Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam 11 has stressed the need to move beyond the soulless pursuit of academic qualifications:. To underline this mindset change, new initiatives such as SkillsFuture which offers training grants and subsidies to all Singaporeans are signalling that everyone at every stage in life has the capacity to acquire new skills, and that help will be given to enable them to do so.
Public Service Commission scholars today are drawn from a more diverse pool that includes polytechnic graduates and those who attended specialised programmes such as the School of the Arts. While in the past, the Public Service had separate schemes of service for graduates and non-graduates, there is now a single scheme of service, meaning that starting academic qualifications are no hindrance to career advancement, which is based on performance on the job.
Meritocracy as a system tends towards unequal outcomes: for instance, higher wages in a profession may be necessary as an incentive to effort and skill. However, there are limits to the levels of inequality that we find acceptable as a society. While we still value self-reliance and hard work, there has been a greater acknowledgement of the need for collective responsibility and care for the vulnerable. There are some things which individuals cannot do on their own and there are other things which we can do much better together.
So we must shift the balance. The community and the Government will have to do more to support individuals. Recent policies have leaned towards greater redistribution and strengthening social safety nets, 13 including enhancements to public assistance, universal health insurance, and significant new benefits for the elderly. Such major initiatives, all of which have a redistributive element, are being funded in part through a more progressive tax structure.
They indicate the need for the most successful in a meritocratic society to play a greater part in contributing to the wellbeing of all.
It will take time for the effects of these policy shifts to be felt. It will take years more for long-held social attitudes to change. Singapore is likely to maintain faith in the spirit of meritocracy; however, as with all principles, the way in which it is realised will continue to evolve. Tiana graduated from Stanford University and is currently pursuing a master's degree.
A Singapore Government Agency Website. Mobile Menu. Search Box Search. Tiana Desker. Date Posted 14 Feb Issue Issue 14, 14 Feb Topics Social Governance Public Administration. The Critique of Meritocracy With the advent of globalisation, labour flows and rising social inequality in societies around the world, 1 critics have come forward with several criticisms of meritocracy as it is conceived and practised today. Mobility and Inequality One criticism levelled at meritocracy is that it offers the promise of equality of opportunity, but does not deliver.
Today however, some have expressed concern that the lines of wealth, status and cultural capital are gradually hardening: Having a wealthy background can give you the upper edge from the very beginning through an expensive, private kindergarten education, and later on through expensive tuition, enrichment programmes that will benefit you when applying for school, and connections for good internships and jobs.
In the words of the report of the Malayanisation Commission: 1 Read More Meritocracy: The Historical Context In Singapore, a commitment to meritocracy first emerged in debates over the Malayanisation of the civil service in the s.
In the words of the report of the Malayanisation Commission: 1 It is essential that, apart from statutory requirements, every officer should feel that he can get right to the top if he is sufficiently meritorious and paper qualifications should not be a sine qua non for promotion. More in this issue. Opinion Governance in an Age of Uncertainty.
Those who do not have the credentials will have a more challenging time trying to keep up with and to match those who do.
More resources are offered to those who have the "merits", while those who do not might struggle to obtain these same resources. The reform in the education sector, spearheaded by former DPM Tharman when he was Minister of Education, is bearing fruits. More students are entering higher education, or given a second chance to upskill. These are things that have evolved for good. There is not enough recognition and compensation for skills-based professions, e.
We need a mindset change, and to recognise and pay more for essential blue-collar services. Lastly, the system in the public service division has a secondary, but nevertheless important impact on work culture in Singapore and how we compensate high performers. It remains a very top-down and elite-driven system that is not tolerant of different voices.
The issue is not so much the lack of mobility in the public sector, but rather the culture that sets the tone for the rest of Singapore Inc, i. Chee: The major difficulty, I feel, is ensuring that equal opportunities are given to everyone. For example, factors such as gender, race and age might also influence access to resources as well as the trajectory of success for individuals.
Trying to ensure fairness is a challenge. Perhaps this might be due to human nature, where we might unintentionally stereotype individuals based on these factors and hence, form certain conceptions of what the person is capable or incapable of.
This then furthers inequalities and future progression. That said, there will always be inequality in a society. We can try to equalise it or remove it, but the reality is that it is human nature. Divisions and differences will exist and individuals will be "ranked" accordingly. Unfairness in access to resources, job opportunities, etc. The bigger question, then, is how do we try our best to "equalise" while keeping in mind the reality of people having different experiences and definitions of what success and upward mobility are.
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