I read with interest Asad Latif's clever juxtapositioning of Singapore's mobile young - Generation M - with the myth of the merlion in "Generation Merlion won't forsake S'pore" (ST, Apr 23, 2001).

As a 29-year-old Singaporean living, working and studying in Australia all at the same time, I believe I fit neatly into Prime Minister Goh's Generation M paradigm. Please allow me share my personal thoughts on this issue. My decision to reside in Australia has nothing to do with "the lure of the market", nor has it to do with the availability of relatively cheaper houses, inexpensive cars and vast open physical spaces.

Rather, I am drawn to the cultural and intellectual space of a society that is arguably more cosmopolitan, politically open, civic and tolerant than any other place in the world. Here, I develop a deep conciousness of my Chineseness, my Asianness, and above all, my hybrid status as a 'Singaporean diaspora'. Here, I follow news on Singapore more keenly than I ever had time for while working in Singapore. Here, my understanding of Singapore's economic, social and geopolitical vulnerabilities deepens, to the extent that I wonder why so many Singaporeans behave like royalties overseas and are completely oblivious to their immediate surrounds. Perhaps I will one day return to Singapore, but its raison d'etre must be socio-cultural and not purely economic.

Now let me turn to those Generation Ms still domiciled in Singapore. Mr Latif's conclusion that the bulk of them will not leave Singapore is spot on - on the surface at least. This is true of any nation. The real question is whether these people are wholly contented with life in Singapore. I risk generalizing here, but if you ask Generation Ms to envision their future, you will find a substantial number yearning for the green(er) pastures of Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States. As Mr Latif points out, few will end up leaving. Many will stay not because of their undying love for Singapore, but because of familial commitments and the lack of courage to abandon the material comforts of affluent Singapore. Indeed, to borrow Mr Latif's analogy, these are 'road blocks' - in the form of the fairly recent Nicoll Highway extension - that prevents the original Merlion from getting a clear view of the sea. Are these the kinds of Generation M that PM Goh wants to lead Singapore? I am not so sure.