Last week of the term
Christmas is coming, and I'm on the last week of the school semester for the year. Unfortunately it will be the last week of school I will ever have experienced in Jakarta. After three years of living here, I am finally returning back to my country.
I don't regret anything that I ever did here. I experienced many ups and many downs (many of which you hear in my past anecdotes in the blog archive) throughout my time here; many times when I felt special and many times when I felt depressed. This week however, was a time when I felt special. My friends would throw huge dinners and surprise me with gifts all because of this farewell occasion. It surprised me during these celebrations how many people considered me their friends and how special they regarded me in their lives. Often their gifts would come with touching anecdotes of the past, promises I made with them in the future and the fact that they would often visit me in Singapore. With my current grade in the first term of IB being one of the highest in the year, you could say that my life is pretty stable academically as well.
There will be things that I will miss in Jakarta. My lavish lifestyle due to the difference in wealth between the really rich and the really poor, having powerful friends who you could depend on the pull connections as well as the kindness that they exhibit when I need help in my studies; something so very rare in Singapore. However there are things that I look forward in Singapore as well; the fast internet, the stable internet as well as being able to be only a few bus rides away from my relatives.
In essence, I have been away from Singapore for so long that these are the only things that I truly miss, and I often don't even remember these aspects. This could be the reason that my parents want me back; to grow back my roots, to become a Singaporean again. Although I do abide to it, I don't agree with it. In a world that is becoming more globalised, it will be stupid of me to try and become a Singaporean. What Singapore should try to do is to make its inhabitants all global citizens, which is what I aim to become. With these international events that I go to, I have slowly established a network all throughout South East Asia and even with countries in the north like South Korea and China.
Looking back in my life in Jakarta and all that I have done, I realised something: I have no regrets at all.
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
I don't regret anything that I ever did here. I experienced many ups and many downs (many of which you hear in my past anecdotes in the blog archive) throughout my time here; many times when I felt special and many times when I felt depressed. This week however, was a time when I felt special. My friends would throw huge dinners and surprise me with gifts all because of this farewell occasion. It surprised me during these celebrations how many people considered me their friends and how special they regarded me in their lives. Often their gifts would come with touching anecdotes of the past, promises I made with them in the future and the fact that they would often visit me in Singapore. With my current grade in the first term of IB being one of the highest in the year, you could say that my life is pretty stable academically as well.
There will be things that I will miss in Jakarta. My lavish lifestyle due to the difference in wealth between the really rich and the really poor, having powerful friends who you could depend on the pull connections as well as the kindness that they exhibit when I need help in my studies; something so very rare in Singapore. However there are things that I look forward in Singapore as well; the fast internet, the stable internet as well as being able to be only a few bus rides away from my relatives.
In essence, I have been away from Singapore for so long that these are the only things that I truly miss, and I often don't even remember these aspects. This could be the reason that my parents want me back; to grow back my roots, to become a Singaporean again. Although I do abide to it, I don't agree with it. In a world that is becoming more globalised, it will be stupid of me to try and become a Singaporean. What Singapore should try to do is to make its inhabitants all global citizens, which is what I aim to become. With these international events that I go to, I have slowly established a network all throughout South East Asia and even with countries in the north like South Korea and China.
Looking back in my life in Jakarta and all that I have done, I realised something: I have no regrets at all.
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
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