Singapore celebrates it’s 45th year of independence in six days time. As the celebration draws near we are reminded of Singapore’s achievements and the importance of united as a community of citizens hence the one of the themes for this year’s National Day Parade is One Voice.
The reasons of why it is important to be united are as follows :-
· We will be proud to be Singaporeans
· We will defend the country together
· We will live in harmony
· We will share the achievement made in Singapore as a united community of citizens.
This essay is not to dispute the importance of being united in Singapore as one community but it is based on whether being successful in Singapore is important and it’s social consequences.
Nowadays, whenever I roam around beautiful Singapore and breath in the “fresh” air that Singapore has to offer , I cannot help to feel the word “ONE” being wrapped around me like a cocoon shell. I feel so “protected” by the word “ONE” because I know our police force strives to be number one but due to it’s over achievements, let a very dangerous terrorist escape.
Why do I feel this way? Well, it is because I often see the word “One” around me. For example, I have been coming across condominiums using the word one. For example : One Leicester, One Shenton and One Tree Hill One Forth. Even some organisations use the word “ONE” for their Dinner and Dance Party Team or for some related enrichment programs to educated their employees on forming a corporate culture.
Is being successful in everything important? After all, Singapore is a country that strives to be successful at all times and it has made great achievements in areas in transportation, financial sector and corporate governance whereas some countries could not. For example, Singapore has the best airport in the world, clean efficient government and a pretty good transport system.
Aiming to be successful is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a good thing but in everything that we do, there must be a balance. We cannot go around being successful at other people’s expense, putting people down, blackmailing other people and adopting scrupulous means to achieve our goals.
Singapore is a very competitive country. Nearly all of its citizens are caught in the rat race to succeed however one must not lose his or her moral values. Parents need to teach the right moral values to their kids. For example, they have to teach their children how to think for the unfortunate, help the weak, share their food, not to look down on those who are poor and to achieve their goals in the right way. If parents themselves do not practice good moral values, then their children would learn the wrong values.
It is not common in Singapore for kids to learn that they have to obtain certain valuable items so that they would been deem influential. Parents may teach their kids that being influential is one factor that will help them achieve success in their goals. They may not teach their kids how to respect other people’s feelings. Therefore, a child may boast that he has the latest handphone in his/her school. This may bring about resentment among the children that can’t purchase the phone. A child may steal the handphone from the child.
In this case, there are two scenarios’ we can learn from the outcome of trying to become influential in society. One is due to the fact that the child had the best phone in order to be considered as an influential human being in society, other children become jealous of the child which resulted in the stealing of the phone. The second is that due to the fact that by having that phone makes one deem to be influential in society, the child stole the phone in order to meet society standards in order to be influential.
These scenarios’ happen when parents or maybe even advertisements teaches children that they have to obtain certain goods in order to be considered influential or that being number one is the most important thing in their lives and anything below that is unacceptable. In Singapore, where majority of Singaporeans are pretty influential ( just read the newspapers, there are more millionaires being sprung out ), the minority would definitely be left out and if parents do not teach their children to be considerate about people’s feelings, then there will be social anomie between the rich and the poor.
In Singapore, our education system has been implemented by scholars who have reached the top of their ladder. They attribute the Singapore education system to their success. Since they had succeeded in the education system, they enhance it to suit the needs of the more intellectual students. The educational programs that they create only cater to middle class families and above. Why? Most of these programs may require personal computers, televison, notebooks to accomplish the tasks. What about those that cannot afford to have the latest technological equipment in their house? To they fail because they are poor? They may be intelligent but because they are poor and the way education programs are created, they may not succeed in the Singpoare's education sysyem and fall by the road side. It is a very sad situation but it is happening. Children who may not have the same intelligence capabilities as others struggle and have to play catch up. Some teachers find it tough to implement some schemes recommended by these scholars as the schemes that worked for them may not work on others. The teachers in turn are blamed for not implementing the schemes. What an unfair world we live in. Our educations system is designed in a way that only the smartest and the materially sound would be able to survive. So if being number one is so very important, what happen to those that that cannot survive in the Singapore education system in order to be the best?
Well those that cannot make it have to find other ways to climb the ladder and be successful in Singapore. For children that are materially sound parents, they would be able to have an overseas education. For those that are less fortunate, they have to find other material means or ways to be successful and survive in Singapore. Singapore is a country whereby the cost of living will always rise. Therefore, Singaporeans must be materially well off to survive. The Singapore government do not hand out “welfare benefits” like other countries do. The saying only the strong survives applies very strongly to Singapore’s society.
Parents may be too overtly obsessed on finding ways that would help their children to be successful in their education and would want them to score straight “A” throughout their school life. Unfortunately, in Singapore, obtaining straight “A” s is rather the norm. Those who can’t obtain good academic results are left behind. Some parents may use extreme methods to make their children succeed in school. For example, they will cane their children if they obtain a grade less than A in their school work, they are banned from going out with their friends, they cannot watch television and they are not allow to play their favourite computer games. These reasons are not exclusively exhaustive. As a result, their children rebel against their parents. They may join street gangs and indulging in some undesirable activities. For example, glue sniffing, fighting and pre-marital sex.
Therefore, are parents to be blame for their children becoming delinquent due to their relentless persuade for their children to obtain the best academic results? Yes and No. Yes, if they apply extreme pressure on their children without regarding their children’s well being. No, if their parents subscribe to societies, especially Singapore’s society, norms on the importance of success in order to survive. Parents inadvertly apply stress on themselves by comparing their children’s success with other children’s success. It becomes a rat race to see who can finish first and it is their children who suffer. It is very sad. Children come in different shapes and forms. They have different abilities. If parents are not blinded with the obsession of being successful, their eyes would be “opened” and they would recognise their children’s talents and weakness. They will be able to help their children capitalise their strengths and try to turn their weakness into their strengths or eradicate their weaknesses. They would also be able to provide their children with a more and balance wholesome life and that does not include taking their children on holiday every year just to compensate the stress they press on their children to succeed.
As more and more Singaporean become successful, there will be a minority that would always be trap in the poverty gap. It is a social phenomenon that happens in all capitalistic countries. The rich always get richer and the poor get poorer. For those who are successful, they must try to find a way to help those that are poor to climb out the poverty gap. However, some may say who am I to help the poor! Nobody touches my money!! However, you are called to be united in Singapore and one of the fundamental principles of being united is to help your fellow citizens. What I am suggesting may be an over idealistic idea but if only there is such thing as a utopian society, then what I have suggested may actually happen.
Some organisations may have employees who are obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder. They may indulge in scrupulous means without regarding the well of their fellow colleagues to obtain success. For example, they may indulging in backstabbing, insider trading and “robbing” other people’s project. Why should all these undesirable activities be happening if we are taught the right moral values in how to achieve our goals in life? Unfortunately, that is life. There is always the good and the bad. We can however reduce these undesirable activities but not totally eradicate them from happening by teaching our children that success is not the most important thing in life and they have to achieve their goals in a proper and justifiable manner that is deemed appropriate by society.
The next scenario may not be a normal situation in organisations but it does happen. It is unhealthy to have such problems in an organisation. Some departments in an organisation may be dedicated more “privilege jobs” with more value to the organisations than other departments. In most cases, these departments may be more recognised for their work then others and if they are more successful in their performance, they may cultivate elitism behavioural patterns among their fellow colleagues thus segregating themselves from other departments. For the very fact that they are to obsessed with success and being better than the rest, they may disregard the work processes of their other fellow colleagues in other departments and may want other departments to cater to their working needs first beyond all others.
Top management in organisations should share their profits with their employees. If they are selfish and do not want to share their successes with others, their employees may become disgruntled. Too farfetched? It may not happen in Singapore, however, in countries like Britain and France, due to having strong union ties, employees have risen up against their employees if they feel that they are not being treated fairly. Top management must realise that their success is due to their employees hardwork. They must provide funds to help their employees to upgrade. Those in need of funds would be those who are not capable to have the material means to upgrade themselves. Organisations or even governments should pay for their education, be it if they are studying in a private or public institution. A better educated workforce may help an organisation be more successful and earn more profits.
Therefore, being able to set for goals and achieving goals is a good habit that all should adopt. Parents should cultivate in their children the right values and ways to obtain success. They must not subscribe to society’s pressure, especially ours, to be obsessed with success. They may inadvertly cause harm to their children if they apply pressure on their children to succeed without regarding their well being. Organisations must share their successes among their employees. Employees must not be obsessed in being successful in the expense of their fellow employees. Departments must not create an elitism atmosphere in their organisations. If not, boundaries of work would be drawn between departments. It is not good to be obsess with being successful and obtaining the required success without regarding the well being of other people. We should have balance in our lives. After all, all work but no play makes Jack a dull boy. If you have the time, relook at your life and ask yourself whether you are living a good and well balanced life. Is being successful the only think you want to achieve in your life eventhough it may harm your well being? I leave you with this question to ponder upon. Happy National Day.
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