![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
26-07-2021, 10:13 AM
https://www.facebook.com/philip.wen.982/...7064593122
Philip Wen
For those who have not read my interview with our MAS in June/ July 2015.
Looking back after 6 years, my fears for our jobs and our childrens' are being realized.
You be the judge.
Sometime in June/ July 2015, I wrote this:
A few weeks ago, I interviewed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a position in business development in the private banking sector.
The lady Head of FX and business development interviewed me for this role. The Head only asked one question and I knew my answer was not what she needed to hear. I left the interview bemused and with a sense of failure. Initially, I felt depressed for this poor showing during the interview but over time, I became convinced that I was not wrong in my answer.
The question she asked was " If you are in MAS, how do you attract senior FX traders from HK specifically XYZ bank to Singapore?"
I thought that this was a trick question. I confidently answered by informing her that I personally know of more than a handful of senior Singaporean FX traders with more than 20 years of experience that are actively looking for a job. Most of them held senior roles in major trading banks in Singapore for many years and yet had to make way and became private FX punters or househusbands. As such, Singapore does not need to poach overseas FX traders as we have more than enough local talents to do the job well.
She was not moved. She was not convinced about our local talents in FX which is an area of expertise long dominated by Singaporeans since the1980s in Asia. The interviewer, however, was serious about this question and she persisted in very clear terms that this was actually a real-life situation that she is trying to formulate for MAS - that MAS is actively trying to recruit senior foreign FX traders from HK to Singapore - families and all of course.
If this was an interview with a commercial bank, I would not be too concerned about this question and its implications. However, we are referencing the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Clearly, the ongoing government policy of trying to rehire laid-off senior local talents (PMETs) has not received the attention of our de facto central bank judging from this single question she asked of me.
This one question may have come from higher up the ladder and if so does not bode well with the rest of what our government is pitching to suffering senior Singaporeans with family to support.
Is our government simply giving us lip service just to allay our fears about our future?
In fact, I believe that with the kind of question that the interviewer from MAS was asking, we have to brace ourselves to see more foreign talents converging onto Singapore's already weak financial market. I pity our local talents in banking as even our very own Monetary Authority believes that FX traders elsewhere are deemed better than us.
So much for our CFMAS (Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services) and IBF (Institute of Banking and Finance) exams and modules that we have to take to in order to stay abreast and upgrade with the financial world.
On a footnote, I just received an official email from MAS informing me that my application was not successful. For this time, I am proud to stand my ground.
For those who have not read my interview with our MAS in June/ July 2015.
Looking back after 6 years, my fears for our jobs and our childrens' are being realized.
You be the judge.
Sometime in June/ July 2015, I wrote this:
A few weeks ago, I interviewed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a position in business development in the private banking sector.
The lady Head of FX and business development interviewed me for this role. The Head only asked one question and I knew my answer was not what she needed to hear. I left the interview bemused and with a sense of failure. Initially, I felt depressed for this poor showing during the interview but over time, I became convinced that I was not wrong in my answer.
The question she asked was " If you are in MAS, how do you attract senior FX traders from HK specifically XYZ bank to Singapore?"
I thought that this was a trick question. I confidently answered by informing her that I personally know of more than a handful of senior Singaporean FX traders with more than 20 years of experience that are actively looking for a job. Most of them held senior roles in major trading banks in Singapore for many years and yet had to make way and became private FX punters or househusbands. As such, Singapore does not need to poach overseas FX traders as we have more than enough local talents to do the job well.
She was not moved. She was not convinced about our local talents in FX which is an area of expertise long dominated by Singaporeans since the1980s in Asia. The interviewer, however, was serious about this question and she persisted in very clear terms that this was actually a real-life situation that she is trying to formulate for MAS - that MAS is actively trying to recruit senior foreign FX traders from HK to Singapore - families and all of course.
If this was an interview with a commercial bank, I would not be too concerned about this question and its implications. However, we are referencing the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Clearly, the ongoing government policy of trying to rehire laid-off senior local talents (PMETs) has not received the attention of our de facto central bank judging from this single question she asked of me.
This one question may have come from higher up the ladder and if so does not bode well with the rest of what our government is pitching to suffering senior Singaporeans with family to support.
Is our government simply giving us lip service just to allay our fears about our future?
In fact, I believe that with the kind of question that the interviewer from MAS was asking, we have to brace ourselves to see more foreign talents converging onto Singapore's already weak financial market. I pity our local talents in banking as even our very own Monetary Authority believes that FX traders elsewhere are deemed better than us.
So much for our CFMAS (Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services) and IBF (Institute of Banking and Finance) exams and modules that we have to take to in order to stay abreast and upgrade with the financial world.
On a footnote, I just received an official email from MAS informing me that my application was not successful. For this time, I am proud to stand my ground.
