Hwa Chong Institution Integrated Humanities Core Foreign Talents Notes

Name: ______Date: ______Class: ______( )

Why Do We Need Foreign Talents?  Singapore is a very small country and the only resource it possesses is human resource.  However the birth rate in Singapore had dropped.  Therefore, Singapore is unable to replace its ageing and dying population fast enough.  Singapore’s population would decrease.  The economy would then be greatly impacted as a result due to the lack of manpower and limited talent-pool.  Thus, there is a need for foreign talents, to increase to population and also to maintain Singapore’s competitiveness in its economy.

Foreign Talent Policy  CONTACT SINGAPORE was launched in 1997 by the International Talent Division of the Ministry of Manpower to facilitate the inflow of international talent to Singapore.  Singapore Talent Recruitment (STAR) Committee is formed in November 1988 with the aim of attracting foreign talents to Singapore.  Manpower 21, launched in 1999, and the International Manpower Program of the Economic Development Board. The Plan is launched to develop Singapore's manpower as a key competitive advantage in the new global economy. The Manpower 21 Plan is effectively the manpower response to the Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness' vision of Singapore as a globally competitive knowledge-based economy. It also creates opportunities for Singaporeans to realize their full potential so that everyone can make a meaningful contribution.  Schemes for housing foreign talents (SHiFT) are also introduced with the aim of providing affordable yet comfortable accommodations for foreign talents, in order to attract them to work and stay in Singapore.  Employment Pass Eligibility certificate (EPEC) is one such scheme to encourage qualified foreign talent to find a suitable job in Singapore.  An EPEC allows Foreigners who are interested in finding a job in Singapore, can commence their job hunt personally.

Advantages  Foreign talents can share their work experiences with the locals, helping them to gain necessary skills and knowledge to keep Singapore’s economy competitive.  Foreign talents help to increase Singapore’s talent-pool and also solve the problem of lowering birth rates in Singapore.  Foreign talents can bring in brand new ideas and technologies into Singapore, making Singapore improve constantly which ensures that Singapore does not fall behind other economically developed countries.  Foreign talents bring in their culture to Singapore, giving Singaporean a chance to experience the culture of the foreigners.

Disadvantages  Foreign talents compete for jobs with Singaporeans. This results in the increase of jobless Singaporeans.  The government tends to neglect the local talent and spends more of the funds on the foreign talents which results in a brain drain of local talents.  Some of the foreign talents may not be fully dedicated to work hard for Singapore.  Some of the foreign talents may not be as professional and capable as seemed and this actually defeats the purpose of inviting foreign talents into Singapore.