Taken from The Straits Times, Friday 18th May 2007, Students of top schools worry more about elitism
Elitism. Is it true that Singapore is becoming an “elitist society”? Many teenagers today regard others who are academically strong or graduated from top universities as members of the elite. However, what does being an elite mean? I strongly believe that this issue has a great impact on my life, and possibly many other teenagers’ too, and therefore wish to understand different people’s view on this.
Many people view us, students in RI, as elites of Singapore and that we have an unfair advantage in terms of opportunities and resources over others. In my opinion, this is the root of the many arguments on why people think that we are arrogant and that we discriminate against those who are not in the so-called “elitist group” leading to some people who are from more humble backgrounds to feel neglected and think that they are not being treated fairly by the society. But, is it true that Singapore is much more inclined towards those who belong to the elite, and ignores all other people in the nation?
Despite all the conflicting views, I still think that our country tries to give everyone an opportunity to excel in whatever we do by providing a common starting ground for everyone, and that is compulsory education. It is a matter of hard work and conviction that one puts into whatever he is doing that decides his or her future. Nonetheless, I strongly agree with PM Lee that we should not only attribute our success to our hard work and strengths but also remember what our family, friends and society had done for us.
Standing in the position of students from non-elite schools, I agree that Singapore “seems” to be more accommodating for the elites as they are the ones who usually get a higher pay, and better jobs in our society. However, I still think that there are some elitist behaviour, like the looking down on those who are not as good as us in some ways, that shouldn’t be tolerated even in the view as an elite, because it strains our society’s fabric and will cause unhappiness and disparity among us. Now, upon taking a stand as an outsider looking upon our society’s make-up, I think that more can be done to give more opportunities for everyone, for example the implementing of more programmes in “non-elite” schools by the Ministry of Education.
However, given that I am still part of the “elite”, I may have views which were more inclined towards policies that are more beneficial to me, and that may have clouded my judgement on certain issues. Nonetheless, I still believe that acting on my knowledge as a student, in one of the top schools in Singapore, who is having education here, and asking my friends from other schools about their individual opinions on elitism in Singapore, can help me obtain a more mature and meaningful insights on this issue of Elitism in our society, especially in school.
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