Like a lot of things I see grownups do, this action of leaving and never returning to Singapore strikes me as a reaction to one's past experience. I grew up in

Like a lot of things I see grownups do, this action of leaving and never returning to Singapore strikes me as a reaction to one's past experience. I grew up in a crowded place where crime and terrorist attacks where a normal part of life. As an adult, I moved to the US and my job always took me to less crowded cities. I've visited places like New York since, and realized that I do not miss living in crowded places at all. I read a lot about what's supposedly wrong with suburbia (the media and hollywood seems to view it as morally wrong), but I find myself drawn to the relative peace and slow pace they describe. I often think it's because of where I grew up. To me, the author is making a similar move, though in the opposite direction. Life was too simple, too comfortable, and too polite in Singapore, and now he's had his full of it, and needs the opposite. I can relate, except I'm coming from where he's going, and I went to what he's trying to escape.