Singapore’s fling with global stars sidelines local talent

SMU Professor of Strategic Management (Practice) Pang Eng Fong shared his views in a commentary on the efforts by the Singapore government to provide strong financial support for the public universities in a move to build state-of-the-art facilities and to recruit international academics on salaries above the market rate and the resulting consequences. He said, “Large public subsidies to higher education also have an opportunity cost. Labour market forces increase wage premiums for skilled workers, and Singapore’s highly globalised economy has particularly high inequality and poverty rates relative to other small, high-income open economies.”