I love how Manila is described in this article I found through Louie's Facebook. The second paragraph hit me!
It's (Manila's) a world away from carefully planned Asian cities like Singapore -- which makes it perfectly suited for visitors who don't need their lives hermetically sealed in air-conditioned shininess.
What's implied there is true. Life here is "hermetically sealed in air-conditioned shininess." Hahaha. That's a nice way to say sterile!
When locals ask me how I find life here, my standard answer is "It's easy." What else can I say? It is easy.
Here in Singapore, there's a super efficient system is in place so that people can concentrate on living their daily lives. Green means go. Red means stop. No littering. Ride the bus at designated stops. No overcharging cabbies. Tipping is discouraged. The MRT is reliable. Government officials are doing their jobs. Garbage is collected daily, and crime rate is so low it's almost negligible. The media is controlled here too so you only hear/read the news you need to know. This kind of life might not work for some but it works for me just fine. And it does too for majority of Singaporeans and migrants here.
Sure, I miss Manila's hustle and bustle, its chaos, its craziness and I still want to experience it once in a while. But as I've said to one of my friends, I don't think I can live there anymore. I've gotten used to being in a "hermetically sealed" environment, and when you've lived in a place where everything works perfectly, Manila just becomes too exhausting.
And irritating, too!
But the Philippines is still home and I have plenty of reasons (family, friends, SM!) to go back again and again and again. The Philippines is like a mother to me and I'll always love her no matter how crazy she gets. But now, I'm really enjoying my time in Singapore. It's like being in UP all over again. It was initially weird, shocking and threatening but later became a comfortable place where I can grow, try things out, be optimistic, reach for my dreams and be happy.
7 comments:
Oo nga, nakakapagod dito. :s
wow, and hermetically sealed your world is indeed...thanks for giving me a glimpse of your world, sounds like Utopia to me! but now since I'm here and I gotta 'love mah own,' like you said it's one crazy mama and that's what makes her charming. mabuhey pilipens! hehe!
haha. you're welcome joan!
what a great post, kat. naalala ko dati there was a big blogosphere argument on "freedom", na in SG you're not free to do things like chew gum. but on the other hand naman, you're free from stuff like what you described above - chaos, corruption, plus the feeling na hindi ka talaga protected by the law. veeerrry interesting. :D
thanks Iggy! napareflect din nga ako nung independence day sa Pinas. I wanted to greet everyone happy independence day then I got to thinking: are Filipinos really free? maybe we are free in the sense na walang sumasakop sa atin pero kung freedom in terms of malaya kang gawin ano ang gusto mo, arguable yun. most filipinos leave the country because they need to. i'm sure a lot of migrants would want to stay in the philippines kung mas maayos siguro ang palakad ng gubyerno natin diyan. howell deep well. =)
see you soon in la singapura iggy! excited ka na? =)
super excited na!
It's like being in UP all over again. - parang gusto ko din dyan!!! hehehe.
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