absolutum dominium

as i read today's sunday paper, i was once again visually bombarded by our msm selling us the idea of welcoming foreign talent. once again, the partisan views of our msm aren't lost on us, as much as they try to disguise these views with good layout editting and stomp.

so apparently the crux of the selling to do with foreign talent, is along the lines of making singapore more diverse and vibrant and along with tt, increasing our economic competitiveness globally (isn't tt always the case?).

while meditating on (everything other than) the word of god in church today, it suddenly struck me tt maybe, just maybe... this need for drawing from a global 'talent pool' (or so we are told), is a natural progression of a meritocratic society. after all just as globalisation and the effects of outsourcing and the like are the natural progressions from a capitalist economy, and as singapore strives to (i sound like a stat board publication here) keep up with the joneses of the world, we have to draw on this global 'talent pool' to survive.

and it shouldn't even be surprising - it is a natural progression of our meritocratic society.

singapore prides itself on meritocracy. although connections do play a part in certain fields depending on who you know, and although a larger percentage of people who rise through the ranks tend to derive from the upper middle echelons of society; for the large part your status and position in society, your wealth, the pay you draw, the recognition you get; namely stems from merit. academic merit.

it doesn't really care so much which family you were born to or what household income you were drawing. it is for this reason tt the ruling party proudly touts their scholars from the 2-room hdb flat type families as the principle of singaporean utopia. and for such people who succeed and break the cycle through their own merit, through studying hard and doing well in school, even though their families might have been from the lower middle income class and below, they too, strongly believe in this system.

and i'm not saying tt this system is wrong. after all, it overlooks extranuous factors like class, race, inheritance etc (ceteris paribus); and enables people who want it bad enough to succeed on merit.

sure, there are side effects, like a maddeningly competitive society and all the ills tt come with it, but for the most part, this system has shown tt it works.

and it still will. it's just tt in this current day and age, singaporeans are learning tt even citizenship, is no factor for consideration in a meritocratic society.

our society is an economic machine. yes it provides chances for everyone, but this isn't out of the good of anyone's bleeding heart; the idea of meritocracy is simply driven by an economic imperative. as such, this economic imperative necessitates the taking of meritocracy to the next level: now, you don't just provide chances to your citizens. you provide chances to every single person, be they a local or a foreigner, be they from india, china, vietnam or what-have-you; you attract the so-called 'best and the brightest', and you groom the very creme de la creme.

and as for those who fall by the wayside, those who might have been just there but not quite... well, too bad.

it's just tt with this influx in 'foreign talent' and the new immigration policies, it is blatantly obvious tt a lot of people who will fall by the wayside are singaporeans. and this will not be because they aren't good enough, but rather because next to their foreign counterparts, they don't quite cut it enough.

economically practical? undeniably so. but then again, considering tt i would have expected my red passport to afford me a little more protection than if it were any other colour, this is quite unsettling. it is just one example of how citizens won't recieve the kind of protection or help tt they require; not when the economy drives all principles.

this is why once again i say tt, singapore is a hard place - and is getting progressively harder - to call home.