 CHONG ZI LIANG |
The teenagers were born in Singapore and grew up there while their fathers served in the Gurkha Contingent of the Singapore Police Force.
But when they reached the mandatory retirement age of 45, the family had to return. Children, like 18-year-old Bikash, often find it hard to adjust to life in a homeland where they have hardly spent any time.
"I thought I was ready to leave Singapore, but I wasn't prepared for life in Kathmandu," says Bikash.
For starters, they have to get used to the pollution in Kathmandu and the overall drop in hygiene standards. Then, there is the language problem: they look Nepali but can't speak it very well. Which means they get cheated in shops because they are treated like foreigners.
Being suddenly cut off from friends and familiar surroundings makes their new life in Kathmandu harder, especially for Dino Gurung, 19, who now keeps in touch with his Singaporean girlfriend by chatting online and writing emails.
Last January, he was able to take a two-week holiday to Singapore and visit his girlfriend and go to his old favourite haunts like East Coast Park, a seaside beach popular with Singaporeans.
Sujita Gurung says the extreme boredom of the first few months here were the hardest to bear. Her parents, afraid she would get mixed up with bad company in her new environment, forbade her to go out with friends during the first months of returning.
"In our Gurkha camp, there were all sorts of sports facilities and friends to hang out with, but suddenly I had to stay home all day," says the 19-year-old. Thankfully, this group of friends are now in different colleges in Kathmandu studying for their A levels. But even in school, they say they had to overcome perceptions that they were spoilt children who were used to a cushy life overseas and not interested in studying. Most of them were able to complete their O levels in Singapore and had plans to continue their studies there, but had to come back after their fathers retired.
"The Singapore government should have at least allowed us to complete our education before making us leave," says Sujita. The Nepalis were doing well in studies and were involved in extra curricular activities. Umesh Rana was a staff sergeant in the youth military corp, Milan Thapa Magar held the same rank in the equivalent police organisation. Milan still keeps the badges he earned during his time in Singapore.
Though disappointed that they are unable to stay in Singapore for a longer period of time despite their fathers' service to the city state, it is clear they still harbour good feelings about Singapore. And food is what gets them really excited. Ramesh Pun says: "Before I returned to Nepal, I went all around Singapore having my favourite dishes one last time."
But mostly, one suspects they simply miss being in their comfort zone, in the place where they grew up. One of them jokingly asks a Singaporean journalist: "When you leave Nepal, can you pack me in your luggage and take me with you?"
