with geeky characteristics. Combine that with the lack of white women in science and engineering degrees...

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