http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080815-82488.html
Give scholarships to foreigners with care
I REFER to Sunday's article,
'Singapore gave them a chance to study
abroad'. I am all for embracing foreign talent,
for after all, the United States, like Singapore, is a nation of
immigrants, and the US has grown to be the world's leading
superpower.
However, I urge the scholarship committee to be judicious in its
award of scholarships. While I do not doubt the sincerity of
foreign scholars wanting to serve Singapore when they receive the
scholarships - when they are still young and naive - it is another
tale after they have been exposed to the exciting and enticing
world out there. Let me recount a story.
At a seminar last year, I met a Chinese scholarship holder with
a prestigious statutory board. In our short conversation,
he lamented how he dreads having to serve his six-year
bond, for after studying at a prestigious university in Britain, he
found there were many other attractive job opportunities and he
felt his talent was under-used in Singapore.
Given that the statutory board focused on Singapore's external
enterprise growth, he was assured an exciting opportunity to work
in its overseas offices as part of his training programme.
Not that it mattered, for he was
thinking of how to break his bond, for he wanted success, not after
serving his bond but immediately. He felt staying in Singapore
would impede his ability to let his talent shine, for it was too
small for him.
In fact, he shied away from being
associated with Singaporeans. When I commented that his English was
tinged with a British accent despite his years of study in
Singapore, he beamed and said he was happy to get rid of his
Singapore English accent: 'Do I sound British? Oh
great.'
I left the seminar with a heavy heart. Have we made the right
choice in grooming foreign talent, only to have them snub us?
Indeed, we have allowed them to realise how fortunate they are to
study in top universities abroad - so much so, they feel they are
too good for Singapore.
He Yanying
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Aug
15, 2008.