We Want Urban Life!

My hairstylist recently resigned and opened his own salon with several friends. He is a Malaysian, came to Singapore many years ago, and finally saved enough of both money and courage to strike out on his own.

I went to his salon at Lucky Plaza yesterday. It was a Sunday, and as you would probably guess, foreign workers filled the area.

My brother’s maid, recently hired, came from a village in Philippine. She cried one day during dinner, because she gets to eat meat / fish / prawn everyday here – something her family gets to eat only during festive seasons – and she wished her kids could be here with her to enjoy the meals.

I was not even thinking about going back to my hometown to look for a job after I graduated from university. My first destination was Singapore.

We are all urban dwellers. We came here to look for jobs and opportunities. Had we stayed in our hometown, we probably can still tell ourselves: “we have a comfortable life, not so stress, not so busy, no need for so much money.” But we are very materialistic. We want a more advanced environment. We want to make use of technology to make our life more convenient…

The things in the city are just too seductive. Shopping malls. Latest fashion. Fastest computers. Variety of food – and fine food for that matter. Entertainment. Music performances. Exhibitions…

There are just too many things to pull us here. And when we look back to our hometown, we thought – what a memory.

We are all very shallow people. And I am no difference from the many foreign workers here.