It's like giving free candy to rich kids
Thu, Nov 20, 2008
The New Paper
By Elaine Yeo
SKIP one's A levels? Sure, it's not new.
There are colleges in the US that are perfectly happy to take in students directly after O levels.
Who would want to sit through the A levels when you can choose a comparatively relaxing liberal arts course? That's exactly the path I took.
Although I did test the waters by attending Raffles Junior College for the first three months, I ultimately left to enrol in Brandeis University, a private college in Waltham, Massachusetts.
So I flew the coop and did four years of undergraduate studies in the US. But you know what? I came home.
It might be because I feel a sense of responsibility to my parents, who have paid for my education since kindergarten.
It might also be because I'm 'bonded' to my family, who have no intention of leaving Singapore.
So I'm not surprised that a foreign scholar, with fully subsidised school fees and no bond, left without a word and is unlikely to return.
I feel it would be fine to subsidise these students' fees if they are from low-income families and need help with money.
But, from what I know, scholarships are based on merit, regardless of the applicant's family income level.
It is akin to giving a child, who has loads of pocket money, freebies at a candy store - there's no motivation to give back or to show loyalty.
What's to prevent the child from going to another more attractive candy store, now that he has already sampled the free goodies in the first candy store?
Hence, the need to reconsider making such scholarships bond-free.
Okay, bonds could cost us a potential scholar and future talent. But do we need students who would look at such scholarships through their own selfish prisms rather than as an opportunity to connect with people?
A bonded scholarship helps ensure foreign applicants are motivated and are eager to carve out a career in Singapore.
Sure, there will be some who will see no need to be true to their bonds. But at least they would have to inform the scholarship administrator about their change of heart.
Don't get me wrong. I do think it's good for Singapore to widen its talent pool with foreigners. I have friends from China who are bright, motivated, and are now contributing as Singapore citizens.
But, like the rest of us who can afford it, these Chinese friends paid for their school fees with their own money.
This article was first published in The New Paper on 18 Nov 2008.
Thu, Nov 20, 2008
The New Paper
By Elaine Yeo
SKIP one's A levels? Sure, it's not new.
There are colleges in the US that are perfectly happy to take in students directly after O levels.
Who would want to sit through the A levels when you can choose a comparatively relaxing liberal arts course? That's exactly the path I took.
Although I did test the waters by attending Raffles Junior College for the first three months, I ultimately left to enrol in Brandeis University, a private college in Waltham, Massachusetts.
So I flew the coop and did four years of undergraduate studies in the US. But you know what? I came home.
It might be because I feel a sense of responsibility to my parents, who have paid for my education since kindergarten.
It might also be because I'm 'bonded' to my family, who have no intention of leaving Singapore.
So I'm not surprised that a foreign scholar, with fully subsidised school fees and no bond, left without a word and is unlikely to return.
I feel it would be fine to subsidise these students' fees if they are from low-income families and need help with money.
But, from what I know, scholarships are based on merit, regardless of the applicant's family income level.
It is akin to giving a child, who has loads of pocket money, freebies at a candy store - there's no motivation to give back or to show loyalty.
What's to prevent the child from going to another more attractive candy store, now that he has already sampled the free goodies in the first candy store?
Hence, the need to reconsider making such scholarships bond-free.
Okay, bonds could cost us a potential scholar and future talent. But do we need students who would look at such scholarships through their own selfish prisms rather than as an opportunity to connect with people?
A bonded scholarship helps ensure foreign applicants are motivated and are eager to carve out a career in Singapore.
Sure, there will be some who will see no need to be true to their bonds. But at least they would have to inform the scholarship administrator about their change of heart.
Don't get me wrong. I do think it's good for Singapore to widen its talent pool with foreigners. I have friends from China who are bright, motivated, and are now contributing as Singapore citizens.
But, like the rest of us who can afford it, these Chinese friends paid for their school fees with their own money.
This article was first published in The New Paper on 18 Nov 2008.
