This is in response to what Gerald blogged and our brief discussion about Meritocracy.

I have to agree that Meritocracy is a pitfall. I’ll define Meritocracy here as “a system which rewards the people based on talent rather than on class privilege or wealth.”

Firstly, meritocracy is based on talent. But what defines talent? Singapore sadly defines that talent as, generally speaking, good education results. Students will pursue that A they want, and would not settle for B, as Singapore’s society defines getting As as talented. Very sad fact. If for example, a meritocracy society defines something else as that talent, then the direction of that society would be different. Sad to also say that good education results are the main talent defined by Singapore’s society, which, not many of us are naturally born with. Many of us have to work hard for it, thus promoting “kiasuism”. Even if we possess other talents, for example, excelling in sports, it would not impress others as much as getting good results.

Meritocracy does not exactly help a person gain personal satisfaction. Rather, it drives a person to gain society’s recognition. If I, for example, become a CEO of an MNC, I will be very happy of course, but this happiness would not last long, if this position is not what I personally want. This is because the happiness is based on exterior means-society’s recognition. I would feel more satisfaction if that position is what I personally, interiorly, want to achieve.

And based in Singapore’s meritocracy system, it just does not help me gain that personal satisfaction. Humans have to go through some challenges along their journey to achieve their goal, and when they overcome those challenges, they would be satisfied with it. Sadly, the challenges that Singapore’s meritocracy system poses are just so very typical. Typical challenges are: polytechnic students who are unable to gain entry to a local university, etc. These typical problems itself again promotes “kiasuism”, as for example, those polytechnic students have to find other typical means to gain entry to uni(ok, I’m not sure about this, but I feel that way).

One meritocracy system that I went through was my pre-uni course. My pre-u course helps me gain direct entry to any university in Australia. With the good positioning I have compared to others, it would be very easy for me to gain entry into any top Australia uni. However, I did not feel personally satisfied. And ya, going through 3 rounds of SAT is very gruelling. Coming to Singapore without guarantee of entering a uni here is definitely a risk. Nevertheless, it is because I went through these challenges that I feel personally satisfied and thankful to God that I gained entry into the university I want to. =)

Let’s compare it with Msia’s system, which is NOT based on meritocracy, but on advantages based on class privilege. The Bumiputeras get many social privileges like getting discount when buying property and gaining entry into public universities. These privileges affect the society so much that other people have to fend off for themselves. As a result, other races have to find other means to succeed in life. Take for example students of other races who go to private colleges. Some of them enter private colleges because they know they do not stand a good chance of entering a public university in Msia. If a choice were given, they may have chosen to go to government schools in order to cut down expenses on education, and lighten the burden of the whole family. Anyway, those who do not have a straight route to achieving what they want go through struggles that the Bumiputeras may not comprehend. It is these struggles that make non-Bumiputeras have the survival spirit, and will be able to gain more personal satisfaction in life.

I also have to agree with Gerald that the meritocracy system does promote GREED in a way. This is in his words:”You see, what we actually drill into our heads is the function of this place that allows me to be rewarded for whatever effort I put into my work. As such, this function is an EMPOWERING FUNCTION that allows for our greed to be materialised.
We want more, and since if we work hard, we get more, then we would -subconsciously- make the appropriate connections and work harder in a drive to get more.”

I’m becoming more and more critical about issues man...this is what university does to me, hah. =)