The work opportunities and cultural diversity here are some reasons why children of expats such as Mr Hughes and Ms McAdam have returned and found jobs here. Mr Hughes is now the duty manager and music director at the Prince of Wales bar, a live music haunt in Little India, while Ms McAdam is a business analyst with Accenture here. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
THEY are the 'half-pats' - children of Western expats, raised here but not sure where to call home.
For decades, these youngsters have tended to up sticks after school to study or seek work back in their countries of origin, with Singapore filed away as a diverting Asian interlude.
But this neither-here-nor-there generation is increasingly realising that the grass might just be greener in Singapore after all.
The sea change is the result of some harsh realities: Many Western economies are flatlining, and the future is looking bleak, with good jobs - and even entry-level ones - out of reach.
For many half-pats in this cold, new world, Singapore suddenly looks like a lifeline, with loads of work opportunities, low taxes and, if your luck is in, a spare room in Mum and Dad's condo unit.
There are also sentimental and cultural reasons behind the move back for many half-pats, but the economic pull factor is the hardest to resist. Just how many people have made the passage back is uncertain as no figures are available. Tracking those who were previously here on student visas or as permanent residents is near impossible.
Read the full story in The Sunday Times.
vlydia@sph.com.sg
