Hey guys! Today I am going to blog a short opinion piece on why ambitious foreigners/Finns should just leave Finland if they are unhappy. This is as opposed to the alternative of trying to stay on to “fight for change”. You are hearing from a foreigner who heard many, many stories of other ambitious foreigners who fought, fought and fought but failed every single time, due to injustice or otherwise.
Let’s start with a question: Have you ever seen any ambitious foreigner or Finn who are doing their own thing in Finland, and are wildly successful? Of course there are! But can these people be considered the norm, or the exception?
In fact, I’m currently of the opinion that if you are ambitious, you should just not even come to Finland. Go to some other countries, such as Sweden, America, Singapore or Hong Kong. And as a relatively ambitious person, I’d take my own advice at this point in my life because I’m convinced that fighting for change in Finland is a waste of my time and youth.
So YES! When I finally graduate from Aalto University I’d be going back to Singapore to work, to push for changes, to execute tons and tons of stuffs. Do I regret going to Aalto? A bit, because the curriculum doesn’t challenge me much. A lot of my classmates don’t even turn up for school, having decided that they have better things to do, which I totally agree! Life is so much more than grades, especially when you are staying in such a beautiful country as Finland. As I am typing this, autumn leaves are falling zen-ly in the forest outside my house.
If I had learnt this sort of thinking earlier, I would also skip school to watch the pretty leaves fall with a cup of Juhla Mokka in my hands.
Yet, having come from NUS, I had expected more from a tertiary education. But I’m grateful for the chance to stay in Finland for 1+ years, to have met so many smart people in Finland, to witness for myself how some Finns live their lives, and to learn Finnish philosophy, history, arts and culture. Language, not so much, because I’m not that linguistically-inclined. So, in a sense, thank God I did learn to be proactive and not place so much expectation on school.
Oh, Aalto even made me take an English test–in fact, it made ALL Asians take English tests while all EU folks are exempted, so you can see how well-informed they are about world cultures. #justsaying. I wrote in four times to tell them how people in some Asian countries like Singapore/ India/ The Philippines do speak English, and they were like “Oh we didn’t know”. Yes, so now you do, and let’s wait for the language rule change. Opps, or you mean–you never had the intention to change it?
This is the perfect example of institutionalised discrimination. Just one example. :) And also an example of how things never really change in Finland.
So I did grow up, and I am glad I won’t be wasting my time, future and effort building up a career/business in Finland anymore! Until I’m convinced that the Finnish system will change in the near future, I won’t have anything business-related to do with Finland ever. Instead, there is a better alternative of bringing your business to Estonia, with their e-residency initiative.
I deviate. Let’s get back to the topic. By “ambitious’ I mean foreigners who want to:
- Dream big, execute big, and accomplish things in their career/ businesses;
- Want to compete based on meritocracy.
With that definition cleared, let’s begin!
In Finland, you got to go with the flow.
In general, in Finland there is a huge fear of failure. But what is usually counter-intuitive is this–there is a huge fear of success too.
Why? Because most Finns are nice people and they believe in equality.
Sure, you have the occasional crazy Finnish person who is refugee-hating and dresses up like KKK, but having met many many nice Finns, I have to say that most Finns do believe in being equal. If Finns don’t believe in being equal, they will not be compassionate towards refugees. They can always delay their registration, or do some other tricks to make the refugees leave on their own accord.
And let me just say that it is perfectly sound to fear success and failure simultaneously. This is because a Finn will then have incentive to do everything correctly. Which is gold for any business owners, and gold for a functioning society! Imagine this utopia where everything is done perfectly and everybody just does things according to their job scope: Nothing more, nothing less. You can just get off work on time, have a great work-life balance, live a slack life and watch leaves fall from trees.
I think it’s a really ideal life to have!
So–why on earth does the government even want to change this system? The reason is that the Finnish government is running out of money, and on debt. Fiscal debt is however, not necessarily always bad–it’s okay to borrow money to spend on education. It’s only bad when the government borrows money and spends on unemployed people who have no intention of work.
In short, long-term unemployment, and people who are eternally out of the workforce because they are not even looking for work.
So you see, the Finnish government already sensed that bad things are coming up because people don’t really want to work, and faced with an aging population, they have to do something. However, if–as a local, you are used to a relaxed life all your life, why would you listen to the government, or bow down to foreigners who are more capable, hardworking and vocal?
Look: If I were the Finn, I’d be feeling angry and intimidated as hell by the stupid foreigner.
And why would I as a Finn give priority to the foreigner even if the latter is more capable? It just doesn’t feel right–remember, it’s the foreigner who spoils work-life balance, who is more vocal and capable. Who is to say that the foreigner won’t overtake me in future? And how about respect? If I were to promote the foreigner, what would other patriotic Finns think?
The war history doesn’t make it easier for Finns either. Imagine if for the past 200years, you’d been colonised by Russia and Sweden. Why should you trust any capable and suspicious foreigner?!
Actually, is this phenomenon unique to Finland? I would say: Not! What is happening in Finland is happening in Japan too. It is extremely rare to have a foreigner on the board of directors on any Finnish/Japanese MNCs. This is normal and even logical. It is the responsibility of the government to over-promise things to foreigners, because obviously hardworking foreigners are good for society. But it is not the responsibility of the government to ensure equal career progression of foreigners as compared to locals. In fact governments should put locals first.
So I’d say, if you want to just stay in Finland, it’s best to just live a slack life, enjoy the leaves, and make some coffee. Taking life easy IS a prerequisite to staying in Finland long-term as a foreigner. Maybe even for a Finn, too.
So if you’re an ambitious foreigner like me–just leave. Don’t fight, nobody appreciates it, and you’re just wasting your own life. Keep your sanity, bring your talent elsewhere, live a good life, and keep a good relationship with Finns! :)
Always remember–behind every successful ambitious person is an entire eco-system which supports ambition. Most likely, you won’t be able to find this system in Finland. The system in Finland encourages mediocrity, not ambition. There is no point in changing it because if even the Finns are OK with this, who are you as a foreigner to say otherwise? Just move on!
