INTRODUCTION

On 7 March 2001, Time.Com of Time Magazine, referred to Indians living overseas as the “Golden Diaspora”. In that article they were acknowledged for running FORTUNE 500 companies, as prominent consultants and security analysts but “above all, they are bringing their own entrepreneurial stamp to America's high tech frontiers”. In the publication, “Give us your best and brightest; the global hunt for talent and its impact on the developing world”, Devesh Kapur and John McHale, draw on examples from the Indian and Chinese diasporas to explicate on trends that fuel the hunt for global talent. That

Singapore exhibited the truth of these trends when it positioned itself to be a “Talent Capital”. In the rigour of succeeding during the current era of the knowledge-based economy (KBE), Singapore has engaged in the “internationalization of Singapore talent and the global war for talent”. One of the accessible sources of attaining foreign talent has been India, especially since it is fast liberalizing its economy and has a pool of homegrown technology experts especially in the medical and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors.

Hiring talent from India would have also maintained Singapore's racial balance. In April 1990, Minister for Law and Home Affairs Professor Jayakumar spoke in representation of the Singapore government and as a member of the Indian community when he voiced concern over the emigration of the Indian elite from the country. He was “concerned at the ‘disproportionately high’ numbers who were leaving and the corresponding depletion of the Indian talent pool”. Later in the year, Minister for National Development S. Dhanabalan noted that over a span of twenty-five years, the population of Indians in Singapore had fallen from 10 per cent to 6.5 per cent. This could explain why there were fewer Indians who were professionals in medicine, engineering, law and the civil service.