PHILIP YEO: NO VALUE SYSTEM, NO FUTURE

Spirit of Fire SG

ST Tuesday, March 27

"If people don't have a sense of value, they're just worse than mercenaries... My generation has a value system, we hope the present generation does. And people who don't have that, we'd better forget them. Hire more hungry non-Singaporeans to come here, & they will add to our value system. And that is the most important. If you have no value system, there is no future. I'm known as very tough because I believe we all must have a value sytem. Maybe I'm old-fashioned."

PHILIP YEO, commenting on a recent Sunday Times article, where he was reported to have clashed online with Singaporean blogger Chen Jiahao.

Bloody piece of s_h_i_t, all talk no action!!! Our fault is it?!! It's totally useless for him commenting on the newspaper. He think that S'poreans have the power to change the system, he said like very easy. If he think the present generation don't have a value system, he should go & tell LKY's PAP government, who was the actual creator of the present 'no value system', which emphasizes a lot only on obtaining good grades!!!

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Here’s the problem. A lot of the older folks subscribe to that holier than thou mentality. They are hte main source of PAP support. See, this is what you get in a country that is still fossilized in this sort of thinking.

Herzog_Zwei SG

I believe that present day Singapore came about through hard work and materialism. Everyone wants the basic necessities and is willing to go through all means and ways to get them even through hornest work, so technically Philip Yeo is wrong to comment about the older generation having a good value system.

In fact, as CEO of A*Star, he should look further down the road as the basic family system begins to disintergrate due to work stress and economic inflation. The government is now complaining about declining birth rates and yet Mr Yeo chose to complain about the value system of Singaporeans.

Technically, there is no way to deconflict the issues being brought up, so Mr Yeo should shut his yap before the social and economic systems crumble.

SevenEleven SG

values? I think he does not know what he is talking about. our dear "Top Civil Servants (including ministers)" need to be entice with salaries comparable to top earners least they may jump ship when given more salaries by others.

so what is values? It can be purchase with $$$

kilua SG

The problem with Philip Yeo is he think he is always right.

Chen JiaHao raised a very good question regarding the high GPA 3.8 requirements.

If A-Star is looking for good researchers, they should scrap the GPA 3.8 average requirement.

He should read the book by the former APA president, John Sternberg on
thinking styles. The book explains why some Straight A students when asked to produce original research fumble and when some C- Students, given a chance to do their own independent research are tremendously successful.
Einstein wasnt good at exams in university isnt it?

(If you read his biography - Sternberg was a C student in his early years in university and went on to produce excellent research and became the leading authority in human intelligence)

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Styles-Robert-J-Sternberg/dp/052165713X

Or maybe he missed Terman's longitudinal studies on High IQ children where none went to win Nobel prize, while there was this boy Terman deemed not "intelligent" enough to be included in his studies, went on to invent the transistor and win a nobel prize

securechain SG

Quote: If people don't have a sense of value, they're just worse than mercenaries...

Thinking aloud: He could be referring to top echelon salary increases as well

Quote: My generation has a value system, we hope the present generation does. And people who don't have that, we'd better forget them.

Thinking aloud: How true...just like the views of many about forgetting those people as Ministers/Perm Secs/etc if what these people need is more money to keep them from corruption and entice them to join and stay. His generation, like himself, LKY, Goh Keng Swee, Hon Sui Sen, Lim Kim San, etc....sure had that value system...I agree too.

Quote: Hire more hungry non-Singaporeans to come here, & they will add to our value system.

Thinking aloud: Yup...that's right... outsourcing is the main trend of this century...why not the civil service if it gets so ridiculously "valueless"? I mean which is a worst evil... outsourced 3rd parties planning policies which may not affect them, since they can just get up and go....or getting "valueless" highly paid Singaporean elites doing the planning....who could then also get up and go....but with alot of our money????

Quote: And that is the most important. If you have no value system, there is no future.

Thinking aloud: Exactly the sentiment of many people....but we all know it is the bigger issue we are concerned about....that of the people planning our lives...

..... hmmm.....my gosh ..... is there a hidden message here????......I certainly hope so....gives people some hope that there are people in the system who do not subscribe to all this madness...

the Bear SG

i wonder sometimes too...

what if my value system differs from his value system..

i value my time with family and friends...
i value my sanity and lower stress values in my life...
i value taking time off to laze around and admire the wonders of nature
i value the smell of flowers as i walk life's journey...
i value the quality of life...
i value friendship without needing something in return..
i value the ability to sit back and relax...
i value....

i'd be deemed a slacker and derided as a failure..
i'd be valueless...
i'd be something he may never understand..
i'd be happy..

now what?

AndrewPKYap SG

we think that raising GST; lowering corporate tax and paying P*P ministers more millions is helping the rich with the poor's money but they think it is helping the poor.

we think that being paid $1.2 million should be enough to attract honorable good people to become ministers, they think that it takes $2.2 million

we think that they are just being greedy, they think we owe them a living

In other words...

we order Laksa Mai Hum; they order Mee Siam Mai Hum. Rolling Eyes

BillyBong SG

As much as i consider Philip Yeo to be exceptionally arrogant, he has produced results, and he has done so using his vision and methods.

Do not be so quick to dismiss someone who has brought his brand of success to Singapore. As much as you might hate him, we do need such people around, if only a handful to role-play the 'bad guys'.

chiabaliao SG

He belongs to the old vanguards of EDB, whose sole purpose is to bring in investments and create a stable platform for Singaporeans to stand on. that's what they care about - stability. But in today's world, it's about creating movable platforms for one to jump around without constraint against new ideas. The only constant is change, and ideas propel the change. Hence the gulf in perceptions on values between the old and the new. They are so stuck on stability that they fall back on the only criteria they know - straight A's scholars to bring in results. But that's totally inadequate in today's world.

securechain SG

Precisely! That's why I think his message is double-edged.....he is trying to play the "bad guy" within the system, that does not agree with all these salary talk....at least I hope ....and pray....that that is the case....

robertteh SG

I think people who disagree with what Philip Yeo said about his various high-profile actions and methodologies like his method of attracting investments etc do not necessarily aim at him personally.

They probably disagree with him about what he said he had done because what he had done falls far short of what Singapore needs to do to compete effectively in the globalisation age.

What Singapore has done is to attract foreign investments but what it has not done is to create an environment conducive to business vibrancy for its own domestic sector of the economy.

Such pro-business actions should include:

(1) encourages every one including the ordinary and humble persons with ITE or poly education to excel in whatever he is doing;

(2) encourages every one to apply knowledge including existing knowledge to their best of their ability as this action will nurture business entrepreneurship and start-ups. This promotion of mass practical knowledge application is more important than sheer promotion of academic talents and grades. It can be done by EDB, MOE, MTI and our ministers at every level and can be done through schools and work places. Philip Yeo merely promotes foreign investments and has neglected coming up with relevant master plan to achieve higher level of excellence needed to turn around the moribund economy. What he has championed is only aimed at narrowly rewarding the elites and those with higher education.

Herzog_Zwei SG

We don't need such people in the future of Singapore as much as we don't need the communists in Singapore.

Otherwise, people will stay stagnant in their roles and will not aspire to better society and themselves.

SevenEleven SG

i applauded is abilities but given his backing and resources, who couldn't. when LKY wanted to clean up Singapore River, did he physically do it? with his influence and resources he did it. when you are given all the resources and backing you can also do it.

countdracula SG

i’m pretty much anti-establishment and not a fan of yeo but he does make a point about the youths these days…they are very much at both end of the extremes, you get the very well educated, sheltered and self-assuming….then you get the mediocre bunch who are school dropouts whose key interest is in having the latest handphone and little else….finally you get the middle of road bunch, who got through the required education but are usually self-absorbed and looking to cruise through life without trying to change anything or anyone…the future doesn’t bode too well….

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

And just who raised these "self-absorbed" youth?

Let's us be frank. We can hurl the blame left right centre, but incidentally, raising the next generation and educating them happens to be the responsibility of the previous. If they turned out differently from what the previous expected, then just who is at fault? Moreover, the previous generation in Singapore simply are so stuck in an old mindset that incidentally will not survive in this world. The previous generation believe that mere hard work will succeed. I am afraid that is not the case now. With the world so globalised, it is hard to stay rooted in one place anymore. The previous generation was guaranteed an iron rice bowl, but such a bowl no longer exists. Criticise the youth of a lack of loyalty, but Singapore's development is rapidly running onto a plateau. Reinventing has its limits.

Urroh SG

aiyah dun blame the govt for everything. Take a hard look at Singaporeans, look at the news everyday. I am sure teachers didnt taught us to lose our values of life. Family always come first.

In the world money talks.. if you are a millionaire.. you had got nothing more to gripe about.

Rolling Eyes

BillyBong SG

Men like MM Lee and Philip Yeo belong to an era where putting the fear into people in order to drive them was a better method then earning their respect and loyalty.

Yet one cannot deny the results. It is easy to say that with such a strong financial backing, anyone can duplicate his success; but that's rhetorical speech, as it's just as easy to end up losing your millions in a bad investment.

Philip Yeo is already stepping down, change will take place, and A*Star will get the reforms it needs. The sparring match between himself and Dr Lee Wei Ling was already his swansong.

BillyBong SG

Those who cannot deny his successes will probably agree with you: that they do not see eye to eye with him or his ideas.

Let's not forget Philip Yeo himself is probably respected and loved by those whom he nurtured, scholars who made it big with his system, those who prospered as a result of it.

No one system is best for all. There are also those few who fail to make the cut. The difference is whether one can recognize it and prevent themselves from falling into this trap.

Our system doesn't not tolerate failures, and Philip Yeo's is just a plain example of it. The only difference is that the bar was set phenomenally high.

the Bear SG

he should stay a CEO and not talk about value systems...

corporations have NO values except a psychotic pursuit of profit, damn everything else..

that's not a value for humanity