The Social Studies Corner

Jie Xin raised an interesting point. She mentioned that the foreign talents will make the local talents go for training and improve themselves. Is this always the case? Will we end up with the locals losing confidence in the country and deciding to go oversees, and settle down elsewhere. Alternatively, could it lead to a situation of local talents losing jobs and in the process incresing unemployment and the problems unemployment brings with it?
 

I personally would agree with Nigel and Mr Sulaiman's on their comments about the earnings made by foreign talents being brought back to their homeland and losing of confidence in the country. Thus it results in a loss for our nation. No doubt there is a need for Singaporeans to pick up skills in this ever changing and advancing society for constant improvements(as commented by Jie Xin), we could approach the foreign countries for their wealth in skills instead of bringing them to us. This would thus bring about a bad image for ourselves and it is very disgraceful. Take for example our very own national soccer team that represented us in the tiger cup. The team is formed up by foreign players and may be one or two Singaporeans. Did our roots and oringinality vanished in thin air? If there is a need for Singapore to win a title, we should win the title with our own people. It boils down to values. The money and benefits spent on inviting foreign talents can be used to train our own people to win a title for our country. Then it would be much more glorious to say Singapore won the tger cup.

Singapore should stop all the recruitings and send our people for training in skills. In addition, Singaporeans would not have a competition in professionalism recruitment.
 

I did not mention that foreign talents will take their money away. Maybe you got it wrong. Anyway. Michel foreign talents being part of Singapore national team is pefectly fine to me. Some of these foreign talents were not identified by their country but by us. The French national team which won the world cup in 1998 consists of palyers who did not have their roots from France. There are two issues here - 1 is the foreignt talent coming to singapore; 2 is the local talents leaving singapore.
 

I do not agree with Michel that Singapore should stop all the recruiting and send our people for training in skills.If Singapore sent people for skills learning,will they be able to learn all the skills?Probably not.I also do not think that Singapore will feel ashame and bring about a bad image.Singapore have nothing to feel ashame as it is a small nation with a small population.It is impossible to find many talents out of the small population.Singapore's govermnent look after the people well and no much corruption taking place.This already let Singapore have a good reputation.Moreover,it's the bad conduct of a person which will bring about shame to the country.

However,I agree with one of the point Michel said,'The team is formed up by foreign players and may be one or two Singaporeans. Did our roots and oringinality vanished in thin air?'.In regard to this statement,I think that recruiting foriegn talent is important,but to choose wisely.It must base on the majority interest in Singaporen and chances of achievement so as to minimise the number of foreign talent which will lead to drastic unemployment in the country..eg,Singapore recruit skilled basketball player.It will be a waste of money and resources which can be use for other fruitful purpose.Moreover,there are still not many who are keen and having great interest in basketball now.Thus,even if Singapore really make a mark,but in the team,there are only one or two Singaporean,what's the use of recruiting them?

I also agree with Jie xin.Foreign talent will be able to share their life experiences and skills with us,thus,we are learning from them,and in the process,they too learn from us.Therefore,both side are learning and gaining from each other.Chui wen said other country are also recruiting foreign talent.However,it is not true that a particular action is right if many others are doing something similiar.Therefore I would like to emphasis again that Singapore should recruit foreign talent base on it's need and rate of achievement as it is impossible for a small country like Singapore to excel in every area.
 

I disagree with Michel's and Hengkai's Point of view of foreign talents.

Michel's point of view is that asking advice from a foreign national is much more better than recruiting them into singapore. Yes, it is agreed that this is possible, however one must think of the implications that it would bring about. Just for asking their advice, there would be a very high consulation fee and the expenses would be greater than that of recruiting a foreign talent.

Firstly, the information from the foreign talent can only be so much, and after some time of consulation, it ends there. However, why don't we bring the foreign talent into singapore where he or she may develop both physically and mentally for the country and allowing the country to benefit. If a particular skill is spotted overseas in Brazil such say, excellence in soccer. Bring the foreign talent over to Singapore and they then will bring their skills with them. In Brazil, the foreign talent may be considered one of the weaker ones, however in Singapore, he is the strongest in the skill of soccer. Thus he would not get as much funds or trained to be the best as he can be because there are so many others like him. However, if he were brought to Singapore, he would be more focused on, and thus he could develop to his maximum potential and thus do the best for Singapore. If Michel were to have the perspective that Singapore winning was a disgrace because the competition teams of Singapore are mostly made up of foreign talents, then he has a limited view of what they can do in future for the country, mainly he has a nationlistic point of view.

However, think of the two scenarios, would you rather lose in the competition or would you rather win. Yes, you can argue the fact that winning was due to the foreign talents and singaporeans made little effort in, but we must also understand that Singapore has a limited skilled workforce as the working population in under 2 - 3 million, whereas in overseas, their working population may amount in the tens of miillions thus the number of talents they have are increased tenfold. If for me, i would rather recruit these foreign talents first to win for Singapore then to allow other competing nations to get them. In this world, it is all the matter of who has the best prize. For soccer fans out there, doesn't the dream team also contain foreigners. I know michel's nationlism is commendable however, in todays world and society, one cannot depend on oneself to survive. We all live in an inter-related world where all of us depends on one another for survival.


Heng Kai's perspective is that with more foreign talents, businesses in singapore would have a higher chance of being backstabbed. However, when he said business, what does he actually mean. The coffee shop and char kway teow stalls or the business of manufacturing of micro chips and health teachnology ? I presume that it is the latter. Yes, foreign talents may go back and spread their knowledge learned in Singapore to their own countries, however, one must then look at why we recruited a foreign talent.

It is because we need their skill.

With their skill, we can further expand the possiblities of creating new jobs for our people. With their skill, we can perhaps set up a medical center in where further research can be made. Would this not create jobs for the people ? Also, with this medical center, won't Singaporeans be inspired to achieve a higher standard in the medical profession ? It is also because of the foreign talent skill, will Singaporeans want to keep up an overtake. Competition is a much greater way to allow one to learn new things then because of the passion one has. With competition, between the foreign talent and the Singaporean, both would want to succeed each other in their fields of research. This would lead to more thinking, more developments and more achievements. Who benefit ? Singapore. An example would be that a new health technology was produced because of the competition between both the Singaporean and the foreign talent, Singapore can then 'sell' the technology to other countries in need and benefit from it economically. Yes there may be the chance that the foreign talent may go over to another country and pass the know how of the technology, but what if the Singaporean had done so. The Singaporean may not be a total nationlistic Singaporean, he may go overseas for greener pastures. Even if either party goes over to another country and pass on the know how of the technology, Singapore would have then because of more developments in the research due to collaboration between both foreign talents and Singaporeans, we could then be a step ahead of others.

I personally understand that many Singaporeans would feel that foreign talents are taking away the jobs in society. However, when we are not up to the mark, it is best to recruit foreign talents and allow them to pass their knowledge for the benefit of Singaporeans. If one would think in the case of Jack Neo's movie "I Not Stupid". THe foreign talent was on the verge of taking away a local creative artist rice bowl because of the employer's preferential treatment. However, because of the competition with the foreign talent, the local artist came up with a much better concept to cope with the demands on the client.

Nigel had stated that foreign talents may hold on to key positions in the company and not allow locals to advance to that post. However, singapore is slowly but surely moving on and realising that foreigners are not always the best in whatever they do. It is also because of competition between the singaporean and the foreign talent will the singaporean than provide a higher quality of skill than the foreign talent, and so much so for the foreign talent. The process is an unending cycle, but because of foreign talent, singapore would develop and achieve.

I just realised that i left out a part. one may argue that foreign talents are not needed for competition of progress. yes that is true, but would that singaporean who replaces the foreign talent have the new skill we are looking for ?

In today's world and society, all of us need to progress. We need to have competition so that we can explore new boundaries that we have never imagined. Society is advancing faster than one can ever imagine. If we do not recruit foreign talents into singapore and gain the skills that we do not have, we may in turn lose out in the great competition of developement, progress and success.
 

Wah, you want a summary of the comments given in this blog? read justin's comments! Justin also raised very interesting points of view. Anyway some of you keep mentioning 'to a certain extent' -so ho much is this certain extent? maybe we might want to think about what really is success in Singapore. Must success for singapore solely come from Singaporeans - born Singaporeans? can foreign talents who come over and become Singaporean be part of the success? in our NE success panel for instance, not all those featured are born Singaporeans. but these people make Singapore what it is now. So do foreign talents have a place after all?
 

The discussion in the blog is very interesting so far. However, can i suggest we keep our comments short but frequent. We do not want to end up reading compositions here. What is important is the quality of the response and the arguments involved. Question: If Singapore can pay a foreign talent to come over and become a world champion - what is the big deal about it? In soccer term, I have greater respect for teams like Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal, than Chelsea which relies solely on money to beef up its team. Should not singapore focus on grooming locals? even if it is foreigners, should not we identify them early and groom them, rather than recruit polished diamonds to come over to Singapore?
 

Anyway, I want to see who make more posts than me. So far I have think this is my 5th post:) Can we also think about some possible social effects of foreign talents? so far we seem to be discussing more of the economic aspects. how about the cultural exchanges? would foreign talents bring undesired values with them? would they add value to our multi-cultural society?
 

Ok everyone... I will now agree with you all that my statement of totally declining of foreign talents is not precised in my argument. Let me make my point clear. It is clearly stated in my comment that we are going too reliant on foreign talents that we lose a sense of nationality.

Rebuts:

Regarding Yunti's 1st comment, if Singapore were to enter a competition and use a whole group of foreign talents, what's the point of saying Singapore is competing in the competition? Why not lets say International Singapore team is representing Singapore in the competition? In addition, Yunti might not be refering to participating in the competition. She might be refering to the massive propaganda of Singapore. Why compete in a competition then? Where has the essence of competition went to? Politics?

With reference to Jie Xin's 2nd pt,
It is not that foreigners form a large population in Singapore, thus why will Singaporeans be so complacent that they will not lose their jobs? There are lots of competition present in various forms. For example, comparing sales of various goods in different countries. Singapore is still growing and will still need to grow in that area of sales. That is a competition too. I would regard the point that Singaporeans losing their fighting spirits in advancing will not take place so easily.

I would like to point out a mistake made by Desiree. "although the jobs will be taken up by the forginers, but if the foreigners were not in the first place in Singapore, we will not have learn about the things that will bring Singapore good , perhaps we will only stop at a certain standard and cannot go far". This problem is already tackled in my comment. "We could approach the foreign countries for their wealth in skills instead of bringing them to us." This statement tells about we Singaporeans are not compromising in the potential standards that Singapore can achieve but to approach the other countries for their expertise. For example sending our own people to be trained overseas. We are not paying the foreign talents to compete in our market for jobs. Thus, it works both ways. Allowing Singapore to achieve and yet not letting foreign talents compete in our local jobs.

To be continued...
 

okay okay...maybe i wrote a little too long...but its fine right ??

so now i will make mine "short" and sweet.

Kindly allow me to start the ball rolling of the social and environment aspects that foreign talents bring when they come to work and live in singapore.

From what i understand, the foreign talents that come to Singapore fall in a few of these categories. Namely, Research and Development ( R & D ), Academics and Economic Specialists.

The kind of environment a foreign talent brings about to Singapore really depends on his or her own character and most probably the job scope he has. For the foreign talents who come to work in the R and D department, the atmosphere they tend to bring in, is one of FRESH, NEW IDEAS and vibrancy. After all, foreign talents are supposedly the cream de la coup ( did i spell that right ? ) and are mostly positive and forward oriented in their thinking.

If a Singaporean has the perspective of allowing himself new ideas from different people, he could greatly benefit in the environment in which the foreign talent had brought in. However, if he were to close up and refuse to allow foreigners to "taint" his mind then he will be stuck in neutral progress.

The same concept can be applied when the foreign talent chooses to stay in Singapore for an extended period of time. Let's say the foreign talent wishes to reside in a HDB town area. A normal Singaporean would then feel that his neighbourhood has suddenly become more upmarket and high class. ( Now got ang moh staying with us ! ). However, one thing an "Ang Moh" foreign talent might bring in is his different set of moral values.

Not to forget, foreign talent does not always mean those from the west, they can also come from Asia. So let me revert to the actual phrase...foreign talent.

In comparison of Singapore and the West, Singapore is still a much conservative society. However, this foreign talent might bring about his sense of liberal thinking and skills. He may teach his children to be more outspoken in a Singapore class and be frank with those around him. Because of this personality trait, Singaporeans around him may feel that he does not have any self constraint in thinking and tends to blabber away.

Another thing is that when a foreign talent comes to live in Singapore, the society becomes more diverse and multi racial. Multi racialism is not something that is easily manageable as disdain and hatred can occur easily between different parties and hence leading to turmoil. It is true that we are taught in education that multi racialism is a good thing as it allows us to know each other better. Hence social cohesion. However, what if a certain spark somewhere in the world were to happen, and it was targeted at certain people. Those around the globe may be affected even though they were not the ones involved. Examples are plenty when there are multiracial societies. Britain would be a good example.

The environment in which a foreign talent brings about can be good and may lift the spirits of Singaporeans however it also exposes us to some of the weaker points of a multi racial society. What we have achieved today is not something that can be said easy. We certainly have went through our own fair share of troubles and must not take the current peace for granted.

However, we must also not allow the thoughts of trouble to always restrain us on our progress. As anything that is done in life has a risk. So whether we want to progress or stay safe, is how much calculated risk we want to take.

So guys, lets remember.

Social Cohesion...not tolerance.
 

With regards to Michel's rebuttle of Desiree's point. I still do not agree with what Michel has to say.

He may be true that a fact has been solved that our workers can be sent overseas for training. However, Michel has missed out an important factor.

Competition.

Allowing Singaporeans to be trained in something others have is good that we can learn their skill, but if we want to be a strong country economically, we must have our own technology and skills.

A strong way to achieve our own technology and skills is by going through competition of the foreign talents and our own Singaporeans. When these two parties compete with each other for a particular post, it will stretch their imagination to their limit and beyond. Thus increasing the possibilities that something new can be created for the benefit of the whole country.

If it were for me, i would not want to follow skills which have been learned by countless of thousands of people abroad. I would want to learn my own.

It is true that Michel might say , the way to success is by knowing your enemy first and thus learn their skills. However, we must not forget the rate at which society is changing. By the time we have learned the skill of another, something new and better would have come up by another country. And if we are to keep in Michel's train of thought, we can be running all over the globe sending our workers to learn "new" skills.

Personal development to me is the way to success.

I know there is the constant thought that U graduates nowadays can find little jobs.

Do not let the conception that it is because all the jobs have been taken away by the foreign talents, it can also be other things...
the graduates themselves do not wish to hold such a post and want to look for a brighter future overseas. They can also feel that the job is not up to their standard. There are jobs in Singapore. But it is the natural reaction of all people that : I study so long and now get this type of job. Not worth it.

From there, they move on in one big circle until they find a job they feel it is worthy of them or they lower themselves.

If no jobs can be found, then make a job. Be innovative and creative. Thus, we cannot say that everytime there is no jobs, it is because of the foreign talents taking them all up.

Therefore, in the name of progress economically, we should continue to recruit foreign talents.
 

This surely is getting a fun and interesting post. A lot of rebuttles here and there. Haha

I just realised what Mr Sulaiman meant. We really tend to stick to the economic effects of foreign talents.

There are so much more than what actually meets the eye.

Let's all think with an inner peace and look around for more answers.
 

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

Wow Justin, your posts were very short indeed! hahaha! So far I am very impressed with the kind of thoughts all of you have been putting into the discussion. However, I am also wondering what happened to the rest of the class. These are the kinds of responses expected for O level and those who are actively taking part are definitely going to have a head start over the rest. I hope the rest come on board soon rather than on Friday. All those who post just on Friday - I know you are doing it just for the sake of doing it. Ask yourself if you carry any of our school's ExCITe core values.
 

Though i'm new here, i would like to agree to wat jie xin first said. Its true dat dere are advantages and disadvantages. But i will only state one each for now.

In my humble opinion, if we keep on recruiting foreign talents, our very own nation people will go unemployed and making them become poor. This will lead to sufferings among our very own Singaporeans.

On the other hand, recruiting foreign talents will allow our economy to prosper. If our country's economy grow, we will benefit.
 

So far after reading some comments from this blog, i feel its quite enriching as it really allows us to think critically and share our thoughts among each other. :)
 

Regarding Michel’s point, ‘we could approach the foreign countries for their wealth in skills instead of bringing them to us.’ I do not agree with what he has written. Why must we send a person overseas to learn and then come back to again to teach, when we can just recruit people to come and teach the mass population in Singapore. Think! Would u rather send someone from 4E1 to learn math from mdm vani and then rely on that someone to pass the knowledge to the rest of the class, or would u rather just simply ask mdm vani to come and teach the whole class. Of course, anyone would choose the latter, because by the time that someone finishes learning math, other classes would already have advanced to learning other things, leaving us lagging behind.

Furthermore, by inviting foreign talents, the culture, the experience, and way of life in the rest of the world, would also spread in Singapore. A better ‘exposed’ person would be able to come up with better ideas or better ways of managing and expanding their businesses. Also, with the global informations gain by the foreigner, we would be able to come up with ideas that could cater for the global, and hence Singapore businesses could be expand aboard.
 

A country like Singapore, the chances of finding local talent is slim. If we do not welcome foreign talent, Singapore will not be considered as a global city. In order to stay competitive not only in Asia, but also the world, Singapore must continue to attract talent, especially when it suffers a falling birth rate. If Singapore does not recruit foreign talent, they will seek opportunities overseas.

For economic to develop, we require specialist skills and experience foreign talent to train less-skilled locals .I agree with Joyce’s argument. Technology is growing rapidly in our society. Once we learn that particular skills, it may become out-dated, as one cannot learn such skill in a short period of time moreover to transfer all he learns to other.

When locals interact with foreigners, we expose to their culture and thus learn to appreciate their language, religion, festivals and habits. People in Singapore will be able to learn different culture practice in different countries. The presence of foreigner may lead to more cross-nationalities marriage. However, in our current society, such marriages have become more socially accepted thus, I don’t see a reason why Singapore should stop all the recruiting. Still, Singapore should recruit foreign talent base on the majority needs and interest, as it is impossible for a small country like Singapore to excel in every area.
 

I agree with Leo.Dr Winsemius is also an example of a foriegn talent who help in the foundation of Singapore.There is a need for foriegn talent to help with our economy.Even if they steal our bread, We will have to learn from the them.Like why are they so good.Work on that and improve on it. This is what making singapore's economy stronger day by day. If there are no people with special talents working with us,Singaporeans,i feel that there may not be a motivation for us. Or an example. Sometimes, a person from another country has a special talent that we need. Take them and we can learned from what they do. Like Dr Winsemius!

BengHock* ;:
 

wah!..the posts are super long..well. firstly, should singapore continue to recruit foreign talents..? well, there are many ways to view this..indeed there are advantages and disadvantages. like what jiexin had stated..by recruiting those foreign talents..on one hand it will danger the singaporean's rice bowl..as the situation in singapore will somehow be very competitive with all the foreign talents..jobs requirements in singapore will higher..this will led to many people in singapore to be unemployed because of their lacked of talents and qualificaitons...
however,liked what jiexin and a few others had said, it will help singapore 's economy to grow and people will have a better life.it will also trigger singaporeans to go and take up courses and night studies to improve and increase their knowledge and skills in order to get a job in singapore where they are many foreign talents.however,not everyone will have the self motivation to go improve themselves...
i'm still pondering whether singapore should continue to recruit foreign talents
 

Regarding Michel’s point, ‘we could approach the foreign countries for their wealth in skills instead of bringing them to us.’ I do not agree with what he has written. Why must we send a person overseas to learn and then come back to again to teach, when we can just recruit people to come and teach the mass population in Singapore. Think! Would u rather send someone from 4E1 to learn math from mdm vani and then rely on that someone to pass the knowledge to the rest of the class, or would u rather just simply ask mdm vani to come and teach the whole class. Of course, anyone would choose the latter, because by the time that someone finishes learning math, other classes would already have advanced to learning other things, leaving us lagging behind.

Furthermore, by inviting foreign talents, the culture, the experience, and way of life in the rest of the world, would also spread in Singapore. A better ‘exposed’ person would be able to come up with better ideas or better ways of managing and expanding their businesses. Also, with the global informations gain by the foreigner, we would be able to come up with ideas that could cater for the global, and hence Singapore businesses could be expand aboard.
 

No discussion other than the topic here - so do not ask of history source based worksheet here. i do not want this thread to go misguided.

comments so far are very good so keep the discussions going. shorter mails will ensure that your post are not missed by everyone. so try not to write too long. summarise your thoughts.
 

We went for a while away from economic and now we have returned to that. can we discuss more of social benefits / problems about foreign talents coming over to singapore?

Leroy, to answer your question on problems foreign talents could bring,i am not referring to smoking, littering, smuggling etc. I am sure this are well checked. We are talking about a people from overseas coming down with their own set of values which might not be wrong, but simply different from Singapore's. For example, corruption in Singapore can be a just a form of gift in another country and thus acceptable. The definition of 'socialisation' can different across asian and western civilisation. In USA, i heard there is a 'gays day' when all the gays are well dressed up and parade on the road. will there be a clash of values???
 

I would like to ask a question to everyone in this blog. If this question is answered I would agree with the majority.

In terms of competing internationally in any form, under the country name Singapore would you rather to have your own country men in the competition or people who developed their strengths overseas and use Singapore as an opportunity to compete and make their name known to the world.

Why compete when we Singapore as a nation are not up to the standards in putting their skills to a test.

Everyone needs to have a humble beginning before success comes.

So why not Singapore start training themselves in skills [In which it is taking place like the S'pore Sports School]and not making use of foreign talents to achieve quick success.
 

Good point Michel. But why are we unhappy with foreign talents represeting Singapore and yet fine with the coach being a foreigner? For example, there was so much discussion of soccer players being foreigners but no one raise a single issue of the coach himself being a foreigner. To me I see ourselves as a developing nation. So it is fine to have foreign talents coming in and we learning and making progress. In the long term, maybe we should rely less on them.
 

I would definitely agree with Justin that competition is a major factor that will lead to personal development.

However, Justin, have you ever thought about improvising skills that we Singaporeans bring back to make it our own development? To go overseas and learn, bringing back the ideas and improving it to suit our current condition or environment will be much more benefitial in comparison with inviting foreign talents over to Singapore which we will not know how did they applied in their own country. Every country varies in usage of the same skill due to the different environment present.

Justin, I would like to say that sending Singaporeans 'all over the globe to learn "new" skills' is beneficial. If not, why did our local army [as what Mr Sulaiman said] are positioned all round the planet? This is a strategy. After learning skills from all round the world, we will consolidate them and we are having a head start to everything.[Maybe not everything... haha]

This is even a better plan as we are not inviting foreign talents to Singapore by then. We are attracting them through these opportunities to be sent any where around the world and thus we need not foot any bill to invite them.

Therefore, in the name of STRATEGIC PLANS for progress economically, we should NOT continue to recruit foreign talents.
 

Sorry Leroy I do not get your point. Can you make the link clearer of how your example of 'gay day' affect my comment?
 

"Would u rather send someone from 4E1 to learn math from mdm vani and then rely on that someone to pass the knowledge to the rest of the class, or would u rather just simply ask mdm vani to come and teach the whole class."

Regarding this example, it seems to me that you might not understand what i have said. I have stated that we should encourage Singapore to approach the foreign countries for their skills instead of recruiting foreign talents.

No doubt this two ideas are slight of a difference but it have a heavy impact on our country.

One, you recruit the talents and spend your resources on them.

Two, you send your country men to the country of choice to pick up the skill.

Comparing them you spend money and benefits on foreigners and have social problems like what Mr Sulaiman pointed out or you spend it on your fellow Singaporean which will bring back priceless ideas, experience and skills. The answer is definitely obvious. It will be two.

In addition, if you would want to talk about Mdm Vani's class and calling her to teach us, you are totally wrong. We are now using the home room system in which WE HAVE TO GO TO HER HOME ROOM INSTEAD OF SHE COMING TO US. As you can see even education system is fostering the idea of going to get knowledge from teachers instead of teachers coming to us.

Once again, we should stop recruiting foreign talents and start developing our own people for present and our future.
 

Oh Michel,*giggles*, are u asking the whole of Singapore to go overseas for training, just like the home room system. Anyway, the home room is not madm vani’s home, she still have to travel from her house to the home room. So why not take it that Singapore is the home room, madm vani is the foreign talent, and Singaporeans are the pupils (the foreign talents still have to come down to Singapore). Or maybe ask the foreign talent to come to Singapore, and conduct lessons using the homeroom system, so we will be ‘ fostering the idea of going to get knowledge from teachers instead of teachers coming to us’, like what you have said.

(I dun noe y there are 2 identical entries from mi, but sorry for the inconvenience caused)
 

yes, it is true that fellow Singaporean will bring back priceless ideas, experience and skills. but how long would our fellow singaporean take to gain the experience---->1 year, or 2 years. by the time we will be way behind.
 

the following points are posted to rebute points like ; 'singapore sould not continue to recruit foreign talents'


we have to recruit foreign talent simply bcos our country is too small, how many talents can we find in such a small country. Furthermore, the government and the people here emphasis too much on education. How many parents in Singapore would hope that their child would become a sportsman, and would train them when they are still a toddler. Many parents would only think of drowning their child with tons and tons of tuition for maths, science, and languages. Until one day, their child insists that he would want to be a sportsman, and then their training would only start from then. But how in the world is a sportsman who started training at teenage going to compete with a sportsman who started training when he was a toddler.

furthermore,singaporean may not have the particular 'talent' that is needed.As I have said, Singapore is too small, you would not be able to find every single kind of talent needed for the different areas from that teeny weeny bit of people in Singapore. Furthermore,like wat benny hav said, talent is innate. some things just can’t be learned. Take drawing for example; a gifted artist would draw a human to look convincingly like a human, but a human drawn by an untalented person, may jolly well be mistaken for a monster.
 

I think Singapore can continue recruiting foreign talents as they help contribute not only to the economy, but also in other areas. They now have a place in s'pore as s'pore's successes were also built by them not solely by s'poreans. As long as they represent s'pore, go anywhere for anything under s'pore’s name, no matter what country they come from, they are still representing s’pore! Recruiting in foreign talents helps a lot. For example, Indians are recruited in because they are better skilled in IT than s’poreans. So, they help in the IT industry. People can learn from them and contribute too, but the inspiration to be better came from the foreign talents. Foreign talents agitate s’poreans to do better. This is a good effect. But seeing from a s’porean’s view, I’ll see that they are snatching our ‘rice bowls’. But seeing s’porean’s progress as a whole, I’ll need to thank foreign talents too. They also attributed to what s’pore is today. If there weren’t any foreign talents, I think very little s’poreans will improve themselves to keep up with foreign talents’ abilities.
 

Rebuttal to Michel's post : 8.20am.

Yes Michel. You may be right that improvising skills that are learnt overseas will benfit Singapore. However, how much can we learn overseas that will be beneficial.

Like you yourself said...

"Every country varies in usage of the same skill due to the different environment present."

Singapore may not benefit with the skill that we are trying to learn and improvise. Therefore, what better alternative is there but to come up with our own New Skills and Technology . We can come up with technology that will be beneficial to our own needs.

What better way to do this but by recruiting foreign talents to help instigate the innovative process in the minds of Singaporeans and foreign talents who work in Singapore. From here, we can also sell our skill.

Therefore, i believe in the continuation of recruiting foreign talents.
 

Rebuttal to Michel's Post : 8.20am

Michel, you also commented that...

"sending Singaporeans 'all over the globe to learn "new" skills' is beneficial."

You gave an example of our armed forces being sent overseas to learn new skills. Yes, i agree this is a good tactic for deterrence in understanding our enemy skills.

However, new skills and techonlogy for our armed forces can be derived by technological advances made by the contribution both foreign talents and workers. Foreign talents and singaporeans who come together to plan new technology that will be useful for Singapore.

If we are going to be dependant of leaving our armed forces around the world to acquire new skills. We may lose out in the event of an assault. Countries in which our armed forces are based in will not give their entire knowledge of tactics and technology. They will of course want to be as safe as possible. Not forgetting, the high charges of stationing overseas.

Of course we need do that as we have limited land space. However, what is stopping us from acquiring new techonlogy by the cohesion of both Foreign talents and Singaporeans who work for the benefit of Singapore.
 

Rebuttal to Michel's post : 8.52am

With regards to Michel's statement...

"Comparing them you spend money and benefits on foreigners and have social problems like what Mr Sulaiman pointed out or you spend it on your fellow Singaporean which will bring back priceless ideas, experience and skills. The answer is definitely obvious. It will be two."

Michel, as i stated earlier. The best way is to come up with our own technology to help Singapore.

I agree with you that situationing our men overseas is a good way to learn new ideas, skills and gain experience. However, how much can we gain . Not all countries are willing to share their wealth of knowledge. Furthermore, all knowledge comes with a price.

It is agreeable that foreign talents when brought to Singapore may bring about social problems. However, are we to say that Singaporeans themselves do not have social problems ?

There is no society in this world which is perfect.

On the other hand, why don't you look at what the foreign talents can bring us ?

1. With foreign talents in Singapore, our economy can improve due to combined efforts of both Singaporeans and the former.

2. With foreign talents, we are a more diverse society.

3. With foreign talents, we can learn new skills from them at the comfort of our homes. And from there, proceed to invent new skills and technology for the benefit of Singapore.
 

I agree with Joyce’s view that s’pore is a small country and how much talents we can find from here. S’pore is recruiting foreigners as well as promoting higher standards of education to its people. Promoting higher standards of education to its people is also a mean to help find talents within s’pore. At the same time, recruiting foreigners is probably to make up the space while finding for talented Singaporeans. If a person is born in another country instead of s’pore, and he/she came to live in s’pore, then became a citizen here, and was found that he/she was talented in so and so, is he/she a foreign talent? Maybe the talent developed in him/her during her stay in s’pore, or maybe the talent was already in him/her and it’s just that it was found only when she came to s’pore.
 

Comment on Joseph's post : 9.49am

I personally agree with what Joseph has to say.

With whatever we do, there are always two possible implications. Good or Bad

Good : With foreign talents, we can make Singaporeans more competitive for their job security.

Bad : With foreign talents, Singaporeans have a higher chance of losing their rice bowl.

However, for progress to occurr in any society, we need a sense of purpose. The purpose here is the competition of both foreign talents and Singaporean workers, where both are just as capable and hardworking.

The only difference is that foreign talents bring in the new skills .

From there, we can learn to work together as a team or in a competition to come up with new ideas and innovations for the benefit of Singapore.

Hence we should continue to recruit foreign talents.
 

Comment on Theng Ong's and Raymond's posts : 12.10 and 12.26am

It is agreeable that recruiting foreign talents now is a strategic plan for the long term.

Singapore does not have many talents which are needed due to a small population.

It is wrong to say that only a select few has talents. Everyone has talents. It is only different in nature.

If Singapore is willing to find the niche talent of Singaporeans, we can be the best in that area.

However, like all countries, Singapore aims to be the best amongs "common" talents, like Soccer, badminton and table tennis. Hence, foreign talents are recruited as the ones in Singapore are far and few and many are not up to international standards .

Therefore, like all countries who want to be proud of their capabilities, Singapore has recruited foreign talents to gain honour and prestige for Singaporeans and from there these foreign talents can pass on their skills to fellow Singaporeans .

The danger of sending Singaporeans overseas to train in the skill is that they themselves may be attracted to that country and in turn we may find ourselves playing against our own friend.
 

Gawd, it seems that most people are rebutting Michel, but I don’t take pity on U! I also wanna rebut regarding ‘start developing our own people’, I agree, BUT who would want to spend your own money to go to the country to learn a skill because the government want u to? I know lah, only Michel would, right? (Since he came up with this idea…ha ha…) even if the govt supply them with the resources to go overseas, wouldn’t the expenses be too big? Why not just recruit the talented foreigner, it’s gonna be much more cheaper that supplying your own group of s’poreans overseas. Also u noe s’poreans very ‘niao’ (stingy) one, would they do that? So, again, I noe only Michel would bcos he very generous mah!

Recruiting talented foreigners is like killing 2 birds with 1 stone. They come to work in s’pore, they contribute to the economy, bcos they are gonna have to spend money in s’pore mah. Also, they can agitate s’poreans to improve themselves and teach the s’poreans. And when, they return to their countries, they help promote s’pore to their countries, people from all around thee world will get to noe s’pore better right? Also, when the foreign talents win in competitions (under s’pore’s name), people from other countries mostly look at s’pore team as s’poreans and not look so much in detail that the team is made up of what people, where they come from. So, I think it doesn’t matter so much to our face, bcos this doesn’t make us lose face …
Ay, Michel nothing to say already ha?



P.S : Michel, don cry hor…*smirks*
 

Rebutt on Leroy's post : 12.41am

I would like to point out that leroy's point about "...CREATIVE only came abt bcos of influnece from APPLE ..."

Creative, Singapore came about because Mr Sim, the founder saw that the world needed a standard in audio and multimedia. It was not because of Apple. Apple at that time was creating computers.

I believe many people think that Creative came about to be a competitor against Apple in the mp3 music industry. It is not so.

* This post is not entirely related to the blog topic, but it is a rebuttal of an inaccurate evidence.
 

Comment on Farahin's post : 1.26 am.

It is stated by Farahin that foreign talents may bring about a low self esteem towards Singaporeans, as most of the credit would go to them.

However, we need to think alternatively and look at what we had achieved.

This are the following Singapore made brands and technology which are used world wide.

1. Creative Sound Blaster Cards and Audio Peripheral
2. The Mini Storage : the Thumbdrive.
and many more...

It is human nature that we are affected by an overwhelming amount of foreign talent who come to Singapore to work. However, why dont we turn the situation to our advantage.

Like repeated many times before, make them our worthy competitors for new ideas and techonlogy. Sometimes, we just need to "prove" to foreigners that we are just as capable as them and in turn produce a world item.

Alternatively, we could work hand in hand with foreign talent in Singapore and bring about the best for our country.

Hence we should continue to recruit foreign talents.
 

Comment on Waranya's post : 3.42am

I agree with Waranya's point of view about foreign talents when come to Singapore help boost the economy by spending money. This is a natural occurrence of people. Furthermore, they may have more spending power.

Now to move away from economy but to the moral values in which foreign talents may bring.

Foreign talents in Singapore may have a brilliant mind but not so in their aptitude.

So it is natural that they will bring about an adverse effect on Society as well.

Example : a foreign talent who loves drinking may forget about the social etiquette in Singapore and start blabbering aloud about government issues and perhaps even slandering them or perhaps getting into brawls with unknown people. Which he is so used when doing at his own country.

A tourist may in turn think that this person is uncouth and that uncivilised people are in Singapore. ( It all takes a few black sheep to spoil a good name ). Hence, this tourist may advise others to avoid Singapore.

Nonetheless, even though of such adverse effects, the positive effects which they bring about in lifting the economy, new technology and a sense of competition for Singaporeans outweigh the cons.

Hence, we should continue to recruit foreign talents.

*Warany, michel's view are not wrong. He simply has a nationalistic point of view.
 

I hope it is better when i have greatly reduced the length of my posts.

This blog gets more and more interesting. Keep up the good work guys and let's move with more different points of view.
 

Regarding leroy’s comment at 6.39AM, on ‘sending a very intelligent student overseas to study where he/she is so unfamiliar wif the place... he/she might also get homesick and in turn find it hard to acquire the talents expect of them,’ I felt that unfamiliarity should not post a problem to our ppl acquiring knowledge overseas (as companies would of course choose ppl who will be able to adapt to obstacles). Rather, I felt that sending our ppl overseas will be a waste to our country. As the person sended overseas will hav to work there for a period of time, so they can fully acquire the knowledge. Which means our own ppl will be contributing to other country’s economy (instead of ours). So y not send the foreign talent over to singapore, they could contribute to our country, and meanwhile, we could keep our share of intelligent ppl.
 

Spell my name also spell wrongly. Are u around u'r computer 24 hours? u r taking up mr sulaiman's challenge huh?

and i never say his views are wrong lah, i'm only 'persuading' him to come to 'our' side.
 

Hey, i was thinking, maybe the 'kiasu'ness of s'poreans developed bcos of the recruitment of foreign talents. s'poreans scared that they will lag behind mah, so they 'kiasu', improve themself to keep up with the competition.


i think 'blogging homework' has never been so fun.(ermm... i sound like a kid promoting some places of interest or some theme park.)Hahahaha...
 

i agree to jie xin point of view because singapore is a small country with a small population and there is only a small percentage of them that is talented. however, we cannot always rely on this small group of people to push singapore forward. that is y there is a need to recruit foreign talents. however, like jie xin hav said, it is thus lead to unemployment in the country because all the opportunities are being taken up by the foreigners.
 

well i would like to agree to jackie's comment regarding originality... This shud rather be encouraged to recruit foreign talents because it helps singapore economically.

On the other hand, there could be some social probs for Singapore. for example, the foreigners could create nuisance to some singaporeans in their daily life, therefore affecting singaporeans indirectly. But do anyone agree that this kind of problem won't exist?
 

i also would like to agree to theng ong.. He says dat foreign talents are recruited because a special expertise is needed. in my opinion, singapore will not be a global city without this people. Furthermore, through this people that singaporeans retrain themselves so that they can maintain thier employability.
 

Rebuttal of Heng Kai's post : 5.06am

Heng Kai mentioned that a foreign talent had caused the downfall of a company after it revived it in 1993, therefore he labelled it as backstab by the foreign talent.

However, i would like to point out that all people are failable. I know it is hard to accept a failure after one has achieved much. However, i do not think it is right to label the foreign talent to be a backstabber. If a Singaporean was in the position of the foreign talent, would he still be labelled a backstabber ?
 

Rebuttal on Heng Kai's post : 5.06am

Heng Kai has managed to find a realiable source on whether Singapore should continue to recruit foreign talents. However, may i point out one thing.

What the government says is just advice and possible steps for the country. It is good. I am sure they have went through all the implications about having too many foreign talents.

I am also sure that the government understands that foreign talents are and will always be a necessity. However, they only wanted to reduce the number of foreign talents recruited and not remove them totally.

When i commented, i never said add more and more foreign talent to singapore. i only said to allow the continuation of the recruitment of foreign talent.

Therefore if the government wishes to reduces the number of foreign talents, it can be done. However, they did not say they will not recruit foreign talents anymore
 

*my head is spIning*so long comments..*phew*..well, different one of us have different views of how we look at things .perhaps in my opinion, i think it in a veryy postively while for some other people they looked upon the qns in a very negative way..there is not right or wrong answers as these are comments..yuPps.well..
just want to make know of the point that by recruiting foreign talents..and those singaporeans who aren't able to find a job..decides to go overseas to look for a job..and they migrate
if this goes on and on...don't you think that the population of singaporeans living in singapore will decrease..and thus.singapore nationality of the people will consist lesser of singaporeans but more of foreigners..yuPps
 

Comment Heng Kai's post : 5.06am.

When i mention other countries would not want to share their knowledge, i am stating a common fact that has lasted throughout the centuries.

I ask you, would you rather let your enemy know your skills and technology ? Even if you do, would you give them all of it ?

I suppose not.

It is also true that Singapore
 

continuation...

would also have talents which other countries want. Therefore it is a cycle.

But just because other countries would want, would that mean we should stop recruiting foreign talents ? That is the main point here.

It is commendable that the government is doing what they can to train people in the skills overseas. but as you mentioned, only a few of them was sent. Not the whole company. I know they can come back and train, but from this did the government say they would stop recruiting foreign talents ?

As i said, having the skills of what others have is only for survival. But for progress we would have to come up with out own skills and technology and this can come about by the competition of foreign talents and Singaporeans.
 

Comment Brian's post : 5.37am

I know there will be the adverse effect :

WILL FOREIGN TALENTS STAY IN SINGAPORE WHEN THERE ARE TROUBLE ?

Yes, there are always those who will return. However, why cant we say that there are also those who have found Singapore a much better place to live in. I do not see why they cannot say that.

Furthermore, foreign talents being admitted to Singapore usually have a binding contract which do not allow them to leave for another country for a limited time. By then, their devotion towards Singapore would have grown, and they might make it their 2nd home.

Even in Singaporeans, do you think that all of Singaporeans are extremely nationalistic ? It all depends on which view you are on.
 

Foreign talents in Singapore does not necessarily mean that Singaporean talents cannot shine.

Why did we in the first place recruit foreign talents ? It is because we have a lack in that particular skill and we would want the foreign talent to help raise standards in Singapore to make Singapore a hub of all kinds.

Singapore's system is based on meritocracy. In the civil service, if you have the qualifications, positive job attitude and achievments, you can go far in your career.

However, in private coporations, as much as they would like to, bosses generally would place members of the family in the higher posts.

If we were to concentrate on the civil service, i belive that as long as you have the merit and character. You can move up the ladder.

It is understandable that when the foreign talent acquire the top posts will Singaporeans feel that there is a biase and prejudice system going on. However, sometimes there are other reasons why foreign talents are placed there.

1. They are more qualified.
2. Headquarters probably posted them there in the partner company.

We cannot say that Singapore's meritocracy system is perfect, but definitely people who have merit and character? can move up the career ladder.

We also cannot always blame the foreign talents of taking away our rice bowl. Sometimes, it depends on whether we would want to grab the opportunity when it passes by. If we miss it, we might have missed our last way to a promotion.

Foreign talents are good as they can provide competition, however this does not mean we should recruit more of them but to keep the number constant and recruit to replace those who left.
 

Of course we would need foreign talents but not too much of them.

Too much of them would undermine the whole employment infrastructure of Singaporeans.

A famous example is Albert Einstein who came from Germany to USA and became famous there. He however, chose to stay in the US because of the war and had made great contributions to the nation.

Talents are found all over the world, it all depends whether the host country is willing to identify and train them.

Therefore, the blog's topic is Should Singapore continue to recruit foreign talents.
 

With regards to farahin's last post.

I agree that not all foreign talents can speak perfect english to the standard in which we can understand.

However, foreign talents are here for a reason. To contribute their knowledge and ideas to the country.

I do not know...but i think the foreign talent lecturers in the university are brought to singapore to research in the university. Their teaching may be a double role required by the university to help spread the knowledge to the students.

We cannot all be perfect, i personally do not think it is fair to laugh at another person's weakness or incapabilities. Only once we have attained perfection in our own language first and not indulge astrocities to the language can we comment about other people's usage.

I know it sounds like an oxymoron as no one can be that perfect. However, are we to doubt the capabilities of the foreign talent just because of their language problem ?
 

to add to my last post with regards to farahin's last post...

if really the lecturers are providing a problem of understanding because of their langauge...

then perhaps one could speak to them privately for assistance or depend on oneself for progress.

i know it is hard when the lecturer cannot make himself clear, but we will have to make do with whatever restrictions we have in life, we cannot expect them all to be smooth sailing.

the same concept applies for the foreign talents. it does not mean that because of foreign talents, we cannot have jobs..but it is rather we can work the situation to our advantage and make the full use of it.

hence Singapore should continue to recruit foreign talents.
 

I agree with what justin commented to farahin's post. example for foriegn teachers. *True Story. My brother have a lit teacher frm europe, whose english supposed to be excellent. but we jus speak in a different slang. The students starts to dislike the teacher. But when they gt used to the way he spoke, they found him very knowlegable. The class lit mark increase drasticaly. Im just saying that though they do not speak the way we do. or as well as us. They have the knowlegde we need. If we get use to the way they speak, it will benefit us alot. Singapore as a Learning Hub where we produce top students for the outside world we need this talents. With our Singapore's population it's almost immpossible to find gd talents. Even those who are really good, would have migrated to a more relax environment place like australia where working hrs are shorter. Or maybe to america to be more highly paid. It is just like a trade. Talents that come to singapore get highly paid same for the talents who migrate there. If we do not hired Foriegn Talents, we will lose out in the bigger picture.
Hiring foriegn talents is still a must, with insufficent talented people.
 

haha...The Discussion is getting more intense i see...tis mus be the last post of the DAY! Let's continue tomorrow! =)
 

Last rebut before i go Slp.lols.It's 1 am already. Comment on Mich's post: 8:52. Michel stated that we could send our people overseas to learn from the talents there. I disagree with you.Blah.2 bad.lols. Nahs .But I agree with Waranya comments of Singaporean being stingy... But even if the goverment were to pay for them, overall it will still be highly costly. The amount would be far pass the pay of hiring a FT to teach here. For the part u say sending our people over to get the skill. In my point of view, skills could be learn easily. But what we need is their talent. Definination of talent is to be able to do someting special or more than what others can do. Even if they get the skills, they may not apply it that well. A FT may do the job in a year, while one of ur people who u send over take a decade to complete the job. Wouldnt it be a waste of time. Imagine what we could do with the 9years wasted for example. Imagine what we could do with the extra money spending to send those Singaporeans over.?

More Right!..

This is jus my point of view..Dun be offended Mich...Yea Mike 2!!
 

Looks like there is no stop to 'economic' discussion on foreign talent. Now, I am putting a stop to it. Any post on foreign talents related to economy or skills, etc would be deleted. Focus on other contribution from now on. e.g. social impact.
 

Leroy, as citizens we and not the government determine what type of country we are. Yes, we need good government but let us not push everything to the government. The 'gay ceremony' can be banned by the government, but the government cannot stop people from influence thoughts. Also, do not get away with the wrong impression of foreign talents bringing in wrong values - foreign talents can also bring in good values. discuss about these.
 

Long post is not going to help - trust me. Human tendency is that when you see long post, you browse through and not read it thorougly. So, try to keep your post to 10 sentences or less.
 

Farah, Dickson in the Singapore team is a total flop. The other foreigner in the team, Cashmir is worse. Well it is my personal opinion but there are better soccer players in Singapore than these players. Maybe, bennett the defender was a good recruitment. Anyway, how much we have improved after recruiting the foreign talents in our soccer team? we still cannot beat Thailand, let alone team like Korea, China and Japan.
 

I am definitley with Mr Sulaiman's comment. You see even by recruiting foreign talents we are not even able to put ourselves against 'Thailand, let alone team like Korea, China and Japan.' Next so what is the point of recruiting foreign talents, wasting our resources on them and not even to match our country with any country stated above.
 

I do not think many people read my comments on the social impact in which foreign talents would bring.

So here it is.

Foreign talents when they live in a neighbourhood might make the place more upmarket, as it is the natural perspective of people.

However, they might also bring about liberal ideas into still conservative singapore.

For example, they may speak very openly about the government, perhaps walk around in extremely "simple" clothing, like they used to do back in their home country.

What do you guys think ?
 

with comments to michel's last post.

Singaporean football players may be better than some of the foreign talents in our team. However, why are they still not recognised ?

You see, in Singapore's environment, not many parentswould want their child to be a soccer player. Many parents would prefer their child to hold a degree and get high paying and respected jobs in the country.

Do not forget, Singapore still has the values of a conservative society, and football as a career is not in the most minds of parents.
 

This is regarding Singapore's use of resources not anything about our economy:

I would totally disagree with Beng hock's comment. It would be a total break even or maybe a gain for our government if we were to send our own people to the relevant countries of skill.

1st point:
I'm I right that you are taking O levels this year? If you are an average scorer and you have the eligiblity to apply for a scholarship that is able send you overseas to be skilled. What will you feel if all the scholarships are gone because the government took away all these resources and benefits that were supposed to be given to you were taken away for employing of a foreign talent? So are you wishing to be a Singaporean here and there the government recruits the foreign talents with your opporatunities?
 

2nd pt:
I guess Beng Hock you would like to compare the scholarships [anyone scholarship] that is offered in Singapore and the benefits that are given to a foreign talent. The scholarship is NO WHERE CLOSE TO THE BENEFITS GIVEN TO THE FOERIGN TALENT each month. For every 1 foreign talent we can offer about 3 Singaporeans Scholarship[in terms of the benefits spent by the government]. So would you rather 1 foreign talent with the skill or 3 S'poreans to have the same skill?
 

3rd pt:
Beng Hock. You need skilled to talented. If skills are so easily picked up, we would have lots of doctors, lawyers down the streets.

In addition,I agree that foreign talents are more efficient. However, you are disregarding our own country men. Why not remove all our country men from their jobs and replace the jobs with foreign talents. Then we would be a super power within a year.
 

With the influx of foreigners, Singapore can help to enrich our culture as many foreign talents are settling down in Singapore. Thus Singapore’s society will become a great cosmopolitan city. Foreigner also had good moral values, we can learn from each other to be a better person. Although they also bring in bad influx, but we know which one is bad and good. Of course , we learn their good things and ignore their dad points
 

Justin:

Is competition all about recognition? Then you would show the totally wrong idea about competitions.

Take Fandi Ahmad as an example. He had poor education. In those times our society was much more conservative. So what do you think his mum or dad said about him playing soccer at that point of time?

And one more thing, isnt Fandi Ahmad rich? Humble background and everything to become a millionare in soccer. Isnt that an classic example that proves everything of conservative ideas wrong?

* Mr Sulaiman will be so proud of me... I've done well in learning up the NE gallery. haha.
 

Qing Mei. I doubt the reliabilty of your sentence. How would you differentiate an idea [brought over by a foreign talent] on whether it is good or bad? Some bad ideas might look so right and some good idea might look so wrong.
 

I agree with jie xin that “.Should Singapore continue to recruit foreign talents? I think it should, but to a certain extent.”
If there is many foreigners in singapore, you will feel odd and unfriendly. Eg:if you are in a bus , you will hear different people (foreigners) speak in their own languages. You will feel odd, some times you also may ask yourself ‘am I in Singapore’ thus too many foreigners will make Singaporean lost the feeling of a place call home.

As ci hui mention that “it is impossible for a small country like Singapore to excel in every area.” Thus I think we still need to recruit foreign talents, but limit.
 

mich
Please clarify "Some bad ideas might look so right and some good idea might look so wrong." I don't understand.
 

When locals interact with foreigners, we expose to their culture and thus learn to appreciate their language, religion, festivals and habits. People in Singapore will be able to learn different culture practice in different countries. E.g. as all of us know, one of the Tamils culture-using finger to consume food. It is seen as not appropriate in the Chinese culture. However, in Singapore, a multi religion and races country, we need to respect culture of different races and religion. Thus, when foreign talent come over to Singapore they bring their culture over and it is respected and accepted. We will gain knowledge of different culture in the process. The presence of foreigner may lead to more cross-nationalities marriage. However, in our current society, such marriages have become more socially accepted. I think that the culture foreign talent bring in to Singapore is not what one can remark as a whole as it solely depend on the view of individual.
 

Rebuttal to Michel's point : 8.52am.

Michel, with regards to you using Fandi Ahmad as an example.

10-15 years ago, the society is like you said much more conservative. However, if you think the society now . How many parents would actually support their child to concentrate everything in soccer and not on their studies ?

Fand Ahmad is talented, but his talent in soccer has only lasted so far. Now, he hardly does anything except coaching and makes only 1 endorsement so far.

People now realise that in order to have a higher chance of success, education is a key thing. Hence, the singaporean with education will be able to compete with the foreign talent to achieve greater things.

Why in the first place would the Singapore football assc. recruit foreign talents ? Naturally, they would want to increase their chances of winning.

Just because a foreign talent plays bad in a game. We would all discriminate and say that we can do better than that. But have we placed ourselves in the shoes of the foreign talent ?
 

Comment to heng kai's last post.

If Singaporeans were willing to prove their mettle in soccer, would the football association ignore them ?

They would be even more proud that a Singaporean has the skills that can be used to compete at a regional or national level.

Adding on, when i said the foreign talents walking around half naked was merely an example used to elaborate the liberal ideas of some foreign talents, especially those from the west.

However, these are small affairs and the social impact they bring is more significant as they would also bring in their culture and traditions.

Making Singapore a truly more diverse society.
 

mich..
u sae that 'In addition,I agree that foreign talents are more efficient. However, you are disregarding our own country men. Why not remove all our country men from their jobs and replace the jobs with foreign talents. Then we would be a super power within a year.' if this is the case then singapore will be known as an untalented country who needs foreign talents to push singapore forward. but this is not true. take fandi ahmad for example, he is a talented man and if singapore were to removed all our country man from their jobs and replace their jobs with foreign powers, then singapore's unemployment rate will increase alot and local talents will not be recognise.
 

'to justin social impact that they would bring to singapore'

u sae that they will wear 'simple clothing' rite. but den so far they did not really giv a problem to singapore wad. do they walk around with simple clothing?? maybe this a way to bring up simgapore fashion and mayb set up a new trend and it is good wad. haha..
 

Welcome on board emay. Definitely you are lost here. your comment about 'long essays' is an old story. we have already solved the problem. Also, your comments on economic benefits do not stand because i have commented you should not cover economic aspect anymore. last chance.
 

Michel - Fandi Ahmad is not a millionaire and his second hand car business was a failure. Learning point - it is good to be a sportsman but we need to balance it with good education. Most of us are not able to do it. So sensibly our parents make us focus on studies and not soccer.
 

Justin was right. You would be surprised that Mr Raj, M Trevor, Mr Raihan and myself are all school soccer players and did very well for our soccer team. But we have to choose between the two (studies and sports) because we know we cannot juggle both. But there are others who are able to juggle them.
 

I agree on cihui point of view,"culture foreign talent bring in to Singapore is not what one can remark as a whole as it solely depend on the view of individual."

Eg,Justin said that foreign talent might bring about liberal ideas into still conservative singapore.For example,...walk around in extremely "simple" clothing, like they used to do back in their home country.
However,Sarah said"this a way to bring up simgapore fashion and mayb set up a new trend and it is good wad."

This shows that different people have different mindset.However,i do not agree with Sarah thinking the new trend is good.As time pass on,people wear half-naked clothing later will the trend become all naked?

still,i think that things will probably not get to that extent as foreign talent does not solely come from the west but other sides of country as well. Thus it is not a very serious impact.
 

Yejia said"If one day, there are too many foreigners, then will it cause such conflict one day?".I do not agree with this statement.In Singapore,in order for one to survive,we must be understanding towards other races.If Singapore were to face conflict due to race or religion riots,it will already happen over the past few years.Furthermore,Singapore is a multi races and religion country.Thus,before foreign talent come over to Singapore,they will read up on Singapore culture.If they do mind about living together with different races and religion,they may perphaps not come over to Singapore.However,if they come over,they must adapt to Singapore environment and culture but not the other way round.

I have a doubt.You mention Teresa, a Taiwanese is your idol so you feel that Singapore should recruit more foreign talent.But why should the goverment recruit foreign talent because Teresa is your idol.Who do you think you are? just because your idol is from oveseas the goverment should recruit foreign talent?
 

Jingmei mention that If Singapore were to face conflict due to race or religion riots,it will already happen over the past few years.I do not agree.How will you know 30 years or 40,50 years down the road there will be no conflict taking place in Singapore due to race and religion riots?We cannot predict the future.It is true that if foriegn talents come over,they must adapt to Singapore environment and culture but not the other way round.However,if there are really too many foreigners in the country,who knows what might happen?
 

Regarding Brian's point on Singapore being cosmopolitan country,i would like to agree with it because without this foreign talents, I think Singapore would still be too conservative and therefore our country has improved and prospered..:)
 

well, i agree to leroy's point of saying that we will get to learn about other cultures which will benefit us..and thus, we will understand different cultures and will make singapore into a more multi racial country..in the sense different races will get along even better.
 

i think that s'pore should continue to recruit foreign talents as it adds more diversity and culture to our society.we learn more about what/how other countries improve themselves.they can help our country's economy to grow with the tactics/skills they use in their own countries.
 

referring to nigel's statement about minimising the recruitment of foreign talent,i do not agree to it as i see it like this ->when the foreign talents help our local companies to grow,improving the economy,more people are neeeded to work in the factories/companies thus more jobs,which the foreign talents will not do, are provided to our own people.anyway the foreign talents help put s'pore on the map thus more tourist will want to come here more.he money gained from the tourist balance up with the money that the foerign talents bring home to their families.so if they actually help our country rather then destroy us, why reject them?
referring to michel's comment about our soccer team->i do not see them as foreigners as if they regard s'pore as their home and country,they are not foreigners but are Singaporeans too.anyway we were all foreigners too since our grandparents or ancestors were not born in s'pore.so i do not see what is wrong with foreign talents being recruited.our land was formed by foreign talents namely the chinese from china,indians from india,some malays from the region and also europeans or engglishmen like raffles who found our counry and made it into a major trading port.
 

Heys people!Jus came back, Late i guess.Many people had discussed abt their views.hmm...
comments on mich's 8:46 PM views.
i was saying a skill can be picked up easily, my point still stands. U say there will be lots of lawyers and doctors on the streets.Yes there is. U cant say abt doctors, cos most of them are already talents them self. But even if we talk abt doctors. Talents i meant like specialist in medical. If a normal person pick up medical skill the most he can do is treat small sicknesses, like cough , flu. Like the twins who gt seperated here in singapore,the doctors who worked on them are talents and we need talents like them. In conclusion , FT is not needed if we haf enough talents, but we do have not. In other words, FT are still needed.

*Benghock ;:
 

THE END!
 

oh ya and if we all keep thinking that the foreign talents will outshine us then arent we already giving up ,it should rather motivate us to improve like what some of u'all said.with their help we can outshine them too,letting us vanture into other countries ,making us foriegn talents in those countries too,and 'bring back' more pride to s'pore.
 

aishini

i think that s'pore shld continue recruitin foreign talents as s'pore has nt enough talents.i think that s'poreans are too conservative and do not dare to display their talents. if we stop recruitin foreign talents, s'pore may not progress in economy as we dont have the manpower.
 

aishini

i agree with what waranya said with her sayin that foreign talents agitate s'porens to do better.when we see other people from other countries coming to our country and showing us that they can be better than us, we tend to be jealous and strive to do better. thus i think it is gd that we are recruting foreign talents which will help s'poreans be motivated and work harder for s'pore.
 

aishini

although recrutin foreign talents is good, it also has its disdavantages to us. when others come to our country to work, it gives us less opportunities to shine out. it also deprives us of job opportunities as nowadays graduates too cant get good jobs. thus
it is also good if s'pore could limt the number of foreigners that they recruit.
 

jazzer--a newbie

actually i feel that foreign talent is a must for a develping country like singapore..but should always be limited in amount to prevents problem in locally like employment and resentment in locals.The fact that singapore invite foreign is to increase job and opportunities for singaporeans ,however that may not always be the case.

foreign talents coming to singapore may pass their skills and experience to locals ,this helps a lot in the development of singapore economy and technological knowledge ,helping locals to be more skilled and competent in this demanding society.

however foreign talents influences the thinking of locals physically and mentally..the increase in foreign talent make locals feel insecure and lose their sense of root to their homeland..it also make singapore look like a foreign country .
 

jazzer

actually i feel that foreign talent is a must for a develping country like singapore..but should always be limited in amount to prevents problem in locally like employment and resentment in locals.The fact that singapore invite foreign is to increase job and opportunities for singaporeans ,however that may not always be the case.

foreign talents coming to singapore may pass their skills and experience to locals ,this helps a lot in the development of singapore economy and technological knowledge ,helping locals to be more skilled and competent in this demanding society.

however foreign talents influences the thinking of locals physically and mentally..the increase in foreign talent make locals feel insecure and lose their sense of root to their homeland..it also make singapore look like a foreign country .
 

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