i have a love-hate relationship with that little dot down south. perhaps not so much hate but more like apathy but love-apathy doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

on some visits i feel very detached from the little island that had been my ome for 4 years when i was growing up. the fast paced growth and development has left everything alien and different, an unfamiliar faint resemblance to the home of my many memories. nothing is how or where i remembered it. faint shadowy ghosts linger around, not quite knowing where they belong in the new beautifully structured island of singapore.

this time round i love the island for what it is, and not what it held. the cleanliness, the orderliness, everything is as it should be. things work like they should and people behave with simple clarity. perhaps it is because i am merely a visitor passing through. perhaps my fondness lies in the uncomplicated guileless lifestyle i can lead there. the world is not perfect there. there is no reason it should be, there is no perfection anywhere, but it's a far cry from the complicated web we weave over here. this time round i love the little island for being my little shelter from the storm.