Tan Kin Lian / Columnist
I received an e-mail from a young person aged 27. I extract a few paragraphs from his e-mail below:
Hi Mr Tan,
…. It pains me to see how incompetent the current government is. It’s no joke: whenever you seek help or answers, you are pushed into a chain of merry go rounds whereby each recipient declares that someone else is responsible.
…. Look at the recent current affairs. Which agency or leader have ever declared “yes, it’s our mistake. we will do whatever we can to learn and not repeat them” ?
…. Every single one starts by declaring “it’s not my fault. Everyone else is to blame” and then finds a scapegoat. If not, then they say, “Everyone went in with their eyes open”.
… For me, I am waiting for a new dawn in Singapore Government. Failing which, I’m setting my sights on New Zealand. I heard the grass there is not only greener, but a lot less hectic.”
Singaporean traits
I have personally observed the following traits among Singaporeans over the past many years:
a) Unwilling to take personal responsibility. “It’s not my responsibility”. They are always ready to pass the buck to somebody else. Before taking any task, they want to have their responsibility clearly defined.
b) Unwilling to admit a mistake. There is a fear of making a mistake and paying a heavy price for it, such as losing their job. They learn how to handle it – by passing the blame to somebody else!
How did it happen?
How did Singaporeans get these two traits? I believe that it is due to our education system. They strive to be the top in the class, so that they can qualify for a scholarship. To be top, they must have 100% marks. They cannot make any mistake. If they admit to a mistake, they will lose marks. So, they learn how to avoid admitting a mistake, by pushing the blame to somebody else.
The top scholars never make any mistake. Later, they become the head of our civil service, political leadership and business establishments. The colleagues who work for them learn from their leadership style and behaviour. After a few years, this becomes part of the Singapore culture.
Bad Policy Decisions
Many major decisions in Singapore are made by a small group of people who discuss the issues in secret (fearing a leak of information). To make matters worse, it is quite widely believed in Singapore that many key decisions are really taken by a few top people, or maybe by one person. The people involved in the detailed planning try to second-guess the views of the top people, and will formulate proposals and plans that are acceptable to the top people.
This approach has led to many bad policy decisions being taken. These bad decisions continue a long time, because of the fear of admitting a mistake. Some examples are our public transport and education systems.
Our public transport system has now become quite expensive and does not provide the standard of comfort and convenience that is possible. Our education system produces students with good marks, but lacks the moral values and practical common sense (i.e. street-smart).
Educate Values
To make a change, we have to strengthen the education on values. I like to share the four key values that are important to me:
a) Honesty
b) Fairness
c) Public interest
d) Courage
Honesty. We have to be honest as part of our character. This goes beyond business dealings. We have to be honest in expressing our views and beliefs. We cannot just follow the views of people in power because it is “safe” to do so. If we make a mistake, it is honest to admit it, rather than to push the blame to somebody else.
Fairness. We have to be fair to other people. We cannot take advantage of their ignorance (and profit at their expense) or weakness (and exploit them). We have to give them a fair deal. It will lead to more harmonious relationships and a better society. We cannot cheat others and say that “they should open their eyes” or that “it is a free market”.
Public Interest. We should be prepared to work for the public interest – provided that our basic requirements have been met. We should look for leaders who are prepared to put the interest of the general public above their personal interests. They can make an important contribution to improve the lives of the people. This will be better than monetary rewards.
Courage. We need people who are wise to know right from wrong and have the courage to take action to put things right. Many Singaporeans are fearful of the consequences of taking a different view from the people in power. They dare not speak up, for fear of jeopardising their current status. They only speak anonymously or in the coffee shops. This has to be changed.
Innovation
We want to build an innovative society in Singapore. Innovation requires the willingness to try many different approaches, to make mistakes and learn from them, to take input from as many people as possible.
The input comes not only from theory but from practical experience. We have to talk to the ordinary people who face the practical issues everyday.
Change for the better
I hope that we can change the negative traits in the Singapore character and have people who are able to know what is right (from wrong) and are willing to stand up for what is right. This will produce a more robust people and society.
——–
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Won’t you include Graciousness and Compassion in our education, please? These traits are glaringly missing at the top echelons!
Hi Mr Tan,
This is a superbly written article… I totally agree with what you said…
Singapore desperately need more people with integrity to step out to really fight for the people…
Hence, Mr Tan, I really hope to see more of you… hopefully, when the near election comes along, singaporeans can have a chance to to vote for you.
Accountability is the key word. Our PAP leaders are responsible for our country be it defence, education, transport, economy, health etc… But are they accountable for their actions ? When there are credits to be taken, I see the ministers claiming for it. When there are blames to be made, I see the civil servants or the private sectors/citizens taking them. Look at issues like Geylang Serai Rojak, GIC/Temasek investment loss, Mas Selamat, Nicoll Highway collapse etc…
What about you Mr Tan. You had shown interests and skill in politics… You even contemplated to take part in the next Presidential Election… but, you set a condition… unless you have 100,000 fellow singaporeans to express their supports first…. you also mentioned that your family is against it…..
Why u didn’t simply say, “Just Do It”..
Hi Mr Tan,
Good articles, I too wonder can Singapore ruling party be honest to us Citizen, Fair treatment, Show Public Interest as a Politician and not a bussinessmen and Courage to admit of their wrong decision making.
Since our PM Lee have toiok our the post of PM of Singapore, all things have change from bad to worse, they increase their own salary to the unbelievable figure while comparing to the other gaint countries leaders this figure are huge amounts. But have they help Singapore Citizens interest of surviving in Singapore?
How can we stress all this issue to our ruling party and ask them to take action to help us poor citizens? There are so many hiden things that our ruling party trying to cover up, by pushing the blame to other people or just keep silience until the matters forgotten by Singaporeans. I think we should really need to list out all the issues to our ruling party and ask those Ministers or even PM, MM and SM to stand out to clearify the issues.
And more important why are we still paying a high salary to the Ministers, PM, MM and SM while right now Singapore are facing a finacial crisis, instead of showing to us that they suffer together with us, they are enjoying wonderful life not worry about when are we going to be retrenched. Living standard in Singapore should be force to lower down, so that our poor Singaporean can pull thru the period of time and not force into committing crime, borrowing money from loan shark, or killing themselves to stop the suffering.
Singapore Can we do some about this and stop just taking care of your own self. We must be united to be a strong country and not living just to take care of your own pocket or rice bowl.
It is hard to blame Singaporean for been negative because been positive and constructive endup in self-denial and been taken for granted.
Look at some of things gov says.
Increase fare => It’s okay, it is still cheaper than other countries
Public Order Act => You should feel lucky staying in Singapore.
Increase Special Account in CPF => It is for your own good !
I am sure one can add more examples of how government take Singaporean for granted and for a ride.
Our gahmen are very unique in the world in that in good and bad times, they are always in happy hours. They are never responsible and accountable to anyone other to themselves. It is always the little people that take the blame while it is the same clowns taking the credit.
Doesn’t matter what negative traits.
The most important trait the PAP is interested is 50% walkovers, 66% mandate and 98% seats at elections. Once they ensure this, why would they heck care what traits you all have or what you say about him?
This article reads like a manifesto of sorts.
With respect, I don’t think the education system can do much about “educating values” — Civics and Moral Education has proven to be quite a flop. What the education system can do is to de-emphasize grades, so that students understand that academic achievement is not the only route to success, and that success isn’t just about material prosperity.
I think one crucial value that has been overlooked is ‘Empathy’. It’s a little more than ‘fairness’ or ‘compassion’, because it implies a willingness to look through the other person’s eyes, to understand their hopes and anxieties, and to acknowledge them as equally important as one’s own.
ha ha
good jokes
when my neighbours are hungry and unemployed
worst of all
still have bloomin tissue choopers in food court who thinks their tissues is their maid in waitin….
tan kin lian
what you are hoping for a systematic, cultural makeover of the contemporary Singapore society… for that to happen Singaporeans need to
1) hear what you just said (well you are just reaching out to say 5000 neticizens)
2) reflect (singaporeans never have the ability to reflect on life, reality and truths.. they rather swallow facts that are fed)
3) realize the truth and wisdom in what you say (do singaporeans care about truths and wisdom in life?)
4) they then need to accept it (the self-righteous attitude of singaporeans will not allow this)
5) then they need to make a conscientious and wilfull change for the better (thats never gonna happen)
perhaps this explains why the society has not grown to be gracious in recent decades and instead lost all graciousness that it used to have
I worked with a government scholar once and he was totally incompentent. The system is still unable to weed out the truly valuable individuals amongst the pile. I truly fear for the people if he becomes a future leader or anything (he really was that bad).
Just another suggestion, we need to create an education of failure. Less formal testing, greater channels of feedback and also eliminate the stigma of being wrong and hand-in-hand stop the parading glorification of the few so called ‘exceptional’ individuals. The more exclusive you are, the less inclusive you become and for all their intelligence, most are not able/willing to recognise the bigger picture of ther situation.
Re: education. This reminds me of Summerhill School which I’d want my kid to study in. But I doubt it would make the cut here because it lacks the testing systems.
Mr. Tan, you have accurately identify one of the major weakness of the Singapore system.
In other genuine demoncratic countries with a change of government after some years, the natural corrective and cleaning process is there to weed out weaknesses and errors before they get too deeply entrenched.
However in the case of Singapore with the same leadership for 50 years, dangerous and negative culture and attitude have taken deep roots. I am not sure that they can be changed without a change in government. Even with a change in government, I still have my doubts as the entrenched interests of the establishment will be too strong for any new government. In Japan the top civil servants dictate to the politicians what policy to pursue.
I am certain Singapore is heading in the direction of the Japan.
Do you think it has something to do with opportunity cost, rather than education?
i.e. that pay is so good in the elite Administrative Service and above, that it’s too risky to stick one’s neck out, because frankly it’ll be difficult, as a mid-career civil servant, to find an equally attractive job in the market (in terms of overall balance between guaranteed pay, workload and volatility / risk)
May be Tan Kin Lian can run for President instead of GE since he is not affiliated with any political parties yet.
be fair to the ruling party if expected to receive fairness
any party once allowed to gone unopposed, would face the same degradation the author describes
culture change cannot be wholly attributed to political reasons
the very fact is we got prosperous
look at any developed nation, they share the same governmental incompetence
only difference is
unlike a public company
we have no tools to change the management layer
they could all pay themselves to match Bill Gates if they wanted to
truth is when going is good, we too are greedy and stuffing our pockets
and now that things are impacting our bottom line
we think :: misery seeks company
when we pull out of this recession, lets not forget this very moment
and do the necessary plumbing while the going is still good
make-force the ‘gahmen’ take responsibility for their poor results
the same way they expect workers to be responsible for their situations
talking about SPUR ? are they themselves worthy of their job?
job credits? thats a laughable amount when the massive civil sector is propped up and shielded from layoffs using taxpayer dollars
In the 2 1/2 years of National Service, we see the regulars practise one thing regularly, which is COVER BACKSIDE. So generally, the male population have this occupational reflex after seeing such incidents during their formative years into adulthood. Its hard to change 30 months of indoctrination.
Perhaps the one thing wrong with our education system is that it schools our children into economic digits (workers), less so educates them into good citizens.
I thank all readers for your useful and helpful comments. I agree with several additional values that were suggested, scuh as:
1) James Tan: Won’t you include Graciousness and Compassion in our education, please?
2) Well Written: Singapore desperately need more people with integrity to step out to really fight for the people…
3) Gary: Accountability is the key word. Our PAP leaders are responsible for our country be it defence, education, transport, economy, health etc…
4) xlandjy: Why u didn’t simply say, “Just Do It”..
5) Richard Tan: I too wonder can Singapore ruling party be honest to us Citizen, Fair treatment, Show Public Interest as a Politician and not a bussinessmen and Courage to admit of their wrong decision making.
6) Daniel: It is hard to blame Singaporean for been negative because been positive and constructive endup in self-denial and been taken for granted.
7) Daniel: Our gahmen … are never responsible and accountable to anyone other to themselves. .
8) 66%: The most important trait the PAP is interested is 50% walkovers, 66% mandate and 98% seats at elections.Once they ensure this, why would they heck care what traits you all have or what you say about him?
9) la nausée: I think one crucial value that has been overlooked is ‘Empathy’. it implies a willingness to look through the other person’s eyes, to understand their hopes and anxieties, and to acknowledge them as equally important as one’s own.
11) singapoor: what you are hoping for a systematic, cultural makeover of the contemporary Singapore society…
13) Mr E: we need to create an education of failure. Less formal testing, greater channels of feedback and also eliminate the stigma of being wrong and hand-in-hand stop the parading glorification of the few so called ‘exceptional’ individuals. 15) Harry: In other genuine demoncratic countries with a change of government after some years, the natural corrective and cleaning process is there to weed out weaknesses and errors before they get too deeply entrenched.
18) sgcynic:
Most of the additional values are related to the four values that I mentioned. Honesty includes accountability. Fairness includes empathy, compassion.
I have observed President Barack Obama of USA and found that he is an excellent role model of these values. There is an additional value of Being Positive or Hope. I may add this as the fifth value or include it under Courage (to make change for the better).
I hope to hear more views on the right values for Singaporeans to embrace.
We dont need good citizens, we need only Batteries… look at the imported FT, even in sporting events…
Do we make a different by winning Gold or silver in Olympics?
aiyoyo
no eye see (“The top scholars never make any mistake”)
not sure if commoners really benefit with so many elites (& high paychecks)??
this economy downturn gives a ring to all people – to see how good elites are…
aiyoyo
If only the relevant government officers responsible for enforcement of vandalism in public places take their job seriously, our streets would be much cleaner living up to the name as Garden City.
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=67684
triats from the government?
Yep i agree that the worst trait is not admitting one’s mistake.
The Worst Trait is to be rewarded for making mistakes.
My apology Jackson Post#23, me not copying your comment.
You inspired me to a slightly different take.
And it’s all because of Labour Day Awards that made many
Singaporeans feel ashamed.
patriot
and indignant; to conclude my Last Paragraph in the Above Post(#24).
patriot
15) Harry
Precisely, they are suffering from the success syndrome
I got an interesting take: a lot of it is due to NS. Let me explain.
After our basic training, NSFs are usually given appointments in units. How many of us are really passionate about making things work when we’re only holding the appointment for less than 2 years? And most of the time we inherit a lot of skeletons from the previous person, who also didn’t give a shit.
So the best attitude to adopt is ‘let me cover everything up and pray that it’s all well until ORD’. And this attitude has transcended into our adult, professional lives. Only that the waiting time is much longer. ie: a minister would say ‘let me keep quiet about the problems until i retire and migrate. someone else can take the blame after me’.
I would like to nominate Mr Tan Kin Lian to be the next President…..
Nothing will ever change as long as the 66.6% is still sleeping . . . . . . . . . . .
one of the dominant traits of the government (especially the civil service) is that of strong focus on public perception management t –
most of them (i think 70%) think that their real job is just to manage the public’s perception, hence the phenomenon of many initiatives with fancy acronyms that does not really solve problems.
Take the NEA situation – the problems were festering for some time probably, and definitely there were feedbacks. But without 2 deaths to change public perception these people will ignore the need to solve the problem
Dear Mr Tan
A well written article. We hope to see you in e coming GE so we can vote for you!!! We need a voice inside to watch the establishment!!
let me share my story abt the education system as I am in my mid thirties.
Fifteen years ago, after my NS, I went to a local bank for interview where i hold a biz diploma in Singapore Polytechnic.
At the end of the interview, i asked the final question: “If my performance is better than a University graduate, would I be given a better chance for promotion?” The bank officer told me that priorty would still be given to a Uni-graduate when considering any promotion of junior bank officer post. This is also the same situation for our Singapore civil service when i talk to my friend serving the army and statutory board. Those scholars always get the cake first and path already plan out.
So, in the end, I did not took up the bank offers and promise myself that i would NEVER work for a bank.
Today, I have my own humble trading business for more than 7 years and those University graduates with the post of Vice President and Department Head have to service me for the business.
I must say that i didnt pick the university route even though my grade can very well made it as it would be a great financial stress for my parent during those time.
Most importantly, if our govenrment dont change the way they groom the civil servant with extreme emphasis on academic grade, we are losing a handful branch of capable people who are deprive of the opportunities they should be given in the first place. When those scholar heads the stat board, local bank and local MNC during their tour of duty after many years, they follow exactly the same process that they were selected in the first place and it becomes a norm for selection.
So, whose fault? And why till today, they still dont realised this mistake!
Answer: Because those heads are still the scholar now.
30/4/09
Dear Tan,
I am travelling and have been very busy for the past 2months and I try to find time to read up on TOC and again I must write this ie as ordinary Singaporeans, we must not totally dependent on our Government ie PAP government of the day and if do, we sure die and conversely, we must depend on ourselves and our own hardwork like myself down in 1997 and three years ago when my only brother,two of us in the family, all out to get me by paying the Malaysia Police to put me under ISA-Sedition, I carry on with my life and go out of Singapore to look for deals (plus with God’s help).
Our young Singaporeans still expect the Government to help them and if they continue believe in this, they sure die standing and end up like those Malays in Malaysia especially the majority unemployed Malay graduates. We as ordinary Singaporeans must help ourselves and go all out especially outside Singapore to look for opportunities and deals. Again, I must write, there must not be any Welfare State in Singapore today or near future and let us look back, our forefathers had survived and we too can to so like them.
Regards
Andrew Chuah
Having a free press is very important in cultivating a strong sense of responsibility and accountability amongst our political leaders.
The local media are totally controlled by the ruling elite and thus are heavily biased towards them. In particular, Straits Times has honed its biasness to a very high level…..many articles are worded subtly against opposition parties and favours MIW. For example, one of ST headlines on JBJ’s son becoming the Sec-Gen was “….Reform Party denies internal conflicts….”, but had it happened within MIW, I am very sure ST would report something like “There is no conflict…”
Without the local media properly playing their role….questioning our leaders and keeping them on their toes…..all high level mistakes get swept under the carpet.
Hi friends,
The tones of most of the comments to this article has been positive and constructive. Even if the writer disagrees with another point of view, the writer shows respect to the other person. This is graciousness, which is an important trait to be developed in Singapore. Thank you.
Our Gov never graciously apologized for their mistake unlike US where the plane fly over New York and Obama quickly apologized.
This is an attitude different! Just vote for me as I know the best, no one else!
How to learn from their mistakes and improved with this type of attitude.
KL,
I dont think you should generalise that there are many bad policies but cited two only. Unless you have more, dont think it is then a fair statement.
66% #2 – I totally agree with you. Win at all cost and by every mean is their motto. Can’t blame them as the rewards are extremely great. Even after they have retired, the older members are still richly rewarded with appoinments to high posts in GLCs etc. With such a policy who does not want to join in the fray and win. With mega GRCs all over, winning for them is more or less guaranteed.
As for the negative traits of Sporeans, I agree with Mr. Tan.
It is the failure of our education system and society at large. Our education system focus on academic results (the more As the better), nothing else is more important than getting all As. The behavour of our society is “what is in for me” I must win at all costs. I must get infront of others in order to win. Just look at the queues for buying of new flats/condos will get you an idea how our society has evolved into such a sad stage. Who is to be blamed ?. As usual, it will be .. tolak balak.. (taiJi) again.
Thanks for the letter , i would like to comment on your 2 sentences.
“Our public transport system has now become quite expensive and does not provide the standard of comfort and convenience that is possible. Our education system produces students with good marks, but lacks the moral values and practical common sense (i.e. street-smart).”
Public transport system – could you clarify why you think public transport (buses, trains) are expensive (comparing to?) Which country’s Public transport system are you comparing to when you say that it is expensive and not convenient?
Education system – maybe you would like to elaborate whether moral values and practical common sense can be taught in schools? as the word ‘street-smart’ suggests, it is not something that can be learned through the books. Perhaps it is the responsibility of the parents then?
I returned to singapore in 2005 after a long stint in the UK, and worked at a local university. initially I was always more than just happy to offer my apologies no matter how minor the mistakes was and was always happy to give other the benefit of doubts. i gradually realised that my colleagues, especially foreign china colleagues, took advantage of this and used it to crush me. The rest is history: i no longer work in Singapore; i am staying in the country next door and have found it more pleasant and democratic than Singapore. Dear Singapore, what has happened to you and where did we go wrong?
A patriot.
Scholars are good for scoring high marks in examinations. Little else.
The Public Service Commission is staffed by cowards who dared not make any assessments of the work effectiveness or abilities of the scholars it had employed.
10 years after their employment, their career prospects and promotion are still based on their school and university results. It looks like the whole Govt Service has no competence to grade its own employees on results. They had to rely on the historical gradings of the schol teachers and examination system.
I heard of a case of a scholar who worked for a year, could not take the heat in the kitchen and had a mental breakdown. She went on medical leave for a few years during which she was promoted, received her annual increments, performance bonuses, etc. all the time while she was on medical leave. This is the lead set by the PSC and followed by all the branches of the Civil Service.
This of couse apply to the scholars.
It is common knowledge that if you do not have a scholarship don’t join the Civil Services, because no matter how hard you work or how competent and able you are you will never be promoted over a nincompoop who knows only how to score at school /university examinations.
Hi 39) wudang
Public transport (train, MRT) is expensive in Singapore, relative to wages. Many people have to make transfers, which adds up to the total cost. The alternative of taking a taxi or driving a car is even more expensive, considering COE, ERP, etc.
There are some cities that are more expensive than Singapore, e.g. London, but there are many many other cities where the cost is lower, relative to wages.
Ethics and values can be thought in school. I teach part time in an university and take a small portion of the time to talk about these matters. The students appreciate it very much, as it is something interesting and useful to them.
We can also teach these values through the subejcts of language, history, literature and philosophy. We need to re-balance the syllabus to have a good mix of subjects. We should not just focus on science and mathemathics.
A very good article Kin Kian.
Singaporeans are probably famous for their scared to lose mentality and bochap attitude. They probably wont even want to give their seat to an old man in the MRT or bus.
They are groomed to do well in school, get their degree and hopefully get into the civil service iron rice bowl job. They hope then to get their car, HDB flat and maid if possible before trying to have one or two kids to settle for a typical Singaporean lifestyle.
Their children will copy after what their parents have done before – study hard, work hard and take good care of yourself first before others.
The competitive spirit that is within us sometimes turn against us as we become too self centred and selfish.
It is me against the world mentality and sometimes within the family many I know will not share their money with one another. A minority has joint account and when the chips are down, many will not want to help out even those who are deemed as their loved ones.
Money rules here and alot will sacrifice intangible stuff for materialism.
Unless we devalue materialism here and try to raise our children elsewhere I believe that the whole population is sucked into housing loan,c ar loan and the 5 C mentality which is typical of us.
Sad but true…
The country governing body are on their way reaching to the top hill… and let see if this thrid generation of government will fall ……efficacious the chinese proverb of ” the rich will not sustain thru the third generation” 富不过三代…..
And I wonder assuming one sudden day a tsumani attacked singapore, how is the governing bodies react? Their bungalows, properties, $$ may just “go to drain”, are they going grab whatever they have and leave Singapore for their own good or stay together with us in the refugee camps to fight and re-build the nation………
Singapore philosophy :
If it’s ain’t broken, why fixed it ?
If Singapore formula can sustain till today, then this formula is the right one, so why change it ?
This is the mentality problem, Mental block.
If there’s no motivation to do the right thing, people will just do things for themselves.
Solution is very simple: understand people’s motivation and you can predict their every move. Put it badly, you can manipulate people with that.
I gave a talk at Nanyang Junior College about “Business Ethics” under the theme, “Global Financial Crisis”.
I introduced the four values:
> honesty
> fairness
> public service
> courage
A participant asked this question, “Mr. Tan, how do you assess the Government on these values?”
My reply: ” I do not wish to assess any person, as the assessment may not be fair to them. My purpose is to educate people on these values. I hope that many people, including our leaders, adopt these values and that they will contribute to build a better society.”