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<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top> Coffeeshop Chit Chat - NUS denies Scholarship to TopLocalTalent</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><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>8:20 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>(1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>54215.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD id=msgtxt_1 class=msgtxt>NUS Denies Scholarship to Top Local Talent
July 18th, 2011 |
Author: Contributions |
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The recent flood of reports about discrimination against local-born Singaporeans in our tertiary institutes comes as no surprise to me. Local-born Singaporeans are being discriminated at every level from students, to postdoctoral researchers and even to the teaching staff and faculty. Let me add on to this repertoire of reports and include my own personal experience of how a top local talent was denied scholarship and who was replaced with second-rate foreign students.
Claiming oneself to be a Top Local Talent may be come across as more than arrogant, but I define myself as such in lieu of the sliding standards of the “foreign talent” students in the recent decade. In the 1990s when I was growing up, the foreign students who competed with local Singaporeans deserved the term “foreign talent”. They provided a good challenge to keep us on our toes, and their numbers were limited so that only the good ones made it to Singapore. The same cannot be said for the situation today, in the post-2000s era, where a large proportion of foreign students imported into NUS and NTU are sub-standard and mediocre. It is bad enough that our local universities are being flooded with these sub-standard applicants, but to add salt to the wound, our local universities are complicit in promoting the PAP’s agenda of foreigners first and giving out free scholarships like toilet paper. I am a victim of this scheme.
As a self-proclaimed local talent, I graduated from one of the upper-tier Junior Colleges (but nevertheless a non-elite institution) in Singapore, was valedictorian for my cohort, and scored 7 distinctions in the A-levels if memory serves correctly. My portfolio was competitive enough that I was offered a Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship that only a handful (like a dozen) is offered every year. However, after much contemplation I rejected their offer because my conscience and moral standards would not allow me to serve the PAP government. Instead, I decided to apply for the bond-free NUS scholarship. It should have been non-issue. Despite my impressive portfolio, I was not even offered the “lowest tier” NUS scholarship, which is curious because friends who were just 2 years more senior than me easily got offers despite having a less competitive portfolio. Interestingly, the year when I was admitted to NUS was also around the period when the PAP launched their S-Pass system, opening the gate for entry-level skilled foreign workers into the country, thus competing away entry level jobs from Singaporeans and depressing wages, which is the situation we have today. The timing of this “joint operation” to screw local-born Singaporeans could not have been more coordinated. Midway through my undergraduate studies, I learnt that NUS expanded their scholarship system and now offers 5 scholarships of varying monetary value (as opposed to 2 when I first applied), undoubtedly throwing more free money to more second-rate foreign students.
Thanks for the foreigners-first policy of the FAP (oops I mean PAP), and their collaborators in our tertiary institutions like NUS, which despite all their claims as a private institution are still under the influence from MOE, local talents like myself are being marginalized in lieu of second-rate foreign students. As a marginalized local talent I went on with my education and self-funded using my parent’s CPF loan. Am I just a sore loser complaining? I will list out some of my achievements and let them speak for themselves.
As a marginalized local talent, I am so disgusted with NUS that I did not even bother to attend Commencement, as means of personal protest against the institution. If I had any regrets in life, deciding to study at NUS is probably on the top of that list. To all young promising Singaporeans out there, I would cross out our local universities if I were you.
.
Top Local Talent
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The recent flood of reports about discrimination against local-born Singaporeans in our tertiary institutes comes as no surprise to me. Local-born Singaporeans are being discriminated at every level from students, to postdoctoral researchers and even to the teaching staff and faculty. Let me add on to this repertoire of reports and include my own personal experience of how a top local talent was denied scholarship and who was replaced with second-rate foreign students.
Claiming oneself to be a Top Local Talent may be come across as more than arrogant, but I define myself as such in lieu of the sliding standards of the “foreign talent” students in the recent decade. In the 1990s when I was growing up, the foreign students who competed with local Singaporeans deserved the term “foreign talent”. They provided a good challenge to keep us on our toes, and their numbers were limited so that only the good ones made it to Singapore. The same cannot be said for the situation today, in the post-2000s era, where a large proportion of foreign students imported into NUS and NTU are sub-standard and mediocre. It is bad enough that our local universities are being flooded with these sub-standard applicants, but to add salt to the wound, our local universities are complicit in promoting the PAP’s agenda of foreigners first and giving out free scholarships like toilet paper. I am a victim of this scheme.
As a self-proclaimed local talent, I graduated from one of the upper-tier Junior Colleges (but nevertheless a non-elite institution) in Singapore, was valedictorian for my cohort, and scored 7 distinctions in the A-levels if memory serves correctly. My portfolio was competitive enough that I was offered a Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship that only a handful (like a dozen) is offered every year. However, after much contemplation I rejected their offer because my conscience and moral standards would not allow me to serve the PAP government. Instead, I decided to apply for the bond-free NUS scholarship. It should have been non-issue. Despite my impressive portfolio, I was not even offered the “lowest tier” NUS scholarship, which is curious because friends who were just 2 years more senior than me easily got offers despite having a less competitive portfolio. Interestingly, the year when I was admitted to NUS was also around the period when the PAP launched their S-Pass system, opening the gate for entry-level skilled foreign workers into the country, thus competing away entry level jobs from Singaporeans and depressing wages, which is the situation we have today. The timing of this “joint operation” to screw local-born Singaporeans could not have been more coordinated. Midway through my undergraduate studies, I learnt that NUS expanded their scholarship system and now offers 5 scholarships of varying monetary value (as opposed to 2 when I first applied), undoubtedly throwing more free money to more second-rate foreign students.
Thanks for the foreigners-first policy of the FAP (oops I mean PAP), and their collaborators in our tertiary institutions like NUS, which despite all their claims as a private institution are still under the influence from MOE, local talents like myself are being marginalized in lieu of second-rate foreign students. As a marginalized local talent I went on with my education and self-funded using my parent’s CPF loan. Am I just a sore loser complaining? I will list out some of my achievements and let them speak for themselves.
- Graduated with First-Class Honors (CAP 4.8 / 5.0), note that only CAP 4.5 is required to first-class honors classification
- Consecutive Dean’s List placement for every eligible semester
- Completed University Scholars Program (USP) and received all eligible awards inclusive of – USP Honors Roll, USP Senior Honors Roll and President’s Honour Roll (previously Vice-Chancellor’s List)
- NUS Student Achievement Award for Community Service
- Book Prize for Being Top Student in the Department (for Year 2)
As a marginalized local talent, I am so disgusted with NUS that I did not even bother to attend Commencement, as means of personal protest against the institution. If I had any regrets in life, deciding to study at NUS is probably on the top of that list. To all young promising Singaporeans out there, I would cross out our local universities if I were you.
.
Top Local Talent
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