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I moved to Singapore

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Re: I moved to Singapore

#61
I grew up and lived in Singapore all my life, and am glad to hear you moved over!

One thing to note though, you should remove your Identity Card No. from your blog post. They can be used illegally and is best kept private.

Have dropped you a mail, let's meet up sometime!

Re: I moved to Singapore

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Different kinds of freedom". Whenever anyone says this, I get very nervous. It's pretty clear that these "different kinds" are not real freedom at all, and so don't include things like freedom of speech, the ability to truly determine who governs you, or even the freedom to water or not water the plants in front of your apartment (failing to do the latter in Singapore will result in a visit from the cops). Here's a…

Classic essay on negative and positive liberty: http://jmaggio.typepad.com/no_call_me_jay/files/two_concepts...

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberty-positive-negative/

Re: I moved to Singapore

#63
post #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…

This is a tough subject. You're right that if you walk around a city in SE Asia, you'll inevitably see lots of old, fat, bald men walking around with young pretty local girls, and there's no mistaking what's going on. Lots of these guys marry their bar girls and bring them home, so it's not uncommon to see a surly, tattoo'd guy walking around in Manchester with a Thai girl who's clearly way out of his league.

But what happens if you're a young traveler living in Chiang Mai, teaching English, and you meet a local girl who works as a bank teller. You fall in love, meet her parents, marry and eventually move back to your country with her. How do you signal to the world that yours is in fact a legitimate relationship?

The short answer is: you can't. There's a stigma, deserved or undeserved. It's something you learn to live with, because you know that nomatter how clearly you explain your position, you'll still end up fielding uncomfortable questions like the one asked by the parent.

Re: I moved to Singapore

#64
Singapore seemed a little to squeaky-clean and expensive, so I did the same thing, but in Vietnam instead. Internet infrastructure here isn't great but other than that I haven't regretted it for a second. The U.S. and Europe just seem so boring now when I go back.

Re: I moved to Singapore

#65
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't possess or view pornography---that's a violation of free speech. There's more. But the only positive that's trumpeted about singapore is that their streets are clean and their city beautiful. This is good for the tourist, but not necessarily a place you want to move to.

National Geographic ran a special on Singapore a year or so ago and one thing they described was a proliferation of thinly disguised "massage parlors" in malls. In a police state that Singapore is it basically means that these outlets are approved by the government, so the whole pornography issue is really quite multifaceted. The same special described the general idea behind the chewing gum and jaywalking laws -- it…

Are you equating semi-legal prostitution with the possession of pornography?

Re: I moved to Singapore

#66
post #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 o…

laws are only for the undesired.

here in california I'm a criminal for having a gps on my wind shield. but as long as I'm not a minority/pissing an officer/disturbing the status quo/etc, I'm fine.

"to my friends everything.to my enemies, the law."

Re: I moved to Singapore

#67
post #49
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've visited Singapore twice. I've settled in Australia, originally from Europe. I was really worried when I visited Singapore and took their 'tourist' tour. They put you in a bus, drive you around all jetlagged and give you orange juice on the beach. Completely surreal. What really put me off was their unconditional love for their government. The woman 'tour guide' in the bus just couldn't stop thanking the governme…

s/communism/totalitarianism/g and you'll make better sense.

[deleted]

Re: I moved to Singapore

#69
post #66
post #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 o…

laws are only for the undesired. here in california I'm a criminal for having a gps on my wind shield. but as long as I'm not a minority/pissing an officer/disturbing the status quo/etc, I'm fine. "to my friends everything.to my enemies, the law."

It is legal to have a GPS on your windshield in California.

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm section 12

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