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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89_ <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>2:20 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>53755.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>Local PhD revealed discrimination against S’porean researchers in unversities and research institutes
July 9th, 2011 |
Author: Contributions |
Edit
I am a Singaporean and graduated locally with my PhD and did my postdoctoral training in one of the local institutes. I have spent many years in the research scene in SG and have met many locally/foreign trained fellow Singaporean researchers and scholars as well. I therefore have a good grasp of the discrimination that is going on.
All the prior comments have pointed out that FT lecturers are unable to teach. I can only agree. I skipped all my lectures conducted by a majority of my FT lecturers and would rather spend the time in the library learning myself instead of deciphering their accents, as I did not sign up to be a linguist. There are some good FT lecturers but they are few and far in between. They might have been hired based on their “exceptional” research abilities but why should students suffer? And it is obvious that none of these Professors (except for 2) are HiCi researchers. May be it is because of the way research direction is being administered.
Research direction in SG changes too fast. How are researchers expected to build on science if the research focus varies every 2-3 years? There are a lucky few who are able to do what they set out to do and these are the ones who will be successful. The pressure to publish not only results in publication of papers in low impact journals, WHICH is still okay, but the pressure has also resulted in ‘faking’ of data. Misrepresentations, cherry-pickings, incumbent-styled statistics are some of the incidents that I have come across. Although the governing body of institutes does have a whistle-blowing committee, there were instances where the whistle-blower was sacked instead. Protecting the FT bosses? May be.
Not only in the universities, but in the institutes, MOST of the executive directors and middle management leaders are FTs. Even the people in scientific advisory boards are FTs’ friends. You rub my back (by giving me a nice 2x a year business class trip to the tropics) and I rub yours (by giving you a damn good report)? This keeps the administration and funding bodies happy and BLIND to all discrimination. I shall now break down how discrimination occurs, as I have experienced it. It might vary… I’m sure there are humane FTs out there.
Opportunities
It has been discussed how little opportunities there are for local PhDs to be rehired into local universities as academics, so I shall not go into it further. Just wanted to add, even scholars now are able to choose a teaching-track, meaning NON-scholars will be further marginalized. But the treatments local PhDs received in local institutes do not make us competitive for research outside SG.
Treatment
SG researchers are often given projects and we are often treated as PhD technicians, instead of PhD scientists, generating results over and over again just to show a project is credible (many times it is not). FT researchers usually get to continue on a research track they are actually interested in, exploring and building upon their science. It is therefore very difficult for us to make a name for ourselves.
Male SG researchers also have to do NS, what does this mean? It means a stop in research for up to 3-4 weeks per year, resulting in loss of productivity and raising of eyebrows. This amounts to quite a bit, when contracts and funding are usually only 2-3 years long. Do not forget you also need to set aside time to keep fit to pass your IPPT. But SGean males will still be proud to serve our country IF we are not discriminated. The loss in productivity (i.e, less papers and patents published at the institutes) affects bonuses and usually we are marginalized.
Salary
If you graduate locally, you are paid at the lowest bracket. The next bracket is the SGeans who graduate from overseas, then the scholars. The FT researchers get the most including a housing allowance. I have not seen anywhere in the world where you get a housing allowance, as contracted researchers in institutes or universities. Everyone gets a flat rate. The reason given for being generous to FT researchers in SG is to attract good FTs and that locals already have CPF.
There are many FTs who will want to go to SG to do research and to experience Asian culture. And with research funding cut in many countries, there will be more FT researchers flocking to Asia. Is housing allowance still relevant? Besides, FTs ALSO get a gratitude payout at the end of each contract on top of their allowances. Our CPF is pretty much stuck in CPF. So, how is this comparable to housing allowance which is cash-in-hand? Coming back to bonuses, why should the director be allowed to determine how much bonuses are to be awarded? Wouldn’t friends and nepotistic staff be given more due to lack of transparency?
These are just my personal takes. There might be more issues out there if more of us come forward. There must be a serious change in the research scene. If not, the % of GDP spent on research is being flushed down the drain. Science, arts and culture can only flourish if the society is happy.
If any ministry (MTI or MOE?) or minister or MP or chairman will like to take this seriously, they are free to contact me at [email protected]. Stop listening to your aides or the flowery reports. The sentiment on the ground is a bit different. Even million dollar scholars ([URL]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/message/1473[/URL]) have no confident in the SG research scene and its administration and are leaving after their bonds.
Thank you for reading.
.
Local researcher in search of greener pastures
* This comment was first posted on the thread ‘Local academics being discriminated by foreign heads in universities’ ([URL]http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/07/01/local-academics-being-discriminated-by-foreign-heads-in-universities/[/URL]).
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I am a Singaporean and graduated locally with my PhD and did my postdoctoral training in one of the local institutes. I have spent many years in the research scene in SG and have met many locally/foreign trained fellow Singaporean researchers and scholars as well. I therefore have a good grasp of the discrimination that is going on.
All the prior comments have pointed out that FT lecturers are unable to teach. I can only agree. I skipped all my lectures conducted by a majority of my FT lecturers and would rather spend the time in the library learning myself instead of deciphering their accents, as I did not sign up to be a linguist. There are some good FT lecturers but they are few and far in between. They might have been hired based on their “exceptional” research abilities but why should students suffer? And it is obvious that none of these Professors (except for 2) are HiCi researchers. May be it is because of the way research direction is being administered.
Research direction in SG changes too fast. How are researchers expected to build on science if the research focus varies every 2-3 years? There are a lucky few who are able to do what they set out to do and these are the ones who will be successful. The pressure to publish not only results in publication of papers in low impact journals, WHICH is still okay, but the pressure has also resulted in ‘faking’ of data. Misrepresentations, cherry-pickings, incumbent-styled statistics are some of the incidents that I have come across. Although the governing body of institutes does have a whistle-blowing committee, there were instances where the whistle-blower was sacked instead. Protecting the FT bosses? May be.
Not only in the universities, but in the institutes, MOST of the executive directors and middle management leaders are FTs. Even the people in scientific advisory boards are FTs’ friends. You rub my back (by giving me a nice 2x a year business class trip to the tropics) and I rub yours (by giving you a damn good report)? This keeps the administration and funding bodies happy and BLIND to all discrimination. I shall now break down how discrimination occurs, as I have experienced it. It might vary… I’m sure there are humane FTs out there.
Opportunities
It has been discussed how little opportunities there are for local PhDs to be rehired into local universities as academics, so I shall not go into it further. Just wanted to add, even scholars now are able to choose a teaching-track, meaning NON-scholars will be further marginalized. But the treatments local PhDs received in local institutes do not make us competitive for research outside SG.
Treatment
SG researchers are often given projects and we are often treated as PhD technicians, instead of PhD scientists, generating results over and over again just to show a project is credible (many times it is not). FT researchers usually get to continue on a research track they are actually interested in, exploring and building upon their science. It is therefore very difficult for us to make a name for ourselves.
Male SG researchers also have to do NS, what does this mean? It means a stop in research for up to 3-4 weeks per year, resulting in loss of productivity and raising of eyebrows. This amounts to quite a bit, when contracts and funding are usually only 2-3 years long. Do not forget you also need to set aside time to keep fit to pass your IPPT. But SGean males will still be proud to serve our country IF we are not discriminated. The loss in productivity (i.e, less papers and patents published at the institutes) affects bonuses and usually we are marginalized.
Salary
If you graduate locally, you are paid at the lowest bracket. The next bracket is the SGeans who graduate from overseas, then the scholars. The FT researchers get the most including a housing allowance. I have not seen anywhere in the world where you get a housing allowance, as contracted researchers in institutes or universities. Everyone gets a flat rate. The reason given for being generous to FT researchers in SG is to attract good FTs and that locals already have CPF.
There are many FTs who will want to go to SG to do research and to experience Asian culture. And with research funding cut in many countries, there will be more FT researchers flocking to Asia. Is housing allowance still relevant? Besides, FTs ALSO get a gratitude payout at the end of each contract on top of their allowances. Our CPF is pretty much stuck in CPF. So, how is this comparable to housing allowance which is cash-in-hand? Coming back to bonuses, why should the director be allowed to determine how much bonuses are to be awarded? Wouldn’t friends and nepotistic staff be given more due to lack of transparency?
These are just my personal takes. There might be more issues out there if more of us come forward. There must be a serious change in the research scene. If not, the % of GDP spent on research is being flushed down the drain. Science, arts and culture can only flourish if the society is happy.
If any ministry (MTI or MOE?) or minister or MP or chairman will like to take this seriously, they are free to contact me at [email protected]. Stop listening to your aides or the flowery reports. The sentiment on the ground is a bit different. Even million dollar scholars ([URL]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sg_Review/message/1473[/URL]) have no confident in the SG research scene and its administration and are leaving after their bonds.
Thank you for reading.
.
Local researcher in search of greener pastures
* This comment was first posted on the thread ‘Local academics being discriminated by foreign heads in universities’ ([URL]http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/07/01/local-academics-being-discriminated-by-foreign-heads-in-universities/[/URL]).
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