Contrary to perceptions, Southeast Asia is flourishing economically and socially, charting exponential growth over the past one to two decades – yet young Singaporeans think the region is ‘dilapidated’ and ‘backwards’.

… With some companies struggling to find young Singaporeans willing to uproot themselves to work in neighbouring countries, former ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said that youths here traditionally perceive going abroad as taking up opportunities in Western countries.

“Until the last few years, there has been very little effort in promoting similar opportunities in Southeast Asian countries. Naturally, young Singaporeans grew up aspiring to travel abroad to outside of Southeast Asia to pursue advancement in careers,” said Mr Ong, who is currently an Ambassador-at-large and the executive deputy chairman of Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.