Singapore

WHILE Singaporeans continue to hunker down during the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still a sizeable number of citizens who live abroad for work or family reasons.

Many are unable or unwilling to return home unless the health situation improves, or a travel corridor is set up or quarantine rules are significantly eased or removed altogether.

According to latest figures, there were 203,500 overseas Singaporeans - those who have a registered foreign address or who are away for a cumulative period of more than six months in the past year - in 2020. This is fewer than the 217,200 in the year before.

As Singapore celebrates National Day on Monday, The Business Times speaks to three Singaporean expatriates living in China, the UK and New Zealand to find out how they are coping with the restrictions and the drastic change in their daily lives due to the virus.

And perhaps unsurprisingly, when asked what they miss most about home, they all give the same answer: food.

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More room to grow abroad

While some feel the pandemic would be reason enough to make expatriates return home, Jason Ng is reluctant to waste the growth opportunities for his horticultural therapy business in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Armed with a strong base of contacts and a good grasp of how business is conducted there, the 41-year-old took the advice of his co-founders and moved to China three years ago to set up a branch office.

"There is a growing trend of horticulture and landscaping design in China and among the elderly here, so it's a very good opportunity for us," he says.

But even as work keeps him busy, he does feel lonely at times and misses his parents and two nephews in Singapore.

Returning home for now is not in his immediate plans, especially as the cost of an air ticket has soared due to the pandemic. Singaporeans returning from China also have to take a polymerase chain reaction test upon arrival and remain in self-isolation until they test negative for the virus.

"The additional time spent (in self-isolation) is time I'm losing out with my family or with potential business partners. So that's something I will have to seriously consider before booking a trip back," he says.

"I used to go back quite often, about three to four times every year for about a month each time, so the pandemic has been very taxing (for the family)," says Mr Ng.

"We still communicate through video calls and text messages all the time, but we definitely miss the physical bonding," he adds.

In the future, when the pandemic is over, Mr Ng says he is considering bringing his family over to China.

"I will be here as long as the business is doing well," he says, adding that his mother will likely enjoy travelling to different places in China.

Even though he can get lots of good food in China, he says he misses his favourite local Singapore dishes the most.

As an avid cook, he often whips up dishes such as laksa, char kway teow and his favourite curry chicken made with his mother's chilli paste recipe.

These days, Mr Ng relishes his freedom to move around China whenever he needs to take a break from work.

"I like to travel and in China, there are so many places I can visit. I'm pretty comfortable here, and I can enjoy the different seasons, which is nice. The views and scenery here are amazing as well," he said.

He has recently reached out to fellow Singaporeans living in China by joining a business association, and even went to visit Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province with some of his newfound friends.

A decade in London

Eric Chin, a 27-year-old who has lived in London for nearly 10 years, says he always regards Singapore as his home.

"There's that growing feeling of detachment when you are away for too long, and sometimes I really wish I could go back," says Mr Chin, whose last trip to the Lion City was in early 2020, just before the pandemic struck.

"It has been a big struggle due to Covid-19. All my flights were cancelled, and I'm stuck here for the time being until the green light comes on," says Mr Chin, who used to be able to return to Singapore at least once a year pre-pandemic.

"Going back is definitely on the top of my bucket list. I miss the country and the food. But more importantly, I just want to see my parents," he says.

Mr Chin, who leads the strategy and operations team at fintech firm Revolut, decided to stay put in the company's London headquarters to be close to most of his team members and major stakeholders.

Whenever he can, Mr Chin meets up with his friends from different Asian countries for a meal of dimsum or hotpot, which are his favourite comfort foods. He also gets to practise his spoken Mandarin and Cantonese with them as much as possible.

What he looks forward to the most when he eventually returns home is the chance to celebrate Chinese New Year with his immediate and extended family again.

"Chinese New Year is something I've missed the most. I've not had any angbao (red packets) for the last two years," he jokes.

"I just miss the culture in Singapore. The culture in London is good, of course, but it's just so different. And food is so much better back home," Mr Chin shares.

He says that travel corridors could make it a lot easier for him to visit Singapore again, but he admits he's also in no hurry to return until the risks subside.

"I don't want to unknowingly bring the virus back and endanger my family, so I'm definitely waiting for the situation to improve before I come back," he says.

Flavours of Singapore

They wanted to let their two young daughters grow up in a different environment, so Kelvin Oh, 38, and his wife Adlena Wong, 39, packed their bags and headed to New Zealand in 2018.

But when the pandemic struck and companies weighed their options between laying off staff or slashing salaries, job anxiety quickly sank in.

For Mr Oh, who works in the construction sector, this was a huge concern as he was the sole breadwinner at the time.

Referring to her husband's situation, Ms Wong says: "During the pandemic, the uncertainty of whether you could keep your job, especially in the construction industry, was a constant worry. He had to work twice as hard to prove he deserves to be (in the job)."

Living in Auckland - where homes are dispersed and eating out is costly (a plate of chicken rice can cost as much as A$20 (S$19.90), says Ms Wong) - also left them constantly craving for Singapore's delicious and inexpensive hawker fare.

Last year, Ms Wong decided to start a home-based business selling food such as chwee kueh, mee rebus and even sambal belachan.

To Ms Wong's pleasant surprise, her business, called "Super Shiok Eats", allowed her to connect with other Singaporeans living all over New Zealand.

"People from as far as Invercargill and Christchurch have ordered from us, and that was how I knew where the Singaporeans were in the country," she says.

The couple is eagerly awaiting the day when a travel corridor between New Zealand and Singapore will be established, so they can be reunited with their parents.

"I've given up all hope for the borders reopening. The governments can be in talks to set up a travel bubble and the next thing you know, there's an explosion of cases," Mr Oh says.

Nonetheless, the couple say that their decision to stay in New Zealand is unlikely to change, even if the pandemic throws up new obstacles.

"I would only come back to Singapore when I feel like I've reached the end of the road, that I've tried my hardest and I still can't find a job here," he says.

"But if there is a travel corridor with Singapore, I think the first thing I'll do is fly our parents over, regardless of the cost of the flight tickets, because our daughters really miss them," he says.

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