Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Singapore is a good parking lot
The title was an exact quote from a Masters student from India in my class (honours year students are allowed to take masters level classes). That classmate of mine also added that she’ll eventually return to India. I thought that she made the comment at an extremely appropriate time, with all the debate about foreign talent and the aim to increase Singapore’s population to 6.5 million by 2030 (mainly via immigration).
I don’t blame her for taking Singapore as a good parking lot. The education standards, living standards, housing standards, working conditions etc here in Singapore are perhaps much better compared to India in general. Since Singapore is so friendly towards foreign talents, it’s only natural for her to decide that Singapore is a good place for her (and her children) to get an education. However, her heart does not lie here. She made it clear that she will eventually return to India.
Of course, this one classmate of mine cannot speak for all the foreigners in Singapore. Nonetheless, I think its instructive for our government to think a little bit more about this foreign talent issue. It’s true that we are in a globally competitive economy and that we need talented people to compete. However, while we can buy the services of talented foreigners, we cannot buy their hearts. Singapore, to a number of talented foreigners, is merely a parking lot. How far can we expect them to stay?
When my classmate mentioned about returning to India, I began wondering about Singaporeans. How many Singaporean talents do we have that are outside Singapore? Why are these people not returning? I have no answers to the questions I just asked, but I think we should really think hard about those questions. How many Singaporeans have “voted with their feet” and are not returning? Is there something about Singapore that makes it a better parking lot than a home?
Once again, I only have questions, but I have no answers.
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about 5 years ago
The parking lot comment from your classmate is interesting. It reminded me of the McDonalds that intersperse along the highways that traverse the New South Wales State in Aust.
The bigger ones serves as a rest stop along the way, such as the one that is along the way from Sydney going on to Canberra. They are pretty decent, fast food, decent amenities, playground for the kids, petrol station nearby, a minimart selling all sort of things, basically it’s like a mini-hub that resembles what Singapore is. The place to me have a nice ambiance and feels comfortable but you know you aren’t staying long in the area.
about 5 years ago
I agree with what Mr Wang said in a previous post he made. We have to distinguish between the real deal and the fake deal. The real deal refers to those who do have the talent which no singaporean has…thats the kind of person that can contribute to the economy and if he leaves, well at least he did something.
However, with regards to all the foreign students, it is highly debatable whether they will stay to contribute. True there are safeguards but WHAT if they are poached by some big MNC willing to help them get thru those safeguards? (purely hypothetical, i stand corrected). Then another example to look at is the issue of doctors. Sure they can say there will be no compromise of standards and so on…but once the floodgates open…who knows?
about 5 years ago
Hi Aaron,
I feel that eventually we will win some hearts. Not all, but at least some. It is ubiquitous that we see Singapore-breed Singaporeans ventured out of Singapore and never returned. And so are foreign talents who came and disappeared.
Our forefathers were also immigrants who felt that Singapore in her early years was a “good parking lot”. They stayed perhaps because they couldn’t find a better alternative, or perhaps their descendants (us) who grew up here were (are still) attached to this island.
I feel perhaps our government’s stand towards the foreign talent issue is that there is a possibility that we attract new age forefathers who came here to better their lives. They may eventually leave, but hopefully their children who grew up here love this place and consider Singapore their home. It is not certain that it will happen the way we want to think it will, but there’s a possibility.
And also because of the declining birth rates, Singapore requires more people (hopefully smart people), who are looking into the possibility of starting a family, have the brains and yes, plant their roots here.
I know it can sound crazy, but perhaps that’s why the government is still confused about their stand to the homosexuality issue. Sure we don’t want to draw lines between homosexuals and heterosexuals, and sure we want to encourage a cosmopolitian environment. The fact that homosexualities cannot contribute to improve the current declining birth rate situation remains a fact and is a problem. Perhaps, that’s why our government is still hesistant to promote such a lifestyle. =)
about 5 years ago
Covered parking lots for foreign talents, open parking lots for Singaporeans.
You can make policies that improve tricky situations in Singapore, but I do hope that the government do not avoid some of the side-effects of those policies. It seems that they will trumpet the “success stories” and make a side note on “brutal truth stories”. As some always said, NS for Singaporeans, jobs for foreign talents.
about 5 years ago
Ted,
That’s an interesting add-on to the parking lot analogy. I remember such rest-stops when I zipping along the highways on the UK too.
about 5 years ago
Stark,
You don’t even need an MNC. All the student needs to do is to get his degree, and then run back to their home country. As if they can be easily found (esp. if they come from India or China) to make them pay for breaking their bond.
about 5 years ago
Hi raynor,
Fair comment. But back then, Singapore didn’t throw tons of money to attract our forefathers to come. Perhaps it’s now down to the question of pull versus push factors. If we “pull” people to come using incentives, are they more willing to stay on compared to people who came less by choice but by circumstance? That’s still an unresolved argument, which I think undergrids the entire foreign talent argument.
about 5 years ago
Retired Reservist,
It should be the other way round isn’t it? Covered parking lots for Singaporeans and open parking lots for foreigners. Both allow people to park but one is more comfortable than the other. So, people who want a nice covered lot should become a Singaporean.
If we don’t provide covered lots for Singaporeans, they will feel fed up and leave. The foreigners who see Singapore as just a pit stop will leave too. Then Singapore loses both ways.
about 5 years ago
I had no covered parking lot. Today I’m heading a department in China, and have been there for 3 years. I do not intend to return.
Enough said.
about 5 years ago
Aaron,
the part about singaporeans is predicated on the fact that they do have the ability to leave. I dun think many do. Those fellas stuck will be the ones whereby the hammer falls (or should i say lightning strike?)
about 5 years ago
“How many Singaporean talents do we have that are outside Singapore? Why are these people not returning?” I am one who voted with my feet. I happen not to enjoy being treated like an idiot, and am educated enough to know that world is a big place, and refuse to be pat of a compliant money-faced society that is willing to give up many freedoms.
about 5 years ago
To extend the parking lot analogy, foreigners get seasoned parking easier than the locals who have to drive round and round before they can get a lot.
Plus their payment is per entry, ours is hourly rate (i.e. NS)
about 5 years ago
Let me put it this way:
Singapore is like one of those membership driven clubs that gives out a good amount of incentive for people to join. But, once a person becomes a member, that person will begin to realize that most of the club’s resources are allocated to attracting new members rather than keep the existing members happy.
Singaporeans are born with membership.
about 5 years ago
Shanghai is a good parking lot as well. Who knows one day I will park in Sydney, New York or New Delhi.
Its a big big world outside…..everybody are free and mobile to move around as long as you have the will and means.
about 5 years ago
The Goatherd and the Wild Goats
A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night. The next day it snowed very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them in the fold. He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own. When the thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd. One of them, turning about, said to him: “That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves.”
about 5 years ago
” But back then, Singapore didn’t throw tons of money to attract our forefathers to come. Perhaps it’s now down to the question of pull versus push factors. If we “pull†people to come using incentives, are they more willing to stay on compared to people who came less by choice but by circumstance? That’s still an unresolved argument, which I think undergrids the entire foreign talent argument.”
People will come bcos of the incentives or suckered by the propaganda. But will they stay on is the next question? IMO when you attract less educated types or people from 3rd or 4th world countries, they will stay on in Sg bcos the shit is worse back home. But these types are NOT talents.
the talents we want to attract and make them stay on will want more than just economic incentives. They desire a society that is genuinely open and free that allow people to have freedom of speech and human rights.
I am studying in a private uni now and half of my classmates are from india, PRC, vietnam. The few i am closer to have told me they feel Sg is superficial and repressive. Their aim is to get a few yrs of working experience in Sg before returning home or moving on. Even 3rd world types can see the plight of us Sgians and u think they will stay after they have sucked all the goodies from our stupid gahment? Hahaha! The kind of stupidity in the gahment is completely amazing.. maybe they surrounded themselves with too many yes-men and eunuchs and out of touch with the ground.
about 5 years ago
Rec Ong,
Perhaps all that matters to them is that these fellas come, contribute to singapore’s economy, than leave. There are always more fellas out there to replace these fellas who have left.
about 5 years ago
Hi Aaron
Just some answers and thoughts to a few of your many questions.
“How many Singaporean talents do we have that are outside Singapore? ”
What this question asked is just one side of the story. Ever wondered if declining birth rate in Singapore is related to this? I am living in the US with my wife and 2 kids. What singapore lost is not just 2 working adults in my case (me and my better half), but also 2 young children. Since our kids are canadian born, they are not part of singapore’s the “birth” statistics.
“Why are these people not returning? ”
Many reasons in my case. Political situation is one. NS liability is another. The future of my family and children, future of my career, etc.
about 5 years ago
The question on why people are not returning Singapore was brought up during a casual dinner with a group of singaporean in Shanghai and the reasons rounded up as follows:-
1) NS Liability
2) More chanllenging work scope oversea.
3) Relatively higher cost of living back home.
4) Better quality life-style and more time for family
Nobody raises political reason(s) though……
about 5 years ago
“1) NS Liability
2) More chanllenging work scope oversea.
3) Relatively higher cost of living back home.
4) Better quality life-style and more time for family
Nobody raises political reason(s) though…… ”
Err Shanghai-hood, the 4 reasons are really consequences of the larger political situation leh… It is the state of politics in SG that has caused them. As long as the political situation remains the same those 4 reasons/consequences are going to carry on, especially reason 1 and 3.
about 5 years ago
A good parking lot will enforce the same parking charges for vehicles that use the lot.
The Singapore parking lot provides covered lots for foreigners and asks Singaporean male owners to please also patrol the parking lot to ensure the security so that the cars both Singaporean owned and foreign owned do not get scratched or damaged by envious neighbours.
In return, Singapore car owners in this car park pay slightly lower car park charges and get some GST credits but hey, some Singaporean owners die because while patrolling, they get killed, injured and maimed.
While the Singaporean car owner was busy patrolling the car park, his foreigner car owner got the deal done and got promoted while the Singaporean car owner gets a warning letter for not meeting his project schedule.
NS is killing Singaporeans.
about 5 years ago
sure… ‘parking lot’ now. as long as they treat it like one. i’m thinking it’ll be far worse if they decide to treat it like a ‘toilet’.
about 5 years ago
It is true fact of life.
Where one can make a living, go there.
Our forefathers recognised the fact.
They came from all over to singapore.
Singapore is trying to benchmark against the US.
Is that possible?
US has rights, has unions, they make the green card something desirable.
Singapore citizenship desirable?
about 5 years ago
Recruit Ong
In a certain sense, you are right. Actually, it seens like NS Liability is quite a big concern for most o/s singaporean men.
Kevin
The part on using singapore as a ‘toilet’ is a good laugh. Such humour, together with a cup of coffee, makes my day first thing in the morning!
about 5 years ago
NS should be no big deal if one treats it like being at boarding school or camp. As for Singaporeans being allocated uncovered parking lots, we have accepted handouts from the government since the 60′s – the quid pro quo is lack of choice and a tendency to glance over our shoulders before expressing any dissatisfaction.
We are an apathetic lot as a consequence of over protection; we mutter and grumble but no one is willing to do anything to right any perceived wrongs.
So those with decent prospects sometimes leave – for good.
The unknown is what kind of talent we will attract and whether they will be a good thing or not. I doubt if anyone can answer that question.
about 5 years ago
It is easy to be selfish and pragmatic individual to label NS as a liability. On a broader Picture, if there were no NS, would there be a Desirable Car Park speak of ? Foreigners wouldn’t even consider us as a passing thru Car Park. Someone has to be the security guard.
about 2 years ago
I’m a Malaysian. but I’ve been living in Singapore all my life (born here). My parents were Msians who came here and settled down many years ago. And the only reason they’d be going back to Malaysia any time soon is simple: lower cost of living. But recently, I have applied for citizenship, and will soon be a Singaporean.
As for me, I can safely say that… I dont think I will ever leave Singapore. Simply because, I have made my life here, for the past eighteen years of my life. I can’t imagine life anywhere else! This is my home!
However, I am not NS liable and if I had to serve NS, I might think differently. I’m not sure. Do other PRs out there share my sentiments? Those who have lived here all their lives? That Singapore is, our home?
I have a dream: I want to be a manga artist. Probably not the most fantastic dream but… Here in Singapore, I see not many, if not almost nothing, of an opportunity to do it here. But here I am. If I study overseas, I want to come back, because everyone is here. My friends, family, memories… Everything. everything is here. If I ever make it big, I want to say proudly, that I am Singaporean, and that this is a Singaporean production.
So, can the government bank on this? That there are some who come to Singapore, and eventually make it their home? That they are not just citizens in name, but in heart? I think they can.
This does not apply just to foreigners. Are Singaporeans, born n bred here, just Singaporeans in name? Or in heart?
I am in heart. Are you? Singaporeans out there, think. Because if you were, all these hardship would mean nothing.
about 2 months ago
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