is being mobile a curse?

my mon-kids are all singaporeans. the only foreigner i know among them are either malaysians or a chinese national who has studied in singapore since primary school, and that his mother is with him in singapore.

so it was a rather surprising thing for me when i was sent to the new pasture for that few weeks, to know that a number of the monkeys in the new pasture are foreigners who are here on their own. technically, they are not borned in the year of the monkeys, but since they are all the same batch, let's just call them monkeys as well. most of them came from indonesia, one from vietnam, another from thailand.

practically all of the indonesians who came here started off when they were in sec 3. so in retrospect, it wouldn't be too much on them to uproot and start in a new education system, especially when most of them are alone here.

but what struck me the most was the one from thailand. not because i speak thai or i have a interest in thai culture, nor is it due to the fact that i have a thai "family". what struck me the most was when i first spoke to him. of course, he is rather confident - he has done quite a few presentations before, as according to my mentor. but i also sense sadness, loneliness and a sense of lost beyond that confident front.

turns out as i got to know him better, i realise why. he's been in singapore since he was 11. by the time he went on to sec 1, his cousin, who was also in singapore, returned to thailand. so the only thai he knows in singapore is he and himself, during his formative years as a teenager. now that he has finished his o'levels, he is (don't know when it will be a was) troubled, wondering if he should uproot and return to thailand to continue his study (as originally planned), or continue his study here. and of course, his decision would implicate where he will work in the future. his decision is also affected by his language ability, and ability to fit back in.



===========================================
hence, it made me wonder : is being mobile curse?

if he didn't have the mobility, he wouldn't need to move here to study, nor would he have to go through the trouble of thinking about returning or staying.

if he didn't have the mobility, he wouldn't have to have such ambiguity with his own identity. how would you feel if someone labelled you as "singaporeanised" when you're not a singaporean? how would you feel if you worry about the command of your own mother tongue? how would you feel if you have to worry if you would fit back in into the place where you were born?

i'm not saying nor suggesting that he didn't benefit from his education here, nor that he wasn't taken care of. but should an 11 year old be burdened with uprooting and forced to be independent in a foreign land? should a 14 year old spend his formative years, where he is becoming more self-aware of himself, or establishing his own identity, in a situation that makes it ambiguous? it is already difficult enough for 16/17 years old singaporeans to wonder whether to go to a jc or poly, and which stream or which course. must a 17 year old be burdened with the thought of whether to re-uproot himself again?

i must say he has a group of very good friends. but let's face it - issues with regards to his own culture, own identity, education pathways back at his own country - no one could do it better than those from his own country. the indonesians, with their larger network, would be better able to provide support for each other with regards to these aspects, but what about him?

------------------------------------------------------
hence i have this question: is being mobile a curse?

true, it's their choice to uproot and whatsoever. even though they are not the children of our soil ( and i would argue, imagined commonality and imagined boundaries), they are still our students after all. true, they have guardians who are suppose to take care of them, but there are somethings that their guardians can't do or see, which teachers can.

shouldn't we look out for their emotional development more? singaporean students are already confused with their future path with whatever options available to them, isn't it worse for those from a foreign land?

perhaps there could be a network to connect them with each other. maybe i should do something about it when i enter the service.

now before you criticise that there is no need for such things, think again: why is there a need for those singapore unions or singapore clubs or singapore days overseas? and they cater to people who are much older and can better support themselves emotionally as well. what does it say then?