Whenever I'm overseas, I look around and think... What if I was born here?
Oh how different things would be.
And the thing is, I would never know any better.
Cos I was born in Singapore, I take for granted the benefits that comes along by being a Singapore citizen.
I'll give some simulations.
Let's say I was born in Malaysia.
Firstly, I would take for granted the safety in Malaysia. Just by being born in Malaysia, I would think that such levels of safety was normal. I would think that the political system was normal.
I would likely go to school, study, I would likely learn Malay and Mandarin. English would not be my first language.
I would probably be working in an average paying job, Malaysia is not a financial hub and I would likely not go towards the financial industry, there would be low chances of my current lifestyle. Life might be more simple though, cos likely the society and friends around me might not be as driven as in Singapore.
I would likely not be able to travel to other countries cos the foreign exchange would probably be too expensive for me to travel further than the SEA region.
I would likely drive like a local and not take heed of traffic lights. Clean streets would not be normal and the cheapest place to eat would be the street stalls along the side of the road.
I would I would think that everyone in Singapore was rich to be able to buy cars at MYR300,000, which I could buy a house with.
The most interesting thing would be that, the whole Singaporean lifestyle would be entirely unfathomable. Just cos I was born somewhere else, my perception of normal would be different and my opportunities in life would have been different as well.
Let's now take a look at Taiwan.
It would be normal for people to fight in parliament.
Singapore wouldn't be interesting to me. It is just a small tourist destination quite far away.
I would probably only know Mandarin.
I would be driving around on a scooter and ignore street lights as well.
I would not have been in the financial industry, I might be in electronics manufacturing.
If I was born in Taipei, things might be more stressful. Life might be easier if I was born in the quieter cities in Taiwan.
Or if I was born in Japan, I would only know Japanese.
I would probably have attended cram school and studied a lot harder.
There is a chance for me to enter the financial industry. I would need to continue working till I'm much older as society approves of people staying in their jobs for life.
My wife would have left her job and she would likely be taking care of the kids.
When I travel, I would likely have much difficulty conversing with people.
There's a high chance that I wouldn't be frugal as Japanese value face, and thus, I might spend more to portray a certain image.
As you can see, if I were born in different countries, things would be so different. The language I could speak would likely be different. There's a 50% chance that English would not be my first language. My exposure to different countries would be different, I might have difficulties conversing with people from many countries.
My opportunities would be different, I would likely have moved out of my parents place early in life. Many countries practice this. Thus, I would not have as high a savings rate as when I were in Singapore. I would likely not have a house to my name. Many people do not buy a place with their spouse until later in life.
The finance industry is big mainly in HK, Singapore, London, Switzerland, New York. If I was born elsewhere, there would be a low chance that I would be in finance or learn financial concepts.
I would not be so exposed to other cultures. In Singapore, at a very young age, we learn to interact with different cultures and enjoy the different holidays and food.
Safety in the county would be deemed normal. I would look at Singapore and think that Singapore is unnaturally safe.
Cars would be cheaper.
I may own a gun at home, if I was born in Thailand, US, Canada, some parts of Europe.
So many differences...
So I find it really amazing, everything could be so different, just by being born in a different country. Everything that I know now would be different. What I deem normal would need to be revised. And that thought is very interesting to me. Imagine forgetting everything you know and having a different set of "normal" beliefs and values.
That idea itself just intrigues me. Cos I do take for granted a lot of things which I have now. And yet all these could be gone in a blink just by being born somewhere else... But yet, I would not even notice that I was missing anything cos these luxuries would not be normal in the other country.
I'm not trying to say Singapore is better or which country is less desirable. I'm just amazed that everything that I know now, my whole life and opportunities would have changed just by the dice roll of which country I was born in.
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