We are a full fledged first world country, prosperous and well endowed with the best of everything. These cannot come about with half baked no brain citizens. They are called daft today, but nevermind. The fact is that we crowed of the best education system in the region, comparable to the best in the West. And parents invested heavily on their children, given them the best education money can buy.
Our children, many, went through the best childcare and kindergartens with facilities and education systems that the parents were willing to pay good money for. The same kids went through the best primary and secondary educations and tertiary educations with exceptionally good grades. Including the pre schools, most would have spent 20 years of good guidance in the education system.
Then what? They are not good enough when competing with the products of third world countries coming from less well equipped education system, lowly ranked relative to ours. Many have hard times applying for jobs and lost out to foreigners. And many top posts were given to foreigners because our local products were not good enough.
What is wrong? The gene pool has retarded? The education system is flawed despite the accolades? Or is it that a prophet has no place in his own home? Or really, the foreign products are much better than the daft locals?
Maybe it is all a myth. Our miraculous growth is a myth, our education system is a myth, the quality or ability of Singaporeans is a myth. What we are today is all the contributions of foreigners. We need more foreigners to replace the daft Singaporeans. All the tuitions and best kindergartens and best schools, and straight As are all myths, maybe fakes! I am referring to the straight As for Singaporeans. The straight As of foreign talents are real. In fact foreign talents with less than straight As are far better than locals with straight As, imported models.
Mr. Bean,
ReplyDeleteQuit ranting and stop crying willya? :)
These current bunch of second rate mintsters are putting their educated in Sinkapoore brains to solve this problem after our complaint during the last erection. See how many "schdollars" there are?
If they can't come up with acceptable solutions, we know that education in Singapore is not producing thinking brains but vomiting ones, rote learning like parrots that is.
Hehe.
This is a sorry state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteAs a local entrepreneur, successful and retired, I observed and faced a two-fold realities:
1. Despite all the programs and talks about our government supporting local entrepreneurs, the hard realities I faced was that foreign competitors based here were provided with more advantages from the realities of regulations and incentives.
2. Singaporean graduates generally are hardworking and well equipped technically, but lack risk taking mindset.
Overall, Singapore graduates are better than overseas graduates in administrative, accounting and technical jobs. As far as marketing and sales are concerned, they are less likely to "bs" and are less aggressive, which in the long run is actually a strength.
This is my narrow, limited perspective.
Our children are very well brought up and given the best. It is really sad that they are not seen as good enough vis a vis foreign talents. Look at DBS, GIC, Temasek and several of the big local institutions and you will know how lousy our locals are.
ReplyDeleteOr is it that they are not aggressive enough, like anon said, or they are not pushy enough, after years of being indoctrinated with the fear of authority?
Our locals must believe that they are the best, and our govt must give them the full backing. A good example is Mediacorp. If they don't use our local artistes, the latter will be nobody, don't ever think of going to HK or Taiwan. At least with Mediacorp they have a chance to prove themselves.
Are we selling out our local talents or short changing them?
Of course our great education system is a myth. Why ministers send their children to overseas universities when our universities are top-rated (only by our govt)
ReplyDeleteThe gene pool will deteriorate. The best will never come back home after they left or served their stint overseas.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile we are welcoming, not those with good quality genes, but instead the wrong kind of half baked, lowly educated with bad habits that do not fit in well with locals.
This will be a downhill ride for us from now on. No use crying. It is too little too late, even if the rulers try to correct the situation.
I was a trader with a big foreign bank more than 20 years ago. At that time, the Treasury was filled with high paying Singaporean traders with the Treasurer, a Singaporean.
ReplyDeleteThe early PAP localization of management policy certainly helped to grant my then boss the top job, and we locals benefited. Eversince LKY foreign talent extreme policy, I saw so many locals being replaced by foreign whites and then indians. The foreign talent policy has been a great disservice to local talents in the private sector.
Without opportunities given who can gain experience and profit?
This is just about bank trading and proprietary trading opportunities; which is a tip of the iceberg.
My contention that the pioneers who benefited from localization of management like Mr Koh Boon Hwee, Mr Ho Tian Yee, Lim Ho Kee, etc had not stand up against, the reverse of very policy which they had benefited so much from, and thus a generation of locals have been deprived of those great opportunities despite the rapid growth, and the special well-placed position of Singapore in globalization.
Rightly said. All the local managers in the banks would not be given the chance to prove themselves and they will end up working under foreigners, forever the second best.
ReplyDeleteAnd how did the foreigners become top dogs? Because the silly Asians mentality of foreigners best and locals less gave them the opportunity to gain the experience to be top dogs.
The stupid Asians never learn and now there is a new kind of colonialism taking place right in our own home, with blessings from the local leaders of course.
Everything is myth except that Sin is located at the most strategic and safest part in S E Asia, even Asia and the World. It was and is the richest state in this region for the past 5 centuries or so is never a myth.
ReplyDeleteWithout the geographical advantage, 100 Winsemus or any other geniuses would not be able to make it(Sin) into what it is today.
I am an average Singaporean graduate more than 30 years ago. By God's grace I was given opportunities to try and fail, and finally succeeded beyond my imagination in an area of expertise on a global level.
ReplyDeleteI believe in giving opportunities to Singaporeans. And Singaporeans wanting to succeed must be daring to take risks. Without opportunities, what's there to talk about?
Our current extreme foreign talent policy has not helped, except in producing synthetic entrepreneurs from oligopolistic GLCs, much shaded from cut and thrust competition.
Our bureaucrats and policy makers are already showing signs of inheriting the Japan privileged class imcompetence syndrome eg panels/committees to look into problems rather than taking direct responsibility.
"mistake" more than 25 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThere is this common belief that the PAP will not be defeated by other political parties but only by within. This is like saying Singaporeans will only be screwed by Singaporeans and bad leadership.
ReplyDeleteChanging the mindset that foreign universities are better means admitting that the original idea of worshipping foreign degrees was a misconception. Have they ever admit being wrong in their judgement, until 2011?
ReplyDeleteBear in mind that none other than the Yoda himself commented, at one time,that those seeking to hold the top political office in the country must be scholars educated at foreign universities.
What does that indicate to parents? What does that indicate to employers? What does that say about our own local universities?
And that comment has given rise to what we are seeing today.