THE post-graduate programmes in the National University of Singapore (NUS) law faculty are open to students from all around the world - except Singapore.
At least that's the way it appears on the faculty's website.
Are Singaporeans being marginalised on their own turf?
There are five categories of scholarships on offer: Research Scholarship, the Graduate Scholarship for Asean Nationals, the Faculty Graduate Scholarships (FGS), the Scholarship for Young Asian Academics, and the Microsoft Scholarship.
Only the Research Scholarship is open to Singaporeans.
The rest are open to a range of nationalities and come with the qualifier 'except Singapore citizens and permanent residents'.
That has riled some netizens and students.
Blogger Mr Wang wrote: 'It is clear that in our country today, citizenship... turns out to be a liability.'
Mr Wang, who could not be contacted, compared NUS Law's scholarship distribution to that of the University of Cambridge. Its law faculty website displays eight categories of scholarships and funding programmes for post-graduate students, none of which exclude British citizens.
In fact, one of the eight is exclusively for citizens from Britain and Commonwealth countries.
Netizens' outrage
Mr Wang's blog postings sparked reactions among other netizens, most of whom questioned the exclusion of Singaporeans in the NUS Law post-graduate scholarships.
But Associate Professor Alan Tan, the vice-dean of Graduate Programmes in NUS Law, insisted it was wrong to say Singaporeans are excluded from most of the scholarships.
He said it was necessary to look at the number of recipients in each scholarship category and that the FGS category is, in fact, open to Singaporeans despite the NUS Law website stating otherwise.
But he did not clarify why it was not made clear on the website.
Prof Tan said about 10 to 12 students are awarded the scholarship each year but declined to reveal how many were Singaporeans or PRs.
There is no cap on the number of Research Scholarships - which are open to Singaporeans - given out yearly. He did not give exact numbers on how many were given out, or how many were awarded to Singaporeans.
In comparison, only one or two scholarships are given for the other three categories.
Prof Tan said the difference between the profile of NUS Law's post-graduate students and that of its undergraduates should also be taken into account.
'The LLM does not qualify the holder for practice in Singapore. It is the undergraduate LLB degree that qualifies the holder,' he said.
'As such, the bulk of our undergraduate students are Singaporeans, but the proportion is reversed for post-graduate students.'
'Mostly non-S'poreans'
He said 98 per cent of the latter are non-Singaporeans, 'because Singaporeans very rarely apply to take post-graduate courses. They prefer to go overseas'.
Prof Tan said NUS encourages Singaporeans who have obtained the LLB to pursue an LLM abroad 'because we feel they should obtain overseas exposure'.
Said an NUS Law Year 3 undergraduate who declined to be named: 'If you want to practise law here, the LLM is not necessary, but if I had to pursue an LLM, I would take up NUS' programme because it's much more cost-effective even without a scholarship.'
The fees for Singaporeans applying for a Masters in NUS Law Faculty are significantly lower because of subsidies - $5,890 for most programmes, compared to $14,730 for foreigners, according to NUS.
Recent graduate and NUS Law valedictorian Zhuo Wenzhao said the NUS masters' programmes have 'many modules that are similar to those offered to undergrads', so local students graduating with an NUS Law LLB may 'feel they're doing the same thing '.
The 25-year-old chose to pursue a joint programme by NUS and New York University (NYU) which allowed him to get his LLB from NUS and LLM from NYU in four years.
However, Mr Zhuo added: 'Even if Singaporeans make up the minority of the post-graduate student population, there is no need to exclude Singaporeans in terms of eligibility.
'This would ensure that scholarships are awarded based on merit.'
its really fair to say we are making a joke out of ourselves. some comments are better left unsaid.
You should know by now the ruling party is for the foreigners. That is why many locals feel that they are treated like second class citizens here.
Thing is, the whole education system is now a disgrace after we're top in uni rankings.
Selective intake to the scholars, foreigners, less to the typical Singaporeans.
no lar
thunder party want us to
work and work and work till death lor
or maybe lucky enought to tio toto
or sell laska or chicken rice see can
strike rich bo
Originally posted by noahnoah:
no lar
thunder party want us to
work and work and work till death lor
or maybe lucky enought to tio toto
or sell laska or chicken rice see can
strike rich bo
ya lor
u xiao ren wu de xing sheng! haahha
Probably it is in their agenda to allow foreigners to hold high posts jobs while locals slog like hell in low posts jobs to make ends meet.
This type of bloody govt I don't want. I waiting for chance to vote them out.
You got it wrong, the elites just wants to consolidate their 'special' position, probably feel threatened tat after all, there are layman Singaporeans who end up are better than them being practical onto how to govern this country if given to
i suppose all this scholar will
be holding a high post in govt dept
dun know wat scientist ,tis and that
doing research high pay///..
end up still cant come up with any conclusion
LoL
so much for transparency!!! maybe it is also detrimential to Singaporejust like the transparency to Temasek
Originally posted by sbst275:You got it wrong, the elites just wants to consolidate their 'special' position, probably feel threatened tat after all, there are layman Singaporeans who end up are better than them being practical onto how to govern this country if given to
well, precisely that is why they don't wanna locals excel.
pap can go to hell for all we care.
Originally posted by noahnoah:
i suppose all this scholar will
be holding a high post in govt dept
dun know wat scientist ,tis and that
doing research high pay///..
end up still cant come up with any conclusion
LoL
they engage foreigners on scholarship to do research here
Originally posted by Fantagf:
well, precisely that is why they don't wanna locals excel.pap can go to hell for all we care.
nvm, you see how e younger gen of scholars are screwing the place upside down now
yep lor
maybe the scholars one day
mix those atoms or wat
ended up blowing the whole lab
~~
Scholars??? What do they understand about the people? Are they willing to put in effort to find out info from the ground and implement relevant policies?
We don't need scholars to lead the country. We need people who are genuinely for the interest of the people to lead the nation. Obviously we don't see this in the present ruling party
Originally posted by Fantagf:Scholars??? What do they understand about the people? Are they willing to put in effort to find out info from the ground and implement relevant policies?
We don't need scholars to lead the country. We need people who are genuinely for the interest of the people to lead the nation. Obviously we don't see this in the present ruling party
It's because times have changed as you see the profile of those scholarship holders today. Majority come from well to do family
They might not take public tpt, live in the typical heartlands and mix w/ the majority of the Singaporeans
Originally posted by sbst275:
It's because times have changed as you see the profile of those scholarship holders today. Majority come from well to do familyThey might not take public tpt, live in the typical heartlands and mix w/ the majority of the Singaporeans
If your family got money, why they can't afford to live in higher living standards? The question is for those scholars who are serving in the public sector to get their collective noses out of the rarified stratosphere and take note of what the masses are doing in their daily lives.
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
If your family got money, why they can't afford to live in higher living standards? The question is for those scholars who are serving in the public sector to get their collective noses out of the rarified stratosphere and take note of what the masses are doing in their daily lives.
Actually the scholarship application does not stop anyone from applying, so family status honestly does not matter. But it does because being more well off, parents can spend more resources on e kid + what's not CCA to make e profile look better
Is it easy if they've been bought up in a sheltered environment? They dun take public tpt or interact w/ heartlanders.. so being a scholar and gotta mix is simply way too drastic
Originally posted by sbst275:
It's because times have changed as you see the profile of those scholarship holders today. Majority come from well to do familyThey might not take public tpt, live in the typical heartlands and mix w/ the majority of the Singaporeans
That is why Singapore has rose to second place as most expensive city in asia coz of these elites scholars.
Originally posted by Fantagf:
That is why Singapore has rose to second place as most expensive city in asia coz of these elites scholars.
you really can't blame them over this matter
We've made a mark for ourselves w/ e high wages policy to go higher value added or capital intensive industries. and we're alrdy getting more and more developed in land, so cost of land would go up
It's more because of our progress
Originally posted by sbst275:
you really can't blame them over this matterWe've made a mark for ourselves w/ e high wages policy to go higher value added or capital intensive industries. and we're alrdy getting more and more developed in land, so cost of land would go up
It's more because of our progress
please, I am not the only person said the same. Facts are facts, there is no doubt about it.
YOu think the scholars have the heart to serve the poor?
actually, I don't really mind importing these malaysians .....
by and large they are a better lot of immigrants and talents than other bunch of chaps from south or east asia ....
we're culturally a lot more similar, from basically the same population pool infact, even the accent sounds the same, I think the plus side is that these chaps' got a lot more integrity .... if the powers-that-be have to go around hunting for talents, I rather they go looking in our backyard than bring in a snotty, cunning, rapacious lot from china or india who'd treat us only as a stepping stone .....
Originally posted by Fantagf:
please, I am not the only person said the same. Facts are facts, there is no doubt about it.YOu think the scholars have the heart to serve the poor?
So meaning to say you want to go back to real low cost living like kampung living in M'sia right now? Maybe you end up thinking of e hunger to prosper...
When you are on one ground, you think the other side is always better.
Dun ever forget, where their scholarship money came from? unless they've no accountability, no conscience and integrity
Originally posted by sbst275:
So meaning to say you want to go back to real low cost living like kampung living in M'sia right now? Maybe you end up thinking of e hunger to prosper...When you are on one ground, you think the other side is always better.
Dun ever forget, where their scholarship money came from? unless they've no accountability, no conscience and integrity
I doubt you know the latest about their crap on employment.
Originally posted by Fantagf:I doubt you know the latest about their crap on employment.
If they do something tat's really not right, then likely they're bound to be failures in thier life.
The only thing I find it sad and dumb in this whole issue is Singapore's civil sv and govt take in too much on academic results. Some practical and realistic ppl who might not be tat academically strong as those scholars but they've foresight and sort do not get e chance to lead
for who knows, Singapore end up a better place w/ better skilled than theortically ppl
Originally posted by sbst275:
If they do something tat's really not right, then likely they're bound to be failures in thier life.The only thing I find it sad and dumb in this whole issue is Singapore's civil sv and govt take in too much on academic results. Some practical and realistic ppl who might not be tat academically strong as those scholars but they've foresight and sort do not get e chance to lead
for who knows, Singapore end up a better place w/ better skilled than theortically ppl
they are overly academic orientated, not down to earth.