for kenging from doing NS.
===========================
3, 2008
The Straits Times
'I'm happy to make my life in Singapore'
SINGAPORE: Their parents may have taken on second, even third, jobs and scrimped and saved to send them as far away as possible to secure a better future.
But most Myanmar students who have aced the Singapore education system and gone on to well-paying jobs here, say they still yearn to return to Myanmar one day.
A typical example is Mr Alex Htet, 27, who came to study in a polytechnic here in 2000. He now works as a electrical engineer and earns about $3,500 a month.
'Singapore has been good to me. I got a great education and now I have a good job and intend to marry my Singaporean girlfriend and start a family here soon.
'But I can't help thinking of all my relatives and friends who have not had the same opportunities. I hope to go back and do my little bit for them one day,' says Mr Htet, who declined to give his full name for fear of junta reprisal against his family back home.
This is typical of most Myanmar emigres who are critical of the way the military government has been ruling the resource-rich country over the past four decades. 'Myanmar is so rich, it is the rice bowl of Asia. There is oil and gas and minerals, yet there are children starving,' he says, his voice shaking with anger.
Mr Htet, the eldest son of Yangon shop owners, was among the first batch of Myanmar students to pick Singapore as a study destination.
After finishing secondary school education in Yangon, he headed to a polytechnic here, after gaining admission on his strength in mathematics and science.
Like most cost-conscious Myanmar students, he lived frugally, bunking in with the son of a family friend who was working in Singapore. He worked two days a week at 7-Eleven convenience stores and kept his costs low by eating at home or only the cheapest hawker fare.
For months, he did not make any Singapore friends. 'People wouldn't talk to me, because I am dark-skinned and dressed in shorts, they thought I was a construction worker.'
Despite all these unpleasant experiences, the number of Myanmar nationals studying here is swelling.
In 2005, there were an estimated 2,000 Myanmar students here, the majority enrolled in polytechnics. This has since grown to over 7,000, according to industry sources.
Half are enrolled in the polytechnics and three universities here but more students are also opting for top-tier private schools here, such as PSB Academy, which has 150 Myanmar students, and the Singapore Institute of Management, which has 120 students.
And schools here are only too keen to receive more of them.
Lecturers and teachers give glowing reports of Myanmar students, who come here with limited English, but through sheer grit and hard work, end up outperforming their Singaporean classmates.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic senior lecturer Lee Thian Pau says his Myanmar students are usually the first to take on more challenging projects.
'They are very motivated and seize every opportunity to learn more and take on difficult assignments. They are hungry.'
He estimates that at Ngee Ann's School of Engineering, at least one-third of Myanmar students end up among the top 10 per cent performers.
Most are also keen to take on work attachments, which they hope will lead to more permanent jobs.
This was confirmed by the two dozen Myanmar students interviewed for this feature, although rising living costs were their chief concern. No official figures are available on how many go on to university and stay on to live and work here, but anecdotal evidence suggests most remain here.
In any case, those who take up university and polytechnic places have to work in Singapore for at least three years to serve out their bond with the Singapore Government.
However, more than half of those interviewed said they intend to return home to Myanmar some day, when there is less political volatility. Meanwhile, they are waiting it out here, until their country gets its act together.
Third-year Singapore Management University business student Myo Mying Maung, 23, who is gunning for a job in finance, says that although Singapore offers better work prospects, he plans to return to Myanmar after a few years.
'My family is there. It is my home,' he says simply.
It is a sentiment shared by National University of Singapore masters in building science graduate Htin Kyaw Myint, 32, now an assistant architect at an architectural firm here.
The Singapore permanent resident, who is a committee member of the Myanmar Club here, has been actively involved in raising help and support for Cyclone Nargis victims. To date, the 100-member social networking club has along with the Rangoon Institute of Technology alumni raised $200,000, which has been used to buy medicine and rice for the afflicted as well as padi seeds for farmers.
Mr Htin, who now shares a five-room HDB flat in Tiong Bahru with five friends from Myanmar, says: 'I was sad to see the Myanmar people suffer.'
His life in Singapore is 'comfortable', but he sees himself returning home to help those he left behind in five years' time.
'I keep hoping that there will be some change that will give me some hope of Myanmar catching up with the rest of the world.
'It hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, I am happy to make my life in Singapore.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 11, 2008.
===========================
3, 2008
The Straits Times
'I'm happy to make my life in Singapore'
SINGAPORE: Their parents may have taken on second, even third, jobs and scrimped and saved to send them as far away as possible to secure a better future.
But most Myanmar students who have aced the Singapore education system and gone on to well-paying jobs here, say they still yearn to return to Myanmar one day.
A typical example is Mr Alex Htet, 27, who came to study in a polytechnic here in 2000. He now works as a electrical engineer and earns about $3,500 a month.
'Singapore has been good to me. I got a great education and now I have a good job and intend to marry my Singaporean girlfriend and start a family here soon.
'But I can't help thinking of all my relatives and friends who have not had the same opportunities. I hope to go back and do my little bit for them one day,' says Mr Htet, who declined to give his full name for fear of junta reprisal against his family back home.
This is typical of most Myanmar emigres who are critical of the way the military government has been ruling the resource-rich country over the past four decades. 'Myanmar is so rich, it is the rice bowl of Asia. There is oil and gas and minerals, yet there are children starving,' he says, his voice shaking with anger.
Mr Htet, the eldest son of Yangon shop owners, was among the first batch of Myanmar students to pick Singapore as a study destination.
After finishing secondary school education in Yangon, he headed to a polytechnic here, after gaining admission on his strength in mathematics and science.
Like most cost-conscious Myanmar students, he lived frugally, bunking in with the son of a family friend who was working in Singapore. He worked two days a week at 7-Eleven convenience stores and kept his costs low by eating at home or only the cheapest hawker fare.
For months, he did not make any Singapore friends. 'People wouldn't talk to me, because I am dark-skinned and dressed in shorts, they thought I was a construction worker.'
Despite all these unpleasant experiences, the number of Myanmar nationals studying here is swelling.
In 2005, there were an estimated 2,000 Myanmar students here, the majority enrolled in polytechnics. This has since grown to over 7,000, according to industry sources.
Half are enrolled in the polytechnics and three universities here but more students are also opting for top-tier private schools here, such as PSB Academy, which has 150 Myanmar students, and the Singapore Institute of Management, which has 120 students.
And schools here are only too keen to receive more of them.
Lecturers and teachers give glowing reports of Myanmar students, who come here with limited English, but through sheer grit and hard work, end up outperforming their Singaporean classmates.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic senior lecturer Lee Thian Pau says his Myanmar students are usually the first to take on more challenging projects.
'They are very motivated and seize every opportunity to learn more and take on difficult assignments. They are hungry.'
He estimates that at Ngee Ann's School of Engineering, at least one-third of Myanmar students end up among the top 10 per cent performers.
Most are also keen to take on work attachments, which they hope will lead to more permanent jobs.
This was confirmed by the two dozen Myanmar students interviewed for this feature, although rising living costs were their chief concern. No official figures are available on how many go on to university and stay on to live and work here, but anecdotal evidence suggests most remain here.
In any case, those who take up university and polytechnic places have to work in Singapore for at least three years to serve out their bond with the Singapore Government.
However, more than half of those interviewed said they intend to return home to Myanmar some day, when there is less political volatility. Meanwhile, they are waiting it out here, until their country gets its act together.
Third-year Singapore Management University business student Myo Mying Maung, 23, who is gunning for a job in finance, says that although Singapore offers better work prospects, he plans to return to Myanmar after a few years.
'My family is there. It is my home,' he says simply.
It is a sentiment shared by National University of Singapore masters in building science graduate Htin Kyaw Myint, 32, now an assistant architect at an architectural firm here.
The Singapore permanent resident, who is a committee member of the Myanmar Club here, has been actively involved in raising help and support for Cyclone Nargis victims. To date, the 100-member social networking club has along with the Rangoon Institute of Technology alumni raised $200,000, which has been used to buy medicine and rice for the afflicted as well as padi seeds for farmers.
Mr Htin, who now shares a five-room HDB flat in Tiong Bahru with five friends from Myanmar, says: 'I was sad to see the Myanmar people suffer.'
His life in Singapore is 'comfortable', but he sees himself returning home to help those he left behind in five years' time.
'I keep hoping that there will be some change that will give me some hope of Myanmar catching up with the rest of the world.
'It hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, I am happy to make my life in Singapore.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 11, 2008.
