~by: Leong Sze Hian~
I refer to the article “Foreign scholars closely tracked” (ST, Feb 18).
Sometimes, replies in Parliament may give you the edgy feeling that the statistics cited may not be telling you the whole story.
One such instance I think, was the recent reply on foreign scholars.
“At least” means how many?
What does at least 2,000 foreign scholars in a year mean?
Well, it may mean that in some years, it may have been much more than 2,000.
So, what you need to know is the number in each of the last five years.
$36 million for just 1 year?
I believe the $36 million funding is only for a year. As a typical degree program is about four years, does it mean that in a year, we may be funding four cohorts of foreign scholars.
So, does it mean that the funding in a year, may be about $144 million ($36 million times four years)?
What about post-graduate students?
Since the reply does not mention post-graduate students, and as I understand that about 20 and 70 per cent of undergraduate and post-graduate students are foreigners, respectively, how much is the funding for post-graduate foreign scholars?
If we include the above, could the grand total be more than $160 million? In contrast, how much funding do we give to Singaporeans scholars?
Comparing foreign scholars to ordinary S’poreans?
As to around 45 per cent of foreign scholars complete their undergraduate studies with a second-upper class honours or better while only 32% of Singaporeans do as well, this may not be an apple-to-apple comparison, as we are comparing foreign scholars to ordinary Singaporeans.
What percentage of Singaporean scholars get second-upper class honours or better?
How many bond breakers?
How many foreign scholars broke their bonds?
How much could not be recovered from these bond breakers?
How many fee paying foreigners?
What is the percentage of foreign students who pay full fees versus foreign students on scholarships?
Education system – bad example?
It may be somewhat ironic that the subject reply was from the Ministry of Education (MOE). If this is the kind of learning that gives such vague answers when students ask questions, then I think we may have a problem in our educational system.
I hope that students who read this article may find it educational.
What’s missing may be more telling?
What this example may illustrate, is that sometimes, the “missing” statistics may give a hint as to how interesting the whole story may really be!
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Education and healthcare must be free for all Singaporeans. We should explore the nordic system of generous social benefits. We don't have to follow literally but we can customise it to fit our society. Education must breed creative ways of thinking, not robots that are slaved to the grind.
Anyway this world has a serious problem. As a planet, we have to remove our current socioeconomic monetary paradigm. It is corrupt and inequality breeds unhappiness.
@New Great Asia
There are many elephants. That's why they make sure that you are blind and deaf and your mouth stitched together by Rule of Law.
Thanks Mr. Leong again for such a detailed analysis.
I think many of us would have missed the part on the comparison of foreign scholars with avg singaporean students, if not for you bring it up. Good point !
I fear more worms will be coming out of the can once the public demands more probe into grants given to these foreigners.
This is why we sorely need a Freedom of Information Act.
Developed countries have such a law. Even India has such law!!
can we replace the head of DEPT OF STATS with a more responsible and truthful SGPOREAN TALENT like MP,DR CHEN SHOW MAO?
he used to work for world bodies and should be more familiar with CORRECT AND RESPONSIBLE REPROTING OF DATA AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS.
We are used to the PAP not giving the whole picture and we don't expect them to start being frank. That is why they are not being trusted and respected. There is a long way to go to convince us Singaporeans. Until then, I will continue to vote for the oppositions whom push for transparency and accountability.
I’m a citizen cheap labour working as hourly-rated $7/hour worker in stat boards, and I’m more closely monitored than those foreigner freeloaders. Those foreigners get more money, more freedom and less enforcement than me.
I think TOC and TRE being more closely monitored than those foreigners enjoying life on taxpayer money.
I think what is also important is to ask: how many Singaporean students who perform better than second class honours have not received scholarships from the government? How does a PAP government justify spending $36m x 4 batches (tertiary) plus an unstated amount for non-tertiary and post-grad, and gave nothing to the tens of thousands of Singapore students whose parents pay taxes, whose sons go spend 2 years in NS, and even without a bond, will stay in this red dot of "country" of overpaid politicians and a civil service full of hubris, and work their butts out only to be sneered and talked down at by half-past six "leaders". Vote for them you silly 60%, you deserve to lose yr CPF, yr children deserve to be described as woese than the second and thrid class FT "scholars" from China, India Pilipine etc..
We can argue till the cows come home but with a replacement level of 1.2 and not even 2.1 where is our ONLY asset i.e. human resource to come from to grow the wealth to feed ALL the islanders here?
At least across the causeway some people are still sane though they are powerless. They can see their milk cows are fast disappearing. With it the economic spin-offs as well. Learn -
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=28530:hooray-the-non-malays-have-gone-malaysia-is-now-all-ours&Itemid=2
So much money spent on foreign kids, but the returns on investment are unknown.
Why does the government not reward its own citizenry talents instead? It can do so by reimbursing the full university schools fees of Singaporean graduates who are not on scholarship but managed to attained at least 2nd Upper Class Honours in their chosen field of studies.
These graduates have proven their academic excellence, but often they have to pay their own way through university via loans from banks or parents' CPF. Furthermore, when they enter the workplace they spend the first few years paying back the loan and have no savings. To make matters wrose, their wages are depressed by "foreign talents" (many of which hold questionable degrees from Fillipino or Indian "universities"). How is this fair to these talented Singaporean graduates?
There is something strange about this love for foreigners. The Government made 2 million ciiizens (in these last few years) which is 2/3 of the indigenous population and now we hear that so much money is spent on giving out scholarships to foreigners to the tune of millions per annum. The only reason I can hear so far is that ," foreigners are smarter." What has their smartness to do with their getting a scholarship funded by Singaporean tax payers. The Government must be insane.Can we catch that insane burgher(s) and ask to pay us back.
There are 10s of 1000s consisting of scholars with allowance, tuition grants etc. If you add those numbers from secondary schools to universities, the numbers are quite alarming.
Most of them get their PRs straight after graduation. After school, the government arranged them to work in GLCs or ministries and after 1 year, they are invited to become Singapore citizens. Most of them converted because if they dont, they worry their work passes be revoked.
I need to point out that this is very well coordinated as our schools go out to China, India and neighbouring countries to invite them to Singapore. The selection process is very loose. As long as they pass the entrance exams, they get vacancies in our schools. They dont even have to show their transcripts etc. You heard of master students in NTU cannot even speak proper English, did not you?
Think about this. Our Singapore sons need to compete for limited places in schools, full fee paying and have to serve NS. And these people come in with free lunches, given money or tuition grants and no obilgation to protect this country and best of all take up good jobs at GLCs or ministries.
All brought to you by our government and their policies, they just need their votes. And to the Singaporean sons, what are you defending for?
Foreign scholars are more important than our not-so-smart citizens. In 1644, the eunuchs in Beijing fearing a revolution by unruly Chinese peasants opened the palace gate for the superior foreign Manchus to take over China. The Manchu dynasty lasts until 1908. The PAP would prefer the foreign talents rather than opposition leaders like CSJ, LKT & CST to take over in future.
Sugardaddies to the world but only using Singaporean taxpayers' money. How extraordinary!
@Edward
The PAP is preparing for the inevitable, when they will have to flee the land and find their beneficiaries whom they have handed over citizenship, scholarships and all manner of goodies. It is importing Manchus into the land all over again.
One sentence sums it up – 60% like to be screwed, and the other 40% get screwed together with them.
What a stupid argument to say that the Singapore Government must give scholarships to foreign nationals just because they are smarter.Is this Government responsible for Singapore citizens or foreigners. If the Govt is so responsive to other nations, why do they not en masse migrate to wherever they wish and not squander our hard earned tax money. Only once in centuries do you meet with a group of people so ravennous that they sell their own nation under their charge.
Another equally stupid thing that is fixed like a solid rock in the minds of the PAP is that babies born of foreigners are equal to babies born from our own loins.
Between these two hallowed pillars of policy our land is taken over by foreigners and our hard earned money is freely squandered by foreigners.
son of s
agree with u.
but,who says these foreigners are smarter?
smarter at what?
cheating n lying and all kinds of other ninsense sgpoeans would not want to do.
the PAPies think thay are the UN,
but the truth is WE ARE JUST A LITTLE RED DOT.
foreign scholarship not = free breakfast + lunch + dinner +++?
i tot welfarism is very bad? or is welfarism bad for S'poreans only? maybe that is why now papers never say S'poreans are xenophobic anymore. maybe this is one of them?
put S'porean 1st like so difficult…
I do see many scholors are not different with fresh graduates in engineering fields. I worked with them many years and most of their performance are just normal.
BYK has underestimated the public sentiment on foreigners. Try telling everyone that the locals need to serve NS, while the foreigners can take their time preparing for scholarships, funded through the TAX PAYERS' money. Policy makers need to remember they are not the owners of the tax payers' money, ONLY CUSTODIANS.
How many of these foreign scholars are given jobs in GICs after graduation?
Wont they whistle blow top secrets to their former country-at-heart so that they can go back to be the elites there and contribute more worthwhile?
Or isit for the fear of whistleblowing that local graduates have to compete with foreign ones for topsecret posts?
The stupidest thing for the Government to say is that they give scholarships to foreign students because they are smarter.
The Singapore Government must be asked the question, "Who are you responsible to"? Even if every Singporean student is a goondoo, each goondoo must receive the Singapore scholarship before a single scholarship is given to a foreign student. But sadly this mad Government has given out scholarships first to foreign students.
If the Government is mad, we the citzenry are not mad. We only have our mouths stitiched and Judges hovering over us to clean us out if we speak too clearly.
In a biography on LKY, it was written that LKY once said that if an 'Ang Mo' had become an emperor in ancient China, all Chinese would still kow-tow to him and respect him as a Chinese emperor. This is because Chinese people have been disciplined to be fearful of whoever is the emperor even if he is a foreigner. One day a foreign scholar will be the PM of Singapore.
When i did my MA in NUS from 2003-2005 as a part-time student paying my own way through (i was a full-time civil servant back then), we had quite a few foreign scholars in our class as we took modules together with the PhDs.
I was grouped with an Indian national scholar and a PRC scholar. Both were doing their PhDs while i did my MA. the PRC scholar could hardly speak english and could hardly write. i had to transcribe her mandarin into english for her segment of our group work. the Indian lady was helpful but she could hardly help since she can't speak mandarin so sometimes i helped her, the PRC, with her thesis.
It was a history PhD she was studying for on scholarship even when she could hardly construct a grammatically and semantically correct sentence. Worst, the module was on historiography which includes the study of historical philosophy in very academic english.
Since that day i had been wondering why do we need to sponsor a non-english person to take a PhD in an english-based course?
How does this person contribute to Singapore? and if the govt paid for her and did not pay for me, it must mean that they believe she is going to contribute to Singapore more than me no?
There are plenty of FT scholars who hv graduated, instead of contributing to the private sector thru their bond, they are serving garment departments; I came across a chinese scholar in the Blood Donation centre in HSA, he could hardly speak any english, dared not say anything when a donor asked him to speak clearly, and the old man volunteer (local) at the registration counter had to do the interpretation. There, private sector towkays want foreign workers, I understand because they are far cheaper so towkays like that chap that make RFID on STraits Times will find thousands of excuses that he cannot find local or older workers, but is this FT scholar really what he would want?
Nobody getting sued for these article and comments.. Must be true then.. Hmmm…
@lefleche
I have long abandoned rationalizing the actions of the PAP Government. The foreigners who are supported in their PhD studiesgot in there because the Singapore administrators do not exercise any evaluation of the sitiation and of their suitability.. LKY says foreigners would help Singapore punch above its weight and so these administrators grapped any and every foreigner, confer citizenship , scholarship , all the goodies on them because they are sure that their actions for foreigners will never be wrong with the Government. We as a society have been so cowed by LKY that no official dares to implement his ideas according to its real message for fear that they will be witch hunted and sacked. Of course LKY will want his officials to choose the best foreigners to implement his scheme of raising Singapore to greater heights,but the officials in charge of scholarships are too afraid to evaluate which foreigner to give scholarship. So they give scholarships to every foreigner who makes the application.
LKY has too strong a personality. He makes everyone shake with his words of wisdom. As a result his ideas are applied at the lowest level of understanding. That is why you meet PhD scholarship holders financed by the Singapore Government who even LKY would not like to have near him for conversation.
Singapore society is run by sycophancy and buffoonery and you should not seek rationality anywhere.
This ship is SINKING!
If Singaporeans are so good, why is the PAP still in power? Face it. All most Singaporeans are good at is complaining.
Remember, 60% voted PAP. In other words, 60% of your country is too messed up to even vote with their brains. No wonder foreigners are coming here in droves. Without them you guys would still be sitting in your own filth complaining that the government has done nothing to clean you up.
Pathetic, isn't it?
i bet they're glad Mr Leong is not a NMP else….
Ms Han Liang Yuan director for Coporate Com.,MOE said in ST forum 25 Feb2012 that, and I quote, "this is because international scholarship holders are subject to even more stringent selection and renewal criteria".
Ms Han should check her facts, and start by checking on how NTU awards scholarships to Masters students from Myanmar and I am not talking about 2011 graduating class so please dig deep for the truth and tell us the truth for it involve your tax money too and someone in your family or relatives or friends or even poor Singaporean kids might have been deprived due to such lackadaisical process of awarding scholarship.
I met some of them and they could not even carry on an English conversation for longer then 5 minutes!
There is no half measures with the PAP administration. Immigration do it massively, flood the country with foreigners. Foreign scholarships, give everyone a scholarship as long as he or she is foreign. Ministerial salaries, up in the stratosphere.
Show the knuckleduster, all solved.
Foreign universities charge high fees for International students. NUS/NTU pay to recruit International students, either we are desperate or damn lousy?! Need to pay pple to study here?
Any country will earmark and groom its own talents including Malaysia, China, Philippines, etc. for leadership roles. Those "scholars" attracted to Singapore are not TOP rate scholars and yet we paid hefty sum to invite them. Can draw the analogy to the Table Tennis Players. You think China will let their top players to serve here? Fat Hope!
Why NUS,SMU & NTU are giving out scholarships to foreign students to study in our university. If they want to study here, pay the international student fees lah.
Singaporean students desire to be awarded the scholarship instead of foreign students. Our students won many international Maths & Science competition.
We should also help the middle-income children – award them with scholarship. Not all middle income household can afford to pay the university fees. (My hubby lost his jobs twice – retrenched in 2003 and 2009).
Why use taxpayers money to sponser the foreign children & neglect our own children? Gahmen please help our own children, they will serve the country back either in National service or other services.
With such a level of spending on awarding scholarship to the foreigners, it justifies that education should be free for all Citizens up to University Level. Then if we have excess, we may think of helping relatively poor nations by offering scholarships to them without bonding them but releasing them after they graduate just like Colombo Plan scholarship awarded to Singaporeans by Canada, Australia, New Zealand. The number offered per year is usually less than 1-5. Sg imposed a 5 years bond service in Singapore for all Colombo Plan Scholars. Either that or we can offerred to bright students (talent or if proven eg music, arts etc) without bond but hopefully they are happy to remain and serve. The number should be limited according to the constraint of affordability after meeting our own education of Singaporeans. It is only logical that the Citizens enjoy the benefits first and rather illogical to require them to pay increasingly high fees while millions are spent on foreign students. Recent report cited that NUS is seeking approval to increase fees for Singaporeans (since almost all foreign students are finaacially supported by tax payer moniies. There is absolutely no reason for fee increase as long as millions of dollars are allocated and spent annually to support non-citizens!
How many foreign students awarded with Singapore universities' scholarships and/or benefited from the generous financial assistance actually stayed in Singapore long enough to really contribute back into Singapore significantly?..