SG is opening the doors for thousands of CECA talent

[LITTLEREDDOT]

SG signed CECA agreement so that Temasek can invest in India.
Temasek and its highly-paid management benefits but who loses?
Sinkies who lose their jobs to the workers coming from India.

Mahindra’s EV unit raises funds from Temasek at $13.1b valuation​

Mahindra and Mahindra is aggressively trying to lift the share of its electric SUVs to catch up with rival Tata Motors. PHOTO: REUTERS

August 4, 2023

BENGALURU – Mahindra and Mahindra has raised US$145 million (S$195 million) from Temasek for its electric vehicle unit at a valuation of up to 805.8 billion rupees (S$13.1 billion), the latest fundraising by the Indian automaker as it looks to ramp up EV sales.
Temasek will take up to a 3 per cent stake in the company that in 2022 raised up to US$250 million from British International Investments (BII) at a valuation of as much as US$9.1 billion.
The automaker is aggressively trying to lift the share of its electric SUVs in a market that is dominated by larger rival Tata Motors, as the government pushes to grow EV sales to 30 per cent by 2030 from less than 2 per cent today.
Mahindra said it expects electric models to make up between 20 and 30 per cent of its total SUV sales by March 2030 – pushing back an outlook it gave in 2022 of meeting that target by 2027.
“Temasek’s investment is a step forward, as we execute our strategy towards future leadership in electric SUVs,” Mahindra CEO Anish Shah said in a news release.
India’s EV market is small but growing, attracting interest from global players including Tesla.
The world’s biggest EV maker is in talks with the government to invest in a potential factory that would build low-cost EVs, targeting a price of around US$24,000.


Analysts say this could pose stiff competition for local automakers.
Rival Tata Motors in 2021 raised US$1 billion from TPG’s Rise Climate Fund at a valuation of about US$9.1 billion.
Mahindra has been in talks with global investors, including green funds and private equity players, for nearly a year to raise between US$250 million and US$500 million to accelerate its EV plans. REUTERS

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

"The top countries that granted them citizenship between 2019 and 2021...Singapore was the seventh-most popular destination, with around 7,000 Indians getting the red passport over the same period."

7,000 Indians were given citizenship in Singapore in 3 years.
That is an average 2,333 a year, or 6 a day.
This excludes the tens of thousands given Employment Passes.

Surge in Indians adopting foreign citizenship, highest numbers in more than a decade​

The top countries that granted Indians citizenship between 2019 and 2021 were the US, Canada and Australia. PHOTO: AFP

Rohini Mohan
India Correspondent


AUG 10, 2023

BENGALURU – More than 225,000 Indians gave up their citizenship in 2022, the most in over a decade, according to data from India’s Ministry of External Affairs. This is a spike from the average of around 150,000 a year since 2011.
The top countries that granted them citizenship between 2019 and 2021 were the United States, Canada and Australia, statistics from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs showed in 2022. Singapore was the seventh-most popular destination, with around 7,000 Indians getting the red passport over the same period.
With the world’s largest diaspora population, India can tap overseas networks and wealth, but emigration also leads to talent drain for one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
“Many Indian nationals have chosen to take up foreign citizenship. The government is cognisant of this development and has undertaken a range of initiatives... that would harness their talent at home,” said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Parliament in July, when the latest numbers were revealed.
“A successful, prosperous and influential diaspora is an advantage for India,” he said, adding that the country’s approach was to tap the diaspora networks for “national gain”.
A World Bank report estimated that remittance flow to India would see a rise of 12 per cent to US$100 billion (S$134.5 billion) in 2023. This estimate includes remittances from overseas Indians who still hold Indian passports.
According to a 2020 report by the Population Division of the United Nations, India had 18 million people living outside their homeland, with the United Arab Emirates, the US and Saudi Arabia hosting the majority.

Indian citizens living abroad are so significant to politics and the economy that the Indian government has attempted since 2020 to find a way to allow them to cast their votes.
But those who take up foreign citizenship must renounce their Indian status, as India does not recognise dual nationality.
Since 2011, more than 1.75 million people have renounced their Indian citizenship for foreign passports. The most popular destination is the US, followed by Canada, Australia and Britain.

In the first six months of 2023, 87,026 have taken up foreign citizenship.
Many more are on their way out soon. Marketing professional Amit (not his real name), 36, and his wife, 32, who works in the entertainment industry in Mumbai, received their permanent residency in Canada earlier in 2023 and will move there soon. It puts them on track to get Canadian citizenship in a few years.
The couple first considered leaving India three years ago, when they saw most of their closest Indian friends living abroad.
“We were also feeling that living in India was not going to become easier any time soon. The quality of life, the public goods, infrastructure, what the city offers, is just not commensurate with your income after a certain point,” said Mr Amit.
He added that the poor roads, unreliable public transport, pollution and severe water shortages defeated even the upper class in Mumbai, the financial hub of India.
He said he had no second thoughts about what was “a practical decision” for the Dink (dual income, no kids) couple.
“Changing my passport is only changing my nationality on paper. My Indian-ness hasn’t changed, except that my civic engagement with the new place may actually count for more than it does in India,” he said, referring to his frustrating attempts in India to participate in social work.


The Straits Times spoke to a dozen Indians who have emigrated. They described their decision to change citizenship as a natural, practical extension of seeking better prospects in their education, career path, or family life.
One high-income overseas Indian said the priorities of developed countries, such as tech innovation in the US and Canada, tend to be more aligned to his, while India, the world’s most populous nation with more than 1.4 billion people, still had to balance its emerging economy with electrifying large swathes of the country and lifting millions out of poverty.
“India is improving of course, but in a developed economy, things work already. I can take a lot more for granted,” said another emigrant, citing the more comfortable housing, greenery and quieter setting for moving to Australia.
All of them requested anonymity, lest they be judged for giving up their Indian citizenship.
Some said they were anxious about talking to the media, in case the Indian government cancelled their Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card (a permanent visa for persons of Indian origin), like it did for British-American writer Aatish Taseer in 2019 allegedly for concealing that he had a Pakistani father.
Mr Taseer, however, said he was estranged from his father, was brought up by his well-known Indian journalist mother, and that his OCI was cancelled over his May 2019 Time article critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Mumbai-born doctor who became a British citizen in 2019 decided to apply after living there for 16 years.
“The reason was not to get a permanent job or career progression. The reason was mainly family. My son is UK-born and essentially thinks he is British. After 16 years, the UK is my home too, so I felt comfortable changing my nationality,” Dr Kavita (not her real name) said.
“It is also easier to travel to Europe and America with a British passport,” she added, a rationale other overseas Indians in the US and Singapore also cited.
A study by the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research found that nine out of 10 top scorers in the annual entrance examination for admission to India’s top engineering colleges had emigrated.
A third of the top 1,000 scorers, particularly graduates of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), also took this path, first going overseas for higher studies and often staying there for work.
Dr Kavita suggested it was futile to worry about a “brain drain” from India.
“As humans, we take the best opportunities possible… Also, India is a very big country, and it has the talent to share with the world.”

Indeed, it is hard to miss the Indian-origin chief executive officers heading American corporations – such as the Chennai-born Indra Nooyi who headed Pepsi till 2018, Madurai-born IIT Kharagpur graduate Sundar Pichai at Alphabet, IIT Mumbai chemical engineering graduate Raj Subramaniam, who heads FedEx after 30 years at the company, and Micron president Sanjay Mehrotra, who was born in Uttar Pradesh.
For Mr Deepak (not his real name), however, it was the urge “to step off the corporate treadmill” that prompted his move in 2019 to Adelaide, Australia, on a skill-based permanent residency with his wife and middle-schooler son.
“After 20 years in the tech industry, working round the clock with no time for your child or other pursuits, we decided in our 40s to take an unimaginable risk, leave our settled lives and move to Australia. This country prizes work-life balance in a way that the American or Indian corporate space does not,” said the 44-year-old corporate learning and development professional.
Four years in Australia with a permanent residency and on track for citizenship, Mr Deepak said he lives in a rented home earning less than what he did in India, but enjoys “the relaxed pace of life” with no evening calls, lots of outdoor activities, family dinners every night and their creatively inclined son exploring art and writing in school.
Mr Deepak said well-maintained, reliable facilities mean that “the money goes a long way, and we can live a life more comfortable than we had in India”.

 

[birdie69]

View attachment 185823



One happy Ceca family from the same village.... native S'poreans all can go and get fucked!

I thought there is no nepotism in Singapore?

 

[winnipegjets]

Giving up India citizenship is nothing. The Ah Nehs can get it back easily.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Career opportunities drive young Indonesians to take up Singapore citizenship, work in the Republic​

Indonesia’s immigration office in early July said that 3,912 Indonesians had gained Singapore passports from 2019 to 2022. PHOTO: ST FILE

Linda Yulisman
Indonesia Correspondent


AUG 10, 2023,

JAKARTA - Nearly 4,000 young Indonesians have taken up Singapore citizenship in the past few years, driven by scholarships offered by the Singapore Government and better career opportunities in the Republic.
The brain drain has alarmed the Indonesian authorities, who are concerned that the loss of talent may dash hopes of South-east Asia’s top economy becoming a developed nation by 2045.
Indonesia’s immigration office in early July said that 3,912 Indonesians – most of whom were degree holders and aged 25 to 35 – had gained Singapore passports from 2019 to 2022.
Director-general for immigration Silmy Karim told The Straits Times that it is an “individual’s right” to change citizenship, especially to pursue better job prospects and achieve a higher standard of living.
But he noted that this trend was something Indonesia’s government “should pay attention to”.
Mr Silmy revealed the figures at a youth festival in Jakarta on July 8, adding that Indonesia was racing against other nations to find great talent.
In a separate interview with Metro TV, he said that although the figures were small, the Indonesians who had renounced their citizenships were “excellent human resources” of “productive age”.

“This serves as an alarm for us to make efforts so that our excellent human resources continue to stay in Indonesia,” he said.
“We need them in the areas of technology, finance, digitalisation and others as required by a country to compete with others. We don’t want to face a shortage of experts in some fields.”
One factor drawing talent to Singapore is the quality of its education system and availability of high-skill jobs.


“There are rare job opportunities in my field In Indonesia,” said 40-year-old software engineer Michael (not his real name) from Sumatra, who became a Singapore citizen in 2022.
He first went to Singapore in 2002 to study electrical engineering at Nanyang Technological University, helped by a tuition grant from the Singapore Government, a tuition fee loan and a study loan from a Singapore bank.
The grant stipulated he had to work in the Republic for three years after graduation, or he would have to repay it.
After completing his studies in 2006, the Singapore Government offered him permanent residency on the condition that he worked in the country.
He joined a semiconductor company as an embedded software engineer, and in just a few months he became a permanent resident after getting an invitation from the Government, which accelerated the process, he said. He has worked at several other companies in the same field since 2013.

Michael, who works to develop microcontrollers widely used in electronics from gadgets to vehicles, told ST he would have faced a “skills mismatch” in Indonesia, as the semiconductor industry there is still underdeveloped, with jobs available mostly in the manufacturing side.
Other factors that he considered before giving up his Indonesian citizenship include how safe Singapore is and the ease of travel using a Singapore passport.
He also plans to have children, and hopes that as a Singapore citizen, he can get the “enormous” support for childcare and their education.
Dr Siwage Dharma Negara, a senior fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said that through various scholarships, grants and loans, Singapore lures Indonesia’s bright talent.
He added that Singapore universities have connections with prestigious schools in the archipelago, allowing them to recruit prospective students.
“Singapore always seeks potential talent to work here. If these people have academic achievements or excellence in other fields, they will find it easier to become citizens,” he said.
But Dr Siwage said human capital flight should pose no harm for Indonesia, as it has a big talent pool, which, if managed well, could contribute to its development.
In addition, he said, the government must also provide “strong incentives” for Indonesians studying overseas to return and work in Indonesia, including offering clear career pathways and opportunities for professional growth.
One such measure is Indonesia’s Education Endowment Fund, which was rolled out in 2011.
The scheme, which currently has government funds totalling 139.1 trillion rupiah (S$12.3 billion), pays for Indonesians to further their studies and conduct research projects at home and abroad, with the aim of having them take up leadership positions in Indonesia.

Indonesian authorities are concerned that the loss of talent may dash hopes of South-east Asia’s top economy becoming a developed nation by 2045. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Meanwhile, many Indonesians who have lived for years in Singapore still keep their Indonesian passports instead of applying for citizenship.
Mr David Gani, a research and development director in a semiconductor company who has worked for 19 years in Singapore and is a permanent resident, is among them.
“The main reason why I don’t return to Indonesia is my job. My skills are quite specific,” the 46-year-old father of two told ST.
The family, including his Indonesian wife, reside in Singapore.
“But I would still like to have the option of returning if there are jobs matching my skills, and that’s among the reasons I haven’t renounced my citizenship,” he said.
While he loves the efficiency of the public services in Singapore, he also acknowledged the high cost of living. He still dreams of enjoying life at a slower pace in a remote region in Indonesia once he retires.
“It’s highly competitive in Singapore. Once we are not competitive any more, let’s say when we retire, we may feel alienated,” he said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Diverse and open population sharpens Singapore’s edge: Vivian Balakrishnan​

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan at the Forum of Small States reception in New York on Sept 21, 2023. PHOTO: MFA

Bhagyashree Garekar

SEP 22, 2023

WASHINGTON – Singapore’s rising stature as a flourishing tech hub with a knack for getting its geopolitics right has attracted notice in Washington.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was asked on Thursday how the city state manages to retain smooth ties with both the United States and China even as the techno-economic rivalry sharpens between the world’s two biggest economies.
One factor is the small trade-dependent nation’s focus on polishing its own competitive edge rather than being consumed by competition, Dr Balakrishnan said.
He was addressing an audience of top US and foreign policymakers, congressmen and Silicon Valley executives at the Global Emerging Technology Summit hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP).
Non-profit and non-partisan think-tank SCSP, led by former Google chief Eric Schmidt, sees China as having the potential to win the technology race and has called for the US to shore up its domestic manufacturing and tighten scrutiny of technology flows to China.
Dr Balakrishnan said: “Having two superpowers compete, that is competition. Having lots of small companies competing, that is competition. The real question is competitiveness. In Singapore, it is the latter that we are focused on.”
And the most important ingredient for competitiveness is people, he said.

“That means getting immigration policy right, getting education policy right, getting adult education right,” he added.
Asked to elaborate on how Singapore was shaping its immigration policies to attract the world’s best tech and venture capital firms, he credited the country’s logical and consistent policies as well as its diverse, open and confident population.
He said it helps that Singapore is “a small, very young nation. We’re multiracial, multilingual. We use English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil”.


“We are comfortable hearing different languages, smelling different foods, getting on with different cultures, and engaging in cultural and intellectual arbitrage. That helps – a confident, open, welcoming population,” he said.
He acknowledged that the influx of foreigners could sometimes stir up anxieties among Singaporeans, but said the country understands the need to remain open.
“That does not mean (that) from time to time we will not have political pushback against foreigners, against competition, against globalisation.
“But it helps that Singapore is so small, it’s so trade dependent and... we have to make a living by servicing the world, that everyone knows we need to remain open. That helps focus the mind.”
The other element is faith in meritocracy, said Dr Balakrishnan.
He said that if someone wants to enter Singapore and start a business or attend a university, that person must “show us what you are made of. Why are you more valuable than the next applicant in line?”
“And we have a long list of applicants in the queue,” he said, in a nod to Singapore’s status as a hub for tech giants like Google and Facebook as well as start-ups and venture capital funds.

Singapore is home to more than 4,000 tech start-ups, 400 venture capital firms, and 200 incubators and accelerators, according to the Republic’s Economic Development Board. It is also one of the biggest fund magnets in South-east Asia, attracting close to $700 million in tech start-up funding over the first quarter of 2023.
What also helps is having a Government that is tech-friendly, said Dr Balakrishnan.
“One key advantage is that my Prime Minister is a mathematician. And it used to be (that) more than half the Cabinet consisted of engineers. I’m a surgeon. So, when we talk to tech companies… they know we get it.
“Having a Cabinet and having a bureaucracy that gets it and is supportive of people with the skills, which just so happen to be in demand right now, is very helpful,” he added.
“However, it’s not all engineers. You do need people with artistic ability, people who are able to communicate, persuade, to resonate at an emotional level. The key is to construct teams with a multidisciplinary approach,” he said.
“If you ever wanted to assemble a multinational team consisting of Americans, Russians, Ukrainians, Chinese, Indians, the easiest place in the world to assemble such a multiracial, diverse, elite group of talent ought to be Singapore.”
Speaking at the same event, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States must shape how new technologies are deployed.
“As emerging technologies stand poised to revolutionise the production of knowledge, rewire our economies, rearrange the building blocks of life itself, they’re also challenging the global competitive landscape,” he said.
“The United States must play a pivotal role in determining how these technologies are developed and how they’re used for years and decades to come.”
Other speakers included US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Japan’s Digital Minister Kono Taro.
Dr Balakrishnan and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman are in New York this week to attend the ongoing United Nations annual meetings.
On Thursday, Dr Maliki, who is also Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs, delivered Singapore’s national statement at the preparatory ministerial meeting for the Summit of the Future.
The meeting set the agenda for the 2024 summit, an initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Dr Maliki said: “Given the confluence of crises that we are facing today – from the triple planetary crisis relating to climate, food and water, to technological disruptions such as AI (artificial intelligence) – the window for action is narrowing and we must seize... the opportunity of the summit to do so.”

Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman (centre) at the Forum of Small States reception in New York on Sept 21, 2023. PHOTO: MFA

Also on Thursday, Dr Balakrishnan addressed the Forum of Small States at Singapore’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
He affirmed the grouping’s shared commitment to multilateralism and urged it to amplify its voice and help shape international norms.
The informal and non-ideological grouping of small states was established by Singapore in 1992. It now has 108 states as members.
On Friday, Dr Balakrishnan will deliver Singapore’s national statement at the UN General Assembly.

 

[Eisenhut]

Diverse and open population dulls singapore edge. We were better without FTs. Look at Korea, Taiwan, whats common denominator? No ceca

 

[bigozt]

Why is Cecaland not a developed cuntry? Becoz its best people go solve other cuntry's problems, to those cuntries that like to open legs.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

• 1 minute ago

• 
  
• Add bookmark
• #151

Indian Expat From PwC Gives “Advice to People on How Bad Singapore is Overall”​

• Posted Byby ChinHan
• November 29, 2023

Indian Expat working at PWC Singapore Digvijay Pandey (@itsanopenaccount – edit: he changed his Instagram to @overseasdesiinsg) has been using his Instagram to publish videos criticizing Singapore. He made a series called “de-influencing Singapore” complaining about how everything is too expensive. He also tells his viewers that “Singapore is boring”, “Reasons why you shouldn’t waste money visiting Singapore or it’s tourist spots” and “giving advice to people on how bad Singapore is overall”.

Who is Digvijay Pandey?​

Digvijay Pandey is 28 years old and he is an Indian Hindu based in Singapore. He is currently a Senior Consultant at PwC South East Asia Consulting, and he moved here in June 2022. Before this, he was based in India (Gurugram, Haryana) and worked for Bain & Company and Deloitte. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from St Xavier’s College in India, in 2018.

From his since-deleted Linkedin

We must not let such foreigners come in to sow discord in our society!​

Instead of trying to fit in and appreciate Singapore, he repeatedly uses his race, while complaining that other people are racist. He repeatedly highlights that he “just want(s) my(his) Indian brothers to excel at everything they do”. Only selectively wanting Indians to do well, isn’t that racist in itself?
Moreover, he came here and started an Instagram series just to tell everyone how bad Singapore is. Is this the kind of foreign talent we want?

 

[Eisenhut]

Song bo Singkees??? Who you vote for?

 

[myfoot123]

Indian Expat From PwC Gives “Advice to People on How Bad Singapore is Overall”​

• Posted Byby ChinHan
• November 29, 2023

Indian Expat working at PWC Singapore Digvijay Pandey (@itsanopenaccount – edit: he changed his Instagram to @overseasdesiinsg) has been using his Instagram to publish videos criticizing Singapore. He made a series called “de-influencing Singapore” complaining about how everything is too expensive. He also tells his viewers that “Singapore is boring”, “Reasons why you shouldn’t waste money visiting Singapore or it’s tourist spots” and “giving advice to people on how bad Singapore is overall”.

​

His statement is not entirely bad. He is helping us to stop CECA from coming to Singapore. He didn't want his village folks to come here because Sinkie land is not an ideal place. We need more CECA like him to speak out and stop their own people from coming.

 

[True Believer]

The next CECA Express heading to S'pore

 

[searcher1]

 

[Eisenhut]

Lape ah Lape....welcome all to Lape Singkeewhore

Best is lape xiaolee and his famileee

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

4,000 nurses hired in 2023 for Singapore’s public hospitals as attrition rate rises​

An MOH spokesman said the annual inflow of new nurses has consistently been higher than the outflow of nurses. PHOTO: ST FILE

Joyce Teo
Senior Health Correspondent

JAN 2, 2024

SINGAPORE - At least 4,000 nurses were hired to work in public healthcare institutions in 2023, making up for those who left the country or the profession during the pandemic, as well as helping to meet the growing healthcare needs of the ageing nation.
A Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesman told The Straits Times that the ministry hired about 4,000 new nurses in 2023.
About 3,400 new nurses were registered in 2022, he added.
In July 2023, MOH said public healthcare clusters had recruited about 2,000 new nurses through intensified local and overseas recruitment in the first half of the year, and were expected to hire another 2,000.
This would make up for the higher attrition in the past two years and cater to rising demand, the ministry said.
Singapore experienced a higher attrition rate of foreign nurses in 2021 and 2022, as borders reopened and the global competition for healthcare professionals intensified.
Most of the foreign nurses here are from the region, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Myanmar.

In 2022, the number of Filipino registered nurses dropped to 4,909 from 5,407 in 2021. Malaysian registered nurses totalled 2,117, down from 2,321 in 2021, while registered nurses from Myanmar dipped to 880 from 922 in 2021, according to data from the Singapore Nursing Board.
There were 43,772 nurses and registered midwives in Singapore in 2022, with 36,995 of them registered nurses.
About 75 per cent of the registered nurses in 2022 were Singaporeans or permanent residents. Some 13 per cent were Filipinos, followed by those from Malaysia (5.7 per cent) and Myanmar (2.4 per cent). The rest came from India (1.3 per cent), China (1.27 per cent) and elsewhere.

The MOH spokesman said the annual inflow of new nurses has consistently been higher than the outflow of nurses.
“We expect this trend to continue,” he added.
MOH will also continue to boost the local workforce with foreign nurses.
“While we have expanded our local training pipelines, we still need to augment our healthcare workforce with foreign nurses,” said the spokesman.
“For those who have performed well and are committed to Singapore, we will continue to grant them permanent residency (PR) status. Between 2018 and 2022, around 700 foreign nurses were granted PR status each year.”
MOH did not provide a breakdown of the numbers by year, but in July 2023, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said more foreign nurses were granted PR status in the past year in recognition of the essential role they played in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and supporting Singapore’s growing healthcare needs.

Dr Kelvin Tan, head of the Minor in Applied Ageing Studies programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said any additional hires would be of help to public healthcare institutions, but the long-term strategy lies in promoting the Healthier SG programme and urging Singaporeans to lead a proactive healthy lifestyle to reduce their healthcare needs.
“Singapore will not be able to produce enough nurses to supply the increasing local needs resulting from an ageing population and improved life expectancy. We are victims of our own success in attaining Blue Zone status,” he said.
Singapore was named the sixth Blue Zone in the Netflix series Live To 100: Secrets Of The Blue Zones, which debuted on Aug 30, 2023.
These are places with the highest life expectancies in the world. In 2022, life expectancy in Singapore rose to an average of 83 years – almost a year higher than a decade ago.

Singapore has been relying on a pool of foreign nurses to augment the local workforce, but this cannot be a long-term strategy, especially since the populations in neighbouring countries are also ageing rapidly.
While more have left the country in recent years, retaining foreign nurses has always been a big challenge for Singapore, Dr Tan said.
“Unfortunately, some foreign nurses treat Singapore as a launching pad to a career in other countries, which offer better conditions for them and even their family members,” he added.
“As a small island with limited space and a high cost of living, we are not appealing to this highly mobile workforce.”
Dr Jeremy Lim, a public health specialist, said the nursing situation on the ground seems to have improved, due to many factors, including the stabilisation of the exodus of nurses, especially foreign ones, from Singapore.
However, it is not just about finding new nurses to meet the demand, but also about the absorptive capacity of the system, he added.
“All health professionals, including nurses, don’t hit the ground running, and need an appropriate period of supervision and mentoring, the specifics of which would depend on training and prior experience,” said Dr Lim.
“Hence, whatever our ‘spreadsheet ambitions’, we need to be clear-eyed about how many new nurses the system can successfully onboard, train and assimilate in what time period, and then plan the injection of nurses based on this.”

Meanwhile, MOH has been adding hospital beds to help alleviate the bed crunch, saying in October 2023 that it had added 500 beds and was on track to open around 800 more beds by the end of 2023.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital Integrated Care Hub, which offers various step-down care services, including palliative care, opened in early October 2023.
This was followed by the partial opening of Woodlands Health, Singapore’s newest integrated acute and community hospital, in late December.
With every bed, the need for nurses rises. Dr Tan said expanding the use of healthcare technology to help replace repetitive tasks can help to reduce burnout among healthcare workers.
“Bolder programmes on the implementation of smart health systems can ease long-term challenges of workforce drought,” he said.
Dangling more carrots like bursaries or scholarships to attract more students to join the nursing profession, and encouraging more retired nurses to offer their services to care for fellow Singaporeans, will also help, he noted.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

India’s ‘quid pro quo’ strategy for trade talks​

If companies or countries want freer access to the market, they must offer concessions.​

John Reed

If companies or countries want freer access to India's big and growing markets, they must offer a quid pro quo. PHOTO: REUTERS

MAR 20, 2024

In a more mercantilist world, a clear pattern is emerging in India’s trade policy strategy: If companies or countries want freer access to the big and growing markets of the world’s fifth-biggest economy, they must offer a quid pro quo.
Switzerland and Tesla Motors last week each managed to get India to lower its high, jealously guarded tariff walls and offer improved access to its market of one billion-plus people.
On March 10, Switzerland, along with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, finally managed to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) between their European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and India after 16 years and 21 rounds of talks. Separately, India’s government signed off on a plan to lower import taxes on some higher-priced, imported electric vehicles.
In both cases, there was something substantial in it for India: a promise, or at least a possibility, of investment.
The India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership included a pledge by the Swiss and their smaller partners to invest US$100 billion (S$134 billion) in India and create one million jobs over 15 years – the first such binding commitment in the history of FTAs, according to Mr Narendra Modi’s government.
At a press briefing, Ms Helene Budliger Artieda, a Swiss official, said the negotiators were guided in their work by “how can we can a balanced deal, and ‘what’s in it for India’”; the latter phrase, she said, having been uttered to her by India’s feisty Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
“The investment promise was the carrot that sealed this deal,” Dr Biswajit Dhar, a distinguished professor at the Council for Social Development, a think-tank, says of the India-EFTA pact.

In the case of cutting electric vehicle (EV) tariffs, Tesla had been pushing for this as a pre-condition for investing in a factory in India that, if built, would make smaller, lower-priced EVs. The tariff reduction would allow it to import its foreign-made and pricier cars as it scaled up. While the easing is available to any carmaker which invests within three years, Indian officials acknowledge it was drawn up largely with Tesla in mind.
New Delhi’s protectionist bent is legendary. From the “import substitution” policies of its early, socialist-influenced post-1947 governments to Mr Modi’s current pro-business administration, India has been guided by an instinct to shield sensitive industries from competition. But pro-trade economists point to the perils of picking winners and letting them sit behind tariff barriers.
The Modi government has in fact pursued and signed trade pacts during nearly a decade in power – most recently with the United Arab Emirates and Australia, the latter of which relaxed visa regulations for Indian students at Australian universities after they graduate.
India in 2019 declined to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, largely for fear it would make its producers more vulnerable and cause trade deficits to swell, including with China. Liberalising too much would imperil Mr Modi’s “Make in India” push to boost manufacturing jobs and exports, officials apparently believe.
India’s FTA talks with Britain and the European Union, far larger economies with greater bargaining power, which would pose Indian industry with bigger competitive threats, have moved more slowly. Reports from the Britain-India trade talks offer some indications of what India might agree to.
In 14 rounds of negotiations, British and Indian officials tell the Financial Times, India has been pushing for greater market access for its goods, including textiles and automotives. As for services, India wants the right for more temporary work for its people in Britain – notably in IT, a sector where it has competitive skills and manpower – and the right to claw back any national insurance payments. But the talks with Britain are now on ice, at least until after the Indian general election, the results of which are due on June 4.
“The biggest gain India is looking to trade off in the FTA talks on services is human mobility,” says Mr Syed Akbaruddin, dean of the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad.
India has also pressed the case, in its talks with Britain, EFTA and others, that it is a faster-growing economy than the richer ones it is negotiating with. So any lowering of tariffs should be asymmetrical in its favour, Mr Goyal and other officials argue, because India is offering market access to a slice of a growing pie. The India-FTA pact serves as one example of this, where the European countries cut more tariffs than India did.
“The world recognises there’s no other country in the world which offers a market like India,” Mr Goyal told the FT in an interview in 2022. The Modi government is calculating, rightly or not, that the world needs it enough to offer it substantial concessions in return. FINANCIAL TIMES

 

[Sikodolaukazzz]

When Indian Dodis shake head only they can understand
lol

 

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Parents seek refunds from international school over delay in new campus construction​

The One World International School’s Punggol campus was slated to be operational by August 2023, parents said. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

Gabrielle Chan

APR 21, 2024

SINGAPORE - Some parents of students of an international school are demanding refunds for a $6,000 building fee, as the school’s Punggol campus was not ready as expected.
The One World International School’s (OWIS) Punggol campus was slated to be operational by August 2023, the start of the school’s academic year, parents said. But their children had to share a campus with a school next door for seven months until March 2024.
OWIS Punggol, which has around 300 students across pre-school, primary school and secondary school levels, is located at 27 Punggol Field Walk. Its neighbouring school is Global Indian International School (GIIS).
Mr Siddharth Bolurker, 42, told The Straits Times that he transferred his 12-year-old daughter from the OWIS campus in Nanyang to the one in Punggol as it is nearer his house.
He paid nearly $25,000 for a year’s worth of school fees, including the building fee.
However, from August 2023 to March 2024, his daughter and other students were housed at GIIS. They shared the campus – including classrooms, canteen and play spaces – with GIIS students.


Mr Bolurker, a solutions engineer, said: “One of the main concerns while enrolling in the Punggol campus was whether it would be ready in time, because we saw that work was still ongoing.

“But when we asked the staff at the open house, they explicitly said not to worry and the new campus would be operational when school starts.”
OWIS has two other campuses – Nanyang, which is in Jurong West, and Suntec, which will be closing in June 2024.
OWIS was acquired by Global Schools Foundation, a non-profit organisation, in 2015.

The Nanyang campus opened in 2018, followed by the Suntec campus in 2021, and the Punggol Digital campus in 2023.
OWIS Punggol is able to hold up to 1,500 students, according to its website.
In response to queries from ST, a spokesman for OWIS said its Punggol Digital Campus has been “operational since August 2023 in the shared premises as per approval received from all regulatory authorities”. The school did not specify what these shared premises were.
He added that parents were given a campus tour of the shared premises and “briefed well in advance” before admissions.
“The same information was communicated during open houses, counselling sessions and one-on-one interactions with the OWIS staff,” he said.
The campus was granted its temporary occupation permit (TOP) only in February, said the spokesman, adding that this was shared with the parents.

The One World International School’s Punggol campus has around 300 students across pre-school, primary and secondary school levels. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
In a statement on its website, OWIS said on March 15 that it had received approval from the Committee for Private Education, and that its students could attend classes at the new facility from March 18.
The TOP, issued by the Building and Construction Authority, is a permit that allows residents to reside in a development that is habitable but incomplete.
One parent, a 45-year-old sustainability building design professional, said he was told by school representatives and principal Angela Henderson via two Zoom calls and one in-person meeting that his 12-year-old son would be able to attend the school at its new premises from August 2023.
He said the school initially promised a fully functional campus, and that the opening was postponed multiple times, eventually opening in April after several delays.
Even though students moved to the new campus on March 15, he added that he felt the move was rushed and many facilities were not ready for use.
He was one of several parents who expressed concern about the new campus, noting that facilities like computer and science labs were incomplete, some toilets were inaccessible, and cleanliness was compromised by construction debris.
One parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it looked like the school had “prepared the building in a hurry to start”.
OWIS did not respond to ST’s queries about the condition of the school’s amenities.

OWIS has two other campuses – Nanyang, which is in Jurong West, and Suntec (above), which will be closing down in June 2024. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
Prior to the move, a group of 70 parents e-mailed the school on Feb 21 asking for a refund of the building fee, expressing concern about the delay of the new campus, and dissatisfaction with the compensation offered.
The e-mail, which was seen by ST, said the school had offered summer school and extracurricular activities as a form of compensation for the building fee. In response, parents said they were “not convinced nor interested”, and “do not believe these offerings justify the fees charged”.
“Students are relegated to playing in the bus bay due to a lack of proper sports facilities, with no competitive sports activities held against other schools as initially promised,” the e-mail added.
OWIS did not respond to queries about whether parents will be receiving other forms of compensation.
A parent, who requested to remain anonymous, said co-curricular activities were limited to football, cricket and badminton, and often could not be conducted due to events at GIIS.
The 38-year-old mother of two sons aged eight and 10 said that as at April, the sports field at the new campus is still under construction.
She added: “The management does not understand the significance of losing a year’s worth of valuable opportunities for physical activity during adolescence. The students felt very marginalised while borrowing the facilities from GIIS.”

A parent who requested to remain anonymous said the sports field at OWIS Punggol is still under construction. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
The OWIS spokesman said: “Feedback or concerns received from these communications were respectively responded to, and the parent community was very appreciative of the facilities and infrastructure of the campus, and the proactive lines of communication from the OWIS team.”
He added that the school followed all procedures prescribed by the regulatory authorities to run.
But parents are frustrated and lack confidence in the school’s management, said Mr Oleg Prosvetov, 42, a sales engineering manager with an eight-year-old daughter in the school.
“We don’t want to switch schools as it is quite disruptive for our daughter, but we do plan to go to the Small Claims Tribunals,” he said.
The parent who is a sustainable building design professional and another parent said they will be moving their children to other schools. Others are hoping for a refund of their building fees and for the new campus to be fully operational as soon as possible.

 

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Citi appoints Amit Dhawan as head of Citi Commercial Bank for Singapore​

Mr Amit Dhawan will oversee all Citi Commercial Bank business and operations in Singapore. PHOTO: CITIGROUP

APR 23, 2024

SINGAPORE – Citigroup said on April 23 that it has appointed Mr Amit Dhawan as the head of Citi Commercial Bank for Singapore, effective April 22, according to a statement.
The bank said Mr Dhawan, who has more than three decades of banking experience, will oversee all Citi Commercial Bank business and operations in the city-state and will be responsible for driving the business’ strategy and financial performance.
“Singapore is an important hub for Citi Commercial Bank, given its status as a top financial centre as well as its proximity and connectivity to other Asian markets,” Ms Gunjan Kalra, head of Citi Commercial Bank for Asia North, Australia and Asia South clusters, said in the statement.
“We are seeing the emergence of a number of emerging and mid-sized corporates in Singapore that are pursuing regional and global expansion,” Ms Kalra added.
Mr Dhawan will continue to be Citi’s head of emerging corporates for Asia, a role he has held since 2017, Citi said. Mr Dhawan was Citi’s Asia-Pacific head of commercial lending management from 2012 to 2017, according to the statement. REUTERS

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

From Yeendia

Amit Dhawan​

3rd degree connection3rd
Head Emerging Corporates - APAC & International, Citi Commercial Bank at Citigroup

• 
  
  Citi
• 
  
  IIM, Bangalore

Singapore Contact info

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Experience​

• 
  CitiCiti
  Full-time · 7 yrs 4 mosFull-time · 7 yrs 4 mosOn-siteOn-site
  • 
    Managing Director, Emerging Corporates Head - APAC & International, Citi Commericial BankManaging Director, Emerging Corporates Head - APAC & International, Citi Commericial Bank
    Feb 2023 - Present · 1 yr 3 mosFeb 2023 - Present · 1 yr 3 mosSingaporeSingapore
    • • Managing this key client segment comprising small and mid sized corporate across Asia and priority countries outside AsiaManaging this key client segment comprising small and mid sized corporate across Asia and priority countries outside Asia
  • 
    Managing Director, Emerging Corporates Head - Asia Pacific, Citi Commercial BankManaging Director, Emerging Corporates Head - Asia Pacific, Citi Commercial Bank
    2017 - Feb 2023 · 6 yrs 2 mos2017 - Feb 2023 · 6 yrs 2 mosSingaporeSingapore
    • • . .
• 
  Managing Director, Asia Pacific Head of Commercial Lending Mgmt, Citi Commercial BankManaging Director, Asia Pacific Head of Commercial Lending Mgmt, Citi Commercial Bank
  CitiCiti2012 - 2016 · 4 yrs2012 - 2016 · 4 yrsSingaporeSingapore
• 
  CitiCiti
  19 yrs 1 mo19 yrs 1 mo
  • 
    Managing Director, Co-Head Asia Pacific, Fundamental Credit RiskManaging Director, Co-Head Asia Pacific, Fundamental Credit Risk
    2005 - 2011 · 6 yrs2005 - 2011 · 6 yrsSingaporeSingapore
  • 
    Director, Corporate Bank HeadDirector, Corporate Bank Head
    2001 - 2005 · 4 yrs2001 - 2005 · 4 yrsZambiaZambia
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    Senior Relationship Banker, Corporate BankSenior Relationship Banker, Corporate Bank
    Full-timeFull-time1992 - 2001 · 9 yrs1992 - 2001 · 9 yrsIndia · On-siteIndia · On-site
    • • Corporate Bank Corporate Bank

EducationEducation​

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