Happy third day of the Lunar New Year!

In the previous weeks, I delved into the individual and neighborhood levels of “how our environment affects us”.

Today, I’ll be exploring the last level: the country/regional level.

🇸🇬 The Country/Regional Level

⚖️ Laws and Social Norms

Every country has its own set of laws and social norms.

Not following them can lead to consequences, whether it’s through legal procedures, being excluded from social circles, or being disadvantaged in your endeavors.

Eventually, you either:

1. follow the laws and social norms
2. challenge the laws and social norms (with varying effectiveness)
3. move to a different country.

I experienced this influence a few weeks ago when I took the Hyderabad Metro during the evening rush hour. On the train platform, I was initially at the front of the “queue”, but left a little space between myself and the yellow danger line for safety reasons.

Following the social norm of queue cutting, several locals around me started squeezing themselves into that little space in front of me when the train approached.

If I wanted to get onto the already packed train and reach my destination on time, what else could I do but try to cut the queue too?

🌤️ Weather

This can be a non-existent factor if you’ve lived in a place long enough, or adopted an “I’m going to get my stuff done, rain or shine” mindset.

However, it can still affect how you feel. Growing up in Singapore, the occasional monsoon rain was a refreshing respite from the equatorial heat.

The chill also relaxed me to the point where I felt like curling up under my warm blanket and sleeping through the day.

Meanwhile, in Taipei, it can rain for two weeks straight. I went out often regardless of the weather, but having soaked shoes and pants subconsciously dampened my enthusiasm for going out and being productive.

I experienced this mood shift the most when I traveled to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan. The sky was so blue, and the sun's warmth was comforting—the weather felt like a godsend. Seeing the blue sky and being around nature made me extremely happy and optimistic for the rest of the day.

Optimizing this level

Decide your boundaries

You cannot avoid conformity unless you’re a hermit living in the mountains.

The consequences of non-conformity can be severe. For example, to maintain its drug-free status quo, Singapore enforces the death penalty for certain drug-related offenses as a form of deterrence.

Meanwhile, some countries have laws that systematically marginalize racial or religious minorities.

To conform to social norms, you need to be comfortable deprioritizing some aspects of your identity, values, and beliefs, so it’s crucial to decide what you’re willing to deprioritize.

Find a country that respects those boundaries (or stay where you are)

If your country respects your boundaries, great.

If it doesn’t, and you don’t have the means to move, don’t feel ashamed. Like the neighborhood level, optimizing the country you live in is a privilege.

Apart from finances, the strength of your passport also matters. Local connections in your destination, while not necessary, can also ease the migration process.

Additionally, it’s almost impossible to find a “perfect” country. A country might have laws and norms that perfectly align with your identity, values, and beliefs, but also have an unbearable climate.

Summarizing the various levels

• Moving to a new country usually requires more resources and/or privileges. Examples of privilege include stronger passports or earning an income in a financially advantageous currency.
• The amount of direct influence you have over your environment decreases at higher levels. You can give your living space a complete makeover, but you can’t make your small-town neighborhood less gossipy unless you convince enough people to stop participating in gossip.