Hi bro, wife and I decided 30 years ago that our kids would be better off if we didn’t have them…. So, we did the responsible thing by our definition and opted not to have children.

30 years later, we still believe that was the one single most important and correct decision we made. Our natures are excellent for our workplaces. I’m immersed in my work, and she was dedicated to hers. This would make us absent parents - or worse, parents that (because we obviously have the wherewithal to do so) splurge on their kids materially to make up for their emotional absence.

Sydney was where I spent my university years on a very generous Australian scholarship and I can’t help but feel I owe Australia a debt of gratitude. We have friends and family there, and my network is there, and I have a part time practice there which suits me fine post retirement. The country is huge, and I could easily spend a lifetime discovering it… especially since I love to drive. We intend to be active retirees in Sydney, and I still intend to contribute to society there in my own way - and the low humidity works better for me, because I hate feeling sticky all day long.

Singapore gave me everything… and I gave it the best 30 years of my life. That’s a fair trade. So, as an experienced player would say, it’s best to quit while I’m ahead.

What field is your son or daughter pursuing in Singapore? I could help give you a better perspective if I knew the area of studies…

If your daughter is keen on either law or medicine, then staying put in Singapore (especially for medicine) is the better option. As your sister just realised, the criteria for hiring of foreign trained doctors have been tightened over the past decade or so, as we're now churning out 500 medical students locally yearly (up from 150 per year 20 years back), and there are returning Singaporeans on MOH half scholarship/sponsorships, all fighting for limited spots.

Singapore is also positioning itself as a hub for arbitration, as well as the usual financial wheeling and dealing that goes on in the Republic, so I think if she gets into law, she'll be well served in her career as well.

Do you intend for her to come back to Malaysia?

I know a few guys who went through the ASEAN scholarship, they are smart, of course their careers are fine. But the one thing I notice is, they became womanizers. Yeah, a few of these friends of mine, when they returned to Msia, they have high flying careers but they have checkered record in cheating their girlfriends with other girls. They tend to work in high flying work late night career jobs that hire a lot of young smart beautiful women in their 20s.