This article in BT is more
comprehensive than the one in ST today. I copied it from Sammyboys
coffeeshop. But the article is a bit corrupted because the poster
inserted a few comments.
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Published September 8, 2007
Ngiam: It's dangerous to hothouse S'pore's best
He notes value of having different sets of mentors
By MATTHEW PHAN
(SINGAPORE) Singapore's best and brightest should be trained in a
diversity of ways so that they are able to meet the world's
challenges, Ngiam Tong Dow, a prominent former civil servant and
currently chairman of Surbana Corporation, said at a dialogue
yesterday.
Mr Ngiam: Effective civil servants should be doers and not just
thinkers
Scholars should be allowed to work in both the public and private
sectors, and the top primary school students should be sent to 10
to 15 different schools, rather than just Raffles Institution and
Raffles Girls School, he said at a lunch lecture organised by the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
'It is dangerous to hothouse our best. Yes, we should have
meritocracy and help the best, but there should be different sets
of mentors because we will face different kinds of problems,' he
said.
Mr Ngiam - who became Singapore's youngest-ever permanent secretary
at the age of 35 in 1972, served in various ministries, including
finance, trade and industry, communications, as well as in the
Prime Minister's Office - said he had discussed the talent issue
with then-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew years ago.
But the latter maintained that the public sector could not afford
to lose its talent, recalled Mr Ngiam.
'Intellectually, Minister Mentor could not accept my argument. I
don't know why. I would have thought we should really spread the
scholars out.'
Mr Ngiam also emphasised that effective civil servants should be
'doers' and not just 'thinkers'.
Comparing India to China, he said the Indians had more brainpower
and were better abstract thinkers, but the Chinese are ahead
because they are 'not just thinkers but also doers'.
The Chinese concept of being both a scholar and a warrior is good,
said Mr Ngiam. 'If you do and don't think, it's not good; nor if
you think and don't do - you have to do both.'
But 'the civil service in Singapore is also becoming more thinking
than doing', he said. 'Every time there is a problem, we call in a
consultant. I get fed up with that.'
=> And he forgot to add that the best paid ministers enjoy
pushing away problems to wayang committees!
Mr Ngiam also said Singapore should be more inclusive of both the
elite and the apparently less talented. 'What is most important to
me is that every individual counts. God has given each one of us a
talent. There is no such thing as a completely stupid
person.'
Citizenship is only a legal concept (Then serve NS for fcuk?), and
nationhood goes beyond the idea of a country, he said. Singapore
should welcome former citizens who emigrated years ago to pursue
their goals.
'We should not reject you, even if you are a Singaporean who has
left many years ago, we should not call him a quitter,' he said.
'The terms 'stayers' and 'quitters' should be banned from the
political vocabulary of Singapore. We are all Singaporeans.'
=> Wooden: Ouch! How dare you slap me, you eunuch!
He said Singapore should consider allowing dual citizenship for
individuals who demonstrate the right spirit, but acknowledged 'the
political leadership will have to think about this carefully
because of national service'.
=> Is this not the unofficial policy already to prevent Sporns
from withdrawing their CPF savings?
