Vincent Tan

WHILE the "study local" pitch by former minister and Temasek Holdings chairman S. Dhanabalan, as well as Senior Minister S. Jayakumar in Wednesday's report, "Get top students to study in local varsities", is admirable, it is unrealistic.

An overseas education exposes a young student to a multitude of experiences that cannot be acquired if he chooses to study locally.

While local universities offer students a global perspective, it is not the same as the experience of living abroad for one's entire undergraduate education.

Besides, living abroad in the absence of parents and maids steels the student to learn independence, a quality that studying at home will not provide.

Public scholarships should still be awarded to students who choose to pursue an education in a prestigious institution abroad. Reserving a significant number of top-tier study awards for local universities will severely dilute the scholarship's prestige, and the civil service will be unable to attract the best talent.

Clever students may also not take up such scholarships because their parents may be able to afford tuition costs abroad and a lower take-up rate will affect the scholarship bond process.

Finally, potentially elite civil servants should be exposed to other cultures so they can implement creative ideas. Also, networking opportunities are better in overseas schools than locally.

Certainly, local universities have improved and are among the best in the world. But even so, there is no substitute for the experiences to be gained by living and travelling abroad and absorbing a plethora of cultures.

Indeed, would any government minister encourage or instruct his children or grandchildren to pursue a local education for the good of Singapore?

This article was first published in The Straits Times.