ST Forum: More home-grown geeks needed

[Jman888]

ok next time i won't complaint when my neighbour up stair knocking or hammering something, it could be Bill gate in the making

 

Yup you're right, this is true. For a single or married with kids, may be still possible to keep one room in hdb flat for experimenting. But even so, cannot be something noisy, e.g. operating machine tools, etc. cos have to consider the neighbours.

 

Once married with kids, can forget about it - not even enough room for one family's barang barang. How to keep space for innovating?

 

I'm facing this problem and have to down-scale my hobby/interests stuff. Leave glue or tools lying around is a no-no with kids in the house. If Jobs faced this situation, I think he wouldn't have come up with the first apple pc...

Edited April 9, 2013 by Jman888

[Ender]

our hdb flat dun have a garage for us to build something or before our neighbor complaint and got kick out

I think we should be able to have a handful of university drop outs.. One of the factor of a successful technoprneur..

[Lala81]

I think we should be able to have a handful of university drop outs.. One of the factor of a successful technoprneur..

 

the uni drop outs we have here are the guy who take porno shots of him and his malaysian gf

[Kezg1]

the uni drop outs we have here are the guy who take porno shots of him and his malaysian gf

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't judge him....he dare to do it and that is already abve many in diversified thinking...

 

[Icedbs]

what for spend time grooming good coder when India and China are producing coders faster that you can programme "Hello World". And you can get them at a much cheaper rate too.

 

It's like why spend time grooming Home econ. skills on a local when you can get plenty of them from Indon and Philipines at a much lower rate?

 

 

 

 

[Kiadaw]

what for spend time grooming good coder when India and China are producing coders faster that you can programme "Hello World". And you can get them at a much cheaper rate too.

 

It's like why spend time grooming Home econ. skills on a local when you can get plenty of them from Indon and Philipines at a much lower rate?

No comments on the coder part, but cooking & taking care of home are basic life skills in most countries really. It not about becoming a cook, or chef.

[Happily1986]

Sad to say, in Singapore, in whatever industry, gahmen does not have the patience to stay on to an industry and cultivate it. It's about reaping gains only.... Spray seeds on a few industries, see if 5 years bear fruit or not, if not, move on.

 

Looks like the instant noodle culture is not a descriptor that we reserve for the strawberry generation. I honestly dont see how much a country can hope to leverage on a so called next big thing when it only starts to roll out the spurring measure just when the "big thing" is on its crescendo.

[Vulcann]

Go to local polys now and get the latest batch of "engineers"... In the past, poly training was very rigourous and grounded in the basics.

 

When was the last time you step into a poly?

 

FYI engineering dip already not that popular liao...

[Kiadaw]

When was the last time you step into a poly?

 

FYI engineering dip already not that popular liao...

Whats popular now?

[Vulcann]

Whats popular now?

 

[laugh]

 

Trust me you will be dazzled by the no. of courses offered by logging on to the website of the 5 polys.

 

Don't ask me which course is the most popular but definitely not the traditional M, E or C engineering schools.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Vulcann

[Raymondism]

Agree having computer wizards around is good but the fact remains that the good doc ignores or seems to be unaware that many such positions are overwhelmed by foreigners especially from a particular nation.

 

How will locals fare?

 

Was involved in a big construction project next to Jalan Buroh and the main contractor employed a NUS computer PHD holder to be their planner. He was a nice chap from Myanmar and when I asked why he did not teach or do further research in local institutions, he said, "Friend, do you know how many computer PHD holders are out there in the market? I got this job because I went knocking on the (main contractor's name) office to show my sincerity."

 

And that was in 1998.

 

From ST Forum:

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-...needed-20130409

 

More home-grown geeks needed

Published on Apr 09, 2013

 

ONE of the pillars of modern technology is computer software code. While many of our students can use computer programs, few can write code.

 

This deficiency must be rectified for us to remain competitive, create well-paying jobs and become self-sufficient in providing for our information technology (IT) needs.

 

According to an article in The Telegraph last month, the demand for IT specialists in Britain is growing at four times the rate of the overall workforce. In the United States, there will be an estimated 1.4 million computer jobs by 2020, but only 400,000 computer science students.

 

To address this demand in Britain, code clubs have been set up to teach coding in schools to children aged nine to 11. In January last year, computer science was added to the English Baccalaureate. By September this year, computer science will be added to the British curriculum as a fourth science.

 

Nearer home, schools in Vietnam teach programming to young children as part of the curriculum.

 

It is time the Ministry of Education faced this challenge. Fully funded coding lessons at graded levels akin to music exams, with recognised certification at the end of eight years, should be made available in all schools to pupils aged 10 and older.

 

Computer science should also be more widely offered as an O- and A-level subject. There must also be more places for computer science students at our tertiary institutions.

 

The ministry must regularly consult businesses to match students' software skills with those sought by industries. For example, many of the insurance industry's computer programs still run on Fortran and Cobol, but these languages have been phased out of the polytechnic curriculum.

 

Computers are needed for the smooth running of almost all infrastructure in Singapore as well as in our military defence. Hence, we need home-grown geeks to keep our economy running, and generate products and services that will attract investors, as well as help in the defence of Singapore, especially against the growing threat of cyber terrorism.

 

Anne Chong Su Yan (Dr)

 

 

u very free hor... start so many threads

[Vulcann]

u very free hor... start so many threads

 

I take that as a compliment?

[Shull]

[laugh]

 

Trust me you will be dazzled by the no. of courses offered by logging on to the website of the 5 polys.

 

Don't ask me which course is the most popular but definitely not the traditional M, E or C engineering schools.

 

Nowadays, the M, E and C career need passion more than anything. Seldom it is a glorious, office based, and high paying job. But the satisfaction of completing a project is priceless. Speaking from personal experience.

[Vulcann]

Nowadays, the M, E and C career need passion more than anything. Seldom it is a glorious, office based, and high paying job. But the satisfaction of completing a project is priceless. Speaking from personal experience.

 

Have completed a few projects I am proud of myself but regrettably such passion does not bring in the dough.

 

Anyone in the engineering sector will know what we mean.

 

So you know what sort of advice I will offer if my children ever asks about taking up a career in this field.

[Vulcann]

We don't have strong industry where IP is valued. Engineering jobs can be very rewarding in other countries, paid much higher than even some senior management jobs.

 

Agree with the prestige they accord to and the generous renumeration to engineers overseas.

 

Our lecturers, quite a few whom are PEs, were lamenting that their counterparts in Ozzie and US were more well respected and paid much more unlike their experiences here.

 

Only one who was a UN environmental consultant said he enjoyed his work and urged us not to give up engineering.

 

Funny and approachable fella who told us what 看前看后，研究研究actually means in PRC [laugh]

 

Last I know he is still there but as a full prof now doing stuff he loves [thumbsup]

[Shull]

Have completed a few projects I am proud of myself but regrettably such passion does not bring in the dough.

 

Anyone in the engineering sector will know what we mean.

 

So you know what sort of advice I will offer if my children ever asks about taking up a career in this field.

 

sadly, engineering is not looked upon well here as compared to western countries..

[Mcfguy]

now companies engaged programming house to do job, and these programmers are mostly from india and they are very good. And Cheap. All the servers also sub out to third party companies to maintain, why maintain your own servers. So time consuming and expensive and slow turnover. One argument (or excuse) is sensitivities of data.

[Raymondism]

I take that as a compliment?

 

As a matter of fact, NO since u ask....