so i had a chat with my best friend today, about things and the up-and-coming and the singaporean condition. also about remote-controls and delegation of power. as we do, most times we speak.

i could go on for hours about the things that prick my heart, about the things that get under my skin like a bad splinter, when we talk about singapore (the state), singapore (the people) and singapore (the place), but i shan’t because i’m not really in the mood.

why is the choice between labelled defiant, rebellious, a leaver, or integration into mindless homogeneity? and why is being different a bad thing?

over the weekend, after many drinks in a hot and sweaty pub, we played games and one of them was to state our age and our biggest accomplishment so far. (not that we were being arse-y or anything, we were just slightly depressed and needed joyous perspective)

i am 23. my most important accomplishment so far has been to leave singapore behind physically, if still not yet completely mentally.

i’m not burning my bridges or abandoning my heritage or snubbing my nose at my roots. i’m merely trying to become a citizen of the world, a world that is much bigger than one country and one ideology and one dominant mentality.

a world in which difference is as valued as sameness, and where individuals are allowed to be.