SINGAPORE: Perhaps it’s a case of the grass being perceived as greener on the other side of the fence.
Many people dream of living and working in other countries, especially Western ones, and while some enjoy it and thrive in new environments, others come to recognise there’s no place like home.
A young TikTok user went viral recently after jokingly describing herself as “just a London hater” in a post she put up on Monday (February 9) that has gotten over 330,000 views.
Beatrice Tan, who goes by @sexybeast007911 on the platform, showed in her post about her personal experience of moving to London from Singapore for a job and why she came to regret that decision.
She started with the weather. Although Singapore’s heat and humidity are no picnic, winters in the United Kingdom, when the cold and wind penetrate, no matter how many layers of clothing you wear, are “unbearable.”
Not only does it get dark by 4:00 in the afternoon, but it also rains a lot, she wrote, adding, “I don’t think 3 months of summer make up for the rest of the year.”
Her next reason for regretting moving to London has to do with how dirty and grimy she finds everything to be. “Hygiene is terrible,” she wrote.
Next came the high cost of living. As a Singaporean, Ms Tan knows all about living in an expensive city. However, she pointed out that even train costs are high in London.
She said the same about taxes, as Singapore operates a low-tax regime, as opposed to the United Kingdom, where the highest tax rate is 45%.
Ms Tan also expressed concerns over safety issues in London, such as hate crimes and phone theft, though she has only experienced the latter. Singapore, in contrast, is one of the safest cities in the world, especially for women travelling alone.
Lastly, she mentioned how difficult it is to find public bathrooms.
She did add, however, one thing working in London’s favour, which is that she hasn’t had a hard time making friends among the international community.
Ms Tan’s post has since received hundreds of comments, including one that reads, “Come home and organise a TED talk and invite the local whiners who think SG is terrible and would rather go overseas.”
To this, she replied, “100% need to inform them and everyone so nobody repeats my mistake.”
When another commenter wrote, “If you move anywhere from Singapore, you’re probably not going to like it,” she replied, “I think you’re right.” /TISG
