Of Foreign Talents ...

After all the debate going around about restricting foreigners while the elections were going on last year, one of the first thing our new Parliament did was to have more restrictions on foreigners finding work here.

 

In the past, there were lesser restrictions. Much as companies try to give priorities to our locals, but anyone with the qualifications and experience could find a job here. Now, it is getting harder for foreigners as our locals complained that foreigners are taking all our jobs away, so the jobs will be all reserved to our locals, unless the foreigner is on an overseas posting here.

 

This is happening everywhere. Even places like Australia and Hong Kong, where it used to be easier for foreigners to work there, now there is hardly a chance, as the countries give priorities to their own people.

 

Not only jobs, even university places. A lot of university places are opened up to foreigners who have never studied here, whereas the locals who did well enough were deprived of a place. On the other hand, many people here went overseas to study, so would the concept not be the same?

 

I never know there are so many xenophobic people around. Of course, if foreigners come and benefit us, I believe they would never complain. But once foreigners start taking over our jobs, being paid a lot and the benefits do not come to us, people will sure complain. Such is human nature, especially those who are born and bred here.

 

One case in point - the Olympic team. Our government paid a lot of "foreign talents" to come and play for us, given them residency and when they win, it is to our benefit and not to their countries. But some are not happy, saying that if we want a true representation of our country, we should get locals to play!

 

But then have they ever considered, why are the locals here so lacking in sports and music? It is because since young, our parents drilled us to study, and not waste time playing sports or music. If we ever say we want to be a sportsperson or musician, our parents would shoot us down and tell us to dream about being a doctor, lawyer, engineer or whatnot instead.

 

Not so for other countries. The gifted ones were discovered at a young age. After that they were put under training to develop their skills, so by the time they reach their late teens, they were able to shine. But these do not come without sacrifices. They did not go through a normal academic study, they went through a different syllabus, but their studies mainly concentrated on sports or music to develop their gift to the fullest.

 

There is no such system here. Everything is so academic based. Yes, now there are secondary schools exclusively for music, arts and sports, but in order to enter these schools, one must score very well acacdemically in the first place before they can be considered. There are many others who could be equally, or even more talented, but because they did not do that well academically, they were not even considered.

 

So what does this say? Academic results still hold the power? There are many others who may not be able to score well academically, but they could be a gem in the sports or music field. Yet they are being overlooked simply by not being "smart"? Why must these people lose out because they did not score as well in other subjects? And that is why we are not able to nurture really talented people!

 

In this globalised and cosmopolitan society, it is inevitable that foreigners will come in. Instead of griping about it, why not we just work together and do our part? I have worked with foreigners before, and it is really a great learning experience because it widens up one's horizons in how other people handle matters. One has so much to learn from each other.

 

Having said that, if foreigners want to come here to study and work, then at least behave themselves and not be an embarrassment to their own country and culture. One example is this scholar who set up a sex blog, and got his scholarship revoked. If he is to continue his studies here, he would need to pay the full price.

 

Another case is a senior executive from a prominent bank who got terminated from his employment for creating a scene with foreign construction workers. It is good to work overseas to gain exposure and experience, but one must be more aware of one's behaviour and not make a nuisance out of ourselves, as the laws everywhere is different. What may be acceptable to your own country may not be so in other countries.