Corkonians Abroad: Our cosmopolitan life in diverse Singapore

THIS week, I caught up with Sally Jeffery, who is originally from Montenotte and currently living in Singapore in south-east Asia.

Tell us how you ended up in Singapore?

We moved here in 2016. My husband and I both spent time in Asia before we met. I taught English in Korea and Andy worked as a dive instructor in Thailand.

Our love for this part of the world was one of the things we first connected on, and we both had a desire to return some day.

Shortly after we got married, we travelled to New Zealand for a friend’s wedding and made a pit stop in Singapore. 

We fell in love with the city and the seeds were sown for a potential move here.

Eighteen months later, we managed to secure transfers and bought one-way tickets with the intention of staying for two to three years. It’s been over seven years now living on ‘The Little Red Dot’ and we have become a family of four, having welcomed our two little girls Anabelle, aged five and Emilia, aged one.

What is life like in your new home?

Singapore is a modern, cosmopolitan city-state and life here is very smooth thanks to excellent infrastructure, super-efficient public services, and very low crime rates (it’s also super-clean thanks to strict laws such as no chewing gum).

Despite being a densely populated city, it has lots of parks, nature reserves and green spaces which are great for the kids and also provide a welcomed break from big city life.

Culturally, the island is a colourful melting pot, with Chinese, Malay, Indian and many other influences. Living here has opened up our worlds, allowing us to experience a vibrant mix of languages, cuisines and traditions.

We love that the girls are growing up in such a diverse environment - they have friends from many different communities, celebrate every cultural holiday, and Anabelle attends a bi-lingual school, learning through English and Mandarin.

The expat community here is also very welcoming and the variety of people from all over the world that you befriend along the way is really wonderful.

In the same thread, one of my favourite things about Singapore is the strong sense of community you find here. As an example, hawker centres - large communal dining spaces - act as epicenters for neighbourhood life with communal tables and affordable dishes. They are places where people from different backgrounds come together to enjoy a meal, creating the loveliest atmosphere.

What has been the biggest challenge of living in a far-flung part of the world?

The thing I have struggled most with in Singapore has been the climate. Being located just 85 miles north of equator, it has pretty consistent daylight hours, high humidity and heat all year round. Like other tropical countries, there are only two seasons here: ‘wet’ and ‘dry’. I found this really messed with my concept of time for the first few years.

In Ireland, the passage of time is so punctuated by the seasons as well as the leaving and returning of the light that I felt lost without these markers.

Singapore has its own rhythm though, the passing of time marked by its multicultural holidays - Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Mid-Autumn Festival, Deepavali and Christmas.

As for the heat, while I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten used to it, I’ve definitely found ways to manage it better.

How might you spend your weekends?

Like many young parents, our weekends are centred around our kids. We are members of the Hollandse club here which acts as the hub for Anabelle and Emilia’s activities (tennis and dancing for Anabelle and lots of swimming for both girls).

In the evenings, we like to grab dinner and drinks with friends in one of Singapore’s many neighbourhoods. The food here is as diverse as the people and offers everything from an incredible array of $5 dishes at hawker centres to the very best in fine dining.

Because Singapore is such a small country, we like to travel when we can, exploring new places and taking a breather from city life. 

Luckily, it is a great hub for travel and we can get to beautiful remote islands in a couple of hours.

Tell us about your line of work?

I work in digital advertising and feel very lucky to love what I do. My role is regional in capacity, which sees me travel to different markets in Asia Pacific pretty regularly.

I find working across cultures endlessly fascinating, you can be dealing with the same business everywhere, from Japan to New Zealand, and how you show up, build relationships and conduct business can be night and day from market-to-market.

I distinctly remember preparing for my first business trip to Japan and learning about the importance of their Meishi (business card) etiquette. My first thought was ‘Are business cards still a thing?’, swiftly followed by the fear of getting it wrong.

When my first exchange of cards arrived, I thankfully pulled it off correctly and was ultimately struck by how reflective the ritual was of the deep-rooted values of respect in Japanese culture.

What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

I turn 40 in May and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a privilege to get here and I want to celebrate it fully. We’ll spend the days around it in Vietnam as a family, and once Anabelle breaks from school we’ll head home to Cork for a month, where I’ll celebrate with family and friends.

I love a party but I’m not a big bells and whistles party person, so I’m looking forward to a few smaller dinners with loved ones as well as a trip to Paris to relive my Erasmus days.

What do you especially miss about Cork?

So many things! Cork is a fantastic city. Like most expats, however, the thing I miss most is my loved ones, family, close friends and their growing crew of little people. Technology is incredible and definitely helps to bridge the miles, but it’s just not the same.

Covid was particularly hard, we lost family members, my little sister got married and we weren’t able to be there to comfort or celebrate in those big life moments.

It’s not just the big moments we miss, it’s the simple, everyday ones; our girls spending time with their grandparents and playing with their cousins, or being able to grab a quick coffee with friends. We appreciate every single one of these moments when we are home and, without fail, upon return to Singapore, I find myself scrolling through Daft, contemplating a move back.

If you were back in Cork for one day, what would be the ideal day for you?

My ideal day in Cork would start with pastries and coffee in Blackrock village followed by a walk along the Marina with loved ones and some sliding for the kids at Marina Greenway.

Later, I’d love to potter around town, including an obligatory visit to Penneys and some of my favourite local shops. I’d definitely bring the kids to Pinocchios to choose a toy too. I try to weave little bits of home into their bedtime stories and the little orange toy shop enjoys an almost magical status in my five-year-old’s mind.

Next up, a visit to the English Market to pick up some treats from The Pigs Back and The Sandwich Stall, then onto Fitzgerald’s Park for a picnic while the kids have a ball in the playground. Before leaving, we’d pop up to the Shaky Bridge for a quick jump and grab a 99 (you can’t beat them).

I’d finish the day having dinner with friends, somewhere like Orzo or Elbow Lane, followed by drinks in Mutton Lane.