PR demand same fee as citizens

crazy monkey SG

WTF !! he never serve NS want to kpkb knn !! Mad

To lure foreign talents, give them same rights as S'pore citizens

I would like to thank Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan for the decision to let the Singapore Sports School take in foreign talents.

I understand that the sports school is for citizens but having made the decision to open it to foreign talents, how can the latter be attracted if the school fees are $25,000 per annum compared to $6,000 per annum for citizens?

In my view there are two distinct types of foreigners:

a) PRs who have lived in Singapore for many years, have a home here and have contributed a lot to the economy; and

b) Those who are non-residents living in other countries and who want to send their children to the sports school.

While it's fair to ask the latter category to pay $25,000, I feel it is not fair to put the permanent residents in the same category.

In all the other areas of education and child development, PRs are treated more or less on par with Singapore citizens. So my question is why is there this big differentiation in the case of the sports school?

On the other hand, the sports school wants to groom the locals to represent Singapore, but aren't today's PRs future citizens of Singapore if they feel that this is the place for them?

PRs love to live in Singapore because the place is good, safe and clean with many career opportunities. These are the key factors that keep PRs committed to Singapore.

If they like it, they can apply to become Singapore citizens. The Singapore government doesn't force anyone to become citizens.

Singapore has done a lot to attract foreign talents as far as the work force is concerned. But in sports, I feel there is still a lot more to be done. The process to upgrade a student's pass to that of a permanent resident and then become a Singapore citizen should be the same.

Encourage sporting talents to come to Singapore. Please revise the fees for permanent residents to match those for Singapore citizens.

Suresh Potluri

iveco SG

In the first place, school fees for citizens should be subsidised up to 90%. Make those non-Singaporeans (PR or otherwise) pay the FULL fees. It is possible to cross-sibsidise from there.

Gun SG

Assuming this author, Suresh Potluri, is Singapore PR.

I wander if he has a son who had or is going to serve the national duty .

I say PR families demonstrate more of that commitment to Singapore before asking for more rights.

greengoblin SG

That is assuming his son is equally talented in sports as well... IF his son can represent our country...does he even need to worry about citizenship....

Anyway is the Sports School under MOE?

crazy monkey SG

Groom S'pore atheletes. Don't rely on foreign talent

I was at the National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign on Sept 11.

I visited the booth of the Singapore Table Tennis Association. I was alarmed when I noticed that all the players are from China.

A few officials were also from China. My friends asked me whether we were at the China Table Tennis Association. I can understand why they say that.

On Sept 13, I read an article about basketball. I learnt that the silver medal which Singapore won in the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam was obtained with the help of six foreign players whom I believe were from China.

Was the women's team entirely made up of Chinese players?

There are more and more foreign players representing Singapore. But there are many avid basketballers, table tennis players and sportsmen in Singapore.

Surely, some of them are capable of doing Singapore proud. If not, they can be groomed. For example, silat is doing very well with local talent.

I agree that foreign players can act as sparring partners and provide competition for local talents. But do they deprive our local talents of their places in the national team?

Many young sporting talents aspire to represent the nation. Foreign players may win medals for Singapore but I believe not many of us are really proud of them.

I feel really proud only when Singaporeans, not foreign players, win medals for Singapore.

Sports is not just about winning medals. We must also not forget the passion of our local talents and fellow Singaporeans.

I believe that we can do it. We have successful local sportsmen and sportswomen such as Remy Ong, Joscelin Yeo, Teo Wee Chin and Terence Koh.

We also have what it takes to groom our Singapore athletes. In time, I believe we will have capable athletes who can be better than the foreign players.

To mould Singapore into a sporting nation, we have to depend on ourselves. We must have our own sportsmen whom we can be really proud of.

Cheng Zhi Qin

lwflee SG

I think singapore should just forget about getting world class atheletes. I think its a waste of money to try and attract and groom these so called talents.

I think damage limitation is in order. Lets stop wasting money on something as trivial as sports.

hisoka SG

sort of have to agree, instead of getting the pple from other countries to participate on behalf of singapore, which doesnt seem right to me, might as well train the local ones. you can import the trainers(first class ones pls and not the rejects) if its felt that the local trainers are lousy

SinGaporGuy SG

back to th QNs… y the F#[email protected] we serve NS for.. and waste 2 and a half yrs..... ahha.. onli to b condemm by our G#@T fr nt able to contribute to economy.No one help us to find jjobs.. we have to find our own.. no one feed us…. we feed ourself… who pay the bills.. we…... yet.. we R not recognise by our own G#$#T…. irony… we serve to protect.. yet no one protect our interest.

taurian SG

dis is precisely wat is happening in Singapore now. Locals r being replaced by 'foreign talents' in all competitions n not given a chance. so wat spore win, aso not by singaporean, by paid foreign players.

last time in school i got chance to take part in oratorical contests, table tennis or badminton tournaments..... now my son's sch sent all china students for competitions. my son no chance to play for sch, eca teacher dun train him aso, he can onli play play during eca. watever interest he has in badminton aso give up lah!

pkchukiss SG

Please don't be hasty in putting down all permanent residents.

I have a PR friend who is serving national service right now.

I say let benefits for PRs be granted on a case by case basis, with certain weightages granting them a level of benefits.

crazy monkey SG

btw Singapore National basketball team was trashed by kids from Taiwanese high sch team.

Lowclassman SG

I feel very depressed and sad to see that most or 99 percent of the medals were won by foreign talents. Why are our gov is sort of this kind? I never never feel proud or rather I felt awkward of using foreigners ''so called future PR or citizens'' to represent singapore. sign.....
If these spotrmen were to be settled in singapore; are these people able to train their children in future to be as good as themselves to represent singapore again, have our gov thought of this?

Have our gov wonder why foreigners players or sportmen are better?
Have our gov thought why we can't get locals or pure singaporeans to train and become top sportmen?
Have our Gov really gone to oversea to study and observe how were these sportmen were being trained and under what kind of educational system and in what kind of environment? Or just simply get these FT to make them PR to represent singapore to win more so as to make singapore look ''good''.

To what I see, why are our gov doing this just to make singapore look ''Good''? But, how these ''Look Good" going to last and how long? Is this is the way of attracting FT or expecting these FT really can train our children and their children to be the next pure singaporean top sportmen?

Awkward is the word that I can describe. Mad

I just failed to understand?

Gun SG

Originally posted by greengoblin:
That is assuming his son is equally talented in sports as well... IF his son can represent our country...does he even need to worry about citizenship....

Question: Is getting "citizenship" a matter of concern for Suresh Potluri and even a priority for his family, let alone his son ?

Let's quote what he said in his article:
"PRs love to live in Singapore because the place is good, safe and clean with many career opportunities. These are the key factors that keep PRs committed to Singapore. "

The Potluri had conveniently forget how such conducive environment had attracted him to settle here in the 1st place: A citizen army of 350,000 from Singapore Citizens of sons, fathers and husband.

Is he saying that PR will abandon Singapore if Singapore one day fails to provide ?

And if Suresh do not realise this aspect that have weighted on shoulders of these CITIZEN men for the last 40 yrs, then I fail to see what relevents PR has for Singapore in times of crisis in the future.

sbst275 SG

Seriously, many PRs they take PR status because of 2nd chance... If they find life here hard, they can just go back to their own countries...

So the issue is this, if you are committed to stay here, get the Pink IC

Atobe SG

Are the wannabe Singaporean PR to be blamed, or the policies of the Ruling Party a.k.a the present Singapore Government ?

China-born athletes sue Singapore AAA

Star, Malaysia
July 17, 2005

TWO China-born athletes, wooed over from the mainland as teenagers to represent Singapore, are suing the country's athletics association after they claimed they were unfairly dumped from its foreign talent scheme for not meeting performance targets.

The case involving shot putter Luan Wei and female hammer thrower E Xiaoxu has cast a cloud over the country's high-profile foreign talent programme one of Singapore's key avenues to winning potential gold at Asian and Olympic level.

Luan and Xiaoxu are asking the Singapore Amateur Athletic Association for back pay, loss of earnings and damages to be assessed for their education, including at university level,'' court documents showed.

Last year, their parents claimed S$1 million in compensation after they were dumped. Their claims were brushed aside by athletics officials.

Luan was 16 and Xiaoxu 14 when they first met Singapore officials in 1999, court documents filed by the pair showed.

They are now working as sales assistants.

Both also claim the association rescinded on its promise to help them get Singapore citizenship and failed to provide them with adequate English language tutorials.

In court documents filed in the High Court, their lawyer Edmond Pereira said no performance targets were set until four years after they arrived, and still, they were medal-placed in every meet they competed in.

Pereira said they had wasted the past seven years in Singapore, where they did not attend a single day of school.''

Luan was about to enter university in Shanghai when he was enticed to leave China, court documents said.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say there are hundreds of foreigners either in national squads or feeder schemes in a number of sports in Singapore. The country only recently launched its own sports school to identify its own young talent.

The city-state, with hardly any sporting history, is heavily reliant on foreign-born athletes.

The mainstays of its national soccer team ranked 99th in the world alongside Rwanda are from Africa and England.

Its top women's table-tennis player and Olympic semi-finalist, Li Jiawei, was born in China, while Ronald Susilo, the country's leading badminton player, comes from Indonesia. AP

http://www.singapore-window.org/sw05/050717s1.htm

iveco SG

Why doesn't any citizen want to be a sportsman in Singapore?

Because the pay is so farking LOW! Sportsmen's wages are nowhere near those of Wayne Rooney. How are they going to survive when the cost of living in Singapore is so HIGH? Those FTs are nobodies in their own countries, so they have no choice but to come to Singapore if they are to make it big. The strength of our dollar vis-a-vis their respective currencies ensures that they can live comfortably here.

Most Singaporeans would rather get an engineering or business degree, and look down even on those who major in Literature. Don't expect them to be keen on an athletic career.