Leaking talent

There has been a couple of posts in the blogosphere, here, here and here, on SM Goh's statement that Singapore is leaking talent. During his visit to Iran, he said:

"The issue which we are most concerned with is the loss of our own people at the very top. These are bright young people, children of very well educated Singaporeans."

He went on to say that Singapore is losing the top 0.5 percent of its talents.

Apparently, this is causing some excitement amongst some Singaporean bloggers, with one saying that it has something to do with our lack of a sense of rootedness. Elia Diodati thinks that it is scare-mongering.

I have an opinion on this matter itself although it is going to sound rather trite and mundane.

This leaking of talent is not surprising and probably a real phenomenon. I frankly do not think it has very much to do with the sense of rootedness. There is some kind of angst here. Elsewhere, Elia Diodati is quite spot on in his observation that it is a part of globalisation. If anything, I would be surprised if there weren't any movement of significant numbers of highly skilled young people out of Singapore in the last ten years.

Allow me to explain why. Actually, it's commonsensical.

1. Most young Singaporeans are fluent in English. Many Singaporeans are bilingual especially in Chinese. Surprise, surprise. A large number of Singaporeans head to English-speaking countries like Australia, Britain and the US. Close to home, others go to India, Hong Kong, China, etc. Being English-speaking enables Singaporeans to assimilate more easily in English-speaking countries. Coming from a highly westernised society, Singaporeans have less trouble than other Asian emigrants in adapting. It is no wonder that Australia, Britain and the US receive most of our emigrants. This factor alone probably explains the increase in emigration and why Singaporeans are fairly happy to stay on.

2. More Singaporeans are acquiring tertiary education. Obviously, as the skill level of the average Singaporean rises, he/she qualifies for better-paying skilled jobs, many of which are found overseas.

3. Singaporeans are more affluent. As a result, more families can afford to send their kids to study overseas. Companies are also more willing to send their workers overseas for training and assignments.

4. Singapore is tiny relative to the rest of the world. The economic opportunities are just much more diverse outside of Singapore. What is so surprising about that? Furthermore, Singaporeans are better educated than before and they are better able to take advantages of those opportunities. If you want to be a master chef, do you stay in Singapore or do you go to Paris to attain your dreams? We have to acknowledge that there are individuals who simply cannot fulfil their ambitions in Singapore - master chefs, top programmers, artists, ballet dancers, astrophysicists, etc.

5. Entry-level positions are low-paying in Singapore, even for skilled jobs. This forces many young people to look for economic opportunities outside of Singapore. This, in general, has to do with Singapore's rather liberal foreign labour policy which has a wage-suppressing effect. For example, internship opportunities in Singapore are generally limited and very low-paying compared to the EU and the US.

6. National service. Need I say more? It's become more of a drag in Singapore given the influx of foreign labour.

7. The standard of living can be better elsewhere and the conservative cultural climate in Singapore can be rather repressive to many people. For example, you just can't grab hold legally the DVD of 'American History X' or 'The Life of Brian'. Periodicals are banned because they offend the power-that-be. There are some people in Singapore who believe that allowing Playboy to be distributed in Singapore will tear apart our social fabric and ruin our traditional values. This is stupid. Even HK and Taiwan have Playboy. This is where Singapore actually shoots itself in the foot. Now, some people are even talking about criminalising lesbianism.

8. Singaporeans are city-dwellers. Fortunately, highly developed big cities are found everywhere in the world - London, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and so on. A living environment similar to Singapore can be easily replicated elsewhere.

The list goes on and on.

Sorry, I do not find the argument that people don't feel rooted particularly compelling. Neither do I think that the repressive political climate to be any more persuasive. The fact is Singapore has become a much more porous society. Hence, more people will come in and go out of Singapore.

Singapore is not the only country that experiences the movement of young people overseas. New Zealand itself also faces the same problem - it is struggling to contain the movement of its young people to Australia. NZ has more established traditions than Singapore and is certainly not a poor country. Its people probably feel a greater sense of identity and the country has a far more open political climate. Yet, it still faces a tremendous problem of retaining its young people.

Ironically, Iran has one of the worst problem of brain drain in the world. For SM Goh to tell his hosts that he worries about losing Singaporean talents, it might have been a little rich.