Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

32. Singapore's New Indians: Attracting Indian Foreign Talent to Singapore

619 32 SINGAPORE’S NEW INDIANS: ATTRACTING INDIAN FOREIGN TALENT TO SINGAPORE Arunajeet Kaur INTRODUCTION On฀7฀March฀2001,฀Time.Com฀of฀Time฀Magazine,฀referred฀to฀Indians฀living฀ overseas฀as฀the฀“Golden฀Diaspora”.1 ฀In฀that฀article฀they฀were฀acknowledged฀for฀ running฀FORTUNE฀500฀companies,฀as฀prominent฀consultants฀and฀security฀ analysts฀but฀“above฀all,฀they฀are฀bringing฀their฀own฀entrepreneurial฀stamp฀ to฀America’s฀high฀tech฀frontiers”.฀In฀the฀publication,฀“Give฀us฀your฀best฀and฀ brightest;฀the฀global฀hunt฀for฀talent฀and฀its฀impact฀on฀the฀developing฀world”,฀ Devesh฀Kapur฀and฀John฀McHale,฀draw฀on฀examples฀from฀the฀Indian฀and฀ Chinese฀diasporas฀to฀explicate฀on฀trends฀that฀fuel฀the฀hunt฀for฀global฀talent.฀ That฀ the฀skill฀bias฀of฀recent฀technological฀advancements฀is฀leading฀governments฀ to฀strive฀for฀a฀competitive฀advantage฀in฀emerging฀knowledge-based฀ industries฀ …฀ international฀ competition฀ for฀ skilled฀ labour฀ will฀ be฀ abetted฀by฀the฀aging฀of฀rich-country฀populations฀together฀with฀the฀ever฀ expanding฀technical฀possibilities฀for฀costly฀…฀health฀care฀…฀international฀ competition฀for฀talent฀is฀bound฀to฀increase฀because฀of฀the฀broader฀ globalization฀of฀production฀and฀trade.2 ฀ Singapore฀exhibited฀the฀truth฀of฀these฀trends฀when฀it฀positioned฀itself฀ to฀be฀a฀“Talent฀Capital”.฀In฀the฀rigour฀of฀succeeding฀during฀the฀current฀ 32฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀619 8/20/08฀฀฀4:02:17฀PM 620 Arunajeet Kaur era฀of฀the฀knowledge-based฀economy฀(KBE),฀Singapore฀has฀engaged฀in฀the฀ “internationalization฀of฀Singapore฀talent฀and฀the฀global฀war฀for฀talent”.3 ฀ One฀of฀the฀accessible฀sources฀of฀attaining฀foreign฀talent฀has฀been฀India,฀ especially฀since฀it฀is฀fast฀liberalizing฀its฀economy฀and฀has฀a฀pool฀of฀homegrown ฀technology฀experts฀especially฀in฀the฀medical฀and฀information฀and฀ communication฀technology฀(ICT)฀sectors.฀ Hiring฀talent฀from฀India฀would฀have฀also฀maintained฀Singapore’s฀racial฀ balance.฀In฀April฀1990,฀Minister฀for฀Law฀and฀Home฀Affairs฀Professor฀ Jayakumar฀spoke฀in฀representation฀of฀the฀Singapore฀government฀and฀as฀ a฀member฀of฀the฀Indian฀community฀when฀he฀voiced฀concern฀over฀the฀ emigration฀of฀the฀Indian฀elite฀from฀the฀country.4 ฀He฀was฀“concerned฀at฀the฀ ‘disproportionately฀high’฀numbers฀who฀were฀leaving฀and฀the฀corresponding฀ depletion฀of฀the฀Indian฀talent฀pool”.5 ฀Later฀in฀the฀year,฀Minister฀for฀National฀ Development฀S.฀Dhanabalan฀noted฀that฀over฀a฀span฀of฀twenty-five฀years,฀the฀ population฀of฀Indians฀in฀Singapore฀had฀fallen฀from฀10฀per฀cent฀to฀6.5฀per฀ cent.6 ฀This฀could฀explain฀why฀there฀were฀fewer฀Indians฀who฀were฀professionals฀ in฀medicine,฀engineering,฀law฀and฀the฀civil฀service.฀To฀plug฀this฀drain฀of฀ Indian฀human฀talent,฀Professor฀Jayakumar฀stated฀the฀intention฀that฀Singapore฀ was฀keen฀to฀“attract฀the฀very฀bright,฀highly฀skilled฀and฀talented฀Indians฀from฀ abroad฀—฀wherever฀they฀may฀be฀—฀to฀come฀to฀work฀and฀eventually฀take฀ up฀permanent฀residence฀here”.7 ฀He฀goes฀on฀to฀be฀very฀specific฀in฀the฀type฀ of฀professionals฀Singapore฀would฀be฀interested฀in฀hiring฀such฀as฀“computer฀ experts,฀engineers,฀scientists฀and฀top฀financial฀and฀banking฀personnel”.8 ฀ This฀ announcement฀ was฀ in฀ strategic฀ timing฀ with฀ the฀ Singapore฀ government’s฀scheme฀of฀an฀open-door฀policy฀to฀attract฀and฀encourage฀the฀ permanent฀settlement฀of฀professionals.฀In฀1992,฀then฀Brig-Gen฀(Res)฀Lee฀ Hsien฀Loong,฀the฀deputy฀prime฀minister฀and฀minister฀for฀trade฀and฀industry,฀ affirmed฀the฀welcome฀that฀Singapore฀was฀extending฀to฀“talent฀from฀all฀parts฀ of฀the฀world฀to฀live฀and฀work”9 ฀in฀Singapore.฀The฀minister฀admitted฀that฀ Singapore฀had฀too฀small฀a฀population฀to฀generate฀talent฀indigenously.฀In฀fact,฀ the฀Singapore฀government฀had฀already฀been฀attracting฀foreign฀professionals฀ to฀Singapore฀since฀the฀late฀1970s.฀It฀had฀put฀into฀place฀schemes฀such฀as฀the฀ Overseas฀Graduate฀Recruitment฀Scheme฀(1979),฀Public฀Service฀Commission฀ Committee฀to฀Attract฀Talent฀Scheme฀and฀the฀Professional฀Information฀ Placement฀Services฀(1981).10 ฀However,฀Singapore’s฀efforts฀to฀attract฀foreign฀ talent฀were฀to฀accelerate฀with฀changes฀in฀the฀global฀economy.฀The฀emergence฀ of฀ transnational฀ corporations฀ (TNCs)฀ and฀ the฀ internationalization฀ of฀ services฀such฀as฀finance,฀banking฀and฀in฀the฀ICT฀sector฀had฀created฀a฀greater฀ integration฀of฀labour฀markets฀and฀the฀emergence฀of฀knowledge฀economies.฀ With฀the฀buzzword฀of฀globalization฀and฀the฀race฀for฀luring฀a฀higher฀percentage฀ 32฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀620 8/20/08฀฀฀4:02:17฀PM Singapore’s New Indians: Attracting Indian Foreign Talent to Singapore 621 of฀FDI฀in฀an฀open฀economy฀such฀as฀Singapore’s,฀the฀Singapore฀government฀ began฀to฀verbalize฀the฀lingo฀of฀being฀a฀“talent฀capital,฀where฀local฀and฀foreign฀ talent฀combine฀strengths,฀ideas฀and฀creativity฀to฀drive...