'Singapore is lucky because she has, at her doorstep, a pipeline that is constantly supplying her with foreign talents.'

Foreign talent: Should M'sia emulate S'pore?

Docs: Singapore is lucky to have a neighbour across the causeway which has an idiotic government to help ease its craving for talent and brains. So I guess Singapore has to be thankful to the BN/Umno government for chasing off the highly talented, educated and smart ‘pendatangs' for which Singapore is ever willing to accept.

Not to forget, Singapore is also thankful for the scores of ‘pendatangs' that are pouring money into its banks as a safe haven from the economically and politically unstable, not to mention, racist Malaysia.

And that is why Singapore prefers a BN-run government to Pakatan Rakyat taking over Putrajaya.

Cedric: They have no rubber, tin, oil palm and petroleum - in short, zero natural resources. They have no land, water and air space. They have to buy sand to get extra land, buy raw water from Johor and very limited air space for their military planes to do training. They have limited labour supply. What they do have are competent and non-opportunistic leaders.

Singaporeans are blessed in that they do not have ‘mangkuk hayuns' for leaders who ‘balun' the rakyat's money, live lavishly and make fools of their rakyat.

Ours was God's country, we had everything, all the resources and no extreme climatic conditions, then what happened? No prizes for guessing. There are no massive leakage of public funds in Singapore and no mega-projects so that cronies can ‘balun' the rakyat's money through inflated contracts.

1anonymous: Malaysia, don't waste money and time tying to emulate Singapore in attracting talents as you will never will.

The Najib Razak administration cannot even control a small racist organisation such as Perkasa and its ultra-conservative Umno leaders with their racist remarks and policies, what more bringing in new talents. Forget it.

The Talent Corporation is a waste of time and resources. Foreigners can read news on Malaysia from the alternative media and they won't invest here.

Wira: Emulate Singapore? To emulate a successful programme, you need real commitment and not merely a catchy slogan like 1Malaysia, which is to win elections.

Azizi Khan: In Australia, when you are a PR (permanent resident) or even on a work visa, you get paid the same as a citizen. In Singapore, having a PR is an excuse to pay people lower wages. I know quite a number of people who could not break the wage ceiling until they became Singapore citizens.

In that sense, Singapore practices discriminatory practices as well. And as many would know, the labour laws in Malaysia and Singapore are pretty much written on toilet paper and are modified to suit employer needs. Unless of course, you are a white person, then you can pretty much earn whatever you want.

I have had Indian citizens tell me that the Singapore immigration throw their passport around and treat them like crap. I usually warn anyone who wants to go and work in Singapore to expect that.

Yes, it is better than Malaysia, but not that much better. Singapore's success was never based on ‘equal opportunity' laws like in Western countries but rather opportunistic exploitation. Never forget that.

Retnam: Many years ago, Lee Kuan Yew once insulted the Cubans by saying something derogatory as he is fond of doing, even now. The Cubans retaliated by calling Singapore "a conglomerate of transnationals". How true.

BH Yap: There is no need to emulate Singapore. It's simply the right thing to do. So let's get on with it before we lose more brains to the other countries.

Ablastine: It is quite true that Singapore will do much better with BN ruling Malaysia rather than Pakatan because Malaysia under BN for obvious reason can never become a real contender and will continue to provide Singapore with the rich human resources she need.

However, Singapore has now become more than just a receptacle of Malaysia's brightest and has evolved into an international city where talents stream in from all parts of the world, not just Malaysia.

I am happy to see the ‘pendatang' offspring from Malaysia holding their own against some of the best in the city state as they seem to be not only topping the ‘O' levels but various faculties at the universities.

The racist and discriminating policies back in Malaysia have made our young talent extremely resilient and humble - qualities which shines and bring the best out of them. Malaysia under BN will never be able to stem the tide.

Bluemountains: Malaysia has been sacrificing quality for quantity to achieve its targets. Have you ever wondered why there are so many university graduates who are still jobless?

2 Malaysia: My son was one of the top students in his school for SPM, but he didn't get any scholarship from the government. A foreign country (England) offered him scholarship to study in England. Now he is very happy over there because very soon he will achieve his ambition.

So should he thank Malaysia or England? Should he come back to serve Malaysia or stay back in the country which values him so much?

Factual: Singapore is lucky because she has, at her doorstep, a pipeline that is constantly supplying her with foreign talents. That pipeline is called Malaysia.

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