It's ang-moh ghost month

Aug 3, 2008

EX-PAT FILES

It's ang-moh ghost month

By Linda Collins

Singapore may seem more crowded than ever. Heartland malls are a jostling jumble of people and roads are crammed. Yet in some parts of the island, it's as if the invasion of the body snatchers has taken place.

Up to 20,000 people may have vanished since June.

In their typical haunts, it's like a ghost town. At some condos, the shouts of toy-tussling tots no longer echo across the playground. Club tennis courts, where the vicious thwack of the ball on titanium is usually heard, are now silent.

No longer do maids sit chatting beside swimming pools as they mind darling Tayla or Tristan while Ma'am pops out for a pedicure.

Purveyors of Asian knick-knacks - that no discerning Singaporean would buy - stand outside their empty shops, wondering: When are They coming back?

'They' are the European and American expat wives. They have disappeared into thin air - flying back to their home countries. They are taking part in the annual expat migration home for the northern hemisphere's summer school holidays, in the months between June and September.

Thousands of wives gather their children attending Singapore's international schools and return to Little Britain, Uncle Sam, Carla Bruni land, Disneyland, and all other points north.

This expat exodus from the host country is a rite in which they renew family ties and touch base with their own culture.

Their absence is temporary. They do return.

Meanwhile, the ladies' social tennis circuit is out of service, the quilting club has lost its thread and the wine club is half-full.

Bereft of Brits, the British Club is moved to offer a special three-month membership deal over 'summer'.

At some expat hairdressers, you can even get a walk-in blow-dry without an appointment - unheard of, normally.

And at horse-riding establishments, the ponies are piling on the pounds. No trotting around a sand arena for them while jaw-jutting Jemimas are galloping around the Home Counties.

Mums who stay on, including those with careers, are delighted how easy it is to get a manicure at Holland Village these days.

But now it is August and soon the expat flock will return to prepare their brood for the new international school year, as surely as the migratory Curlew Sandpiper departs Siberia for the mudflats of Sungei Buloh to avoid the winter months.

The expat variety of migratory bird arrives plump from dining on shepherd's pie, southern fried chicken and other such foodstuffs from her native land. She is bright of plumage, having purchased the latest Fall fashions and make-up.

For the male of the species - banker blokes, pharmaceutical fathers, dot.com dads - it's been life as usual, flying off on endless business trips around the region or toiling at desks.

After all, a chap's role is to stay here and earn the moolah to pay for the family to have that long holiday, wives might point out (at their peril).

So where do these expats and the children stay during all that time? Some have vacant houses or vacation homes, where they resume their non-expat lives. Others who missed out on the Western world's housing boom do the rounds of various relatives and friends, or rent a place.

It's also the time of year when expat marriages hit a rocky patch. Lonely hubby is not immune to the nubile attractions of the Orient as he enjoys an after-work tipple.

Oh yes, home leave of around nine weeks in summer and around four weeks over Christmas is a long time to be apart.

Interestingly, even as besuited bankers linger longer at Harry's Bar, while their wives renew their acquaintance with Harrods or Macy's, a survey came out last month ranking Singapore as the best place in the world to live in, based on a poll of 2,155 expatriates.

The Expat Explorer survey for HSBC Bank International was done between February and April - and no doubt Singapore would seem the top place to live in, if you were stuck in the northern hemisphere's joyless end of winter and shivering spring.

Still, for quite a few expat families, while Singapore is tops to tarry in, there is no place quite like home. They're spending a quarter, or even more, of a 12-month period out of the place altogether. As for high-flier husbands bringing home the bacon here, how about making a toast: To absent friends.

The writer is a copy editor with The Straits Times and has been living in Singapore for 15 years. Send your comments to suntimes@sph.com.sg



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