3.11.08

Wow...you are famous lah!

My email box was suddenly flooded with lots of mails from home. I realised that an interview I did with our local newspaper was published together with a portrait of me taken by little Ann and some pictures of the places we have visited.

I have joined this forum call 'Singaporean women abroad' and the local newspaper got my contact through them.

That column was about travel so you get to read all about the nice things....(just doing my part to help boost the US economy *wink*). Many have written to say how they envy me. But before you start envying, read what I have to say first.

As a "relocated" mum, I do face with lots of challenges. Do you know that bringing the trash out, picking up the mails, I have to wear 3 layers of clothes, there are no families, no relatives here, in short, no family gatherings or outings. I worry about kids going to school, will they be bullied....worry about them going back to the Singapore school, can they cope or not? I know there is no point worrying but as a mother, it is only natural.

The weather could get very cold, my lips are cracked, my hands peeled. I look five years older because of the harsh weather (It's every woman's nightmare). To keep warm, I have to turn on the heater but that gives me the headache... but I want to support my husband, I want my kids to see beyond the comforts of a Singapore life-style, experience education outside the classrooms. There are lots of challenges, I will face head-on.....do you believe, as women, we are resilient, we are survivors, we make the best out of our situations....

Famous? no lah...tomorrow when you read your new set of Straits Times, all will be forgotten. BUT...if it is in God's plan for my life, that I will be famous, then I want to be famous for a good cause!

4 comments:

Gina Choong said...

Shirley, well said! Though i never had the chance to live abroad, I had lots of chances to work and travel in these far away lands. As its often said, the grass is greener on the other side of the hill. But now you are there, you see and understand better. There is no place like home. Enjoy God's wonders and nature while it lasts. And when you are back here in Singapore, at least you can say 'yes, I have gone there, done that and Thank God, I am home!" :)

BeLive said...

Yes, Gina. Many who don't understand, often think that relocation is all about 'glam and more glam'. The pain and tears, they don't get to see. I know of one relocated mum, on her first few days after settling down, she met with a nasty accident. Thank God, she was alright but imagine the agony...and all alone in a new country.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I chanced upon your blog while reading gina's and can identify with what you have shared, because my family was away in New Delhi,India for two years. The ups and downs are inevitable, even if we are in singapore... But our God is gracious and he always provide christian friends even in the foreign lands to help us along. I miss those church friends in New Delhi, even though we've been back for 5 years!

And I always drool at the food you cooked and posted in your blog, mind if I ask you for the recipe?

Magdalene Chuah

BeLive said...

Hi Magdalene!

No problem, I can share my recipes with you. You can PM me thru' Kitchen Capers Forum.

Yes, our God is always GOOD!