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[h=2]Viet scholar held up as success story of integrating into Singapore[/h]
August 27th, 2012 |
Author: Editorial
Ms Le Ha Thanh Mai says, "My boyfriend is a Singaporean". (ST PHOTO)
During yesterday (26 Aug) National Day Rally 2012, a Vietnamese student Ms Le Ha Thanh Mai was held up as a success story of integrating into Singapore society by PM Lee.
Ms Mai, who is from Ho Chi Minh City, came to Singapore on a MOE scholarship when she was 15. She did not know a word of English then.
She had difficulty adjusting at first but things improved after she joined Temasek Junior College, where her classmates helped her to fit in.
Mr Lee said, “By the time she went to Singapore Management University (SMU), she was so localised that if you didn’t know her name, you wouldn’t know she came from somewhere else.”
He quoted her as saying: “I feel as much a Singaporean as I am a Vietnamese. I have come to love the hawker food, the Singapore River that I jog along, the fireworks every National Day on the magnificent background of Singapore’s skyline, the shopping malls… the cinemas where I spend many nights watching movies, the schools I attended and, most importantly, the friendships I have made.”
She plans to stay here.
She said, “I have a three-year government bond to serve and my boyfriend is a Singaporean.”
Of course, having a boyfriend is one thing but getting married is another. We can only hope that Ms Mai will truly be committed to Singapore and settle down in Singapore eventually, helping to increase Singapore’s low fertility rate.
However, some evidence suggests that cases like Ms Mai may be few in between.
PRC student (right) said that only half of his batch of friends who graduated are still staying in Singapore. His two friends (left and one with yellow shirt) have gone back to China without serving their bonds (Photo from Chinanews.com)
There is anecdotal evidence indicating that more foreign scholars are defaulting (i.e, breaking their bonds without paying damages) in the last 2 years, as related by PRC students in this article on a Chinese site: http://www.chinanews.com/lxsh/2012/01-10/3593069.shtml.
The reason being since 2010, in response to Singaporeans’ demands and the approaching of a general election then, the government withdrew the automatic granting of PR to foreign scholars after their graduations from our local universities.
Without a PR status, their employability diminishes. Many couldn’t find a job in Singapore and promptly skipped town to return home. Others have returned home because they find the job prospects better, especially with their ability to speak better English than their peers at home.
Then, we have foreign scholars like Sun Xu, who after receiving generous benefits from Singapore taxpayers, wrote on a blog to condemn Singaporeans: “There are more dogs than humans in Singapore”.
And even for some foreign students who, indeed, were later given PR status, they preferred to go back home to serve their country as exemplified by PRC Zhang Yuanyuan who went back to China to participate in their national day parade:
.
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During yesterday (26 Aug) National Day Rally 2012, a Vietnamese student Ms Le Ha Thanh Mai was held up as a success story of integrating into Singapore society by PM Lee.
Ms Mai, who is from Ho Chi Minh City, came to Singapore on a MOE scholarship when she was 15. She did not know a word of English then.
She had difficulty adjusting at first but things improved after she joined Temasek Junior College, where her classmates helped her to fit in.
Mr Lee said, “By the time she went to Singapore Management University (SMU), she was so localised that if you didn’t know her name, you wouldn’t know she came from somewhere else.”
He quoted her as saying: “I feel as much a Singaporean as I am a Vietnamese. I have come to love the hawker food, the Singapore River that I jog along, the fireworks every National Day on the magnificent background of Singapore’s skyline, the shopping malls… the cinemas where I spend many nights watching movies, the schools I attended and, most importantly, the friendships I have made.”
She plans to stay here.
She said, “I have a three-year government bond to serve and my boyfriend is a Singaporean.”
Of course, having a boyfriend is one thing but getting married is another. We can only hope that Ms Mai will truly be committed to Singapore and settle down in Singapore eventually, helping to increase Singapore’s low fertility rate.
However, some evidence suggests that cases like Ms Mai may be few in between.
There is anecdotal evidence indicating that more foreign scholars are defaulting (i.e, breaking their bonds without paying damages) in the last 2 years, as related by PRC students in this article on a Chinese site: http://www.chinanews.com/lxsh/2012/01-10/3593069.shtml.
The reason being since 2010, in response to Singaporeans’ demands and the approaching of a general election then, the government withdrew the automatic granting of PR to foreign scholars after their graduations from our local universities.
Without a PR status, their employability diminishes. Many couldn’t find a job in Singapore and promptly skipped town to return home. Others have returned home because they find the job prospects better, especially with their ability to speak better English than their peers at home.
Then, we have foreign scholars like Sun Xu, who after receiving generous benefits from Singapore taxpayers, wrote on a blog to condemn Singaporeans: “There are more dogs than humans in Singapore”.
And even for some foreign students who, indeed, were later given PR status, they preferred to go back home to serve their country as exemplified by PRC Zhang Yuanyuan who went back to China to participate in their national day parade:
.
Join our TRE facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/TREmeritus
.
