January 25, 2010 by admin
Filed under Headlines
Leave a comment
Written by Our Correspondent
Singapore’s pro-foreigner government is again giving out free
scholarships sponsored by Singapore taxpayers to foreigners.
The new scholarship, called the Singapore Youth Olympic
Scholarship will be awarded to outstanding young athletes from
around the world to study in Singapore.
According to a report in the Straits Times, the recipients will
get a fully-subsidized academic and sports education at the
Singapore Sports School for between four and six years.
The government-funded scholarships, which will be given out once
every four years during the summer YOG, is open to all 205 National
Olympic Committees (NOCs) worldwide.
One athlete will be selected from each of the five continents,
and the last spot will be reserved for a Singaporean.
The scholarships for foreigners will cost about $25,000 a year
which means that more than $100,000 will be allocated to attract
five foreign athletes to Singapore instead of being invested in
locals.
They will cover food, accommodation, education, sports training
as well as return air tickets from the recipient’s home
country.
It is not revealed if the foreign scholars will be bonded in
Singapore for a period of time upon graduation from the Singapore
Sports School.
While the Singapore government has offered a slew of
scholarships for foreign students to study in Singapore’s
varsities, this is believed to be the first such scholarship for
sports.
The ruling party is especially generous to foreign students
studying in Singapore on government-funded scholarships – many of
them are given a free tertiary education here on top of being
guaranteed a job upon graduation as some are bonded with the
Singapore government for varying periods of between three to six
years.
The scholarship was welcomed by Dr Southanom Inthavong, deputy
secretary-general of Laos’ National Olympic Council.
“We have plans to send our sportsmen overseas, but we are short
of funding. A scholarship like this will help, especially for the
future,” he was quoted saying in the Straits Times.
Singapore is indeed a boon for developing countries in the
region for which country in the world will spend more money on
foreigners than its own citizens.
