Thank you very much bossman! There was a lot of confusion from my budding aviator friends on what SIA wants and doesn't want.
For one thing, there was a misconception that SIA ONLY prefers people who come in fresh with 0 hours
Looks like they readily accept those with self-sponsored outside Singapore routes too. That's good to hear.
I encourage personally EACH AND EVERY POTENTIAL CADET to go out there and do a cheap PPL in US or Australia or something just to personally see if this is what you see yourself doing and whether you are prepared for it.
As far as I am concerned, if you can pass a rigorous and proper PPL program, you can get an ATPL. 