Why young Singaporeans should venture abroad to be 'future-ready'

MANY years ago, I found myself at a hotel ballroom in Kazakhstan in deep conversation with a senior Sri Lankan diplomat about the civil war in his country that had recently concluded, and the ongoing reconciliation efforts.

I wanted to know more about how the war had affected Sri Lanka, and he was moved by my genuine curiosity and desire to learn.

We kept in touch. In time, he became a friend and part of my diplomatic network that helped me support Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassadors to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in their engagements with Central Asian governments.

As students, we learn that Singapore - a country without any natural resources - has to rely on its talent alone to transform the Little Red Dot into a Smart City metropolis.

Being self-sufficient, however, has its limitations. Businesses, in particular, are cognisant of the need to have people who have knowledge of different markets, diverse experiences, and are culturally aware.

Such people are critical enablers for them because they bring a wealth of perspectives in solving problems, possess a readiness to change, and address blind spots in organisations.

In today's hyperconnected world, our technical or professional skills become a baseline necessity rather than a comparative advantage. It also makes economic sense to look at growing markets as a place to gain valuable experience.

Resource-rich markets in South-east Asia are urbanising quickly with the help of technology, bridging the urban rural divide and expanding access to healthcare, education and finance.

What's more, Singapore even has an economic agency dedicated to helping local companies expand overseas.

Yet, there are probably more Singapore companies venturing to Asian markets than there are young Singaporeans looking for a career in those same countries.

This is surely not for fear of competition. Singaporeans are hardwired to be competitive, expected from birth to excel in a country where real estate is limited, the cost of living is high, and good jobs are finite. It is, perhaps, a fear of the unknown.

One piece of advice I received from an entrepreneur working to addressing sustainability challenges in Asia was that "trust cannot be built on a transaction". It is the same paradigm shift that I urge young Singaporeans to embrace.

Rather than consider only the tangible benefits of a job overseas, consider what you can experience and learn from your foreign colleagues, the community that you will be immersed in and the unpredictable environment you will face.

It will help you broaden perspectives, enhance your skills as a problem-solver, and develop leadership abilities.

In Singapore, we are groomed to be 100m sprinters and often apply the same strategies that allowed us to excel in school to developing our careers. We keep one eye on our opponents, hone our sprint techniques to perfection, and push ourselves for that brief linear burst to take the gold medal.

That all changes when we step out of Singapore. This is where we must become decathletes - not vying for the best time but judged for our abilities to excel in 10 events where strength, endurance, flexibility and resilience all play a part.

Essentially, the decathlon pits us against ourselves. Champions technically do not need to win a single event to beat their competitors.

Rather, they rely on a mountain of ability they develop with the support of coaches, nutritionists, training buddies and psychologists - to name a few.

In my relatively short career, I have had the opportunity to work in 2 different countries, 3 different sectors with 5 different employers, and interacted with numerous colleagues from around the world.

Every time I left a job, I looked at my disjointed CV and asked myself what have I achieved so far and why the next employer would want to hire me.

But with each change, I also grew. I found the courage to beat my imposter syndrome to draw insight and knowledge from my past experiences and find a way to apply them in my new role. Over time, I realised that sometimes you cannot connect the dots backwards, but that does not discount what you have learnt, and the life experiences you have collected, or the relationships you have formed.

In 2019, I returned to Singapore to start an online counselling platform called Talk Your Heart Out, to make mental health support more accessible here.

I did not doubt my decision as the skills developed, networks built, and lessons learnt in the School of Hard Knocks prepared me for the wild ride of entrepreneurship. My overseas experience also gave me the confidence to chart my own career trajectory.

As I work in a new field that I care passionately about, in a business that my wife and I are building up from scratch, I try to maintain the same genuine curiosity and desire to learn, that I first developed as a young diplomat many years ago.

• The writer is a former Singaporean diplomat and public policy consultant. He is also a 2021 Asean Youth Fellow