I won't deny that our education is of good quality and is highly
subsidised....
But what I don't understand at all is why we would want to
extend the subsidies to foreign students.
It really, really pisses me off that these so called 'Foreign
Talents' are only paying a few hundred dollars more than what I've
been paying in NUS. It really gets my goat that some of these FTs
may be more than able to afford high-class education here, while
some promising local students don't get a chance at higher
education because they can't afford it. I've personally seen some
cases of the latter in real life.
And really, some of these 'Foreign Talents' seem to be here just
to make the numbers... some of them are really below average
performance in class and are in fact struggling just to not get
superannuated.
So really, it's like..... I pay my taxes for these fellas to
compete with me in terms of education and a career.... I risk my
life to defend them while doing reservist.... and some of them
can't even make the grade?!?!
I share with you a sentiment that doesn't directly address
this issue you brought up, but it might give you a different
perspective to the situation.
When I arrived here, and saw how things are, and spoke to lots
of foreigners who migrated here like myself, some of whom have
travelled to Singapore or have lived and worked there for years, I
felt sad.
Sad that our country is not perfect, but has a lot of things
going for it. But sadly, it goes mostly unappreciated.
In a few aspects, Singapore really ranks up there with the big
guns. The only drawback is, we're too small. We are not
populous enough to pack a real punch and get ourselves heard on the
international arena. It's a sad waste.
We deserve to be known worldwide. To do that, sacrifices
have to be made. Unfortunately, we do not have natural
resources like land. But we will fast lose our competitive
advantage if we don't do something that will help secure our
future.
More than you realise, we NEED the foreign talent. We are
not numerous enough to survive into the future.
On a micro level, we resent how over-crowded Singapore has
become. We resent the presence of FT's. And a few other
grouses which have been voiced out loud and clear.
On a macro level, we actually need them to survive. Look
at what's happening to all prominent big cities in the world -
which city does not import FT?
