KEY POINTS:
What a difference 10 years make. When I first moved here in 1997 it was at the start of the Asian crisis, the value of the currencies in the region were crashing, people were losing jobs and the future was uncertain.
New Zealand was seen as a refuge, and, with its inexpensive housing, beautiful scenery, cheap cars, cooler climate and a slower pace of life, the country had all the ingredients that could help people continue living the good life.
The talk with my friends and folks back home often revolved around what was the best way for them to come here.
Now, quite often at gatherings with my migrant friends, the question that frequently crops up is, have I ever thought of returning home?
The same friends and family members who once talked of moving here to live the good life are now talking about the good business opportunities and job prospects back home.
Like an advertising slogan, an email I received from a friend said: "If you've got the talent, Singapore will pay the money you deserve."
Just yesterday, my sister-in-law left for home with my teenage nephew after three years in New Zealand. Theirs were the latest in a string of goodbyes I have had to say in the past two months.
Last month, two friends left for Australia and in the last week, two others also returned to Singapore after a five-year stint here.
Although they each had their own reasons, most of them left because they felt there was no future for them in New Zealand. The difficulty of getting well-paid jobs, the high Kiwi dollar, mortgage rates and astronomical property prices had all contributed to crushing their New Zealand dream.
I am just guessing here, but I think this feeling of wanting to give up on New Zealand is quite widespread.
It was all a Malaysian immigrant who approached me last Thursday outside a mall in Newmarket could talk about. He rattled on about how New Zealand does not value immigrants and how the grass seemed so much greener overseas.
To back his argument, the man held up the front page of that day's Herald and read the main headline aloud: "Even Government agrees we're poor cousins."
The main story that day was on how New Zealand wages fall below every state of Australia. A Government report found the average weekly earnings of a New Zealander to be $906 while the average earned by an Australian ranged from $1025 in Tasmania to $1248 in Western Australia.
Economic Development Minister Pete Hodgson was quoted as saying, "There is no doubt that New Zealand living alongside a country [Australia] which is doing better than us does permanently influence our thinking".
But for migrants, our basis of comparison tends to be not so much with Australia as the country from which we came. With a booming Asia and with jobs paying good money and opportunities aplenty, the thought of going back to where we came can be very tempting indeed.
But is the grass really as green as it seems over there? I recently met a good friend who was in town for a visit. He is the editor of a Singapore newspaper for which I still sometimes write, and he reminded me of the harsh realities about the work culture in Asia.
"The money you earn may be better, but you have no life," he said. He talked about how journalists there have to put in 12-hour days and how some editors do not get to see the sun for days in a row because of the long hours spent in the office.
He shared his dream of how he, too, had wanted to move to a city like Auckland, where he could spend more time with the family, and how that dream was shattered after he lost his wife to cancer recently. His advice to me: Enjoy what Auckland has to offer.
Last Thursday's Herald also carried a report that said Aucklanders enjoy a quality of life among the best in the world. I have often been reminded that one of the secrets to happiness in life is contentment and, also, that it is often derived from things that money cannot buy.
Unlike the live-to-work culture in Asia, I am enjoying the work culture here, which still gives me the time to spend with the family and the personal space to pursue my own interests.
Money alone doesn't buy happiness, and research has shown that greater wealth often does not equate to greater happiness.
The Legatum Institute found that although New Zealand ranked 11th out of 50 countries in material wealth, we were tops in life satisfaction and were extremely happy with the freedom of choice, control over our lives and the distribution of opportunities.
Well, the friends who have left New Zealand pursuing better careers and bigger money may well have done the right thing, but such an approach is not for me.
Yes, it would be nice to have more money in the pocket and to be earning more than those Aussies. Who knows, maybe that could happen in the next 10 years.
But in the meantime, I am quite happy to trade my higher wage for the lifestyle that is on offer here.
