by Kenny Chee

THE scholarship referral scheme introduced by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) in August has sparked a flurry of online debates here.

Some netizens have suggested that A*Star might have implemented the scheme due to a lack of A*Star scholars.

'Having such a referral scheme shows that they have a huge demand for A*Star scholars not met,' said an online forum participant. News broke last week that A*Star's scholarship referral scheme gives a one-time $500 incentive to A*Star scholars who refer peers, friends or relatives who have successfully applied for A*Star's graduate scholarship programmes.

Another online criticism was on the credibility of A*Star scholars when it came to their opinion of the scholarships - forum contributors were worried that scholars may speak well of the programme because of the monetary factor. When contacted, however, an A*Star spokesman told my paper that the agency's scholarship figures were well on target.

Currently, A*Star has over 800 scholars, close to its target of training 1,000 Singaporean doctorate holders by 2015.

'The agency introduced the scholarship referral scheme to motivate current A*Star scholars to identify, encourage and recommend their highly-talented peers in biomedical sciences, science and engineering to pursue a research career in A*Star,' said the spokesman.

The agency also felt the scheme is more targeted than advertisements. An A*Star scholar, who did not want to be named, told my paper that the referral scheme is a formalisation and incentivisation of what he already does on an informal and personal basis.

'It's certainly in my best interests to attract the brightest scientific talent to Singapore as they will be my colleagues,' he said.

The referral practice is a common one among many companies in the private sector when it comes to filling job vacancies.

Human-resource professionals my paper spoke to said that there are benefits to using such schemes.

'Companies here have referral schemes as their employees would have a clearer picture of who is able to fit in within the shortest time,' said Ms Glennis Chan, sales and marketing director of Adecco Personnel.

Mr David Ang, executive director of the non-profit Singapore Human Resources Institute, said that referral schemes are more cost-effective than advertisements or recruitment agencies as they are cheaper and have a higher chance of identifying suitable hires.

Kelly Services' senior vice-president for Asia Pacific, Mr Dhirendra Shantilal, said referral schemes also promote corporate pride and help successfully referred employees assimilate into the company due to existing relationships with the company.

Within the civil service, my paper understands that the Public Service Division (PSD) does not have an active policy for employee referral schemes.

Still, Ms Bernadette Sim, director of personnel policy at PSD, said: 'But ministries which see a need for employee
referrals may introduce their own scheme.'

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