Foreign Talent

That's the term Singapore government used to describe non-Singaporean workforce who are working in Singapore. At least here, the government tries to make foreigners feel at home and willing to contribute to the economy and/or society.

Today, a new guy who is going to join my APAO team came to the office, understudying with one of the Deskstop support engineer. He is Malaysian, from Malacca. From the way he speaks i guessed that he must be new in Singapore. And I was right. He came over to Singapore just for this job and it seems that he might have taken the same coach as Lay Kuan down from Malacca end of Sep. Need to check with Lay Kuan if he remembers this guy. Anyway, this new guy graduated last year from the Multimedia University Malaysia and has worked in KL and Malacca. He took up this job hoping to broaden his horizon and experience new things. His english seems passable and understandable, although his Chinese is better (but with the typical '联邦腔').

Now, didn't I read somewhere that most Malaysian university graduates are unemployable and can't speak English? Mmm.. then this guy must be the odd one out. However, I would believe that the Chinese people are more adaptable and able to survive anywhere as long as he/she is willing to put in the effort. They used to say: The sun never sets on Britain (British Empire). But for the Chinese, I believe: You can find Chinese people in every part of the habitable world. Actually, anyone who has the will can survive anywhere. Between Singapore and Malaysia, there is not much different. In fact, I believe that if you can work/survive in KL or Penang or anywhere in Malaysia, you will have no problem in Singapore. Here everything is so so systematic, so orderly and so efficient. It is a good place to gain experience and exposure, but not a good place to start a business or work for yourself. Overheads are too high and there are way too many rules and regulations that would stranggle any creative juice one might have. Do business? Do it in Malaysia. Work for others? Esp for MNC? Come to Singapore. Get PR-ship and then see how it goes. If you want to migrate to places other than Singapore (ie not staying in Malaysia too), then take the Singapore Citizenship. It is much more valued and recognised than Malaysian passports. With a Singapore passport, you can go almost anywhere in the world, and most of the time without a need for Visa. Just like going to US. For Singaporeans, they can just book a ticket and fly to any US cities immediately, if they plan to stay less than 60days, no visa nothing. But for Malaysians, because the government announced that it is a Muslim country, US imposed the need for an entry visa which takes between 2 weeks to 1 month to process, with no guarantee that it will be approved.

But for me, I've yet to decide. I'll just hold on to both the Singapore PR and Malaysian citizenship and see how things goes in the next few years. Well, one might never know what might happen 6 months or 1 year down the road...