There was a speech delivered in London last week by a Singapore senior civil servant. When I read the text, I was a little nettled. The phrase "ivory tower" kept popping up in my mind. Yes, I absolutely agree that the system should "guard against elitism and arrogance".
There is alot alot alot I want to say about government scholarships, young scholars, in service scholars, perceptions and expectations in Singapore.
At this point, I realize that those thoughts I held as an 18-year old still hold true now as a 32-year old. I never wanted to work towards getting one of those scholarships then because I never thought it would do me any good. I still think so.
I'm pleased to say that only a small percentage of my inner circle are government scholars who do not work or live in Singapore currently. I don't know if I wish them to come back (because I love them) or to stay away (because I love them). We are put off by the rigidity of bonds, regulations and inflexibility. Yet these friends are dazzling in their contributions to the world because they're NOT in the Singapore system and thus given a free rein in research, analysis and failures. They do not have funding cut because they didn't hit last year's KPIs. The scholarships gave them the opportunity, but that's not the end all. The rest who decided against taking the government scholarships are today, stellar in their achievements and commitments to the community and our country.
Yes, we don't deny that our decisions then, were influenced by the fact that securing funds for university was not an issue. We did not view those scholarships as prestigious. We thought it stiffling and getting it wasn't even an option. We thought we shouldn't even apply for scholarships because someone else who needed it should do so. Isn't that the spirit of a scholarship? We had a wide range of choices for further education, or not. We weren't going to get yelled at because we wanted to do theatre studies, human rights, environmental studies or something equally fluffy 'ya know.
But oh, the irony now. You know. I will not speak further. So I hold my tongue.
However, I point you to this short post at tym's. Draw your own conclusions.
10 comments:
After reading this, I'm even MORE in despair about government scholarships. Hey, here's a thought - how about making the work interesting and challenging so people WANT to come back and work in Singapore? Nah - that'd be too easy.
I think it was also very telling that it was mentioned that young scholars' views were sought out by the first generation of Ministers, but that it doesn't seem to happen 'so often' now.
In many cases, getting a scholarship is a matter of necessity, not one of prestige or choice otherwise. Here's how it works. The Singapore government has built a formidable reputation such that many graduate programs will not accept a Singaporean without a scholarship. Why should they when the 10 Singaporeans who came before Singaporean X arrived fully paid for?! A no brainer indeed. They would rather reserve their limited grant money for students from less developed countries who need it. Self-funding is not a permitted option for many graduate programs. So ironically, Singaporeans who seek such an education are at a gross disadvantage as their main option would be a 'bonded' scholarship from Singapore as opposed to the no-strings-attached funding they would otherwise have received at the educational institution. I would call them scholars of necessity.
and the problem is, such an 'elite' education is out of reach for alot of singaporean undergrads unless their parents fully fund them. only then, one gets the luxury of choice.
i can't resist adding on another perspective to the comment above mine. i didn't seek any funding frm anywhere. armed with savings and a cheque, it works too. so i'd say that the alternative is to arrive at the uni with a cheque that pays full term. that works with most universities.
As Anonymous said, and as you alluded to as well Opal, the opportunity to fund themselves is not available to every scholar. .
I've always thought there was something flawed with the concept of scholarships being for people who come from backgrounds that can well afford them. I can understand that many children want to be as independent as possible. I also can understand that it can be a strain on any family's finances - but if there is a but for test (ie but for the fact that I got this scholarship money, I would not comfortably be able to afford to go) applied, then maybe we'd be able to channel the money to people who need it more.
Eddie Teo's argument is disingenuous. First of all, he argues that if we offer bursaries to only the people who can't afford it, then the 'elite and well-off' will have turned their back on the country and not gone into public service because they don't have a scholarship. So the only thing drawing in the elite and well-off is a scholarship that they would have been easily able to afford anyway? Are they not only elite and well-off but really cheap? :)
Seems to me that if you funded those who can't afford it (but are still clearly bright enough to GET into these Unis) that you'd actually have a bigger pool of people to choose from.
Secondly, that's probably the whole problem with the scholarship system right now - it's just one more 'prize' for high achievers to reach for. How many people do you know who went and got a scholarship because they had a burning passion to serve the country? Most that I know of at least, applied for any number of public and private scholarships. It was the prestige of the scholarship - and not the desire to serve - that I think prompted them to apply in the first place. Plus these are 19 year olds used to excelling academically we're talking about. Can we really blame them for applying for these scholarships because it's been drummed into them that the best and brightest get them?
Thirdly, the argument made that poorer students who clearly aren't as 'smart' (though who ARE smart enough obviously to get into the same universities that the scholars have applied for), can always still go into the local university for a great education! Then why send scholars abroad at all?
Huff! What a read.
I'd be a huge misfit - this much I'm very sure of - and be booted out on my hiney in a split of a nanosecond.
It's such a superficial education system being set up by this crappy government years back till now..If they want to focus on the basis of scholarships privileges for locals, why still bring in these so-called 'foreign talents'? The government shld scrutinise clearly before embarking the system. Most of them are only vying for a 'I'm-certified-in-SG' and pick their asses back to other countries. And on the contrary, why do we have to work so hard like slaves after Uni to pay back their so-called fundings? Furthermore, there have been alot of underlying problems and misconceptions being passed from the older generations (our parents) to added stress and biasness on us. If status and fame are what they are chasing for years, I don't think it's really necessary to study so hard afterall..even the 'poor' & 'not-smartie-pants' they looked down initially can become equally thriving entrepreneurs =)
the problem with the system is that the basic premise of getting a scholarship has shifted. yes, it is for the brightest and those who are inclined and able. but it seems that a fair number of these scholars come from families who can afford such an education. this isn't true meritocracy in the spirit of a scholarship.
It's totally untrue, that there is no preference for foreign-educated scholars. My former big boss blatantly told HR that he only wants the overseas scholars in the organization.
And it's absolute rubbish that all scholars start with operational work. That was the policy, but in reality, that's not always practised. So we have scholars who comes up with policies that are practically not feasible, and the non-scholars have to crack their heads to implement their theoretically fabulous policies.
And the biggest issue is how they choose the AOs from among the scholars. Somehow, usually the self-serving ones get chosen, and the people who really wants to serve the public leaves the service completely.
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