Based on figures provided in
2007/08,about 53 percent of Public Service Commission
scholarships go to those who live in private property.However,about
80% of the population live in HDB.Does this mean that those who
live in private property are naturally more talented?And that those
of us who live in HDB are less talented?
No,it does not!The PAP uses
the term Meritocracy to explain why things are the way they are,but
it is all an illusion.Let me explain why.
Although it is generally accepted that these scholarships are
awarded on the basis of academic performance and individual
achievement alone,why are the majority of these people(53%)from the
socially-priviledged / rich / elite segments of society?
These students largely hail from the best schools and have
benefited from the various schemes that cater to the academically
talented,such as the Education Ministry's Gifted Education
Programme.Their dominant social status arising from higher
household incomes suggests that they possess the cultural capital
required to "make it" in life,as nurtured by their parents who are
likely to have attained qualifications at the tertiary
level.
The same elite minority continue to receive value-added
education throughout their schooling years at the expense of vast
amounts of public funds.As a result,Singapore's education
system,which has always been held up as a model of social mobility
for all,is attenuated because one minority elitist group benefits
from a distinct advantage over the others.
Many of you have been brainwashed to believe that it is
natural that students from wealthier households will naturally have
high academic achievements.And that this is so because they are
naturally talented.Is this true?No,it is not!
These people control the prices of goods & services,which
limits your options.You may have less time to study because you
need to take up a job to support the family.You may not be able to
afford the kind of extra tuition and development courses that they
can.You may have had to give up opportunities due to financial
constraints.
On the other hand,these elites are able to provide vast
resources to train their offspring.That is the only difference
between you and them.These elites in the PAP system,have
sold you an illusion that there is Meritocracy and that you have
progressed.You,my fellow HDB dweller,are as good as they are.Why
shouldn't you be in their place?What makes them
better?Nothing.
The only thing that is keeping you down is a system they
have created in which you are just a battery to them.You are like a
lab rat running on a wheel in a cage,in some level of the
system,forever working hard to create wealth for those elites few
at the top of the system.They give you back enough to live on,but
most of what you deservedly work for is taken back by them in the
end.
Over the years,there have been concerns about the attitudes of
these students who are among the best and brightest and who are
likely to secure positions of pre-eminence in society in the
future.They think that it is their natural birth-right to
be in a position of power,and they abuse it.
Is this the way you want to live?To just be a pawn in somebody's
game?
Is this the way you want your future generations to live?To just
be a battery in somebody's machine?
When the time comes,Do The Right Thing.
:)
Vote Wisely.
I think it just goes to show that students who are more affluent
have more choices in work-life, skill-based activities, tuition
fees and cash for extra books. That is why one could say "better
students" might be wealthier as well, especially if there is a
biased screening process whereby elite scholarships are better
given to people of "noble" families to borrow a crude figure of
speech.
However, i have also met wealthy landed property families who do
not spend their money wisely and in my opinion, are VERY unlikely
to actually produce men/women of grace and good character who are
capable people at the end of the day.
I know at least a couple of wealthy families in Singapore who
live in landed property, and they spend most of their cash not on
bettering the education of their children, but on frequent
holidays, lavish parties for friends and expensive art work, so
much so that the children do not eat properly (rice and sausage...)
nor do they have much tuition.
So it's hard to gauge, sometimes its not just about being
wealthy, its also what you do with the cash. =)
