‘What made you come here?’ — Migrants in Singapore spill their reasons for coming

SINGAPORE: A Reddit user on r/askSingapore asked people who have moved to Singapore from other countries why they’ve migrated in a particularly timely post on National Day (Aug 9).

“What made you come here?” asked u/sixpastfour, adding, “So yesterday I asked Reddit why Singaporeans chose to leave the country. Today I’d like to ask those who have come here why they chose to. Not as some sort of national pride thing but just to see a different perspective.”

Many Reddit users have chimed in, and in one much-upvoted comment, u/zeindigofire, who’s from Canada and who lived in Brazil, mentioned NUS, safety, and the climate.

u/Comfortable-Ad6074 simply wrote “1 x 3 = :3,” in reference to the exchange rate between the Singapore dollar and the Malaysian ringgit.

slurymcflurry2, who’s also from Malaysia, wrote that she had never planned on moving to Singapore but at one point had a Singaporean boyfriend. However, “He changed his mind about getting married and by then it was totally stupid to consider moving back. So I stayed.”

“I came for the money at first. But over the years, I appreciate the system. True it’s quite restrictive from a certain point of view but the environment is super safe. So I stayed,” chimed in u/7pi_foundation, but added that he would encourage his own children to “leave Singapore to see the world.”

“I have a friend who converted to citizenship Because he thinks that he would be happier in singapore as a gay person,” wrote u/udontaxidriver.

A netizen who had come from Hong Kong had this to say: “Moved here because of deep dissatisfaction with the state and prospect of HK way before things blew up in 2019. The opportunity cost is 2 years of NS, somewhat hefty commitment of time and did not enjoy it but I’d say the passport is worth it.”

“My family came here because my dad’s company sent him over to Singapore to manage a project in the 90s. By the time the company sent him back, both his kids were already finishing up their A levels, so the family felt there was no point in upending their education to shift the whole family. (Plus Singapore universities were better anyway),” wrote u/TheDoorDoesntWork.

u/roytoy1988, who came from the Philippines, says he came for work because of a higher salary but ended up staying “when I met the love of my life and married her.”

/TISG

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