Meritocracy in principle and concept looks fine. It may seem harmlessly a fair system who allows the best to be given the opportunities to be groomed and recruited to high positions in the public service.
In practice is the system well implemented and do the ordinary people benefit from such a system? Who are the scholars now who could run Singapore and upgrade it basic labour-intensive economy to one which is technology and knowledge-driven ?
Over the past few recessions, we kept hearing about attempts at economic restructuring to one that is knowledge-based and technology driven but what happen?
Do we see our scholars fundamentally upgrading the political system which will better serve the people to prevent one which is concentrating too much power in the hand of one or a few top echelons?
Singapore leaders have been talking about various plans to make it a more competitive economy but we have heard of the answers from the leaders during the last two recessions - they would blame the lack of progress on people's lack of skills or training or re-training. So what happened to the years of investments by PSB, SPRING and all the SDF to upgrade the workers?
Do the people have to keep keeping for meritocracy to produce results and a more action-packed cabinet capable of delivering a value-adding and technology driven model talked about for ages?
The lack of progress in upgrading the economy showed that our meritocracy aimed at upgrading the public sector or government has not been successful.
Meritocracy should have been replaced by a broad-based education system starting from primary school to cream off the best who would be identified and well trained in practical or particular trades and vocations which would help to create more business start-ups. The academic education system can proceed apace with those good in academic university education streamed off to cater to different needs. But such broad-based education was neglected even up to the late 1990s as posted in many feedbacks to the government.
Today we have ended up aa a nation producing too many scholars of the academic kind to join the rank of great number of highly educated unemployed.
That is why since 2002, I for one have repeatedly pointed out the flaws of meritocracy system emphasised for years by MM Lee which was equivalent to the old China imperial examination system. Obvioulsy such a system has been crafted for the purpose of political domination and control by the government.
China has lagged behind in science and technology because of its past over-emphasis on sheer academic rote learning at the neglect of skills, trades and knowledge application.
But with so many scholars produced over a period of some 40 years, yet we still have failed to produce a political culture which is willing to push fo rreal change and competitiveness in upgradng the economy.
The only one minister who has the implementation abilities and capable of making great changes is Dr. Goh Keng Swee. The rest are just look-good concept people who could keep talking with nothing much accomplished except the legalistic ability to keep taxing and recovering all costs to create their own surpluses as seen happening in NKF.
Yes rob.,
there is NO Lack of skills in our people, it's the gov's lacking in faith of locals and ability to embrace changes to their stale policies.
It's basically narrow mindedness....