2 days ago, I accompanied a good friend to an emigration agency in Havelock road (Singapore) for a first session of consultancy. It was an interesting first encounter and I'll like to share with the readers of this blog some of my revelations.
1)
They charge $6500 to assist my friend with applications, which is not inclusive of around $3000 in fees paid to the Australian official bodies.
2)
There has been a rising trend of "first generation Singaporeans (FGS)" (e.g. PRC Chinese, India Indians, Philipinos etc) in Singapore seeking consultation to move on to Australia.
3)
"Original Singaporeans (OS)" seeking migration to Australia has been the agency's bread and butter source of revenue for many years.
Have you wondered how many of your fellow Singaporean friends are thinking of becoming a "quitter"? Having openly declared to his colleagues his quest to leave Singapore citing several reasons such as the rat race lifestyle/mentality, the high cost of living, and last but certainly not least on his list, the overcrowdedness, many of them gave him comparison rebuttals such as "Japan is more crowded!".
I admit my friend gets easily exasperated when his views are not shared by the majority of his audience, as if his views should hold universal logic and hence uniform consensus. Out of pure curiosity, I've started what might not be a very original, but certainly up-to-date, poll that will run from today up to this year's National day, 9th August 2009. Please do forward this link to more of your Singaporean friends and visit back in a couple of months for results!
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