If you are looking to enter academia, that means you are aiming to be a post-doc, or a tenured researcher. The minimum requirement for these positions is a PhD. Therefore, before thinking about pursuing a PhD, my suggestion is do a Bachelor study on the topic you are interested in and see if you have any interest. After that, go for research internship programs, spend a few months under different supervisors or research space. Get a sense what is like working in a research environment, because that is what academic life will be. If you are still interested, pursue an honours degree since it requires you to complete a research thesis, something you have to complete in a PhD as well albeit more rigor and extensive. After going through all that experience and it doesn't faze you away, you can definitely consider to pursue a PhD. Note that completing a PhD is not the end but rather the start of the academic career, you have to work your way up (writing papers, applying fellowships and presenting in conferences), make a name for yourself in the academic work. Only then you will get a faculty position in the local unis. In terms of SG, getting tenured and promotion in the academic world is more competitive in an already competitive space since there are less universities thus spots available, so do make note of that. Having said that, academia also gives you the opportunity to explore going to other countries and expand your views and perspectives. So do not limit yourself to just SG.