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Singapore offers alternative for parents, job-seekers
By Bae Hyun-jung ([email protected])
Korea Herald
March 12, 2009
To parents concerned about their children's language education and to graduate students unable to find jobs, Singapore offers an alternative.
"Singapore is more than just a No. 1 competitive country in Asia, but a compelling global hub for business, investment and talent," said Ng Siew Kiang, executive director of Contact Singapore, during an interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday.
Contact Singapore is a government-funded center mainly sponsored by the Economic Development Board of Singapore and the Ministry of Manpower. It aims to attract global manpower and investment to the country.
Singapore, though well-known and highly cosmopolitan, is sometimes underestimated in many aspects, Ng said.
The country is in fact balanced in its business categories, including a large proportion of manufacturing, service, transport, and others.
"Singapore is not just a geographical assembly area for renowned financial firms," she said. "Our firm bases in other industries and education stand relatively strong even amid the present economic crisis, and we intend to let other countries find out more about such aspects."
One of the main aspects that she highlighted is the bilingual international education offered in schools.
"The large foreign population in Singapore led to a diverse spectrum of foreign and international schools," the director said. "Not only do residents have a wide set of options for their children's education, but also parents are sending their children from overseas for learning experiences."
Local Singaporean schools are also similarly popular among Asian parents who expect their children to be bilingual in English and Chinese, she added.
"Singapore may be differentiated from other English-speaking countries as it retains the traditional Asian culture as well as its active bilingual backgrounds," she said.
For this reason, some enthusiastic parents tend to turn their eyes to this Asian country as an alternative to far-off and costly education in the West.
"Singapore is a relatively small country, where the present size and future potential of the industry usually exceeds the capacity of the local population, even though we are well provided with a large group of educated manpower," Ng said.
Despite the global recession, the recruiting movements are still quite active in Singapore, she explained.
"Of course, we have experienced a rise in the unemployment rate and a temporary fall in GDP," she said. "That, however, was mainly because of faltering export businesses overall, and not because we were heavily reliant on financial industries alone."
"In order to further boost our industries, we plan several recruiting sessions in various Asian countries," she said. "Korean university graduates with highly demanded skills, especially in the medical, engineering, digital and financial fields, may also benefit from such opportunities."
As most of the recruiting companies are branches of global enterprises, applicants are required to be fluent in English to a certain extent.
"International internships in Singapore tend to be focused on the financial firms," Ng said. "If engineering major students, for example, were given more chances of internship during their school years, they would be given a wider spectrum of career options in Singapore later."
Singapore offers alternative for parents, job-seekers
By Bae Hyun-jung ([email protected])
Korea Herald
March 12, 2009
To parents concerned about their children's language education and to graduate students unable to find jobs, Singapore offers an alternative.
"Singapore is more than just a No. 1 competitive country in Asia, but a compelling global hub for business, investment and talent," said Ng Siew Kiang, executive director of Contact Singapore, during an interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday.
Contact Singapore is a government-funded center mainly sponsored by the Economic Development Board of Singapore and the Ministry of Manpower. It aims to attract global manpower and investment to the country.
Singapore, though well-known and highly cosmopolitan, is sometimes underestimated in many aspects, Ng said.
The country is in fact balanced in its business categories, including a large proportion of manufacturing, service, transport, and others.
"Singapore is not just a geographical assembly area for renowned financial firms," she said. "Our firm bases in other industries and education stand relatively strong even amid the present economic crisis, and we intend to let other countries find out more about such aspects."
One of the main aspects that she highlighted is the bilingual international education offered in schools.
"The large foreign population in Singapore led to a diverse spectrum of foreign and international schools," the director said. "Not only do residents have a wide set of options for their children's education, but also parents are sending their children from overseas for learning experiences."
Local Singaporean schools are also similarly popular among Asian parents who expect their children to be bilingual in English and Chinese, she added.
"Singapore may be differentiated from other English-speaking countries as it retains the traditional Asian culture as well as its active bilingual backgrounds," she said.
For this reason, some enthusiastic parents tend to turn their eyes to this Asian country as an alternative to far-off and costly education in the West.
"Singapore is a relatively small country, where the present size and future potential of the industry usually exceeds the capacity of the local population, even though we are well provided with a large group of educated manpower," Ng said.
Despite the global recession, the recruiting movements are still quite active in Singapore, she explained.
"Of course, we have experienced a rise in the unemployment rate and a temporary fall in GDP," she said. "That, however, was mainly because of faltering export businesses overall, and not because we were heavily reliant on financial industries alone."
"In order to further boost our industries, we plan several recruiting sessions in various Asian countries," she said. "Korean university graduates with highly demanded skills, especially in the medical, engineering, digital and financial fields, may also benefit from such opportunities."
As most of the recruiting companies are branches of global enterprises, applicants are required to be fluent in English to a certain extent.
"International internships in Singapore tend to be focused on the financial firms," Ng said. "If engineering major students, for example, were given more chances of internship during their school years, they would be given a wider spectrum of career options in Singapore later."
