10/29/2012

Why the obsession for FTs?





Many CEOs are chirping and blowing their trumpets about the virtues of recruiting foreign talents. We need talents from all over the world, with a world view, with diverse views, to grow, to be competitive and innovative. Sure, when your company is an international company competing in the international market and needing an international team of staff with cross country knowledge and information to keep the company in touch with the rapid changes overseas. No body can argue against that. So Citibank has a very international staff, recruiting people from all over the world, as they have branches all over the world.



Why does a local company with local operations and local interests like the SMRT or the NTUC need foreign talents? For what? Why would the ministries, the stats boards or GLCs need foreign talents, to be international in their staff composition, to look international, to show people they are international when they don’t need to? There may be a need, an important need for some companies or institutions to want an international outlook, an international perspective that only foreigners and foreign talents can provide. But many do not need to do so. And this is simply commonsensical in a local operation when the customers are locals. Even banks like Citibank do not need to fill its staff with foreign talents when the branch is serving their own locals, in the cities or counties.



The obsession for foreign talents must not be allowed to become a blind fetish fad, a nice to have thing. Hiring foreigners must have clear and distinct objectives, a comparative advantage. Foolishly hiring foreigners for foreigner’s sake has an economic cost, a social cost and also a political cost. When our citizens are unemployed, especially the qualified, this is going to turn into a serious problem for families and the downfall of a govt.



In the medical industry when there is a shortage of local professionals, there is a need for foreigners to fill the vacancies. The doctors and nurses, preferably local to be able to relate and communicate with their patients could come from foreigners and with acceptable consequences. There are many jobs and professions that don’t need foreigners. Such companies and organisations are pretty obvious and when they do employ foreigners they will stand up like a sore thumb when locals are available. Worst, such institutions may be national in nature and have a national duty and responsibility to its own citizens.



The other big danger of padding the top management with foreigners is that the organisation could be hijacked and turned into their own fiefdom at the expense of the local owners. Citibank and many MNCs are good examples of being hijacked by their international crews and lost their identity and purpose of who they are and whose interests they are serving. The Americans and Europeans are facing this problem when the MNCs uprooted and left America for greener pastures.



The govt should seriously come out with a policy to curb this wanton recruitment of foreigners for the sake of looking international when there is no need to and when the local PMETs are left redundant, left in the lurch. I am referring to local and govt linked companies or govt institutions and ministries. For goodness sake, why do you want a Greek god as your PR man or Jolie Angeline as the receptionist for companies like NTUC or SBS or Pasar Malam Incorporation? Or why would you need a foreign accountant in your backroom? Your domestic operations and businesses do not need foreigners or foreign talents for their world views and perspectives.



There must be a place for the natives and for the natives to be gainfully employed with dignity and pride as citizens of the country. They must not be treated as expendables to be discarded ASAP when a FT is available.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Its high time government review this policy of FT imports. Don't tell us they are surprised so many companies are using FT instead of locals, just like minister TCJ on S Pass holders. Sound very unconvincing right?

Anonymous said...

No point arguing with deaf frogs, they will not listen. Just vote for WP, let WP bring us to the next higher level of growth, and dignity for locals. I am sure they will drastically cut down on Foreign Trash and increase Local Talents. Whether it is in service industry, manufacturing or IT, we will see more talented locals holding executive positions.

patriot said...

So long as the motive is to grow at all cost, any political party will resort to any mean. And importing anyone tat can improve the GDP and economy will be welcome.

It is really a question of whether we can be happy with simple lifestyle and not going mad about wealth, power, possession and fame.

We have been faring much better than many other cointries all along and should just maintain it.

How much is enough for greed?

patriot

Anonymous said...

"Why does a local company with local operations and local interests like the SMRT or the NTUC need foreign talents?"

A: Because the CEOs are all members of the Pro Alien Party.
Need proof?
A certain CEO of a certain sushi restaurant declared his true colours at the recent NatCON.

Anonymous said...

The Pappies guard-vernment don't trust the people to trust them so they have to resort with all kinds of flimsy excuses to employ rag-tag foreign talents otherwise their many scary skeletons in the cupboards will be exposed. Come 2016, a new government under the opposition parties must be established and a cleanse up of all the dirty skeletons must be thoroughly carried out and culprits bring to book and punished. Do the people dare to hope no skeletons will be found?

Eagles Eye

Anonymous said...

I will support the FT policy only if the political senior civil service are open to FT competition and NS is also mandatory

Anonymous said...

"There must be a place for the natives and for the natives to be gainfully employed with dignity and pride as citizens of the country."

A: There will only be a place for sinkies when we elect patriots to be our leaders.
Voting for traitors to be our leaders is an act of treason against Singapore and Singaporeans.

GE 2016.
Vote wisely.

Anonymous said...

Isn't a Pro Alien politician nothing more than a traitor of Singapore?

Isn't a Pro Alien CEO nothing more than a traitor of Singapore?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Why should any forward looking and forward thinking organisation limit itself to a pool of locals?

Many of those locals can't "cut the mustard" when it comes to competing globally, and it is clearly evident that they also have a really bad attitude when it comes to competing in general.

The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rules".

i.e. Organisations are entitled to hire and fire whomever they choose for whatever the reason. The state's only legitimate function is to PROTECT that right from bad-attitude, lazy cocksucker locals who still believe the world owes them a living.

Are FT's "better"? That would depend on what you mean by "better" and what metric(s) is/ are adopted by the decision makers.

The government is also not required to hire locals, just becasue they are locals. The government has to be RESPONSIBLE in the way it spends taxpayer money -- i.e. they need to ensure "bang for the tax payer buck".

In many instances that would mean out sourcing or hiring labour which is more effective in getting the jobs done -- and some of that labour could be foreign and some of the outsourcing could be off shore. BOTTOM LINE: tax dollars must be spent in the most effective and efficient ways.

I am a taxcpayer. I want my money to go towards running the cuntree EFFECTIVELY. My money is not to provide "job welfare" for some lazy-assed local who expects his rice bowl to be guaranteed just because his mother's vagina happened to be on Singapore soil when she squirted him out.

Get fucking real.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Matilah, you are gila again.

There are many organisations, institutions and agencies, including biz that are local in nature and do not need FTs. Any local talent can do.

FTs are needs if their international experience, skills and exposure will give them an advantage and value add to the company.

FTs are needed if there is a cost advantage. I am not talking about foreign labour workers.

Private companies can do whatever shit they want like you said.

A govt is elected by the people to serve the people, not to serve foreigners and pay big bucks to foreigners when locals are available for the same money and same skills.

No Sinkie will vote for a govt that says it can go happily hiring foreigners and ignoring the interests of the citizens.

Fuck the govt that chooses a foreigner instead of a citizen when all things are equal.

Don't be an ass to think that it is okay for a govt to choose a foreigner without comparative advantage just to want to have foreigners or like some dumb CEOs wanting to have a breath of talents from overseas when those talents are not needed.

Tell me what shit does a company like public transport company that exists for the local commuters need to hire foreign talent for a foreign perspectives?

Veritas said...

Citibank has a preference for Indian given the Indian mafia gang headed by Vikram Pandit became COE. Vikram has been fired recently. In SG, Citi put on 2 faces. FT racist Indian knew that it need to put up some wayang show to get in more Indian scum. On the customer facing department such as sales, and retail officers, there are more non Indian. Other than that, the most stupid Indian is indefinitely preferable to anyone especially Chinese that Indian hated.

I knew a Indian friend who told me FT Indian hates Chinese. If you look at Hindustani Times and many of the prominent India newspaper, they spewed poison against PRC whenever there is opportunities. The Indian hate Chinese because Indian are racist and imperialist. Not satisfied with illegally occupying South Tibet, which belongs to China, Nehru ordered the "Forward Policy". He tries to be a great conquerer. Unfortunately, Indian mercenaries were so coward that they are completely routed.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has already tacitly acknowledge that McMahon line is illegal.India should stop all their cock and return South Tibet to China.

Singaporeans are not a racist. So many expatriate came and leave and we have no grudges against most of them. We welcome japs even if they murdered our grandfathers. We have Thais, Burmese, Malaysian, Viet, ang moh...etc Singaporeans generally has no problem.

We have some justifiable complains against PRC and pinoys. But Indians' way of running things are really distasteful.

PAP are mass importing a tribe that hates us poisonously. PAP are using them to make Singaporeans Dalits.

Whenever FT Indians become manager, they wont hire PRC. Vice-Versa. Today, Singapore's hiring culture has become one of the most barbaric, most tribal and racist in the whole world. Who to thanks for making such a tolerant and race blind country into such a deprave state? PAP of course.

Anonymous said...

Pro Alien Politicians are traitors of Singapore.

Anonymous said...

I wonder when Spore will wake up and see that the racist hiring policies here are far more racist, non-inclusive and destructive to racial harmony than Amy Cheong's whine about noise from Malay weddings.

From the way we accept suggestions from foreigners but turn down the same suggestions from Singaporeans, I guess only when some foreigner points out how destructive it is.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately that looks like the case. A foreigner with a fake degree could carry more weight than a local professor. Or a foreigner could spin a minister round and round as long as he is a foreigner.

Anonymous said...

Vote out the traitors.

Anonymous said...

Shhh.....
Do not keep calling traitors,
it will hurt and haunt someone
badly.

Anonymous said...

Let's be polite and stick to policies.

Anonymous said...

It is quite obvious why obsession with FTs, gov and TH have vested interests in companies such as telcos, transport, properties, banks whereby the growth is highly population depended.

Anonymous said...

As simple as this - when they have squeezed out all the milk from the local cows, they need to squeeze milk from foreign cows.

Anonymous said...

After they have grazed every pasture here,
they will migrate to other pastures.

Anonymous said...

If the government treats citizens like lame cattle to be milked dry and then ground into minced burgers, and citizens continue to vote them in, then citizens have only themselves to blame.