Global talent must respect local laws, culture, colleagues: NMP

Global talent who come and contribute to Singapore’s economy are still guests in the Republic, and they have to respect Singapore’s laws, culture and their local colleagues, said a Nominated MP on Monday.

- Tay Hong Yi

This reciprocity has to be part of the strategy to attract global talent, in addition to the practical aspects of the policy to shore up economic competitiveness, said Mr Raj Joshua Thomas.

He was speaking in Parliament on Singapore’s global talent strategy.

A winning global talent strategy must address both the practical and emotive aspects because Singapore is not a corporation but a country where local workers are citizens who call Singapore home, he said.

To ensure global talent develop those three forms of respect, Mr Thomas suggested that all foreigners issued work passes be made to attend a compulsory initiation programme administered by their employers.

The curriculum and guidelines for the programme, he added, could be designed by the National Integration Council, which was set up in 2009 to help the Government, community and private sector jointly foster integration.