Subbaraju Alluri: Postcard from Singapore

For the benefit of adfolk considering a move to the Singapore market ,Subbaraju Alluri, Grey Group, Area Director and CEO for Singapore & Thailand (pictured) discusses why Singapore is a home worth earning.

What seems like a lifetime ago, I left a little place called home and traveled far and wide to a land that was a hybrid of both, city and country. I gave up countless comforts to come here and start from scratch.

And here’s why I never regretted it even once.

If you’ve shared a journey like mine, I need say no more. But for the benefit of those who haven’t, let me break down Singapore’s charm, bit by bit.

The story of how I fell for Singapore, oddly enough, began before even getting here. And that’s because Singapore made sense. Living here made more sense than most places. Everything I read had done a good job of tempting me. And when I reached, what happened was like a surgical strike on any doubts I had left.

Firstly, I never felt far from home. You see, there’s a little India here, which in some ways is more ‘desi’ than the Motherland itself. There’s also a Chinatown, a Korean hub and a Japanese hub too. And if there isn’t a part of town dedicated to you, there’s a thriving community to make up for it.

After putting my homesickness in its place, Singapore stunned me with its global lifestyles and healthy paychecks. I saw clean roads, met congenial strangers and for the first time, kept pace with the rest of the world. And my career did too, I was working with cross-regional teams on cross-continental projects. My portfolio was growing quickly and I felt a sense of worth unlike one I had ever felt before.

I was hooked. Which was cue for Singapore to start the second phase in its plan. Now that it had charmed me, it began to change me. It made me understand the value of punctuality. I was surrounded by a people that woke up, ate and slept on time, every time. Everything here, from the work culture to the public transportation closely followed the clock. And who was I to challenge the benefits of a healthy work-life balance.

Then one day I realized what a deep sense of security I felt living in Singapore. I was living in one of the safest countries in the world, and although I often took that for granted, it’s something I was truly grateful for.

Now once I had finished swooning over this country, I noticed the million and one flashy distractions Singapore was offering me. Be it exotic food, world-class shopping experiences, breathtaking views or just an adrenalin rush, there were multiple options for each. Because here, the establishments went beyond the call of duty to help me have fun.

So there I was, coming into my own, in a land where I still couldn’t pronounce every street name perfectly. And that’s when it hit me. I had fallen in love with Singapore, and in a brief, enlightened moment, I understood why.

You see, the true strength of Singapore is not it’s many incentives and benefits. It’s that I had travelled to a foreign land to work hard for my future, and here, the foreign land was working hard for me too.

Singapore tirelessly strives for the betterment of its people, regardless of whether they are local or foreign, whether they’re planting roots or just passing by.

That’s why the average Singaporean isn’t necessarily Singaporean. They’re Chinese, Malay, Indian, and European. Because at the end of the day, what made Singapore magical for me was its ability to not be my home, and yet become my home.