As a "FT" from a western country who has been here for awhile, I can tell you that me and my friends come over not because we aren't doing well in our countries, but because Singapore taxes are so low and we save a lot being here. Also, the business climate in my home country isn't good anymore, so the best and the brightest are heading to Asia/Singapore because they are better than the rest and can get jobs here. The bad ones are left behind in a stagnant economy. An appreciating S$ also is a strong incentive.

I'm a mid level manager in financial services and the Singaporeans on my level aren't bad, but except for the ones that were educated and worked overseas, they have some traits that put them at a disadvantage, mainly in their verbal and sometimes in their written communication skills. Also, many of them have not worked in an extremely competitive environment e.g., London or New York and lack some of the type of motivation that you derive from a difficult and competitive working environment. Lastly, many Singaporeans want a life and have a large social network, whereas the foreigners have hardly any social network and are therefore more focussed on their work. That seems to negatively affect Singaporeans in promotions etc. However, the Singaporeans with good foreign degrees, and who have worked abroad, are toe to toe with the foreigners.

In my business, you are competing with other financial centers like HK, so you need internationally competitive people. If you put in preferential treatment for Singaporeans in an internationally competitive industry, you will be beaten by other countries. You only need to look to Malaysia to see how the "Bumiputra Policy" where, at minimum, you are forced to have to have 1/3 of your employees to be Malay, has resulted in happy bumiputeras, but internationally uncompetitive companies.