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 Community
Issues
 Scholarship Bond-Breakers Debate
DPM Lee made the
following statements in Parliament in response to questions on government
scholarships.
1. Dr Lily Neo asked DPM Lee whether the Government will consider giving (i)
more varieties of scholarships in terms of varying years of bonding and
amount
of pecuniary involvement; (ii) prestige or acknowledgement scholarships
with no
monetary involvement; and (iii) scholarships with flexible terms
like deferment of bond service for further postgraduate courses and/or
training.
DPM Lee:
Government scholarships today already vary in terms of the years of bond,
as
well as in the pecuniary amount involved. The number of years of bond
associated with a scholarship depends on the type of award and country of
study. For PSC, for example, the bond is 6 years for US and UK, 5
years for
France, Germany, Japan and the PRC, and 4 years for the Local
scholarships. The amount of sponsorship also varies across countries,
depending on the cost of the university education as well as the cost of
living. Hence, the liquidated
damages vary.
All government scholarships are given for the purpose of identifying,
inducting
and grooming talent for the public sector. Thus, the government is not in
favour of awarding prestige nor acknowledgement scholarships without the
scholar making a commitment to serve in the public service Since 1993,
President Scholarships have not been awarded on a nominal basis to
individuals. The last time it was awarded nominally, was to a
scholar to pursue Medicine at the University of Cambridge in 1992.
There is already much flexibility in the treatment of government scholars.
First, scholarship bonds have been shortened from 6-8 to 4-6 years to keep
up
with the times. Scholars are now encouraged to pursue a much wider
range of
disciplines. Many scholarships also allow scholars who meet the
criteria to go
for postgraduate studies. For example, those on the SAF, SPF or PSC's
Overseas Merit Scholarships or OMS, have a Master's programme worked in as
part of their scholarship terms, as long as they complete their studies in
4 years. There are also about 10 PSC scholars who are pursuing
doctoral programmes. On getting their PhDs, their bonds may be
transferred to the local Universities or to one of our public sector
research institutions. Government scholars also go for industrial
and research attachments locally and overseas with our blessings.
2. Mr Ong Chin Guan, Noris asked DPM Lee (a) whether there is a rising
trend,
over the last five years, of government scholars who broke their
scholarship
bonds; (b) whether the scholar's parents and guardians should be required
to
sign a performance bond for a specific sum, on the basis that they can
exert
their moral influence on the scholars; and (c) whether fiscal deterrent
measures can be imposed by requiring the bond-breakers' prospective
employers to recompense the bond on a non-tax deductible basis and
requiring the bond-breakers to be taxed in full for any reimbursement made
by their employers towards the bond payment.
DPM Lee:
As the PSC is the largest scholarship provider, I asked them for their
statistics. The figures show that over the last five years, the
number of PSC
scholars who have broken bond each year, as a proportion of the total
number of
scholars currently in service under bond, has fallen from 5% in 1995 to 2%
in
1999. In PSC's experience, the bond-breaking rate rises when
the economy is
doing well, and our salaries get out of line with the private sector.
Conversely, the rate falls when the economy is not doing so well.
This is only natural.
The point is that the proportion of bond-breakers is low. The
newspaper debate
that followed the Sunday Times front-page article had created an
exaggerated
impression of the severity of the problem. We should see this issue
in
perspective, otherwise we would be unfair to the vast majority of scholars
who
did not break their bonds and who do not intend to break their bonds.
A government scholarship deed requires two sureties. The scholar
accepts the
scholarship with the full knowledge, consent and approval of the two
sureties.
The sureties are usually the parents, immediate relatives and close family
friends. Thus, when a scholar is thinking of breaking his bond, he
not only
has to consider his moral obligation to serve, but also the trust and
expectations his parents and sureties have of him.
Our tax system is set up for a larger purpose. It should not be used
per se to
deter bond breakers.
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Community Issues - Others
