Stayer or Quitter? The whole of Singapore is bustling with this question PM Goh asked at the National Day Rally two days ago. I had always thought I would be a stayer, because there is nowhere else I would want to be. Singapore is my home, and I can be as patriotic in words as any other Singaporean. Yes, I've always wanted to experience life overseas, and I am taking steps to make my dream come true. But I had always thought I'm going with the acknowledgement that one day, I will come back home. I have never thought of migrating until I went to Shanghai. It wasn't Shanghai that sparked off the thought though; it was my two housemates. Despite knowing I should keep an open mind for things, I couldn't help but make comparisons between Shanghai and Singapore. The both of them too, compared the different cities they had lived in. And the both of them seem quite bend on migrating if there are opportunities to move beyond Singapore. ES wants to migrate to Australia, and MW, to US. I can point a finger at them and shout, �QUITTER!�. But, maybe I should think hard about why so many people want to move out. Who doesn�t want to have a better life in more gracious, friendlier place where you can be materially more comfortable and mentally less stressed up? Somewhere where you can feel you don�t need to struggle too hard and still worry whether you would have enough for the future? My friend who earns $1.5k here a month struggles to save $50 a month, after you take away CPF, study loan repayment, transportation, food and pocket money for parents. She told me she hasn�t gone shopping for ages, and she�s worried if life goes on like this, she won't have enough money to have kids. Or fulfill her dream of travelling. When I was in Shanghai, with my budget of about the wage of an ordinary worker here, I lived like a queen. I could eat at restaurants everyday, buy clothes, CDs and books every other week, and still have some monies left to go travelling. Life is really a lot better there as an �expatriate�, compared to the same wage you are earning as a �white-collar worker� here. Psychologically, it felt good too. For once in my life, I do not belong to the middle-low income group of the society. Every 9th August, we can all dig out our big ideals and pledge loudly about patriotism. But what if, one day, you get a *WHAM!* in your face? Life hits you harder than ever, and you realized that no matter how hard you struggle, you are still a rat in a never-ending rat race? I am grateful for my education and opportunities to move out, and I know I owe all these to this country. I know my argument is typically 'zhi shi fen zi' (highly educated but totally unfeeling, ungrateful and very materialistic). But the rat race is also day-to-day, hour-to-hour struggle many people go through. Personally I have deep respect for PM Goh. He�s the head of the State, and he�s worried about the outflow of talented Singaporeans. And yes, he can say people who move out in search of a better life are �fair-weathered� friends. He can call them names to rouse the patriotism in Singaporeans. But... Someone put it well in a Straits Times poll, � 'It cuts both ways. On the one hand, you're encouraging foreign talent to come here, while preventing Singaporeans from leaving. Does that mean we're taking in others' quitters? It's a bit ironic to use that label.'� Singaporeans are supposed to be gracious enough to accept and welcome foreign talents who are quitters from their own homes. Fine, I understand it�s a move for the country�s survival. But to negatively label locals who want to be �foreign talents� elsewhere is some kind of double standard, don�t you think? Let's not look at scholars who will be talents here and ride the fast-track anyway. What about people who get opportunities elsewhere they don't get in Singapore? People who can be more than rats elsewhere? Badminton player Li Li left China because she got opportunities here she wouldn't have gotten in China, right? So she's a quitter, but we're so very glad that she's a quitter? I�m not sure if I�ll migrate someday. I don�t know how things will go in the future, but I still want to think of myself as someone who will stay for my country, family and friends. And when the bustle of the issue is over, everyone will make his/ her own decision, with or without negative labeling.