"Foreign Talent" (FT)

The term Foreign Talent seems to be a generic term for any kind of foreigner working in Singapore, however, in light of the recent debate on the role of these foreign workers and their relevance to Singapore society, it has led to the coining of the acronym "FT". Previously foreigners that worked here were also known as "Expats" or expatriates. 

However, some have deputed that the term "Expats" only refer to foreigners of Caucasian origins. I find that interesting though, I always thought that "Expats" was a term referring to a resident living in a foreign country. So "Expats" were really in the quintessential sense of the word, people from another country living in a country other than their own.

Someone called my former company before and asked if we had expatriates working in my company then, and I answered saying "Yes, we have 5". The person went on to ask where they were from, and I replied, "2 from England, 1 American, 1 Australian and 1 Malaysian". The caller immediately said, "Oh, then that's 4 expatriates. We don't consider Malaysians expatriates."

I was mortified to say the least. How is a Malaysian working in Singapore not considered an expatriate? The definition of expatriate means resident residing in another country. Of course there was no answer to my question. 

Okay, so we now have a general term to classify everything. "FT" also known as Foreign Talent. I hope everyone is happy with that change. Although I think the term Foreign Talent now carries with it a negative connotation as well. :)