Correction. The current system favours the rich a lot more
because the rich hold all the levers. The rich, short of a
shareholder revolt, can simply feed themselves with very generous
pay packages. Even if the said CEO or what doesn't perform well, he
is still given a very generous renumeration package. It is the same
with this Govt. Regardless what happens, the said minister gets
paid extremely well, and even if he doesn't perform well and gets
kicked off, he gets kicked off to some GLC and still paid very
well.
Conversely, even if you are some rich man's son and you aren't
performing well in the Singapore education system, you have the
option of being sent off to an overseas school where things are of
a slower pace and you perform better. Or maybe you have cash for
tuition and what not. You immediately have that crutch.
However, if you are poor, unless you are academically brilliant
enough to make it through the education system, you are down to two
choices: Suck it up and go to Normal stream and be relegated to the
bottom rungs of society or start a business which will then return
to the question of finding the money to start up a business and the
odds of that happening are quite low, and well, how you might
advance up the social ladder has a small probability.
When everything hinges on academic ability, and given that not all
humans are gifted with the art of studying, you naturally have a
class barrier and it is more acute in a country like ours.
I would then add, that there seems to be a pervading sense among
the elite that poor people are there because "it is their fault"
and that is dangerous. One should recall history where the 16-19th
century was a time where there was a great amount of debate over
class and that cumulated with the French Revolution where a monarch
was disposed by open revolt. Class divides are seeds of such
violent revolutions. Just saying it is "their fault" does not help
anything except drive people into desperation with this unequal
wealth redistribution.
Further couple this with a very very palpable lack of support for
charities among the rich in Singapore, it isn't very very difficult
to see the poor getting disenchanted with the political system.
Philanthropy is simply rarely seen in Singapore. The notion of
giving something back to society seems to have disappeared
entirely. Whereas in the past you might find it, you can't now. And
this is disappointing.
