The PAP government is giving out scholarships specifically for Pinoys in Philippines to come to Singapore to study in our local universities (NUS, NTU, SMU). Each award is for three to four years of tertiary study and covers return air fare, full tuition, an accommodation allowance and a living allowance of S$4,300 (around P150,000) per annum. Applicants of the scholarship must be Filipino citizens with excellent academic records and a good command of English. A recipient of the scholarship may not concurrently hold any other scholarship, fellowship, grant or award without prior approval of the Singaporean government. (Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/114414/singapore-giving-out-scholarships/).
Except for Medicine, Dentistry, Architecture and Law, all other disciplines are open to recipients of the scholarship. As Medicine, Dentistry and Law are elite courses, the Filipino scholars will instead be competing with average Singaporeans who usually take arts, science, business or engineering courses. It is therefore hard to imagine that most Singaporeans will not notice the privileges given to these special Pinoys.
The PAP government seems to be keen on investing in Filipino talent development even though they do not even serve National Service. It is also stated in the terms of the scholarship that “the scholars are expected to return to their respective countries at the end of their studies to contribute to the development of their nations”. That means there is NO BOND so it is not required that these Pinoys serve NS or contribute to Singapore. The scholarship appears to be a charitable act by the PAP government towards Filipinos.
Moreover, it has been revealed that many Filipinos have fake qualifications from universities like Recto University (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/17/world/asia/philippines-recto/index.html). With its failure to scrutinize foreign talents like Anoop Shankar, can NUS be totally sure that these Filipinos are talented?
There was also no attempt to disguise the fact that the scholarship was provided by government agencies in Singapore. The following was stated:
“For eligibility criteria, terms of award and application procedures, applicants may go to the website: http://www.mfa.gov.sg.scp.
Completed applications must be submitted to the Singapore Embassy in Manila by Dec. 10. Applicants are encouraged to use the online application portal, http://singaporescholarship.scp.gov.sg., in addition to submitting the hard copies.”
So if you’re a Pinoy hoping to live out the Singapore Dream and have a successful career, please go ahead and apply.
I feel angry that the Singapore government is using taxpayers’ money to fund the development of a bunch of Pinoys. It shouldn’t be totally surprising, considering that we are already paying $25000 just to teach one PRC officer English.
As a Singaporean, I am extremely disappointed with the PAP government for neglecting its own citizens while putting foreigners first. Many of our local Singaporeans are not on scholarships in local universities and they are burdened with a huge debt upon graduation. Several other Singaporeans, mainly poly graduates have to work part-time and pay higher fees to study at private universities because they couldn’t get into local universities. And it is not because their grades are bad; it’s because there aren’t enough vacancies available for Singaporeans. Finally, there’s the group of Singaporeans whose families have paid enormous amounts to send them abroad just so they can have a quality university education. The vast majority of Singaporeans are not on scholarships even though they are keen to get a degree and contribute to Singapore’s development.
Why must we compromise our own human capital development just to do charity for third world countries?
Muhd Hafiz
TRS Contributor
Source: www.therealsingapore.com
