meritocracy and equality

crimson soldier SG

Whatever happened to these values?

The wage gap between the rich and poor is simply disturbing. While some big families survive on less than a few hundred per month, there are 20 year old kids driving bmws and mercs.

And look at the way scholarships are awarded. Most are awarded to people who are rich enough to study overseas. They take the scholarships because they can or they are good enough, not because they genuinely need them. By doing so, they ruin the chances of another person.

To think that my father always forbade me from claiming the 200dollars edusave award I could get for being the top few students in my primary school then. just because we could do without it(i live in a 4 room hdb)

LinYu SG

what values?

it certainly can be bought with $$$

otherwise we will have lots of corrupted ministars if $$$ not enough
Mad Mad Mad

charlize SG

Without a scholarship, how would one become a 2 million dollar a year minister?

Risk free and no need to perform much some more. Laughing

crimson soldier SG

everyday I feel more sad about being Singaporean.

TMD!!!

Ito_^ SG

ideally i like it.

but in reality, its juz a bloody excuse for the ppl above.

mistyblue SG

talk is cheap, so we hear lots of top officials talk.
I have not seen any of them talk the walk, walk the talk.

Arapahoe SG

when i was a student many many moons ago. I saw a News TV interview with margaret thatcher.

The questions post to her if she believe in equality.

And her straight forward answer is "NO" we are not equal.

There are people with unique talent and there are people with unique skills and they are going to be excel in particular talent.

There are people with special interest and they are going to be lookin out for their own interest. Individual who share that interest are going to be drawn into that same demographics.

Product are made differently, Better technology does not mean that it will translate to good sales performance.

So it is only a moment in thought that we think we like to be equal. I am not sure in reality that is true.....

WiNtEr'SkiLL SG

Smile Smile

ShutterBug SG

In my opinion, these two words meant no different from a big crock of steamy BULLCRAP!!!

Slipshade SG

She's right. Nothing is fair and equal in this world.

To think that my father always forbade me from claiming the 200dollars edusave award I could get for being the top few students in my primary school then. just because we could do without it(i live in a 4 room hdb)

Good for your father, and good for you. Smile

hardyhall SG

Good or bad, everyone deserves what they get ... think about it .... think about it hard.

Don't blame others or envy what they have. Take responsibility for what you have become because you control your destiny.

Slipshade SG

Not necessarily. There is always a grey slate.

hardyhall SG

The grey slate is created as an excuse to absolve oneself from responsibility. Its always easier to blame others for your predicament.

Take responsibility for what you are now. You control your destiny.

crimson soldier SG

That is the ideal....but here is Singapore. Money rules.

Just look at the population breakdown at the top junior colleges and bottom ones. Its very, very obvious that the rich kids enjoy a better education.

It's a vicious cycle. The poor are getting poorer Confused

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Meritocracy assumes there is no class divide and all humans are on a level playing field which includes intelligence. However, there is a discernible class divide and jumping across has boiled down to the strength of the intellect in Singapore.

It is an unfortunate fact of our education system which is geared too much to intellectual achievement as defined by our govt and partly our society has too many conservative elements who aren't open to many other forms of achievement. It is this culture that also inhibits entrepreneurship because people in Singapore like certainty too much. Throw them into a country like the US some of them might just flounder and wither.

So a large problem with Singapore is the very narrow definition of meritocracy. In part it is because of our small economy and people are simply inundated by propaganda extolled by our Govt herding us into fields of their choice. Thinking our of the box might be extolled by the Govt, but yet they try to herd people into the fields of their choice.

It just struck me that the meritocracy message isn't really aimed at Singaporeans in general. Rather aimed at the Chinese across in Malaysia. Remember that the bumiputra policy was aimed at supporting the malays and granting them more opportunities than the Chinese.

Sometimes I wonder what is the point of extolling the virtues of meritocracy in the first place. Sure everyone has equal opportunity but not everyone has equal intelligence etc. Not everyone has the means to climb the ladder. The Govt doesn't want us to develop a crutch mentality but with an economy so narrow and opportunities few, what can one really do then?

jay_rocks SG

let’s protest . like shi ming de.

bluelantern SG

You might want to read a little about Sociology on how social structures, economic structures, and educational institutions have vast influences over the inhabitants before make such sweeping statements

http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/~wood/207socimagination.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/sociological-imagination

The sociological imagination is the ability to look beyond ones own everyday life as a cause for daily successes and failures and see the entire society in which one lives as potential cause for these things. It is described by C. Wright Mills in 1959 as a enabling its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. Mills goes on to describe people as being Seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary people do not usually know what this connection means for the kinds of people they are becoming and for the kinds of history-making in which they might take part. They do not possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of individuals and society, of biography and history, of self and world.

ShutterBug SG

Salutations!

That was so very well said!! Mr. Green

hardyhall SG

You should really think through deeply about what I wrote earlier.

I'm very well aware of what you are saying but your inability to rise above or think beyond these situations will make these situations real for you. You will become that poor guy who is caught in the death spiral unable to escape from the clutches of poverty, forever imagining "the powers that be" thumbing you down.

Be it the son of a high-ranking minister or the son of a lowly road-sweeper, you cannot keep one who controls & takes responsibility for his own destiny down. No pointing fingers, no blaming. Just action....

ShutterBug SG

Sounds like a PAP agent is here to bend minds...

Rolling Eyes