Tan Kin Lian's Blog: The dubious value of "talent"

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The dubious value of "talent"

The word "talent" has been mis-used in Singapore. Through the influence of our leaders, many people believe that "talent" is needed to create wealth and jobs. It has also been mis-used to justify attracting "foreign talents" to work and be citizens in Singapore on more attractive terms than those given to locals, e.g. exemption from national service.

"Talent" is not a magic wand. Most wealth and jobs are actually created by honest and diligent work and not be "talent". We need well trained and competent people in all types of occupations; they do not need to be described as "talent".

During the past two decades, the highest earnings are taken by "talents" in the financial sector, i.e. the people who were supposed to create wealth through wealth management and innovation in financial products.

We now learn that this is false wealth that was created through taking high risks, excessive leverage and building asset bubbles. It caused the collapse of the global financial system and had to be bailed out by trillions of public funds. Can "talent" be equated to the ability to take big gambles at somebody else's expense?

There are truly some good examples of talented people who build big businesses around the world, e.g. the founders of Microsoft, Google, Apple, AliBaba, Virgin, Nokia. However, most of them build their success through hard work and access to large markets in America, Europe or China. It will be difficult for these businesses to be built from a small market base, like Singapore.

We should not have "talents" to create asset bubbles and cream off the profit, leaving the high cost to be borne by our future generations. Let us avoid using the word "talent" to describe the creators of false wealth.

Tan Kin Lian

7 comments:

Tan Kin Lian said...: I refused to use the word "foreign talent". I have many friends from other countries who work in Singapore. They are friends, not "foreign talents".

I respect them and know that life is not easy for them to work in a foreign country. But they do not need to have a special label.

I hope that our government leaders stop using this word as well. Let us treat people as people rather than give special labels to justify the decision to invite them into Singapore.; September 22, 2009 10:07 AM
Anonymous said...: I remember a decade ago when this phrase first surfaced, one of my friend in our common group of friends, a Malaysian who has studied in Singapore since his secondary school days, asked us innocently, "hey, does this mean I am a foreign talent?" I remember all of us laughed heartily about it, including himself.

A decade has since passed. Today we see foreigners writing to the press, often unashamedly trumping the fact that they are talents demanding this and that, indirectly putting down Singaporeans.

This is what happens when you have a pro-foreigner government that mollycoddles them.; September 22, 2009 11:20 AM
Anonymous said...: That brings again to the argument of our ministers salary. They need to be high paid to retain "talent"? Just read somewhere that US president is paid USD400k per year, but ours is like so many times higher than US president. If our GDP per head is like 300k per annum while our PM salary is 3mil, then that somehow makes more sense. Tagging ministers salary to gdp per makes a better salary structure?; September 22, 2009 1:54 PM
Anonymous said...: HDB needs FTs whom most of them can get their PRs easily to buy and jack up the price of HDB's cash cows, resale flats?; September 22, 2009 2:08 PM
Anonymous said...: my company had employed an guy from overseas and he has poor command of english, hasnt improved yet and he got PR easily. I wonder why? why did my company employ him? for a cheaper wage cost?why did our government give him the PR easily?
Take consolation if you are a smart singaporeans you can rent out your HDB to this foreigners to even out your disadvantage, which some singaporeans do. so it isnt that bad. but in some case foreign talent isnt worthy, hence the government need to set some criteria....,hence it serves to depress the wages.We have no issue if there is value add..
, however profitablity overides everthing...
which government doesnt protect its overall citizen interest first? i understand sometimes we sacriface the people at the bottom of the chain... cant be help...?; September 22, 2009 3:30 PM
Anonymous said...: A Thailand monk was given PR status - Feng shui talent 风水人才; September 22, 2009 9:41 PM
Vincent Sear said...: I think that the term "foreign talent" is peculiar to Singapore. I don't think (or at least haven't heard) any other country using it. In the US, the term for a foreign visitor is a "nonresident alien". The term for an immigrant is a "resident alien" (green card). The term for a foreigner who enters the US illegally is an "undocumented alien".; September 23, 2009 3:47 PM