SINGAPOREANS express reservations about the foreigner influx on practical grounds, usually jobs and income levels. Resenting foreign undergraduates for the financial aid they receive is an odd variant. It is unworthy. The disclosure by the National University of Singapore that 40 per cent of bursaries awarded so far this year went to foreigners was admittedly a surprise, even after accounting for one-quarter of its 23,000 undergraduate enrolment being non-Singaporean. Bursaries are unlike high-value scholarships. They are annual stipends of $1,000 to $2,000 given to needy students to pay for books, meals and incidentals. As a rule, foreigners get less money per bursary. Moreover NUS says no Singaporeans who qualified have been refused help. They get preference. This put right a disagreeable situation last year when half of local applicants were unsuccessful.
The locals' rant that the money comes from taxpayers and it should therefore benefit only locals has a superficial appeal, but it shows an incomplete understanding of an underlying issue. Scholarships and various forms of supplementary aid are offered to undergraduate and postgraduate students from Asia and elsewhere - after locals' needs are met first, naturally - because the nation gains from the exchange. It is a long-term investment, to say it indelicately. Parliament was told last year that between 1996 and 1999, 60 per cent of foreign students who enrolled at universities here and who received grants took up citizenship or permanent residency after graduating. This is a high strike rate by any measure. Of those who presumably returned home, Singapore would be on their minds when they are in a position to make or influence decisions in business, government, research or whichever field they may have risen in. The art of cultivating transborder networks through university ties is an old game played to great advantage by old economies and liberal democracies. America for one has benefited hugely. It is a form of soft power appeal. Singapore has been slow getting into the race.
But, regardless, dismay and resentment will continue to bubble to the surface. The irony is that in some cases it can be triggered by the naturalisation of foreign alumni - the old 'competition' bugbear all over. The universities can help assuage feelings by being thorough in verifying the bona fides of foreign applicants, not easy when establishing qualifying household income. Funding for bursaries and other grants should be kept full, by drawing on their endowment fund if need be. It will also help if locals bear in mind the overwhelming taxpayer subsidy they receive in acquiring their degrees.
(Straits Times 23 Nov)