Brain Drain?
I read this article linked by Singapore Daily; go here to read.
It is remarkably disturbing, this issue of brain drain, as was utterly and tiredly covered in P5(or was it P6) during the FPS topic of Hong Kong’s brain drain.
Yet, in this case, there is another, more callous and frightening aspect. The so-called bred intellectuals borne of the system are often the very ones disillusioned by it, thus emigrating; it is disheartening to know that one’s country would rather just import some more foreign talent (in hope that they’ll stay and not hop to USA) instead of retaining their own cream of the crop.
YawningBread had one article (forgot the title) which quite highlighted the idiocy of the current modus operandi. E.g. a) Chinese engineer that is really good and professional b) born-and-bred Singaporean engineer/etc that is also good and professional. So if B emigrates, gahmen just decides to import A to make up for the net loss? It’s not that simple; a country is not the grand total of its economy, GDP, and cleanliness. There’s also the little something called a sense of belonging, of nationhood (inasmuch as it may have been created from years of increasingly artyfarty NDPs) and of identity. Immigrants who do change passports ultimately would never be as Singaporean as one born, educated, and matured here. Just as it took a vast effort to create a nation out of our forefathers’ sojourner-attitudes, so will it take a long time to inculcate Singaporeanness in immigrants. They come not because they like your very free media and very (’)clean(’) city and very efficient country, but because there’s money. That’s that.
Singapore Inc is a common caricature; sadly caricatures often have some basis in truth. Nobody feels like staying where one is unappreciated.
(Update: Today’s (15Feb) Singaporedaily update has an intriguing take on this by Leelilian)
