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I lived in Singapore for 15 years. I founded a startup in the US, and we ended up opening an Ops and Sales office in Singapore. Being +12 hours ahead of NYC, i

by nopzor 11y ago

I lived in Singapore for 15 years. I founded a startup in the US, and we ended up opening an Ops and Sales office in Singapore. Being +12 hours ahead of NYC, it worked out great for us to get to 24x7. Back in 2008 it was easy for us to bring in foreign talent (both from the region and from the US), and we built a great team there. It's much tougher now, for foreign startups that want to hire foreigners there. Quotas and salary thresholds to get visa approval are much higher. Why did we want to hire foreigners instead of locals in the first place? Definitely both educational and cultural. Educational: I can relate to this since I went to a Singapore school for a while and the only thing they cared about were your test scores. You really weren't encourage to think; just memorize stuff. It was awful. Cultural: there was a bit of a stigma working for a small scrappy startup, good candidates always wanted to go work for a large multinational bank. This was much more extreme than in the US. Overall, it's changing for the better. The Singapore government is actually super competent, and this problem isn't lost on them. Hopefully it will change quickly and Singapore will have a better local start up scene over time.

hackerboos 11y ago
>The Singapore government is actually super competent They are given the room to think long term because the PAP will be in power for the foreseeable future. Singapore doesn't flip-flop between governments as there is no credible opposition due to various obstacles [1]. [1] - http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/soft-repression-the-struggle-for-democracy-in-singapore/ http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/soft-repression-the-struggle-...
ValentineC 11y ago
> I can relate to this since I went to a Singapore school for a while and the only thing they cared about were your test scores. You really weren't encourage to think; just memorize stuff. It was awful. Did you try hiring people from the polytechnics (pre-university institutions, for those unfamiliar with Singapore)? I studied at one, and it felt like there was less emphasis placed on test scores, and more on creative thinking and getting the job done. An increasing number of students are starting to choose this route instead of the more conventional A Level system.
hellofunk 11y ago
>Quotas and salary thresholds to get visa approval are much higher. In Singapore, this is partly (or more than partly) due to a strong, rising anti-foreigner attitude that has caused much formal protests from the locals. The government has allowed the free hire of foreigners to take the nation to a point where nearly half the population is from other countries, and this has finally weighed thin on the others. It's certainly not a unique problem: many nations (certainly the U.S. included) are having problems convincing the locals that foreigners/immigrants can be a good thing for the society. But it's up to that society to decide. I lived in Singapore for several years and enjoyed many parts of it, but I agree that global success for any company based there would absolutely require foreign talent. The last 2 years in particular have seen a significant change in the government's open-arms strategy for foreigners to work there, and it is now much harder indeed.

by nopzor 11y ago

hackerboos 11y ago

>The Singapore government is actually super competent They are given the room to think long term because the PAP will be in power for the foreseeable future. Singapore doesn't flip-flop between governments as there is no credible opposition due to various obstacles [1]. [1] - http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/soft-repression-the-struggle-for-democracy-in-singapore/ http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/soft-repression-the-struggle-...

ValentineC 11y ago

> I can relate to this since I went to a Singapore school for a while and the only thing they cared about were your test scores. You really weren't encourage to think; just memorize stuff. It was awful. Did you try hiring people from the polytechnics (pre-university institutions, for those unfamiliar with Singapore)? I studied at one, and it felt like there was less emphasis placed on test scores, and more on creative thinking and getting the job done. An increasing number of students are starting to choose this route instead of the more conventional A Level system.

hellofunk 11y ago

>Quotas and salary thresholds to get visa approval are much higher. In Singapore, this is partly (or more than partly) due to a strong, rising anti-foreigner attitude that has caused much formal protests from the locals. The government has allowed the free hire of foreigners to take the nation to a point where nearly half the population is from other countries, and this has finally weighed thin on the others. It's certainly not a unique problem: many nations (certainly the U.S. included) are having problems convincing the locals that foreigners/immigrants can be a good thing for the society. But it's up to that society to decide. I lived in Singapore for several years and enjoyed many parts of it, but I agree that global success for any company based there would absolutely require foreign talent. The last 2 years in particular have seen a significant change in the government's open-arms strategy for foreigners to work there, and it is now much harder indeed.