As the debate rages in Malaysia, on how to move the country forward, particularly in economic development – will 1Malaysia work? Is it enough? What else should Malaysia focus on?
Arguably, Singapore’s economic miracle has been due in no small way to its policy of attracting foreign talent, even at a very young age, to Singapore on fully funded scholarships.
Many Malaysians arrive in Singapore every year under such scholarship schemes.
Should Malaysia also do it in a big way, like what the island republic has done?
What lessons, if any, are there to be learned from Singapore’s experience? Well, one aspect of the recently released Singapore Census 2010, which I think no media has talked about, is what the profile of permanent residents (PRs) may mean for its citizens.
While I must confess at the onset, that this article is entirely speculative, and rather deficient in statistical veracity (unlike my normal pieces), I think it reflects the sentiments of many Singaporeans in the coffee shops, blogs and so on.
According to the article, “Foreigner numbers mirror economic figures” (Singapore Straits Times, Jan 13), almost half of the PR population last year were degree holders, compared with 18 percent of Singaporeans.
Does this mean that, generally, it may be harder for Singaporeans to compete with PRs for jobs because more of them have received higher education?
Will a similar problem occur if Malaysia adopts an open foreign talent policy like Singapore?
In this connection, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issues a pass to allow foreigners (including Malaysians) into Singapore for a year to hunt for a job.
Are there any developed countries in the world that allow foreigners to stay for a year to compete with citizens for jobs?
Of course, such foreigners also contribute to Singapore’s GDP growth.
When the MOM was asked as to how many foreigners have been issued with such passes, it declined to reveal the figure.
From my experience, if a request for a statistic is declined, the number may be quite a huge. Because if it’s not a large number, why not reveal it?
PRs – cheaper, better, faster?
The famous quote “Cheaper, better, faster” of Singapore’s National Trade Union Congress secretary-general and cabinet minister, ironically may be really true, in the context of PRs and such graduate foreigners here to look for jobs, because generally, they may be more “hungry” and have no dependants in Singapore to support, or heavy financial commitments like a home mortgage.
If you think this is bad enough for adult Singaporeans, the recent statistics that about 60 percent of top ‘O’ Level students are foreigners may have undesirable repercussions for Singaporean students as well.
By the way, how many of the balance 40 percent of top students are Singaporeans, if we take away the PRs?
Grapevine talk has it that some Singaporean students may be less motivated to study and do well in school because they feel that their chances of beating their “genius” foreign classmates may be quite slim.
Is this perhaps an unintended consequence of giving out so may scholarships to attract the best foreigners (including Malaysians) to Singapore to study – push up our academic standards, help to enhance our workforce competency, grow our GDP?
If Malaysia adopts a open foreign talent policy like Singapore’s, will it push up Malaysian schools’ academic standards, help to enhance workforce competency and productivity and grow Malaysia’s GDP faster too?
