A very big misconception: SGIS means faster promotion and faster career track.

No guarantee for faster promotion nor faster career track. Only ST owned overseas scholars from imperial 4 years direct masters have better chance. SGIS is just equivalent of a fresh grad engineer from local uni. Seen SGIS scholars did alot but still slower progression than normal engineer. It all depends alot on your supervisor and exposure. End of the day, scholar is just a name. Its your take home pay at the end of the day that matters.