I studied phd in singapore with a 2.2k stipend + tuition fee waiver. Now if you get all the costs during the course and divide by 4 years I may get something equivalent 3.5k month salary. This is also similar to part time phd, which is technically an employee. A fresh phd grad out of school can expect 4.5k-6k salary. Do you think any singaporean undergraduate would except a 3.5k salary with no increment for 4 years, especially those with 1st class honors and 5k offer right out of school? The reason why there are very few Singaporean doing PhD in Singapore is because PhD is not a good paying job, not because PhD students are just the smarter people. I'd say we are just more passionate about intelectual things.

And Singaporean got a lot better support to do phd than foreign students. My singaporean colleagues who do PhD with me got 3.5k + cpf + no tuition fee + book allowances. All of these numbers are public. I find it fair, do you?