I would say it also depends on the company culture.


I believe that having started as an entrepot trading center, Singapore company culture generally does not value engineering. Such a company would likely be a distributor, a middleman who benefits from volume. The more you sell, the more valuable you are to a company, because ultimately, the product/concept/idea originates from somewhere else.

A lot of private companies in Singapore with R&D facilities have them to take advantage of grants from EDB or IDA, or simply because it makes the company look more attractive to prospective clients. The basic nature of these companies are still manufacturing.

Companies who have R&D need to recognize that the products are made possible by the product planners (those who really come up with the ideas for a product) and engineers who make the product happen. These companies have not got rid of the 'middleman' mindset.

Stats used for benchmarking ministrial pay against the top private sector professionals have also shown that top 'engineers' earn much less than the lawyers, doctors and accountants. Such is the sad stat of affairs in Singapore.