I believe the problem has its roots in two fundamental causes. Firstly, as the KTM has mentioned, our 18 year-olds have not been opening their eyes to everything they should see and remember. As with all major decisions one has to make in life, deciding on whether or not to take up a scholarship requires extensive research. The student has to obtain information on all the terms and conditions issued by the organization offering such an incentive and then consider whether or not they are in tune with his or her dreams and aspirations for the future. More often than not, it is difficult to align the interests of the two parties and the student may find it prudent to go shopping for another option to finance his/her undergraduate education. Those who fail to do so and enter into a legal agreement all too quickly may soon realize that they have made an egregious error which may be unacceptably costly to reverse. Instead of opening a bag mistakenly presumed to contain carrots, the student may find more sticks than he can stomach.

However, I think it would be unfair to shift all the blame to the student as, after all, he or she has been expected to make such important decisions under the pressure of school work and CCA commitments. One might argue that no one is actually forcing them to make decisions when they are not ready, but I believe that in such a competitive environment, students are unconsciously subject to "herding" behavior. In case this does not already sound intuitive to you, "herding" is essentially the psychological tendency to follow whatever the other members of the group are doing without adequate prior consideration of its appropriateness. This phenomenon has its roots in biology and can be extended to disciplines as diverse as sociology and behavioral finance. Although the ultimate decision on whether or not the student should take up a government scholarship is his/her own, it is probably the case that they have been made to make such decisions under circumstances that could be more objective. Such circumstances can be achieved if information on alternative options is made more readily available to them. Currently, there are probably quite a number of students who are under the mistaken impression that a government scholarship is their one and only option to finance their tertiary education overseas. In other words, what I am saying is that perhaps it might be time to stop making the students bear the full brunt of mistakes that may not be entirely their own. Questions regarding the way scholarships are advertised and offered to students should be asked, and if such methods are found wanting, adjusting steps must be taken.

Thus, the second cause of the problem should already be apparent. Government scholarships have long been touted as the ultimate trophy of a JC student, with scarcely any attention being paid to the other options that a student can take to finance his/her undergraduate studies. I have no doubt in my mind that some of those options will in fact be more attractive to the unique student, should he or she be given the opportunity to weigh them in relation to even the most prestigious government scholarships, free from the noise of environmental pressure. This asymmetry in information provision and accessibility may not only result in the bond-breaking problem as mentioned above; it is also disadvantageous to the student in question as he or she will have the pay the dear price of the forgone time that could have been used in pursuing something of greater significance to him/herself.

Now, I am not saying that either private sector or foreign university scholarships should take precedence in consideration over local government offerings. I recognize the acute need to retain the brightest of our students and recruit at least some of them into the public service. Singapore as a nation is small, vulnerable and still relatively young. A strong, innovative and capable public service is necessary to steer the nation over future economic frontiers and any social challenges we will inevitably face. However, we have to recognize that there is a possibility that having an approach that makes government scholarships practically cloud out all other options may in fact be counter-productive towards achieving the goal we have set out with in the first place: to get our brightest and most committed students to become the future driving force in the public face of Singapore. Undoubtedly, we will get all the bright minds we want. But how about the most committed hearts? Clearly, a public service with all bright minds but also with a considerable faction of straying loyalties may give substandard outcomes.

During the National Day Rally Speech, PM Lee made it sufficiently clear that expanding our talent pool is of utmost concern to Singapore's economy and society. We obviously cannot afford to have a brain drain to foreign countries as that signifies the loss of a major part of the only valuable resource that we have - human capital. I am in total agreement with that much, but what was actually disconcerting to me was that foreign scholarships offered bond-free to our local students were actually seen as a dubious "competition" that we must respond quickly and aggressively to. My worry is that in the bid to react to such "competition", government scholarships will be given an even higher precedence over all other possible financing methods and thus deprive students of the right to weigh all his/her options on an equal footing.

The Prime Minister then went on to elaborate on how and why we should welcome foreign talents to Singapore so as to further enlarge our talent pool. He elaborated on how foreigners have been drawn to Singapore based on our cosmopolitan culture, our clean city, our low crime rate - and the list goes on. I was, quite honestly, heartened that we do have that much to offer to people of a foreign creed and culture such that they are even willing to leave their homelands and settle in our modest but vibrant nation. But I was left with a burning question. If we do indeed have so much to offer such that even foreigners have flocked to live here, what is it that we have to worry about that our bright minds here will take off to distant lands and decide never to come back to contribute? Our local students have been brought up in HDB flats, savoury local fare, and endearing (though sometimes questionable) Singlish. Our male students have also been through National Service. Perhaps we should have more confidence in our people's loyalty to Singapore. It is here that my conviction that government scholarships offered to our bright youngsters should not be an end-all to their polytechnic or Pre-U education is fortified. Students should be given the fair liberty to decide for themselves what is it that they want to do with their lives. Not only would this prove to be a good test of how attached they are to local soil, I think it would also be better for Singapore in the long run.

During Confluence 06, a Ministerial Dialogue organized by a Singaporean student studying law in England, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean posed a number of questions to the audience (of which I was a part): How many of you intend in emigrate to another country? How many of you intend to work overseas for a period of time in the future?

After posing the former question, Mr. Teo closed his eyes in jest so the audience would have no qualms showing their opinions by a raise of hands. Luckily for him and for Singapore, not a single hand went up. To the latter question, at least half of the people in the audience (including myself) raised their hands. Such a response, while obviously not totally representative, is consoling to say the least. All arguments for globalization making Singapore more and more connected to the rest of the world notwithstanding, I dare say that our small expanse may not be intellectually and professionally challenging enough for our brightest minds. I believe it is now time to gradually allow our young people more unhindered liberty to venture out on their own while having faith that their loyalty to Singapore will eventually make them decide to come home. The world is our oyster, but Singapore is our home. The pearldiver will eventually have to return home.

The views presented above represent nobody's opinions but my own. Admittedly there might be a certain degree of bias in the contents, but I do seek your pardon for that because I speak from my own personal experience. I did my 'A' Level examinations only last year, graduating from one of the top JCs in Singapore with the best score in the nation. I say this not to brag but to illustrate this following point: In the six months since receiving my results and deciding against taking up a government scholarship, I have had to fend off numerous queries on why I was so foolish as to turn down the myriad of opportunities I have been given. As there is a possibility that I will eventually have to dip into my parents' hard-earned savings to finance my education overseas, I have been working like a demon despite my current National Service liability to make sure that the money will not go to waste and that my parents will not be any worse off financially even if I do have to use their savings. I dare not deny that it has been exceedingly difficult, but now I am convinced that I have made the right decision for I know myself well enough to understand that public service is certainly not my cup of tea. However, only a handful of people have been supportive of my decision and even some of them have questioned it time and again. I cannot say that none of them have bothered me at all, and going it alone in looking out for opportunities to upgrade myself now has been very difficult without the fortress of a backing organization behind me. Nonetheless, I am now convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that my decision is right for me and that does not call my love for Singapore into question in any conceivably justifiable way.