I share similar views, though not entirely the same.
Just a personal view - with no offence to anyone, I think the term
'talent' in fact too hype up a word to describe anyone who just
comes in to Singapore with more than a work permit and a different
passport from another country.
If the two criterias are sufficient to justify the word 'talent',
then by the same standards, we would readily have three million
local talents ready for economic activation in Singapore at any
moment right now.
So if we or the top brass wish to continue with the above
defination, then I guess the contributions that FTs can contribute
for Singapore, will probably be those that of ordinary achievements
- made along the current curve of performance.
Ideally what we hope from an ideal FT might be something
different.
Perhaps in face of the still grim and uncertain future, we would
prefer FTs to contribute more differently from how they may be
currently contributing now.
That could possibly be a reverse from the current trend of
competing jobs with the local, to one which will help new contracts
and hence, new job opportunities for locals through such new
contracts' domestic spin-off effect on the domestic home
front.
Perhaps in the drive for regional expansion and the emerging call
for entrepreneurship, the role of FTs can be better reshaped into
one which will enable local firms or businesses, to expand on their
respective operations with greater effectiveness and efficiency as
compared to a local might preform in the FT's country of
origin.
The employment of FTs and locals must be managed as a balanced
equation.
Given the unstoppable trend of globalization, Singapore has already
danced too far deep into the rhythm of its rapid pace to have
rendered the option of sanctioning off the existence of all FTs in
the domestic context to be a sane and feasible option.
And just as unavoidable, there will also come this day when the
global village will result in governments all over the world to
find certain FTs being more loyal to their country, just as these
same governments will also find growing numbers of their own
citizens - being the FTs in another foreign land, to habour deeper
loyalty for their host country as well.
And until the day that we reach that day, the FT-Local Equation
would then have to undergo reconstruction and study so as to ensure
on its role of relevance to us - in the same way as itmust be done
so now.
