[*21/08/06: Back-dated entry. I am Singaporean meme started by mrbrown. After my brother suggested I could do one too I've been thinking about it on and off... and even when I finally wrote it I never posted it.]

I love 'classical' music, dating back to the middle ages, by composers all over the world.

My nickname in junior college was Debussy, after the French composer whose music I was madly in love with then.

I'm studying music in England, something I most wanted to do since I was 17. I am really grateful to my parents and aunt, without whom I would never have had the opportunity to do so.

I love the wide open spaces in England, and I hope I can make use of this opportunity to do some rambling in the countryside someday.

I wish there were such landscapes in Singapore, but I understand that she's just too small. Hopefully one day I will find a special place that, with some imagination on my part, will be able to evoke in me that same feeling of serenity. And if that fails, I can still make short trips to scenic spots in the region (when I have money).

I'd love to live in a little cottage in the countryside, or even just a house in the suburbs or city. But I wouldn't be able to afford either. Neither will I stay in England after I graduate, because I plan to return to Singapore and start working to repay the huge sums of money I'd have spent by then.

I dream of living in my own house (ok, flat), where I can have some space to myself and set up a studio where I can lock myself in with the piano, and perhaps teach. But I know I wouldn't be able to afford a private apartment, no matter how small it is. Maybe, just hopefully, I might be able to purchase a 2 or 3-room HDB flat when I turn 35.

I once entertained thoughts of staying in England after I graduate, not concerned about whatever kind of jobs I might have to take on to eke a living there. But I no longer hold on to this idea. I think it will be much easier for me to find a job in Singapore, after having tried so hard to find one during my first year in Birmingham, although there might be a wider range of jobs in the music field abroad.

In the end, it's my family, friends, memories, and maybe the future, that keep me here in Singapore.

My name is Jessica.

And I am Singaporean.