Newsflash: May 19 2007, The Sunday Times (ST10)
IN A meritocracy, some individuals are bound to do better than others.
But one big worry is that the elites – that is, those who rise to the top of the SIngpaore system – will become a class unto themselves and fail to empathise with the needs and problems of the rest of the society.
This could in turn breed resentment among those who do not make it to these top ranks, as they feel excluded and envious of those who do.
Such worries over a possible yawning gap between elites and non-elites occasionally boil over.
Click for full article:
“I don’t feel superior or inferior in school, by at church, when I meet friends from the neighborhood schools, there’s a distance. Some have commented that I’m ‘too smart’ for them. It’s disappointing, and it affects the friendship.”
- Grace Lum, JC2 Student, Raffles Junior College
“The Singapore Education system is merit-based and afford all students the opportunity to excel, regardless of their family background.”
- Statement from an officer from the Ministry of Education
Personal Reflection
Let me get this straight: I’m considered as an “Elite” in the Singapore Education system (notice the two “E”s). Hailing from Raffles Institution, I also come from a generally good family with a privileged socio-economic background.
In many ways, I’m blessed. And in many ways too, I want to avoid this topic.
But I’d like to tackle this topic in a very different way – that is, detaching this (supposedly) “elite, uncaring” column and considering a view completely independent from me. I do want to understand what the “other side of the fence” has to say.
Planting the Seeds
Academic prowess, manifested in both grades and intelligence aptitude tests, are commonly cited as discriminatory factors. A ST survey indicated, success to 7 in 10 students meant “winning a place in a top school or university”; “scoring As for exams” tailed narrowly behind. Wealth also means something, as Mr Ong (NUS undergraduate) asserted “I come from a working class family… Other students buy books, you always have to borrow from the library…“.
“…your sense of being ‘better’ is constantly reinforced…” – Miss Chia, 21, NUS undergraduate
A survey among 499 secondary students revealed that the most common elitist behaviour is looking down on those who are…
The Ivory Tower and the Golden Tower
To tell the truth, being in the elite was not an easy experience for me. I was from a typical neighbourhood – “typical” and “neighbourhood” – primary school for six years. I was an “elite” from primary 2 and hot-housed in the best class till P6, achieving the top of form more than twice. Ignorance is and was bliss, and it is only now that I realise my surrounding friends were “discussing” about me, the social urchin who “never had a social life”- malicious insults dripping with jealousy.
When I almost topped my school again for PSLE, I entered the hallowed halls of Raffles Institution, with the constant and humbling reminder from my mum: “In RI, they’re all very smart. You get average can already. Just do your best. Focus on your studies. And Make smart friends.” I believe many of my peers got the same advice.
But to different effects.
Some immediately assimilated negative parts of “RI culture” and formed a bad elite – that of being boisterous, rude, “poser” (the cool and hippy process of looking anything but good) and “slack” (the process of disassociating oneself from work or its assessment variants).
Then there was distinctly this “mugger” bunch, who took their parent’s advice and excelled in academic faculties.
After two years, I belonged to the latter, and did relatively well. I was considered “good” in the Special-Express branch.
After three years, I daresay that I am a very normal student, because my results pale in comparison with intellectuals from the Gifted Education branch. It is a humbling experience. The elite exists within an elite. My ascension to the Ivory Tower means nothing now – I still have another long flight of steps to the Golden Tower.
Below the Towers, on the Wide grassy fields
I have three cousins in my extended family who were from “neighbourhood” schools. From my few and sparse conversations with them (already a telling sign of differentiation), I learn that their parents constantly berate them for being “so stupid, can’t even get into an express school (meaning students offering higher mother tongue)”. Their own words say it best:
“everyday she (referring to his mother) told me don’t do this don’t do that… cannot watch tv, cannot play com… now only 4 hours every week. wtf… even jiawen gets to play 7 hours and she dns’t even hav a com lor… bloody unfair… shi* larr… sian. den she tells me go work, go “at least be like yongsheng (my younger cousin) and work hard, den get good results” and den orders me to start on my assignments. my foot lar… actually the tchrs also dun giv us work to do… nowadays any work i do from textbooks. stupid maths tchr mr tan says we’re sucky in maths… he shld go ask himself why. like my tchrs very good hor…“
- A personal response from a weblog concerning a “neighbourhood” student’s stance on his academic status
(Transcribed: Every day she doesn’t allow me to enjoy myself through computer games or watching the television. I’m only given limited times (4 hours) to do that, while even my disadvantaged peers get to play more than I do. My mother wants me to follow Yong Sheng’s (that is, mine) example and work hard to get better grades. What utter rubbish! Even our teachers have given up on us, when they can’t even teach us well.
Who gets the ladder?
Climbing up the ladder to the ivory tower is, by my own yardsticks, like juggling frogs (idiom). Factors that make or break one’s success include peer influence, freedom and space for potential growth, family backgrounds, and most importantly (I believe), personal drive and desire. These divisive factors – have these or not – play a larger role in success within Singapore’s academic system, rather than oft-cited “natural intelligence” or “larger tuition fees”. These actually let the “neighbourhood” pupils have resources to perform.
Some would rather refer to the above blog entry as the “diary of an un-elite”. What defines today’s elitism (even in our context) is not about having a society where elites exist, because as long as they are more than one human, there’s always potential to discriminate and segregate. Rather, elitism occurs when a mindset change occurs – within minds of the very best, minds that were developed and treated with special care – and these humans endow “haloes of prestige” on each other’s foreheads and congratulate each other heartily over imported French wine.
Towers need bricks, too.
Elites have their own worries to look after. A practical approach to a results-oriented system would simply be to produce best results. Success can reach infinite, and an insatiable, want-to-get-more-want-to-get-more mentality would prove miserable for the elite. The same goes for academic fields, which the Singapore education system overtly defines as success.
That Elite in a Meritocracy
“Because behind this mask lies an idea, Mr Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.”
- V, in blockbuster “V for Vendetta”
Mindsets are possibly the hardest elements to change within an increasingly critical society. Show me what you got, show me the money, and show me the results. Therefore one must inspire action to rectify the implications of the term “elitism” in context to Singapore’s education.
Give the elites maximum opportunities to perform. You don’t clip an eagle’s wings – you let them soar. As Mr Magendiran (Senior Deputy HM, RI) would answer, “Higher expectations are usually placed on the students of these (elite) schools.” Place mental loads on those who can endure the rigorous intellectual testing, so that when those fetters are stripped away, they may fly even higher for Singapore.
The elite is a potent fighting force for Singapore on many global stages – if you need brain surgery, you go to an expert neurosurgeon (Singapore has a number of these). If you want to learn golf well, get Tiger Woods as your coach. Elites are a necessary good.
At the same time, strike a balance for those in “neighbourhood schools” to reduce potential rifts in education. Give the disadvantaged, give the less gifted, give the less intellectually able students their own power and freedom to fly, without generations of perpetuating socio-economic ills. Parents can show they value their children more. The Ministry (of Education) can give teachers liberty to select students with passion to excel and provide them special education or mental and emotional assistance (besides scholarships and bursaries). These success stories can be a signpost for others. You don’t have to be elite to be good.
My ivory tower has plenty more room to spare.
References
- “High anxiety – an elite affliction?”, 19 May 2007, ST 10 – Ken Kewk
- (must read!) On Exams and Education and Education and Elitism – Sensei Michael’s Blog
- “Educational Elitism to Education for All – An analysis of the Nepalese Education System”
- “Say it Loud, I’m Elite and Proud!” (Forum Response)
- “Elitism in Higher Education” – P L Vishweshwer Rao
- The Guardian – “Funding UK Higher Education: From Elitism to Mass Market”
- The Guardian – ‘We must fight elitism in higher education’
- “Widening participation in higher education: from elitism to inclusion” – Diana Warwick
- Equality and Elitism in Chinese Higher Education – An insightful and useful thesis by Li Hong Huan
- “The Failure of Modern Public Education” (refer to section 7) – John Taylor Gatto
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Wong Yong Sheng (29) 3C Raffles Institution
TERM 3
501 words (exclusive of the news article, references, footnotes & external quotations)
