Originally posted by ShutterBug:
Actually Robert, for once I disagree with you on talents.
In terms of commercial, engineering, and or medical talents, yes, in Singapore there are. But in terms of talents in the Performing Arts, I'd say it is very low.
Everybody is focused on education, paper-chasing for a bright future since the day they learned to walk. Where got time to nurture musical or singing talent??? Look at the USA, there are singers, & musicians on the streets who make a living simply basking up to 8 hours everyday 7 days a week. Those street talents can outshine anyone here hands down!
Anyone here focuses too much on playing music or singing, chances are, the house will be left without electricity or water supply! There simply is no REAL future for performing arts here!
True that only in certain sectors, our government should give local talents more credit and opportunity, instead of giving preferential treatment to foreign talents in the same field or industry.
I do not know, and dare not imagine, where such practice/mindset will lead to in the future of Singapore and our people. But it's symptoms are starting to show already, and yet our infamous government chooses NOT to SEE - still believing that they know what's best for us.
I believe that we need performing talents from outside too. But what I mean by "government seems to be promoting outside talents" refers to its general policy to recognise foreign talents quite indiscriminately to the extent of allowing too many jobs to be taken over by foreigners in almost every industry from technical to administrative and professionals.
When MOM first announced his S-pass schemes to admit foreign workers on some kind of skills or technical expertise, it is more than clear that the flood gate has been open to allow our employers to take in any foreign workers they want too liberally.
Who will be the victims? I think the victims would be our own technicians, polytechnic and ITE graduates and construction skilled workers who will lose their jobs to foreigners of sometimes lower skills on account of slightly cheaper wages.
Citizens support the government and pay for ministers' and civil servants' wages in good time and bad. They never try to employer foreign talents to be our ministers or civil servants even though foreign talents in such areas are much cheaper.
So government by the same token should not just foresake the citizens in bad time and try to open the flood gates to take away their jobs.
Alternative solutions to our high-cost problems are many e.g. re-designing of jobs to allow administrative and professionals to cover more areas of works which they can handle as being done to cleaners and security guards.
Don't quickly turn against your own citizens by coming up with all kinds of pro-foreign passes or what-not which may lose controls of proper balance of our citizenship rights and their entitlements to some benefits of using our surplus paid by them in good time to cushion against ill effects of downturns.
The above-stated more accountable labour policy is what I am asking the government to introduce and not all the pro-foreign passes to allow anyone to take in any foreign workers which are anti-citizenship and anti-people.