Idealists and Pragmatists

oxford mushroom SG

First, your tale serves to illustrate what the government has been saying all along. With globalisation the race is on for the best talent worldwide. Since we could not offer better terms than the US, we lost that particular FT. In the same way, the US has lost its top researcher Edison Liu and UK lost its top scientist Sir David Lane to Singapore because we could offer them better terms. Obviously, no one country can offer the best terms to everyone. It comes down to a pragmatic decision as to who is most valuable to us at this point in time.

I suggest you read the following article by an Oxford professor. It speaks of the present reality as well as the future risks and challenges we face (FUTURE OF CAPITALISM: A threatening tsunami of desire, Review, Straits Times, 3 Apr 2007).

Globalised capitalism is already here. From Moscow and Beijing to the Wall Street in the US, there is no denying it is firmly established. Even the communal kibbutz in Israel has bowed to the inevitable, given up their egalitarian ideals and adopted the pragmatic approach of remuneration by meritocracy.

The world is changing quickly and in a globalised economy, the risks are greater than ever. Fortunes of nations and individuals alike rise and fall in a matter of minutes. The one who is flexible and nimble, one who is able to make pragmatic decisions to take advantage of change will flourish whilst those who are fossilised in the straitjacket of their ideologies will become extinct, just like the tyrannosaur.

As Prof Ash said in his article, sustainability will be the Archilles heel of the current system and as Soros apparently pointed out, global markets are in a perpetual state of dysequilibrium. If anything, that should argue for an ever-pragmatic approach. What works in the past may not work tomorrow. Nothing is always right and nothing is inherently bad. The right decision is the one that ensures we are still around tomorrow, to soar over those who cannot keep up and so die like the incredibly tame but flightless dodo.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

How you can fail to see that what you just posted actually proves your opposition's point more then it does your own seems to happen only to you.

Why indeed should the Singaporean people, in this forward-moving and progressive globalized age submit themselves to being fleeced by the policies of the powers that are?

Do you seriously think the current favourable status quo for certain parties would be maintained the moment Singaporeans take very pragmatic measures and start to vote with their feet?

I doubt not, or else the idealogy of "stayers and quitters" would never been cooked up to contain the masses that are starting to show very pragmatic leanings and cause plenty of issues for the ones in power.

Do you seriously think that the current outflow of locals voting with their feet can seriously be made up for by an influx of FTs attracted towards Singapore exactly for the very pragmatic reasons with no real ties of loyalty whatsoever?

Do you seriously think that the current outflow of locals voting with their feet can seriously be made up for by an influx of FTs attracted towards Singapore exactly for the very pragmatic reasons with no real ties of loyalty whatsoever?

Do you think the current high incentives towards attracting FTs can be maintained indefinitely without a sizable local population to carry to burdens of NS and other associated issues that FTs do not have to worry about?

Do you seriously think that the globe trotting FTs will decide to take up the shackles of being a local once the reality of it becomes clear to them?

Indeed, you are right to say the local will become a Dodo if it keeps up with his current way of thinking- the most logical thing for him to do would be to become an FT itself and let some other Dodo carry the disadvantages of being a pink IC.

Do you seriously think this is a pragmatic mindset the government wants to promote? I think not, if not there would not be all this stayer and quitter talk.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

who are fossilised in the straitjacket of their ideologies will become extinct, just like the tyrannosaur.

Laughing

Once again, please do your homework and realize what ultimately became of Coelurosauria .

Conversely, you could try looking outside your window each morning and realize the answer.

That you could post that statement once again, is slightly amusing and indicative of your ability to spout too much on the little that you know.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

Nothing is always right and nothing is inherently bad. The right decision is the one that ensures we are still around tomorrow, to soar over those who cannot keep up and so die like the incredibly tame but flightless dodo.

Indeed, I suppose you would have to say this to the person who stands to benefit from your death and has set himself to a foolproof murder of you and the unlawful Possession of your property.

Once again, do read The Abolition of Man, as well as the numerous other works out that the caution against the dangers of this thinking. Do a little work on history as well, and realize where such a creed has often ended up.

Indeed, if this is your creed, why get so hot under the collar about the state of domestic workers in Singapore?

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

This so called pragmaticism works both ways anyhow, despite OM trying to avoid the issue entirely. As it is, people are feeling less and less connected to this rock they are living on, and frankly, their only care is jobs. But, if they don't get jobs, they will either 1. Vote for Opposition or 2. Get lost.

Ultimately, it is the Govt's loss. Seriously. The Govt then shouldn't expect its people to fight too hard for a country that fewer and fewer people, excepting the blind and idiotic, in the event of invasion. Or will the blind and idiotic abandon their country like traitors? Wait, do they even consider this their country?

vaxjunior SG

FYI, David Lane was only in Singapore till 2006. As for Dr Liu, I suspect he is still a US citizen though he heads up IMCB.

That's how pragmatism works. If that is what the govt is promoting, then Singapore will remain a port of call for professional workers without an identity of its own (other than a place for transient workers). In short, this is shooting ourselves in the foot and basically engaging a huge huge mistake. The point of this whole exercise is to develop talent and nurture talents and wanting talents to take root. Just attracting fly-by-night talents is a waste of resources that could be better used for other purposes.

Dsyequilibrium and state of flux do not necessary call for an ever pragmatic strategy. Rather, being surrounded by rapid and fluid environments requires one to not only be pragmatic to deal with short-term/near-term issues and challenges but more importantly, one has to have a vision - a long term goal/ideal to direct and chart the course. Without tempering pragmatism with idealism, one is doomed to mediocrity. This is evident from computer-generated agent simulation games. Agents that are only programmed with very short-term, specific (in this case pragmatic) commands will only find a local maxima that is usually not the global maxima. To circumvent this inherent problem, one have to be imbued with a larger sense of the environment in this case an analogy for idealism.

LazerLordz SG

There's no need to get all worked up over OM. If you disagree with him, just state your point and move along.

Why waste your breath? there's no use debating with a fundamentalist, because they have already formed their opinion and will brook no latitude in shifting their attitudes towards certain issues.

oxford mushroom SG

FYI, read today's newspapers:

"PROFESSOR DAVID LANE, executive director of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, who is taking over as chairman of the Biomedical Research Council, commenting on his new boss, Mr Lim Chuan Poh. Mr Lim succeeded this month as Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) chairman from Mr Philip Yeo."
(Review, Tech&Science, Straits Times 7 Apr)

oxford mushroom SG

If Singapore does not succeed economically, there won't be a country worth fighting for.

The problem with so many ideologues in Singapore is that they seem to think that some sort of socialist egalitarianism will eliminate poverty and establishes perfect social equality. It will not. From the communes in Stalinist Russia and Maoist Chinan to the kibbutz of Israel, time and again it has been shown that even the most fervent devotees of Marxist ideology end up with a new ruling elite. Corruption is rife and life is worse than before. If there is an added measure of equality, it's just that everyone is equally poor and miserable.

Speaking as one having arisen from a very poor background, what the poor needs is not equality. That will never happen in any case. What the poor needs is social mobility. With access to affordable, high quality education and plenty of scholarships available for bright students from poor backgrounds, those with talent can move up the social ladder. As Shakespeare said, "lowliness is young ambition's ladder'; coming from a poor socio-economic background is one of the greatest incentive to work harder than everyone else. A government should reward such individuals with drive and ambition to succeed.

As Singapore becomes a wealthy developed nation, there is regression towards the mean. The poor aren't as poor as we were in the past and young people today tend to talk about their rights and entitlement, rather than fight for every opportunity to better themselves. It is not surprising that foreigners, more hungry and ambitious than we are, will begin displace us from jobs and positions.

Ranting about foreigners will not halt the competition. Mahatir discovered as much after he complained about the immigrant Chinese who forced the Malays out of their businesses in his book, The Malay Dilemma'. He admitted that the economic powess of the Chinese could be attributed to their hard work and even blamed the laid-back culture of his own race for their inability to compete. He responded by trying to protect Malay interests with extension of the New Economic Plan (NEP), which he admitted was a failure, years later.

The current Malaysian government is trying to exempt the southern Johor economic zone from the restrictions of the NEP. That is a pragmatic move to attract investment and a poorly-disguised admission of the failure of the race-based state ideology.

It is ironic that wimpy Singaporeans who cannot compete are trying to urge the government to repeat the mistakes others have already learned from.

LazerLordz SG

The world is not as simplistic as you make it out to be.

When you fight to succeed, one day you will reach a point when you want others not as fortunate as you to have the same chances to do so. It is called moving up the social consciousness ladder.

Too bad people who are blindsided by profit motive, can't see that. The danger of getting prosperous, is to lose a bit of humanity within. One can remain economically competitive, and yet look out for his fellow men. Anything else is pure laziness and a refusal or unwillingness to think outside of the profit motive paradigm.

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

It is one thing I strongly dislike are people who only see black and white, and never the grey. To people like OM, we are bloody traitors/barbarians/scourges attempting upset their own idealised world.

They deem ours as idealised, while we deem theirs as short sighted, and thus have deep misgivings about the system.

Whatever. This debate is pointless. Since I aim to be a scientist, naturally, Singapore is not the place I would like to be in the near future, even though I have come back to work for a while. So there.

LazerLordz SG

First do yourself good, then the nation. I think that's how we should live..

Joshua1975 SG

hazi…. end of the day is can i feed myself?

sir sickolot II SG

some of A*STAR's directors and chairmans and what not do not reside in Singapore, but travel to Singapore occasionally to attend major meetings and hold key symposiums.

While I do not know where Prof Sir David Lane resides, I am quite sure he is not going to renouce his British citizenship. And so are all the foreign talents the A*STAR have recruited.

Yes we are able to attract the 'whales' of the industry, as quoted by ex-Chairman A*STAR Phillip Yeo... but will that be enough to stem the brain drain Singapore is currently facing?

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Odds are he will only come down during the summer time. Most of the English Profs have duties to fulfill during the term time. There was this English Prof who was asked to help set up a lab doing some measure of Quantum Computing. As it is, he came only during Summer but left the work to be done by the locals and what not.

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Nation? What nation? I doubt Singapore ever came into the equation. Even if the country imploded because of stupidity, I won't even lift a finger. Anyone with the means to do so should leave. A Govt that looks only at the bottomline and doesn't protect its poor is not worth supporting.

LazerLordz SG

In prinicple. Not referring to SG specifically.

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