Month 1 in Sweden
Today on 16 September is exactly a month after I had left Singapore with Mister Pops the cat and arrived in Sweden—in Huskvarna to be exact that is about 1.5 hours’ drive from Gothenburg. It’s wonderful to be reunited with Mister Bear!
From the time of the Swedish residency application to getting onto the flight, it all took less than six months. Planning the move and executing it from start to finish had been a challenging but great experience. In addition to putting my administration and project management skills to good use (which is my bread and butter!), I have also learned many new things.
From initiation to planning to execution, the move had been smooth. The dealings for myself and my cat with the various stakeholders such as government and statutory agencies in both Singapore and Sweden, companies, airlines, and other parties had been awesome. Heaps of research and paperwork was involved. I also made a calculated risk in handling the pet relocation by myself instead of through an agent. This major personal project of mine is now ready for closeout. I was very blessed as my manager have been very understanding and supportive by way of giving me time-off, which had been of tremendous help in achieving my goals.
Leaving Singapore was a hard decision for me. As a Malaysian who had relocated to Singapore almost six years ago, I have grown to love the country with all my heart. I was to become a Singaporean, too, as Singapore has approved my citizenship application but I withdrew at the final stage of renunciation because of the surprisingly fast residency decision from Sweden. With that, everything changed leading to this stretch goal of moving to Sweden. I have benefited so much from being its permanent resident and have also gladly contributed back in various ways. Someday when travel restrictions have eased enabling me to I return to Asia, especially to Singapore and my family in Malaysia, I will travel freely again—just like those good old days. For now, although I’m no longer physically present there, I will continue to contribute to both the countries in the charitable causes I believe in.
Leaving my current employer JLL after 11 years of working there is also another hard decision. I have been through a wonderful journey there and have had the privilege to work with great leaders and managers along the way. Throughout my tenure there I’ve grown laterally and vertically too. I’ve had the opportunity to serve in different countries, in various roles, and in different business functions with different clients. I’m blessed to be able to call this place my dream job where I’m not criticized for wanting constant change but instead the organization has made it a safe place to ‘experiment’ and experience different growth opportunities.
I made the above decisions to hit the reset button—a complete change in a different geographic region. Here in Sweden, once again I go into the unknown to ‘play’ in my sandbox of change—to begin as a complete newbie from the ground up. My strategy is very likely to be a one-year sabbatical to scope out the region and identify gaps to make myself more useful here. Right at the top of my agenda is improving further on my Swedish language skill as everything hinges on this critical ability to communicate effectively. I’m thinking also to embark on an add-on European Masters degree on top of my existing postgraduate degree, including additional certifications. Right now, I’m making good progress with the PMI’s micro credential Agile Hybrid Project Pro Prep Course to upgrade my existing Project Management Professional (PMP)—updating to align with current standards is very important to stay relevant!
