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I grew up in Asia (up until my high school year). Back then, my generation were influenced heavily by western culture: basketball, hip-hop, R&B, rap, pop, boy-band, baseball, pizza, steaks, computers. Many of my friends went to study abroad (mostly US and UK) and hope to settle as long as they can like my uncle and aunt who had done the same thing 20 years ago. About 2 years ago, I saw a change in tide where most of my friends (or friends of friends) were going back home. Most of them prefer to go back home because they would get a better job, which is normal for western educated young worker. I went back home twice since 2009 and traveled in SE Asia a bit. I see why people wanted to go back: it's not just the job, it's the culture, the networks, friends, family. The whole package. It's easy to "connect" with people who have big businesses there. Often you meet them in odd places like noodle shops, outdoor markets, food courts. Night life is definitely better. By night-life I mean strolling down the Clarke Quay in Singapore, eat dinner outside style food court in Jakarta, or wandering around Ginza in Tokyo, enjoy Seafood in Jimbaran (Bali) mostly with your husband/wife and kids. Not necessarily means clubbing or bar. Thus better here is relative. After a while, the fried chicken and the filet mignon became dry and tasteless to my wife and I. We've decided to pursue ways to go back to Asia starting this year. We'll see if we can go back there soon enough before our retirement (plan was to go back to retire). |
(I don't have any political motivations here. I love my country. But I'm curious as to your perspective.)