Archana Jain-Matthews

Archana Jain, 35. Eshaan Keith, nearly 11 months.

Q: Where are you originally from, and how long have you lived in Perth?

I am from Singapore originally and have been in Perth just over 5 years now. I was here for 2 years in 2002 – 2003 for my studies and then went back home. I met my husband Andrew when I was here and then moved back here when we got married in 2006.

Q: How have you found life here different from Singapore?

I think there’s a huge difference. In Perth, if you lose your ATM card, you have to wait a week for that to come in the post, and maybe the PIN will come in another few days, if you’re lucky. In Singapore, you would have your functioning new card with you when you walk out of the bank branch.

Growing up in Singapore, we just come to expect that things just happen when you need them to. That general attitude, of course, doesn’t leave any room for us developing patience or tolerance, unfortunately. The goal is the same for everyone: you get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, no matter who or what comes in between. You make time for your friends after work. It was quite normal for me to knock off work at 7 or 8 o’clock, even though my paid hours were till 5.30pm.

In Perth, if someone rings you at 8.30 or 9 at night, you find yourself wondering who it could possibly be. Back in Singapore, you wouldn’t think twice about picking up the phone to call a friend at 10.30 or 11pm and you’d happily meet up at midnight for teh tarik and prata or a movie with your mates, and still go to work the next day as usual. Your social life is a lot more around the clock than it is here.

There is a lot more of a work-life balance here; there are more flexible work options here. I have the opportunity to be able to stay at home and look after Eshaan, which would have been almost a luxury in Singapore and certainly not the expected thing to do there.

Q: Do you think you would have enjoyed having a family in Singapore?

Well, I grew up there, so I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. If I was to go back now, after experiencing life with a family here, it might be a different story.

What did you do for a living in Singapore?

I worked in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) as a physiotherapist. I was sponsored by the Ministry of Defence when I was studying physiotherapy so I went straight into the Army when I finished to oblige my 3 year bond. I came here for 2 years on no-pay leave to do my degree conversion and Masters and then went back and rejoined the Forces.

I was a non-uniformed officer, not a civilian which meant that in the hierarchy of ranks, we were given the respect accorded to an officer in the Forces.

Q: Why physiotherapy? Did you always know you wanted to be a physio?

Physiotherapy back in the day in Singapore was relatively unknown as a profession mainly due to the fact that the course was only set up locally 3 years prior to me applying. All the physiotherapists prior to that had had overseas qualifications. Two of my girlfriends and I were intrigued when we stumbled across the course at a career exhibition and decided that was what we wanted to study.

I wanted to end up doing something where I would be able to meet and interact with people and have some variety to my workday. I didn’t want to be stuck behind closed doors in a lab. So physiotherapy ticked all the boxes for me!

One of the things that appealed to me about joining the SAF was that I would be able to converse in English with most of my clients. When I was studying and had hospital placements, I had to speak to clients in the various Chinese dialects and that was a challenge!! I did pick up a fair bit, noting down all the important words in a little notebook but it was certainly not an ideal situation.

But if I thought Singapore was multicultural though, I was in for a shock when I started working here. Perth is what I would call multicultural. I’ve met clients who come from Bulgaria, Poland, Macedonia, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, just to name a few. And at the clinic I work in currently, a lot of my clients are from the UK. So during footy season, I hardly get to discuss the game with anyone, which is a bit of a shame!

Q: So, aspirations. Personally, before and after kids, have they changed much, if at all?

I had always thought that I would like to end up owning my own clinic and running my own business. I had this ideal career path all mapped out in my head. However, somewhere along the way, in the last few years, I have started to wonder whether that is what I really want to do anymore.

Now that I have Eshaan, my priorities are focused on him rather than on my career path. We waited to have children so I think, as far as possible, I’d like to be able to give him what I believe is one of the most important things a parent can give their children – my time while he’s still young and needs me. When he’s a little bit older, I’ll probably re-evaluate my career plans and decide on what lies ahead for me. I think that no matter what I do though, I’ll always have some connection to physiotherapy. It is too much a part of me to give away.

Q: Eshaan – would you like to see him grow up to do something in that profession?

I’d like to see him to get a good education, not just academically but acquire good life skills as well. I’ll leave it up to him to decide what career path he ends up taking.

Andrew was brought up with a strong emphasis in sport as well and I’m sure there is silent hope from his side of the family that Eshaan could be a footy player. Of course, the Singaporean in me says, “As long as he studies too!!” but the Physio in me shudders to think of the injuries that he may end up with, if he played a contact sports! If he’s any good at sports, I might steer him in the direction of golf or tennis instead!

As long as he grows up to be someone who appreciates his place in the world, is respected and respects everyone and everything around him, then I think we would have done our job.