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Singapore shrinks as COVID takes shine off expatriate life
But after two years of mask-wearing, socialising in small groups and travel restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli human resources professional packed her bags for New York with her husband and children this month.
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A general view shows the financial business district in Singapore on January 3, 2022. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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tar Sandler arrived in Singapore in 2019, seizing the opportunity to live in a buzzing global city that is also a convenient base to jet off to more exotic locales nearby.
But after two years of mask-wearing, socialising in small groups and travel restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli human resources professional packed her bags for New York with her husband and children this month.
"It's been like this for so long. And it doesn't feel like anything's going to change here," said Sandler. "Life is very, very easy here. (But) is it worth it to live such a convenient life without being able to see family, friends, without being able to travel?"
Risk-averse Singapore is trying to balance its approach to living with COVID - aiming to protect people in the densely populated island from the disease while reopening its economy and borders to maintain its reputation as a hub for capital and talent.
Companies and expatriate professionals have long been drawn to the business-friendly country, one of the safest places in the world with a high quality of living, political stability, a skilled workforce, ease of travel and low taxes.
But COVID has prompted soul-searching among many relatively affluent expats in Singapore, where foreigners workers make up a fifth of the 5.5 million population.
Some compare its strict COVID rules with more freedom back home or bemoan the inability to travel freely to visit family, while others joined the "great resignation" wave seen around the world.
