Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people in a most and just equal society. – Mr Lee Kuan Yew, 9th August 1965
41 years ago, tears were shed on national television as Singapore independence were announced. The people embarked its first step into nationalhood.
41 years on, tears were still being shed, though now by the citizens as they see money flowing out of their pockets. The government embraces its first step into elitism.
Democracy and equality? Right
Martin Luther King Jr. said:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal‘.
Equality is a simple yet big word. Obviously, despite equality being mentioned in our pledge, are people really equal? In work, I see from a third party’s view that scholars are given dibs, and they get high gradings even though they perform badly. Mr Wang mentioned: “those who perform well in their jobs may never get promoted. That’s because promotions depend on your potential, and potential has nothing to do with performance.”
In the army, scholar officers are promoted the fastest, usually reaching the rank of a colonel (3 crab). No matter how bad they perform, their ranking will always be better than anyone else. On the other hand, farmer officers (those who are non scholars, maybe a diploma or a’ level graduate), who perform better than these craps get mediocre rankings instead. If they are lucky, they’ll attain the rank of Lieutanent Colonel (2 crab).
I fully support Mr Wang’s stand, for I see it for myself. A scholar gets slightly higher salary than their counterparts, even though their education results are similar. Shortlisting wise, the moment people see the word “scholar”, they immediately call the person up for an interview.
Put 2 person in line, one with experience, one without. The one without is a scholar. What would the gahmen choose? Scholar, and they are even willing to pay him more.
You call this equality?
Actually if you don’t have a degree, you can’t even become an officer in the first place. Hurr hurr.
i’m sorry, but you are wrong. diploma grads can also be regular officers.
I was from a reservist training center in my NSF days. My OC (CPT) is a diploma grad. my chief trainer (MAJ) is a diploma grad. Even BCTC’s commander (LTC) is an a’ level grad.
so, you do not need a degree to be an officer. =)
cheers.