Lure of Singapore
More Indian professionals choosing Singapore even over US-Europe. Chandra Shekhar. Financial Express.
Oct 10, 2005

There is nothing glamourous about ‘Dhoby Ghaut’. Such places, where washermen engage in their work, are found in almost all cities and towns of India.

However, what is special about Singapore’s ‘Dhoby Ghaut’ is that it’s an underground metro station in an affluent locality surrounded by shopping malls and skyscrapers.

To a visiting Indian, it does symbolise Singapore’s quick transformation into a developed nation from a third world devastated country half a century ago.

Lured by charm of a good life which the recently-transformed city state offers, many talented Indians have made Singapore their home. Some even prefer it to other destinations like the US and Europe.

The increasing love for Singapore can be gauged from the strength of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) alumni association.

“We are 500-odd members,” says Kankipati Rajan Raju, an alumni of IIM Ahmedabad and presently working as managing director and head (South and South East Asia) of Singapore-based DBS Bank.

What is more important is that many of them, after having been in the US and Europe, are opting to work in Singapore.

The advantage of Singapore is its demographic mix. Out of the total population of 42.4 lakh (4.24m), only 35 lakh (3.5m) are local residents and citizens. The rest are foreigners and non-residents.

In percentage terms, there are 76% Chinese, 13.7% Malays, 8.4% Indians and 1.8% others. The official languages include English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

Although Singapore follows Westminster model of parliamentary system, it does not allow any debate or discussion on two issues - religion and racialism. This, say Singapore citizens, is the cause for communal amity and religious harmony.

In addition to communal amity, the city state also offers various facilities for tourists which have made Singapore an attractive destination for Indians travellers.

Although not endowed with natural resources which other nations can boast of, Singapore has developed various tourist destinations. These include Night Safari, Sentosa resort and facilities for peeping into underwater marine life.

This is in addition to tax-free shopping opportunities, especially of electronic goods. The city state also boasts of legendary shopping mall Mustafa, which never closes. It remains open 24 hours and on all days

What makes Singapore special and different from most of the other global destinations of equal stature is the culture. Unlike other destinations, a prudish Indian will not encounter cultural shocks.

According to the minister for manpower and second minister for defence, Dr NG Eng Hen, "For Indians, Singapore is a comfortable place to stay. We also encourage children to learn in mother tongue."

The minster was quite forthright in suggesting that talented Indians can use Singapore as test-bed for ideas and use the experience gained to quickly disseminate and market products/services in other countries.

More recently, India’s ‘Look East' policy, which culminated in the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in August, will further cement the ethnic ties which India has with Singapore.

Also for those who want to work in Singapore, more opportunities shall open up in the years to come because of the conscious decision of the government to focus on value-added manufacturing.

The Singapore government is proposing to outsource low-end manufacturing from neighbouring countries and focus on value addition.

As many as 15,000 new skilled jobs would be created each year, says Ko Kheng Hwa, managing director of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB).

The effort will be made to re-train and re-deploy the workforce which will become redundant in the aftermath of the churning, Ko Kheng says, adding, "wherever we are short, we will supplement our workforce with foreign human resources".
Financial Express