http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=9264

Opinions of some singaporean on our scholarship...

Help grads who do as well as foreign talent

RECENTLY, I befriended a group of scholars from China studying at my alma mater, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). They were in their late teens and were attending foundation courses in English and maths before starting their undergraduate studies. In their five-year sojourn at NTU, they will be given free lodging and a monthly allowance of $500 each. Needless to say, they do not have to pay for their tuition fees. When they graduate, they must work in Singapore for six years as part of their 'payback'' bond.

A highly conservative calculation of their five-year tenure at NTU suggests that each will cost the Government or NTU some $70,000. That is, $30,000 for their five-year tuition fees, including the charges for their foundation courses, and some $40,000 for hostel accommodation and their monthly stipends. I graduated from NTU five years ago, with a good honours degree.

I was in the top 15 per cent of my cohort - and performed better than some of these scholars. While studying at NTU, I had to work as a pizza delivery boy to earn my allowance. Upon graduation, I had to start paying off a $24,000-student loan.

Why are Singaporeans like me not treated as considerately as such scholars? My study loan took five years to pay off after I started working. The China scholars receive financial support, a free education and start their working lives debt free. Their six-year bond is seen as a contribution to Singapore.

Am I not contributing as much, if not more? Non-scholar Singaporeans are not treated in quite the same way as foreign talent, regardless of how well we perform. The disparity is disheartening.

Don't Singaporeans like me who have done well deserve some relief? True, local scholarships are available. But not every Singaporean who graduated well, gets one.

Can the NTU or the Education Ministry tell me why graduates like myself don't deserve some relief or reward for doing as well as, or better than, some of the foreign talent?



Zhou Zhiqiang

however, it is not true...

别的都是废话...

当然, 有些point是值得我们自己警醒的, 比如作为"scholar", 应该把自己放在什么样的标准上去检验...

因为新加坡人的生育率下降什么的。。

很多local心理不平衡，是因为他们没有站在foreign scholar的立场上看问题。背井离乡，毕业之后绑6年，这一下就是10年。
local们肯定觉得中国比不上新加坡，从中国过来这里我们算是捡了个大便宜。但他们不是我们，自然不能够完全体会到我们背井离乡求学做工，寄人篱下偶尔可能还遭人白眼瞧不起阿什么的的心境，只是看到表面的东西，有吃有住有钱拿。。
当然他说的有些情况还是有的，比方说scholar不学习成绩变很差什么的，但这个就是教育部管理的问题了，不是也听说教育部停了蛮多人奖学金的么。。。
我们自己也要检讨，行为举止都代表着整个群体，凡事多注意，别让人家因为你一个人不当的举止就否定全部的人

国内前段时间回去，就是几个评语


有点钱的糜烂
没钱的，可怜没人爱
有权的，更糜烂
没权的巴结有权的，争取自己糜烂


道德也出现问题，人和人之间痛恨彼此。


唉。。。

中国人占好大一部分哦。。。
除了建筑工地，现在supermaket cashier，还有很多打扫卫生的，都是年轻的中国人。。。
不知道是好事还是坏事。。

i fully comprehend him in feeling irritated about that he need to take a huge loan while other classmates are having scholarship, espcially he score better than some of the scholars.



however,



1. foreign scholar need to bond in SG for 6 years. so totally need to stay in SG for 10 years. the golden 10 years are spent in SG only.



2. scholarship is granted based on the preceding achievement, not what you perform after taking scholarship. but perhaps writer can suggest MOE to issue some post-study scholarship for the top 15% students, in which case he will be included.



3. lastly, in fact, we all understand that the main reason to offer this deal is to attack foreign graduates to stay in SG, hopefully to stay here forever! how many kids can writer give birth? and many ppl know that gov need new babies from "talent", no matter who they are, where they from. if not, then wait for our malay brothers and sisters to continue their high birth-rate for more generations, then chinese turn out to be minority group lor!



conclusion: too simple, too naive! but pathetic still, as he should have studied better in JC so as to get some scholarship. nevertheless, talking too much on yesterday seems less meaningful than striving for tomorrow!