NUSS Forum : Elitism, SAP schools and Singapore Inc.

Elitism, SAP schools and Singapore Inc.

SAP schools should be more inclusive. That's one of the points I have made during the NUSS Forum.

This is not really a "NEW POINT" which I have made, just that it was not emphasized in the past. I have made this point way back in GE2011 during my Tampines Election Rally. I have this view since I was 13 years old when I was enrolled into River Valley High, a SAP (Special Assistant Program) school.

When I first walked in to RV, I was quite disturbed because there was no Malay or Indian students. We are a Multi-Racial, Multi-Ethnic country and it is regrettable that I was not able to grow up in a learning environment together with other races.

Such deficiency has negative impact on the overall outlook and perspective of a SAP school student. Luckily for me, I took extra effort to make more Malay friends and try to understand them, their religion and culture. I even took the effort to read part of the English translated Koran back in secondary school.

I always feel that we should make an effort to include Higher Malay and Higher Tamil (last time we termed it as "First Language") in SAP schools so that our fellow Top Malay and Indian students who have done well could have the opportunities to enjoy the same system with excellent resources which provides good education to our Top Chinese students in Singapore.

The lack of Malay and Indian students will deprive these Top Chinese students the lifetime opportunity to mingle around with other ethnic groups and thus, reduced their ability to integrate and understand these ethnic groups better. If these Top Chinese "elites" were to become future leaders in all fields of the society, including politics, then there could be a problem of disconnection with other ethnic groups. This is totally unhealthy.

I raise this point of SAP school when a participant asked about "Elitism" in Singapore. I feel that the main problem is not "Elitism" but rather how we could form a cohesive leadership generations after generations if our SAP schools lack inclusiveness of the other ethnic groups of the society.

Furthermore, with regards to political leadership, the main problem with PAP government is not just about the ruling elites being disconnected from the ground but rather, they run Singapore like a company instead of a country.

There is a vast difference in perspective here. A company only cares about profits and bottom lines (i.e. GDP growth at all cost) and it could just get rid of people who are unproductive. But for a country like Singapore, there will be people who are unproductive for various reasons but could we as a Nation throw them away into the sea? Of course not! We should just stop this nonsense of Singapore Inc.


Goh Meng Seng