I REFER to last Saturday's article, 'Asia's brain gain'.

I thank The Straits Times for giving readers such an informative and positive article on Asian students heading back to their homeland on work and business.

One key thing I realised is that their respective governments are very supportive of them returning to their homeland, with some even providing funds to help them start viable businesses. This could be the main lure for Asian students to return home after graduation.

I know many Singaporean students have studied and worked abroad, but although the Government has tried all ways to attract them back, many still prefer to stay abroad long after graduation.

I believe there are several reasons for this:

1. Salary. Salary abroad can sometimes be double or treble that locally. Although taxes are high in Australia and Britain, take-home pay is still higher than locally. Thus, there is almost no monetary incentive to return home to take up a local job.

2. Stress. It is an open secret that our working lifestyle here is all work and no play. Many work from 9am to 9pm, with some clocking overtime during weekends. Many local workers also take on many portfolios, stressing them out ultimately. Comparing this to an overseas career that provides a more balanced lifestyle, Singaporeans will naturally prefer a lower-stress work environment. The choice is obvious.

3. Exposure. Many also prefer an overseas working environment that gives them more exposure. They could work with foreigners abroad who tend to think better on their feet and out of the box. Moreover, most local managers here tend to prefer a top-down corporate approach, stifling subordinates from speaking up about their ideas. Singaporeans educated abroad enjoy much more liberty voicing their opinions on any work ideas and will not find the top-down work style here enticing.

4. Entrepreneurship. There is a distinct lack of entrepreneurship in Singapore. Many Singaporeans suffer from a scared-to-lose mentality and when they fail, some cannot even pick themselves up. Thus, for them, it is better not to attempt any business venture unless there is an almost certain chance of success.

With this mentality, our business culture suffers and that is probably why we are breeding a culture of workers and not business creators. When they are laid off, many simply look for another job instead of trying to strike out on their own. In the long run, our economy will be run by foreigners with us locals forming the bulk of the workforce.

Gilbert Goh

This article was first published in The Straits Times.