Transcription
Personally, one of the reasons why I I like Australia more than Singapore is the perceived freedom. Meet Han Wan, a Singaporean who lived in Australia for 15 years. Despite all the time abroad, he stayed true to his roots. Still proudly Singaporean, but he chose Australia as his home. Han Wan shared what most foreigners don't understand about Australia, whether Singaporeans feel safe in Sydney, and the biggest benefit of living down under. I'm Akernov, your insider to expert life. Goodday.
A lot of Singaporeans when I tell them that I'm not living here, I'm living overseas and they ask me where there are two extreme kind of reaction. Okay. Right. One is what's the underlying statement is what's wrong with Singapore? Why why are you not here? Right. But they will kind of phrase it as hey don't you think that Singapore is more efficient? Don't you think that we are uh you know our tax is lower? You know it's trying to sell Singapore back to a Singaporean. I mean like yeah, I know, right? But then the other extreme is hey bro, how do you do it? Tell me, I want to go, I want to go and experience, I want to live, I want to see the world, whatever. But I find that in these two extremes that there are certain underlying outlook, right? One, I love Singapore no matter what. Two, I think Singapore is too much for me, I need to go, right? But I always try to bring these people to my more central view. I'm a Singaporean. I still hold a Singapore passport. Just because I'm not in Singapore doesn't mean I have a reason to hate M. And just because I'm here doesn't mean I love everything about it. So, it's it's a matter of personal choice where you want to develop your career, where you, you know, where it makes you happy.
What about the sense of like freedom or the feeling of of freedom? People claim that in Singapore are too many rules. I don't agree with that. Singapore is very like make make much a lot of sense. It's very pragmatic. In Australia actually a lot of regulations. That's what I talk to people and they say, okay, there are rules, there are regulations. What's your takes on this? I think freedom has many different shades and I personally, one of the reasons why I I like Australia more than Singapore is the the the perceived freedom and sometimes I have the right to go and exercise that freedom like I'm free to go and just go anywhere I want to and explore the land because I'm so, I don't know, maybe coming from a small country, I just like the open space. And then when you go into the country, people tend to be friendlier and you just kind of talk to them and figure out, oh wow, this town is founded 150 years ago because of mining and the first founders to come here and all that kind of stuff. So you have the freedom to just go out there and and do. Singapore you can also do, but you need to cross the border. Yeah. You got to go to Malaysia. Malaysia. Yeah. Yeah, correct. Or fly somewhere. Yeah. Yeah, correct.
Australia was my dream country when I was 18 years old. I thought it's like the best country in the world. I wanted to immigrate here. Ah, there's no best country in the world. It's actually interesting. I talked to some guy, actually meeting him later. Yeah, he said like, okay, if you take Sydney and like rank it in every aspect like, okay, safety, like food, cost of living, beaches, weather, then the average, like Sydney would be the number one in the world. But if you take the ranking separately, then it's average is very average in each ranking. So it's never best in anything, but overall the quality of everything is quite is quite good, but it's not like the best. Yes, I can give you an example as we talking right now because you say, "Oh, Sydney is quite good. Uh, it's safe." Then as a Singapore, my mind goes, "No, Singapore is safer." Did you know that there is a there's a shooting that there are gang shootings in in in Sydney? Obviously, you don't go to those places. It doesn't mean that you know, you you'll be safe, right? Like, you know where the the the usual spots where these kind of gang violence happen, right? But the fact is there are. So if I compare just on that line of metric, it would not be. But like you said, if I average everything out and all, yeah. So it it is pretty good. Yeah.
It's my first time in Sydney in Australia. It's like my second day arrived to yesterday morning, right? I'm trying to see like what's my impressions about the place. Okay. I feel very good, feel very comfortable, but there is no wow effect. There is not something like when you go to Bangkok or even to you go to India, it's something that or to Japan, it's like wow. Here it's just everything is nice. People are nice, friendly, everything is comfortable, but nothing like wow. Ah, I think maybe Sydney is probably or even Melbourne might not be the best place for you to truly truly experience anything that's unique about Australia. Yeah. Like, um, I guess if you want to drive a little bit further out, you can go to the wildlife park and you can go and hug a hug a koala if you want to. But that's a very touristy thing to do. That would be awesome. I've never seen koala in only the zoo. Only in the zoo. Oh, okay. Not like in real life. Right. Okay. Kangaroo. Yeah. So, um, zoos are great, but the thing about Australia, you know, go and Google for wildlife park. Yeah. And and these are a little bit cozier setting and they allow the the kangaroos and to to roam in the wild. And for a couple of bucks, you can buy a little cup and you just walk around, the kangaroos will come out and you can feed it and and it feels a little bit more interactive and you kind of kind of experience the the wildlife here.
Uh, oh, like this. Oh, yes. So these, you know what we call them here, the the locals call them bin chickens. Bin chickens. But but a few of them. Yeah, they're Ives. Uh, they they can in a flock, they can potentially be a bird strike hazard when you're flying. So I do watch out for them when they in big groups. But in a city, they're just kind of crawling around looking and scrubbing for food. And that's why the locals call it bin chickens.
What do you think the biggest misconceptions about Australia? What people don't get? For example, in Singapore, we never travel to Australia. What people don't understand about Australia? In TV and movies, you always so so yes, we we have that culture and that uh lingo and that very thick. But just like in any country with a lot of population, there are many many different groups and subgroups. So often times they they like to single out one because it sounds unique and then from a marketing perspective, it feels like it's a great way to kind of market Australia. But not everybody talks like that, right? Um, and one of the things that even personally I was surprised. I was living in, I was mentioned I was living in Perth for quite a bit and I was so used to everybody saying good day that when I come to uh Sydney, um, not everybody does that. I find that in Sydney, people tend to say hello, how are you, right? They they don't use good day as much when you're in Perth, for example. Yeah. Yeah.
Do you remember your like first impressions of Australia? I don't know from your NS years or later when you start coming for for business or for travel, right? Yeah. What was your like first impressions? What do you think about the country back then? Uh, I think uh, there is no lack of space. Uh, you don't feel constrained. Yes. I mean like physical space and then later on I realized in the social space as well, right? Because um, well, first of all, being Singaporean, you're used to a certain dimension like that. That's how if you if you're born and raised in Singapore and Singapore is all you know, right? At a very young age, then you think this is the world, right? And then you're used to high-rise, you're used to certain things that we take for granted like the efficiency of our public transport, etc, etc. When you come here, you realize that just look around, plenty of space for the developers to plan things out and then lots of spaces for people to walk. There's a very outdoor, much more outdoor culture here. People tend to be out walking and running much more. I can see, yeah. So that's the physical part. And then when we come to the social bit, or especially in Sydney, which is much more cosmopolitan, uh, there are so many different people, cultures. Yeah. So you are free to just basically go and try to mingle and get into different circles. Yeah. And then you you just basically experience different cultures and it's really up to you how how adventurous you want to be. I would not use the word isolating because that's a negative word, right? But different people have different uh preference in terms of their social circle. Um, and if you want to be go completely introvert, you can. Still can. Still can. So, one of my latest videos on on my YouTube channel, I I featured flying into a a remote air strip and then you have the whole beach to yourself and then that's it. So, that's the introverts heaven, isn't it? So, you find it here that there are a lot of different people and you you can you can meet like different nationalities, backgrounds, etc. But I think my perspective of Singapore is kind of similar. Yes. But because I came to Singapore and for you maybe it's already you had like a stable social circle cuz you grew up there. So you didn't maybe mingle that much with like foreigners. But here because you're in a different. Yeah, that that that is certainly true because growing up in Singapore or at least during my time, maybe there wasn't as many foreigners back then. There were definitely foreigners. I have one or two foreign uh student classmates, but that's about it, right? And and like you said, you you're kind of very happy in that bubble because you I have enough friends in my quarter. I don't need to go up for more.
When you meet people in Australia and you say you're from Singapore, what's the normal response? What people think about Singapore? Oh, people think very very uh highly of Singaporeans. Yeah. I find that hey, sometimes uh stereotypes does work in your favor, right? Because the the people who know about Singapore and a lot of people do right now in the modern age, right? And and in a place like uh Sydney, uh regardless of they being uh Aussies or they from a n different nationality nationality from Hong Kong or Japan or Korea, they would think highly of Singaporeans because they had this image of Singapore where people are very capable. They do things very quickly and efficiently. And that that's why they always say la and they try to engage me. I yeah, okay, chill.
When Singaporeans get together in Australia in Sydney, what what do you guys talk about? What's what's your what's your thoughts on what's your thoughts on Singapore? What's your thoughts on Australia? You discuss it for sure, right? Yeah. I think it depends on the setting. If it's a more professional setting, we are talking about work because I'm in technology. Yeah. So, we we tend to talk about technology and then eventually at some point we would think about, okay, what technology works in what setting in what countries, right? What kind of population? And then also we talked about, um, how open is the respective governments, right? In allowing that innovation. Singapore is definitely up there, right? So these are the things we talk about. In a social setting, you know, we'll probably complain most of the time about food options. Yeah. Okay. Hawker centers here, very, very little hawker centers here. And the food here, typically eating out is a lot more expensive. And so people tend to cook at home. And so what you uh on the social media is people sharing recipes. Hey, I have a craving for roast pork, you know, uh, you know, or maybe the season is here for bachang or whatever, right? So, so people would kind of share recipes and some people a bit a little bit more entrepreneurial. Hey, I'm cooking a batch anyway. Let me cook double and then who wants, you know, uh, you know, private message me. We'll meet somewhere. I'll I'll hand you and you you pay me some something and that's it.
What's the other topics like? I don't know, accommodation or the weather or like because I'm pretty sure you kind of compare life in Sydney and Singapore. I've only ever lived in Sydney and I've only ever lived in Perth. I think Perth is more uniquely different than Sydney compared to Singapore. Ah, okay. Okay. More authentic. Yeah. Sydney is like a melting pot. Um, it's Yeah, I I don't know about authentic, but yeah, you're right. Sydney is like a melting pot. It is run like a very big scale city, right? Compared to a a tier 2 city like Perth. And in Perth, um, I think the because the space between people like, you know, like you you calculate about density, right? So the space between people is is uh wider, even wider, wider, right? So what I find, and this is not unique to Australia, I think this is human psychology. The less people you see or it the harder it is for you to meet another human being. You tend to be friendlier when you when you see another person, right? In in a big city, in New York, Sydney, Singapore, where everybody's kind of compact and everybody's busy going somewhere and doing something, people are less patient.
Back in 2014, I took a drive out of Perth and I attempted to drive all the way from Perth to Adelaide. I drove across the Nullarbor Plains. If you look it up, it's a 150 kilometers straight line. Even the satellite picture, you can see it's a straight line. And when you get out there, like it would be an hour before you see another car, before you see another building. So this extreme example, I learned firsthand is when I get to that kind of setting, when I see another car coming, they always wave at me. Ah, okay. So like you never have that kind of custom in in in in the city. Who would wave to a perfect stranger on the road? But if if you're in a setting where you don't see another car for an hour, hey, how are you? Just kind of wave and just continue driving. In Singapore, you don't have it anymore because it's like one compact city. So no kongs. It's like for this feeling maybe you go to Malaysia and then maybe I have about my first four years of my childhood, I was in a kong in Singapore. I was probably in one of the last kong in Singapore. Wow. Where where which area? Uh, Jalan Payah. Jalan Payah. Yeah, I grew up in Jalan. Is it close to the airport? Yes, it was it kind of close. Yes, it's kind of close. Yes. But again, I can only my memory is only like the first four years, five years of my life. And then after that, my grandparents who live in that kong, they all moved and and Yeah. And that was it.
For me, it's like the the big thing is to be able to have a helper. And here I think it's it's not possible. No. And it's not it's not the thing here. No. Yeah, it's definitely not a thing here. I think the lifestyle and also the the cost of living, uh, the as I mentioned, the labor cost here is very high. If you need to hire someone, you need to pay them the, you know, a reasonable wage and all that kind of stuff. So, so it's definitely not unless you are like, um, I I won't say it's 100% impossible, like, um, maybe if you're in the seauite and you got transferred in from Asia and you're used to that kind of lifestyle. I guess you could go and hire someone and but but you are already, you know, how much more it's going to cost and you're okay with that, right? Yeah. I mean, we talked to our friends in Europe. Let's say in in London, you can get a helper. It would cost you like 5k maybe roughly a month. 5k sing dollars, right? And it's not living helper. So, she would come like 9:00 and probably leave at like 5:00 or 6:00, right? So, it's different setup if you have kids and you used to have a helper. So, here is it's different life. So, you need to adapt. Yeah. Yes. 100%. Yeah.
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What people know about Australia is like the high tax. Yes. But also I talked to the guy who's been here for like 3 years. He told me that he can optimize tax big time. So there are different ways about the taxation in Australia. Yeah. I I think, um, when it comes to tax, we need to look at the whole thing holistically. Um, I think the the bottom line in my in my from my perspective is if we take tax and we take the cost of living and everything, the cost of owning a house, cost of owning a car, and all the other stuff compared to Singapore in Sydney, I can't say for for Perth now because I haven't been there for a while. It's same, very close, close. Like there are things that are extremely expensive in Singapore that are a lot more affordable here. And so, and there are things that are very, very affordable in Singapore and so so expensive. Like taxes, for example. Taxes are twice. It's twice more expensive here. Yes. Twice. Right. And and food, going out to eat because the labor cost is higher here. So as long as somebody's cooking and preparing a meal for you, you're not only paying for the food, you're paying for that person and the labor cost is higher, right? So so eating out is an it's an expensive thing. So people come out when they go and eat is because it's a special occasion or they're meeting up with their friends and stuff like that, right? Um, but yeah, overall, I think net net is about the same. Uh, with your previous thing about your your other friend about tax optimization. The difference I find that as a Singaporean is this, right? As a working professional, when you move across, you end up paying tax in both countries for at least one and a half years because in Singapore, we assess you at the end of the year, the calendar year, and then we tell you how much you owe in taxes and then you go put in your gyro and you pay every month for the year year number two. Correct. So, year two payment is for year one earning. Correct. Right. Yeah. So, but in Australia, is the the very first month you get your paycheck, a portion of it is taken away and it's called uh withholding. They're withholding that in anticipation for tax. So, you deposit, people deposit straight to it. Yeah. You deposit straight away. So, what this means, and the Australian calendar is July to 30th of June. So, it's not calendar year. Okay. Okay. So, then what happens is at the end of the the fiscal year, the FY, right? Which is the 30th of June. And from 30th of June onwards is where you start lodging your tax. Now, why do you need to lodge tax when the the tax amount has already been withheld? So, this optimization comes when, okay, so if the tax withheld comes to a certain sum as considered as tax paid to the government already. But let's say the government say, hey, you if you have children, you have this uh, you know, relief. If you have elderly, you have this relief. Correct? If you if you own a certain property and it's in it's in a negative, you can have relief. You spend money, this negative thing about the valuation of property, I was like surprised. Some, yeah, they call it negative gearing. Yeah. It's a long thing, but yeah. So, so all this relief will become packaged together as part of your uh tax submission, right? So, then they'll look, okay, then they will give you money back from the one that the the amount that's been withheld for the last 12 months based on the relief that you're claiming, right? Yeah. So, you do get money back, but you need to be aware of what is eligible and what isn't. That's why also like uh tax consultants, businesses is big here. It's great big business. And because everybody's busy with their lives and their career and work, they don't have time to go and look into every little nitty-gritty thing. Yeah. And so I I often use a a tax consultant. I say, "Hey, for this year, you know, like since the since the pandemic, you know, there's this uh work from home relief because we realize that not everybody goes to the office." Yeah. So they they calculate, um, you know, how many days you work from home and in your home, you have to kind of mark out a work area like a study room. So based on the size, big time, they calculate the the relief and then you can apply for it.
What do I think Australian law from Singapore? Okay. So I met I've also met a a number of people in Australia with many different uh, you know, spectrum of views. Yeah. There is one spectrum of views that says we should learn from Singapore because let's look at the other countries. Let's let's be honest. Singapore is so well-run. We can do better compared to Singapore. We have more resources that we are able to trade internationally. So why aren't we able to make make use of these funds more effectively and efficiently? Yeah. And then there's also the the count argument that, oh no, um, the reason why we are taxed so high is because we are being we are much more u we have a society with a a social uh net. I have been a recipient on on that end as well because there I remember a time where I was quite ill because I had a kind of a strain my neck and I was pinching on my nerve. So I had to see a specialist and then to my surprise and I like one month later, I received a letter from the government. We notice that you spend x number of thousands of dollars because of this thing. For the rest of a year, all your GP visits will be free because they they classify you once you go above a certain threshold in a year, you're in medical hardship, medical financial hardship. So I have experienced the the benefits. You will never have this in Singapore because we are taxing less, right? So it's right. Okay. Vice versa.
What do you think Singapore can learn from Australia? I think Singapore has come a long way, right? So like I have gone through the the old much older Singapore uh education system. I think maybe it at that time it was rigid for a reason because of the the stage in which the the country is growing and building and so during my time, you you may not have the luxury to study whatever you want and what you're passionate about, right? But also I noticed that in in the more recent decade, uh, or decades, it's it's kind of not only are we training people with book skills and skills, but we're also encouraging entrepreneurship, thinking, uh, business, right? So I think it's also reflective of where the country and the the world is and moving. I think it's great. But to from a from an Australian perspective, I think I don't think it's fair. So here's the thing, whether Australian wants to learn something about Singapore or Singapore wants to learn something from Australia. I think we need to take into account the size and scale of the country. Yeah. The history, the culture, and then also its relation to the international geopolitical situation. Right. So just because something is run well here, or maybe more freedom per se, people are free to express themselves. Of course, you know, if you you can get in trouble with the cops, you know, if you try to do something too crazy here as well, but you got to factor the other things, right? So, it's sometimes not fair, I feel. It's nice to have aspirations of, hey, we can do better. And I think that's that's a great thing and a great attitude to have continually. And and Singapore will grow in a unique way, just as Australia should grow in its own unique way as well. Oh, yeah. 100%. Yeah.
It's very also like geographically it's like so differently located. Australia is like a huge huge place at the edge of the world, basically like super far away. And Singapore in the middle of everything. Yes, all the action, right? All the trade, politics, and all that kind of stuff.
What habits you obtained living in in Sydney, you think compared to your life in Singapore? I don't run as much in Singapore. I I think it's not no excuse. I mean, I I if I care about my health, I should be running. It's just that every time, um, I feel it's very humid in Singapore. Yeah. To run Singapore, you either start like very early, maybe 6:00 AM. Oh, yes. Correct. Or in the evening, or you go in the evening, or you go in the gym, like air conditioned space. Yeah. And I realized the the the irony and the how funny it is for Singaporean to say it's very humid in Singapore because I grew up there. I should. But I think it's an indication of me being very acclimatized to the weather here. Yeah. So every time I go back to Singapore, I feel like I'm breathing in a lung full of water. But then after a week, I kind of Yeah. My body kind of remembers, then I'm okay. For me, I kind of I used I used so much to the high humidity weather, I kind of enjoy it more. For me, like when I go to Europe, it's a bit too dry. The the the air is a bit too dry for me. I think it's just the body changed. Correct. We we acclimatize to the the where we spend the most time.
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I think I still retain a lot of my Singaporeaness. Uh, but I have adopted, you know, more Aussie I from the way of speech and whatever. Yeah. I think I I do change with and adapt to the local culture. I think we all do as human beings. We want to communicate and be understood. So, yeah.
So you think your accent changed or you can call switch? I I can switch, but I'm not like a paid actor. I can't do it. If I if I hang out with Singaporeans, like after maybe four or five minutes, I'll start to, you know, revert back because the the objective is to be able to communicate as as efficiently as possible, right? Singaporeans. Right. So, so when you meet a Singaporean, you will go into that sing English, sing English and the Singapore mode. You will mentally pick words that would uh convey meaning more efficiently. Like in in Australia, we we will use slightly different words and and Okay. So, so give an example. I think from a Singaporean perspective, when we first came, we would think that some of the words you guys use are are too bombastic here, right? Because we we shorten everything, can, and then we we add it with la. Yeah, sure. You know, so it's very efficient. But here, you you can't do that because nobody will understand what you're saying. What the meaning to use can yesterday a couple of times doesn't work. Yeah. No. So here you you go, no worries. Is equivalent to can la. Kla. No problem. No worries. Okay. No worries. If you or uh, okay, law is like is yeah, I'm okay with it. Then you would say no dramas here. No dramas. Yeah. Because like, hey, no no drama. Yeah. No dramas. Everything's cool between us. Um, one of the words I I started using a lot more here in a professional setting is the word aspirational. Oh, okay. Right. Because like in Singapore, when you you work, you think about, oh, what are we doing now? And what is the to be what are we going to go? Yes. So we use the word, oh, what's going to be, what what's it going to be to be look like? But what does it look like? But here is what's what's the aspiration? Where are we going? It's the same thing. But I find that the choice of words help you communicate so much more efficiently and then and reduces misunderstanding and all that kind of stuff. So you kind of kind of learn the lingo and stuff like that. Yeah.
In Singapore, more direct, you think the the way of the choosing words? Um, I think directness, there are many different levels, right? Um, if you're talking about purely about the at a word level, I think we are direct because we have shortened everything and everybody kind of have a common understanding. Yes. Right. So quicker to send information from. But I wouldn't say the Aussies are not direct. I would never.
How do you think you changed as a Singaporean, as a person, after living here in Australia? I have become a little compared to where, so if I if I imagine the trajectory of me staying in Singapore and never leaving to having the opportunity to be here and to experience the last 15 years cumulatively across different cities, I think as a person, I am a lot more open. It doesn't mean that I have I don't believe in anything set thing. I obviously have certain values, but I am I am not closed off in terms of having a conversation with somebody who could potentially like not share the same values. Yeah. But, you know, sometimes when it comes to making friends, it's about proximity, life stage, and common ground. So if you happen to be in a work setting or a friend of a friend, and they might be of a different persuasion or a different outlook in politically or whatever, I can have I can sit down and have that conversation and and because I can park, I'm able to learn to park these things that I hold dear behind me and say, let's have a conversation. M. This is a person I might learn something. Maybe it's also because not only because you can move from Singapore to Australia, but because you start traveling and I see more. It's kind of yeah, it's a natural thing when you start traveling. I see like more perspective in life compared to like only one in in your own place and you become more more often. Absolutely. Yeah.
When you come to Singapore, what's your thoughts, what's your feelings? Is it nor do you feel nostalgia or it's just normal for you because you go so often? I don't know whether this is going to sound funny, but I feel I'm coming home because I have a Singapore passport. Yeah. Right. I know I'm Singaporean. I I just happen to be living uh full-time overseas and pursuing my career and lifestyle. Yeah. Uh, I come back to Singapore, uh, if I'm visiting family, I obviously I'm more relaxed and chill, right? But if I'm coming back to work, I know I'm here on a official work trip, but on on my downtime, I can go out and and meet my friends and family, right? So So that that's it's not like really like a foreigner coming to it. It feels like I'm I'm home.
Would you go back to live to again Singapore? That is not 100% closed closed off. Uh, but as of now, I really do uh very much prefer to be here in Australia until a life stage or something else changes, then we'll consider and, you know, assess from there.
You're a pilot, right? Yes, that's right. Okay. Tell me about it. It's like it's very inspirational. Like I I check your YouTube channel. We we'll leave a link in description. But but it's super cool what you do. Yeah. Um, yeah. So I've always wanted to be a pilot when I was young, but, you know, wearing glasses and, you know, Singapore back then, you know, what the moment you wear glasses, you can't be a pilot. Cannot. Yeah. That that was then. I'm not sure what the rules are now. Like in the 80s, right? Yeah. I find myself uh having some uh spare time on the weekend and then I said, hey, why not revisit that? Because, hey, let's go to uh to the to the airport. Um, this is not the international airport, where the airport where all the flying training schools are. Have a chat, uh, and then I found out what it takes to the different license stages and all that. So, after 2 years of part-time training, I got my uh Australian private pilot license, which allows me to fly from anywhere to anywhere within Australia. Um, I then got uh in touch with a group of guys who want to co-share a little plane, a light plane. So, I paid 20%. I'm now one of five uh to to own that uh little two-seater plane. And then I can just take the plane and just go anywhere I want on the weekend. Yeah.
That's amazing. I mean, I can imagine if you're in Singapore, that's not that easy. So, because you need to cross cross the border. Yes. So, you cannot easily freely fly from Singapore to Malaysia, let's say. You need to do the checks and like immigration control and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Like I if you if you search on YouTube, there are a lot of channels uh of people who are like myself, private pilots, not flying commercially, not working for a commercial outfit. And let's say they want to fly from uh the the top of Australia into Indonesia. What would it take? They have to cross they have to cross that that massive sea. Yes. Right. And so that's where all the international rules come in. So they have to kind of come in, they have to go into your cockpit and spray, you know, to to kill the the germs or whatever. You have to process your passport. Um, but then when you land, you have to do your immigration and all that kind of stuff. So, so there are videos, very interesting videos on online for traveling across internationally. But you're right, in Australia is so big. I just fly from any town to any town. I don't even need to bring my passport because I'm I'm it's domestic. Yeah.
Is it dangerous? You think? Because I guess many people perceive it as a dangerous hobby. There's risk to everything. But the beautiful thing about aviation is that's been around for more than 100 years is we have learned to minimize the risk from every aspect of flying from the mechanical to the engine, uh, to the flying and coordination in the congested airspace and all that kind of stuff. And I know recently in the news, there are a lot of tragedies and they are really heartbreaking, but a lot of these things could have been avoided, you know, and and we kind of learn and take learning from that, right? So, and I think the pilot The community here is also very, very, what's the right word? I think we are very united and we we actually care about each other's safety, right? Because we want we want everyone who's flying to safely get from point A to point B. So last year, and it's probably not as widely reported because this is domestic, there was a mid-air collision between two small aircraft. Okay. Right. Not quite near Sydney, but not actually in the Sydney area. And so there was an investigation and everybody was talking and then immediately when I fly next, I find that everyone becomes a little bit more watchful and more communicative, right? Because there there are certain radio calls you definitely have to make, but then there are certain radio calls, it's up to the pilot's prerogative. And I find that, you know, as a community, people are actually more proactive. The moment we hear, um, the air traffic controller say that, oh, hey, there's two aircraft in this area, they will just everyone, We just basically, okay, yeah, I'm that aircraft, this is my, this is my uh call sign, this is my intention, where I'm flying, what height I am, and then we basically deconflict amongst ourselves, right? So, so from from that perspective, I feel safe. And because the the the community is very responsive and very, um, yeah, supportive. Yeah, supportive. I think yeah, that's the right word. Yeah.
Do you feel like you're still patriotic about Singapore? Oh, yeah. I'm wearing a red shirt. Exactly. Yeah. I'm wearing Happy just happened like a couple weeks ago. This is the 10th 10th 10th day of the Chinese New Year. We have 15 days. So I'm still in a in a valid uh period to wear something nice and red. Uh, National Day comes, I will be at home. Turn on my YouTube streaming. I'll watch NDP. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, these are the typical Singaporean things that you do. So I just keep doing it. Yeah. Yeah. So, because some people will say, "Oh, you don't like Singapore. You don't love Singapore anymore. You like some some people I would say I'm sure they say, "Oh, you're a traitor. You left Singapore." But it's like it's like you're a Singaporean, you like a country, but you live in in different country. You're from different places. Yeah. Just because you you might have two seemingly opposing point of view doesn't mean that you can't hold it and still be okay. Yeah. Right. If people tell me, name a few great things about Singapore, I would have no issues, you know, easily just roll off my tongue, right? Lower taxes, safe, you can go out at night, you know, the government is well-run, you know, it's attracting all the right uh businesses, that they're doing the right things to keep Singapore viable and prosperous, right? You look at the Singapore uh pledge. Yeah, we are living up to the pledge. So, I think that's something that to be proud of as Singaporeans, isn't it? [Music]