THE RISE OF THE MERITOCRACY

15 June 2007
Cool Friday (24 Degree Celsius)
Night @ 2000 (Washington DC Time)
Listen: 勇气 by 梁静茹
Mood: *I am ALIVE!!!*

Somewhere in the near past, sociologists have conjured up an image of a society obsessed with talent. The date was 2034, and psychologists had perfected the art of IQ testing. But far from promoting social harmony, the preoccupation with talent had produced social breakdown. The losers in the talent wars were doubly unhappy, conscious not only that they were failures but that they deserved to be failures. Eventually they revolted against their masters.

The rise of the talent elite has bred resistance, argument range from choosing people on the basis of their talents would "disorganise society and debase education" to dismiss IQ tests as "devices invented by Jews for the advancement of Jews" as we all have heard. Leftists also argued that meritocracies were not only unpleasant but unjust. If "talent" owed more to nature than nurture, as many social scientists insisted, then rewarding people for talent was tantamount to rewarding them for having privileged parents. Knowing who seems to matter less than knowing what you are. It seems awkward to the point of blasphemy that having lesser of the evil seems to be the action of day.

For example, following the logic of all homosexual confirm go to hell or as what the bible said it would, and if (for discussion purpose) all people will eventually end up there (hell, where else) unless they repent and accept certain criteria (such as God), then we might as well go homo? Of course, that is way beside the point but you get the message.

Let’s put this in perspective in the context of say, Singapore (meritocracy, not homosexuality). To some extent, it is notable and admirable that there are instances where people of lower caste are able to rise up to the upper echelon based solely on their merits; either super smart or being super lucky. Armed with a prestigious scholarship and off to a new start in life, we can safely assume to be better. True also, that you don’t need to be born with a silver spoon (though that would very much help in most ways you can never imagine). But seriously, who are they trying to kid? These examples are at best what people in POWER conjure up to spice up the meritocracy theory and also trying to boost their offspring’s’ chances in later life. Like Killing so many birds with one stone, Ah how so you might ask… Well, let’s just say for most instances, it is who you are related to that matter, nothing else.

From a very Confucius dominated society, the ruling party knows this only too well. That is why I suspect that these scholarships are used blatantly to give the much needed nudge for their children. Nothing wrong with that, especially the fundamentals are still you know, the same throughout the years. But nothing is said about the statistics. Statistics to show that having powerful parents (like Member of Parliaments, Ministers) equate to offspring getting the coveted scholarship and at the same time, not robbing a slot for the more deserving (poorer? who knows). I am sure there is one, hidden somewhere in some backwater government agencies, one that will not see the light of any given day. And I can be (to some certainty) that it could well be in the upper end of the median. I mean, come on, surely you can’t be expecting the children of say the Prime Minister NOT getting any scholarship right? Even if in the worst case scenario, he is (God forbid) an average Joe, surely amongst the many prizes, one would be willing to present him that extra nudge? Not least his dad is your ONE & Only Boss that matters.

Again, I am not saying it is wrong, heck, I am totally for it. Which parents would not want to provide the best for their kids and within reasonable means (legality is so passé), give the right amount of push to see that he will eventually succeed in life? There are of course checks & balances in place, you can argued until the cow decomposed on its transparency, but the truth is, not many really care about which ministers or MP’s kids getting a slice of the pie; people of lower caste will and have not been deprived of it if they have proven their worth. So far so good… Yup, So far so good. At least I have not heard of any cow peh-ing on this. But then, our media are pretty controlled item here, so yup, there you have it, might as well go and fuck cow, right?


Then there is the case of making it palatable. Of course we now know of the public sentiments for various hikes done throughout this year. The backlash is not inevitable; ministerial pay rise, GST, Nets and now Holy mother of Cows, Starhub. Not that I am a sports fan, which I am really not but still, I advocate a little tact. Yup, still quite tactless after a few misses with the PR. Surely someone in the public relations office should get the sack. Given, there are no better ways to tell the masses the bad news, but they could do it with more diplomacy. Well, if there’s an Oscar for the insincerest pig ever, it should be the PR guy from Starhub trying to smoke his way (with a certain Bushism tendency I may add); take it or leave it, if cannot leave (because of Contract), haha, Too bad, you can kiss my ass in the meantime. You see, it is precisely this kind of attitude that got the most flak. He is lucky, he don’t have to answer to the powerful senate committees on such a hike. Sometime, just sometime, I wonder how much wayward our system is compare to say, the US.

I mean our wondrous government is trying to play down its fault while trying to celebrate the defaults of others but then for whatever reasons, the other works! Even in a place as huge and diverse as the US. Ya lah, it reek of pork barrel politics and all for show only but hey, I bet my last cent Starhub wouldn’t dare to raise a penny if they did not have hard data up for scrutiny. And the committee will ask really darn powerful questions in front of national television (more because you have not bribed him enough, or worst, slept with his daughter). Yup, some American actually bothers to see the proceeding err, like me but that’s another story. As I was telling my colleagues over lunch today, you don’t have to be the smartest to become the president (for example), all you need is to be surrounded by ablest and brightest people. Same goes for the committee; you think you can dismiss those old fools on the pedestal, haha, don’t forget, for every senator, there are like a thousand of staffers giving him a five cent worth of data (compare to your miserable penny). And to appear an Idiot in front of these old men are not your best retirement policy.

One Notable tactless example which sprang to mind is the recent pay review done by my company; a graduate executive could earn over & above the entry pay of most engineering graduates just 3 years back. And for that matter, my human resources are not helping either. They have snubbed me for my Winner Mentality and hardwork. If that is not enough, they added that having winner mentality (as my below cartoon shows) does not equal to automatic recognition, one must go through some placement exercise like bootlicking and only when it is approved, then it will be taken into account.

So I was thinking, Other things being equal, in my case for instance, it makes more sense to quit and rejoin the company, and in between time, earn a better paycheck and with less responsibility. So you see, good old hard work and having a winner mentality would not make a difference to one life’s in this company. But seriously, if I have a winner mentality, why would I stay on?

Oh yes, forgotten, Starhub and my company are owned by the government… Ah, silly bird. Of course no need to answer to anyone lah, as the saying goes, Let the MILKING began! As the saying also goes, Honesty is the best policy, but then insanity is a better defence in case I get sued for defamation. Oh well that’s life, ain’t sweet but I guess it is ok for now.

Miss you, Yup, still do ;)

Hope you missed me too…