November 19, 2009 by admin
Filed under Top News
Leave a
comment
Written by our Correspondent
An Indian engineer working in Singapore by the name of Amitesh
Basu has written to the Straits Times Forum today imploring the
Singapore government to recognize more degrees from Indian
institutes!
In a short letter, he wrote:
“Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s words on emerging
technical institutions in China and India and his mention of the
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in a speech (’Cambridge
faces stiff competition’, Nov 7) make me wonder why these
institutes with respectable global rankings do not appear on the
list of institutions whose degrees are recognised for registration
by the Professional Engineers Board of Singapore.
his is despite the fact that several alumni of these
institutes are faculty at Singapore’s technical institutes. The QS
ranking, for example, places the IITs and four leading institutes
in China ahead of all but four of the 14 Australian colleges and
all but five of 47 British institutions on the Professional
Engineers Board’s list.”
A quick search on linkedin
reveals Mr Amitesh to be the Chief Civil / Structural Engineer at
Foster Wheeler Asia Pacific. It is not known if he is a Singapore
citizen or PR.
Mr Amitesh completed his education at the Indian Institute of
Technology (Kharagupur) and the La Martiniere College in
Lucknow.
With due respect to Mr Amitesh, his position can be easily
replaced by a local engineering graduate with good honors or master
degree from either NUS or NTU.
He can hardly be considered as a “foreign talent” whose skills
are solely needed and missed by Singapore since its universities
produce thousands of engineering graduates each year.
The relentless influx of engineers from India and China has
helped depress the wages of local engineers. Some of them are
actually assistant engineers taking on the roles of qualified
engineers at a lower pay.
The starting pay of engineering graduate is currently between
$2,400 to $2,800 a month, about the same as ten years ago. However,
the cost of living has increased by more than doubled.
Inflation was at a record high of 6.7 per cent last year. The
prices of HDB flats have also sky-rocketed especially that of
resale flats.
The exact number of Indians working in Singapore is not known.
Most of them work in the engineering and information technology
sectors, jobs which can be taken up by locals.
Foreigners now make up some 36 per cent of Singapore’s 5-million
population, up by almost 20 per cent compared to a decade ago.
Despite rising unhappiness and resentment on the ground, the
Singapore government is adamant that immigration is essential to
boost the nation’s flagging birth rates.
MM Lee Kuan Yew told Singaporeans off in no uncertain terms
lately to “bear” with the tide of foreigners.
A Singapore ethnic Indian was shocked to find that his daughter
being a minority in a kindergarten run by an Indian charity.
He is not alone. Many ethnic Chinese are also unhappy with the
large numbers of “Ah Tiongs” or PRC Chinese who have flocked to
Singapore to work and live.
With no political pressure or impetus on the ruling party to
rethink its liberal immigration policies, Singaporeans have no
choice but to try to “re-integrate” themselves into the new
Singapore society.
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong mused publicly to the press if
Singapore should allow immigration “enclaves” to emerge in its HDB
heartland.
Singaporeans may soon find themselves living in the midst of a
little “Hubei” or “Chennai” in the not too distant future.
Source: The Temasek Review