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> Her family paid virtually nothing for 15+ years of treatment, and then the government paid for her university. Full-ride. Oh and they also paid her directly t

> Her family paid virtually nothing for 15+ years of treatment, and then the government paid for her university. Full-ride. Oh and they also paid her directly to attend classes. About S$1500 per semester, last time I checked. Singaporean here. How does one enjoy such education benefits? I haven't heard of them. > My Singaporean Uncle got stage IV nose-cancer two years ago. […] After a year of constant, weekly treatment by an assortment of doctors, he went into remission and paid in total less than one thousand dollars. An MRI here will cost between 700 to 1,000 dollars, even at subsidised hospitals [1]. I fail to see how a year's worth of cancer treatment would be that cheap. We have mandatory hospitalisation and surgical insurance (MediShield Life [2]), but with the various co-payments and deductibles, a procedure would still cost anywhere between $2,000 to $4,000. [1] https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/pressRoomItemRelease/2005/radiology_charges_in_singapore.html https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/pressR... [2] https://www.medishieldlife.sg https://www.medishieldlife.sg

hitekker 9y ago
She went into NIE, did the two-year program, got the diploma, and then went on to do the four-year program to get the full degree. Mind you, it isn't all sunshine and roses, since in return for the government paying for basically everything, she has to work more than a few years in the MOE public school system. Although they do get paid, you make much more money as a private tutor with credentials so people fresh from the degree program are always eager to get on out. Regarding my Uncle, this is what he told me when I asked at the last CNY, but I can accept if he was off by a few thousand.
- ValentineC 9y ago
  > Mind you, it isn't all sunshine and roses, since in return for the government paying for basically everything, she has to work more than a few years in the MOE public school system. It should be noted that such "full-ride" scholarships are generally reserved for the top students in a cohort (scoring at least, I believe, AAB at A Level), and are not available to all citizens (as compared to EU citizens who enjoy heavily-subsidised tuition and student loans). On the other hand, Singapore has a tuition grant available for all international students who are admitted into a public university [1], with the stipulation that they work for a Singapore company for at least three years after they graduate. (This is aimed at trying to get "smart" people to settle down in Singapore.) Singapore's system heavily favours strong academic potential (the government's idea of "meritocracy" — which is starting to show its cracks [2]) over egalitarianism. There are sadly no "student loan" schemes to allow for independent living. [1] https://tgonline.moe.gov.sg/tgis/normal/studentViewTuitionGrantSubsidyInfo.action https://tgonline.moe.gov.sg/tgis/normal/studentViewTuitionGr... [2] https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/09/28/dr-chee-soon-juan-the-pap-failing-elitist-model/ https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/09/28/dr-chee-soon-jua...
  - hitekker 9y ago
    > It should be noted that such "full-ride" scholarships are generally reserved for the top students in a cohort (scoring at least, I believe, AAB at A Level), and are not available to all citizens (as compared to EU citizens who enjoy heavily-subsidised tuition and student loans). Makes sense. She was going to go A-Levels after Higher Chinese but her illness threw her off, so she later went to Poly, and then did Primary School prepatory teaching, before going to NIE. > This is aimed at trying to get "smart" people to settle down in Singapore. I don't know if the bond is working. My Indian Classmates at NTU wanted to go straight to Silicon Valley, but got stuck at (what they called) the IBM and Amazon sweatshops. They're not happy about it. > There are sadly no "student loan" schemes to allow for independent living. The lottery selection on campus definitely makes it worse. My roommate at the time paid one of the lucky ones under the table for a slot but he was somehow exposed and had to move out halfway through the semester. Sad, but I got a two-bed room in the hostel all to myself!
    - lzy 9y ago
      > I don't know if the bond is working. My Indian Classmates at NTU wanted to go straight to Silicon Valley, but got stuck at (what they called) the IBM and Amazon sweatshops. They're not happy about it. If they were planning to go straight to SV, perhaps they should have given more thought before accepting the tuition grant offered by Singapore?
  - smallnamespace 9y ago
    It's a bit funny that meritocracy has such generally positive connotations today, even though the term was first used and then mercilessly satirized in The Rise of the Meritocracy [1]. When different people want different things, who do we decide who is in charge? Should it be based on family and birth, like monarchy and aristocracy? Should it be based on who can seize power by force? What about ethnic and national identity? Or should we have a competitive testing system and metrics that select out an elite? Or maybe we should all vote on a person? Or why even have a person at all who's in a charge? Maybe we should all collectively vote for every decision without any intermediaries? Or maybe we just give an equal portion of resources to every person, and let them individually decide what to do with it. None of these systems are perfect. They all have deficiencies and can be gamed one way or another. Question is which one is the best for the particular situation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy
boratlibre 9y ago
> An MRI here will cost between 700 to 1,000 dollars, even at subsidised hospitals [1]. I fail to see how a year's worth of cancer treatment would be that cheap. It's not necessary to do MRI for cancer patients. BTW, you just assumed the person who posted this is lying. You should question his uncle not him. He is just telling you what he heard.
matthew5025 9y ago
Singaporean here, had MRI. The price quoted is before subsidies, and after GST. For subsidised patients, the price is usually 50% off and no tax is charged.

hitekker 9y ago

She went into NIE, did the two-year program, got the diploma, and then went on to do the four-year program to get the full degree. Mind you, it isn't all sunshine and roses, since in return for the government paying for basically everything, she has to work more than a few years in the MOE public school system. Although they do get paid, you make much more money as a private tutor with credentials so people fresh from the degree program are always eager to get on out. Regarding my Uncle, this is what he told me when I asked at the last CNY, but I can accept if he was off by a few thousand.

ValentineC 9y ago
> Mind you, it isn't all sunshine and roses, since in return for the government paying for basically everything, she has to work more than a few years in the MOE public school system. It should be noted that such "full-ride" scholarships are generally reserved for the top students in a cohort (scoring at least, I believe, AAB at A Level), and are not available to all citizens (as compared to EU citizens who enjoy heavily-subsidised tuition and student loans). On the other hand, Singapore has a tuition grant available for all international students who are admitted into a public university [1], with the stipulation that they work for a Singapore company for at least three years after they graduate. (This is aimed at trying to get "smart" people to settle down in Singapore.) Singapore's system heavily favours strong academic potential (the government's idea of "meritocracy" — which is starting to show its cracks [2]) over egalitarianism. There are sadly no "student loan" schemes to allow for independent living. [1] https://tgonline.moe.gov.sg/tgis/normal/studentViewTuitionGrantSubsidyInfo.action https://tgonline.moe.gov.sg/tgis/normal/studentViewTuitionGr... [2] https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/09/28/dr-chee-soon-juan-the-pap-failing-elitist-model/ https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/09/28/dr-chee-soon-jua...
- hitekker 9y ago
  > It should be noted that such "full-ride" scholarships are generally reserved for the top students in a cohort (scoring at least, I believe, AAB at A Level), and are not available to all citizens (as compared to EU citizens who enjoy heavily-subsidised tuition and student loans). Makes sense. She was going to go A-Levels after Higher Chinese but her illness threw her off, so she later went to Poly, and then did Primary School prepatory teaching, before going to NIE. > This is aimed at trying to get "smart" people to settle down in Singapore. I don't know if the bond is working. My Indian Classmates at NTU wanted to go straight to Silicon Valley, but got stuck at (what they called) the IBM and Amazon sweatshops. They're not happy about it. > There are sadly no "student loan" schemes to allow for independent living. The lottery selection on campus definitely makes it worse. My roommate at the time paid one of the lucky ones under the table for a slot but he was somehow exposed and had to move out halfway through the semester. Sad, but I got a two-bed room in the hostel all to myself!
  - lzy 9y ago
    > I don't know if the bond is working. My Indian Classmates at NTU wanted to go straight to Silicon Valley, but got stuck at (what they called) the IBM and Amazon sweatshops. They're not happy about it. If they were planning to go straight to SV, perhaps they should have given more thought before accepting the tuition grant offered by Singapore?
- smallnamespace 9y ago
  It's a bit funny that meritocracy has such generally positive connotations today, even though the term was first used and then mercilessly satirized in The Rise of the Meritocracy [1]. When different people want different things, who do we decide who is in charge? Should it be based on family and birth, like monarchy and aristocracy? Should it be based on who can seize power by force? What about ethnic and national identity? Or should we have a competitive testing system and metrics that select out an elite? Or maybe we should all vote on a person? Or why even have a person at all who's in a charge? Maybe we should all collectively vote for every decision without any intermediaries? Or maybe we just give an equal portion of resources to every person, and let them individually decide what to do with it. None of these systems are perfect. They all have deficiencies and can be gamed one way or another. Question is which one is the best for the particular situation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_the_Meritocracy

boratlibre 9y ago

> An MRI here will cost between 700 to 1,000 dollars, even at subsidised hospitals [1]. I fail to see how a year's worth of cancer treatment would be that cheap. It's not necessary to do MRI for cancer patients. BTW, you just assumed the person who posted this is lying. You should question his uncle not him. He is just telling you what he heard.

matthew5025 9y ago

Singaporean here, had MRI. The price quoted is before subsidies, and after GST. For subsidised patients, the price is usually 50% off and no tax is charged.